Tag Archives: New York City

Australian Singer/Songwriter, Vance Joy

Xavier Capdepon Vance JoyVance Joy is an Australian songwriter and singer who creates indie pop music and alternative rock. Vance Joy’s real name is James Keogh, and he is under a five-album contract with Atlantic Records. His debut EP, God Loves You When You’re Dancing cam out in March of 2013, and one of the songs on the EP, Riptide, was the number one song on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2013. Vance Joy recently released his debut studio album, Dream Your Life Away, in September of 2014.

James Keogh was also a professional football player in the Victorian Football League. He played for the Coburg Football Club and won the rookie of the year award in 2008. He obviously decided to give up his football career to peruse his passion for music.

Vance Joy’s pride and joy, Riptide reached triple platinum, and has taken part in multiple commercials including one for GoPro. The song peaked at the #6 slot the Australian Record Industry Association charts. Dimitri Basil directed the music video.

A book called Bliss inspired the name Vance Joy. The protagonist in the story had a crazy grandfather, Vance Joy, who was an exceptional storyteller.

Vance Joy dropped his first studio album, Dream Your Life Away, late last year. “Mess Is Mine” was the most popular song on the album, peaking at #37 on the Australian music charts. Vance Joy discusses his album early in 2014, talking about how he thought that there would be an eclectic mix of songs and songwriting that all tie in together.

Take a look at Xavier Capdepon’s remix of Vance Joy’s popular hit, Riptide, as Xavier has taken different acapellas and turned the song into an indie electro remix along with a music video using stock footage from the Internet.

Xavier Capdepon’s Riptide Remix:

Who is Clean Bandit?

Xavier Capdepon Clean BanditClean Bandit is an electronic group from Cambridge, England founded in 2009. The group consists of four members: Jack Patterson on the bass guitar, keyboard and vocals; Luke Patterson on the drums; Grace Chatto on the cello and vocals; and Milan Neil Amin-Smith on the violin. In January of 2014, they released their first single to hit the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart, “Rather Be.” In the United States, “Rather Be” reached the number 12 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

They music style of Clean Bandit can be described as a mix of electronic/deep-house music with elements of classical music. The music that they make uses elements from classical compositions from Dvorak, Beethoven, and Mozart. They released their single “Mozart’s House” in 2013 and the song reached  #17 on the UK Singles Chart. A lot of their music can be considered humorous at times as many record labels refused to sign the band because they thought that they were a comedy band.

In a world where a lot of electronic artists these days are hiring production interns to produce their own music, Clean Bandit actually produces their own music. Jack, Chatto and Amin-Smith all met while attending Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. Chatto and Amin-Smith were leads in a string quartet. Chatto was Jack’s girlfriend while at college, and he would record remixes to Chatto’s vocals from time to time. One of their songs, Motzar’s House, eventually materialized and thus began the journey to becoming an electronic band.

Their band name comes from the minds of Chatto and Jack Patterson. They both lived in Russia for a bit, so “Clean Bandit” is a direct translation that from Russian to English that is used to mean “complete bastard” or “utter rascal” in British terminology.

The other night Xavier Capdepon completed his remix of Clean Bandits’s most famous song, “Rather Be” with vocals from Jess Glynne. Check the song out below!

Xavier Capdepon’s Introduction to Music Blogging

The music industry these days is vastly different than it was a decade ago. These days, DJs and musicians have to rely more on touring than they do on CD sales. The music experience and success relies on major record labels signing artists and building their careers in the music industry. Aside from this, all there really is to do if you want to enter the music industry is 1) have a web presence 2) network within the industry and 3) learn how to produce music. I have made this blog as a steppingstone for my career. I want to simply play good music and make a living doing so. Music is my everything, and I have been doing music for my entire life. I am a firm believer that music is a necessity in life as it brings joy and happiness to a ridged and stiff world. I know great music and I am in the middle of learning how to make good music. I’ve DJed all over the world, so I know what it takes to get people off of their seats an onto the dance floor. This website will act as a place where you can find good music, but more importantly, good NEW music. This era of music is moving faster than ever. With new technology and electronic music taking over the industry, there is much more accessibility to music production tools. People are able to churn out songs faster than ever, and songs don’t stick around for years, like they used to. It is important to not only create music in this industry, but to keep evolving with it and keep up to date with the current trends. Thus, this will be a place where you can find the hottest trending songs. Below is Xavier Capdepon’s soundcloud creations of the songs that he has produced himself. Listen and enjoy!