Blaze Indie L.A. Show : Sounds Of Blackness “Black Lives Matter; No Justice No Peace”
1. What is the Blaze Indie L.A Show and how did it come about?
The show started out as a Web Series and Radio Show dedicated to keeping the BAD MUSIC out of the Universe by giving honest and knowledgeable criticism to the hobbyist artist and putting GOOD MUSIC on the map by gaining exposure for serious artists. The show specializes in the critique of Urban Genre Music.
How it came about is, artists would always ask “listen to my music and tell me what you think”, so I created this show to handle those requests. Artists send in music and we review it. The Blaze Indie L.A Show has been in production since 2013 and received over 100,000 views in the 1st year. Because of the show’s popularity we have this opportunity now to film for cable television, which is very exciting.
2. What do you feel the Blaze Indie L.A Show brings different to the marketplace and what is the process in reviewing a song or video?
If there is one thing you can say about our show is, we keep it really real! We review music on; originality, lyrical content, flow & delivery, commercial appeal, song structure, and the beat. If your song is not up to par you will be told exactly that.
What’s different about our show- everything! Artists get double & triple exposure because the audio from the show is streamed through FM and Internet radio. The show has always been a part of Urban Indie Radio- Los Angeles, and now I’ve also created a REMIX radio show from the audio as well that goes out through FM radio stations across the country. The whole format of the show is unique in the marketplace. No other entity can claim this. In addition to performing a service, we give artists a platform to showcase themselves. During our 1 hour show, we invite guest artists to come and perform live on stage. We are the #1 longest running Urban Music Review Show.
3. The Blaze Indie L.A show will be on cable television, how did the deal come about and will the network change the format of the show any?
I was approached by ILONDON FOG Studio’s to bring my show to it’s production facility. The plan initially was to shoot for their local E Channel. While the process on that has hit some red tape, I actually have moved on into talks with a major network and other local community access channels. The BLAZE INDIE L.A Cable TV show will begin broadcasting to approximately 500,000 households beginning Thursdays August 6th at 7PM PST on Access San Bernardino; TIME WARNER 17 CHARTER 32 VERIZON 32 and ATT U VERSE 99 LOS ANGELES/RIVERSIDE/ORANGE COUNTY We have been green lighted to film 10 episodes for the major network. As soon as those are done- I should be signing the licensing deal. I don’t want to name the network at this time. The only change in format involves the fact that we now need clean radio edit music and we can’t use any curse words, which was actually a MAJOR change for us. As we cater to underground music and artists , so yes, we’ve had to make some changes. However, it’s still an entertaining show.
4. What are the pro’s and con’s of producing a show like Blaze Indie L.A ?
Some of the Pros are that I get to enjoy the artist’s reaction to being in the spotlight and knowing they will be able to watch themselves on television. My own celebrity status is growing and palpable. People now want to take pics with me when I go out places, it’s very cool! Plus, it feels good to know that we are giving artists such a wonderful platform to showcase their talent.
The Cons of producing a show such as Blaze Indie L.A (that spotlights mostly indie artists) is that many of the artist’s don’t have a lot of experience and lack professionalism. One of my biggest pet peeves is when an artist doesn’t show up on time or take the opportunity seriously. There’s also a lot of planning, preparation and editing that has to take place, but those are just procedures that are essential to creating such a wonderful show.
5. Where do you see the brand and the show in the next 5 years?
To continue being instrumental in helping artists look, feel and be successful. I would like to see the Blaze Indie L.A Show picked up nationally. And definitely for my company URBAN STARZ MEDIA to be the gold standard for innovative urban indie music publicity. That would be awesome! I’d like to give shouts out to the cast and crew of the Blaze Indie L.A Show including Insane, Micangelow, Tony Roq, Ms Ivy, Ms Playful. Ericka Turner Production Assistant, Photography by Jason Crump. Also to my Executive Assistant Jessica Elizabeth.
6. How can artists connect with you?
Artists can send their clean radio edited Mp3 to Blazeindiela@gmail.com, for a free review, or, by going to the website www.BlazeIndieLA.com, and on Twitter @blazeindiela.
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