Author: Tiara Rea

Well, I’m pretty stoked about this little segment of the newsletter, because I nominated ObscureSound.com myself for Lunarpages’ Site of the Month waaaay back in November, as I visit it almost every day to find out what Mike’s got listed for new and upcoming indie music. Being a musician myself, it’s a great resource to see what other kinds of sounds are out there, and Mike’s got just about every kind of music listed. His site attracts the big record producers and the small indie bands, as well as indie fans and practioners such as myself.

So let’s get right down to it.

Hi Mike. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what makes your website rock? What’s the deal with ObscureSound.com? What is it, what does it mean to you, and where’d you get such an awesome title for your website?

Whether it rocks or not is up to the reader, so thanks. Obscure Sound is just a web site/blog updated daily with my thoughts about music, new and old. Usually, I update at least once a day, with each post containing my descriptive thoughts and a few MP3 files to download/stream the song for sampling purposes. I do it for fun because it deals with my two loves in the world: music and writing. I decided in February to blend them together, so I started Obscure Sound. As for the name, it just came to me. I tend to focus more on relatively new artists that are unheard of in the mainstream, hence the ‘obscure’ part. I also find it rewarding when bands come to me and tell me that I was a big factor in them getting signed, because apparently record labels read the site. That’s quite amazing to me, that some guy in high school who just loves music can have an influence like that. Also, where I’m from (some suburb in New Jersey), indie music isn’t all that popular so I can’t really have discussions with my friends (who usually adore rap or emo music). I would be happy with the site whether it had one or one million readers, as long as I’m honest.

Have you ever had any other kinds of websites? If so, what were they about?

I have written for a variety of music web sites, such as Stylus, but I never actually owned a significant web site prior to Obscure Sound. I had a web site about a particular band a few years ago, but it was nothing special.

How has it been hosting with Lunarpages? What’s kept you here?

Fantastic. I was given everything I promised when I signed up, with the recent upgrade in space and bandwidth giving my site a new form of flexibility. Nice speed, no downtime, plenty of features, and helpful customer support are some aspects of Lunarpages. Whenever other MP3 bloggers ask me what a good host is, I tell them about Lunarpages. I have no complaints.

Obscure Sound deals with my personal favorite subject – indie music. How do you decide which bands to feature?

It’s a great hobby to have, isn’t it? The decision is not hard at all. It’s just based on whether I like the band/song or not, whether they have potential, or are incredibly creative. I see enough web sites give insulting reviews of talentless bands, so instead of wasting people’s time, I just write about bands that I think highly of. The only time I would write about a song or a band that I find lacking would be if it is a popular artist with high expectations and hype, falling flat on their face. I find the music with a variety of methods, from receiving promo albums in the mail or an e-mail message or even a friend’s recommendation.

You call Obscure Sound an “Indie Music Blog”. Does that mean anyone can post about their favorite bands, or is it more private right now, something you personally update yourself, based on your opinions?

I do the posts by myself, though there is a feature that lets anyone comment on the article. I enjoy reading whatever comments they receive, but the content is just updated by myself with my opinions.

What’s the criteria for reviewing bands and artists?

As long as they are fun, creative, and/or talented, any band has a chance of being featured. My eyes and ears are always open to new bands, as is my mailbox.

Is there any music that’s off-limit for you and your site? For example, do you review every kind of indie music out there, or do you gravitate towards certain genres like folk, rock, emo, baroque pop, jazz or others?

Not really, but I can’t stand emo music. I just find it to be very generic. I don’t feature rap as much as the usual genres (rock, pop, folk, electronic, etc), but when I hear something good from any genre, it will be featured on the site. I prefer to be open minded.

[*cries* I love emo!]

Who is your favorite artist/band? Have you ever interviewed them or reviewed one of their albums on your site?

The Smiths are my favorite band. They have been inactive for about twenty years though, so the best I could hope for would be something individual (though the frontman has a bit of an ego!). I have interviewed some great artists though, such as Sean Lennon.

Who are some up-and-comers you could tell us about?

There are so many. Some recent names would be Melvern Taylor, GoodBooks, Assembly Now, The Shames, Johnny Lloyd Rollins, The Postmarks, Canasta, and Kristoffer Ragnstam. You can find samples on the site for each one. I also find it interesting talking to these rising artists, as I think many of them don’t even realize their talent as of yet.

Switching tract if I may, for all those jealous designers out there…what tools did you use to build your website?

I’m not artistic at all, so I can’t take credit for most of the design. I minimally rewrote a public WordPress template originally written by Khaled Abou Alfa, so most of the credit should go to him. I just adjusted the color scheme, rearranged the tables, and created the header.

And finally (though I hate to end this interview…) what are the future plans for Obscure Sound? Where is this wonderful site headed?

The site will continue to work the same way as usual. Don’t expect me to drop it any time soon, as I still find it to be very enjoyable and exciting. I just hope to help even more people discover new music that they will enjoy.

That’s it for this interview. Feel free to check out ObscureSound.com, as it’s honestly one of my favorite sites, and if you like good music, it’ll be yours too. If anyone out there wants to nominate a site for Site of the Month or this section of the newsletter, please do so by shooting an email to affiliate@lunarpages.com with the domain name of the site, some info about the site in general, and why you think it deserves such a prestigious award. Why you think it rocks your socks, in other words.