Rock music! From Miami!

I got an email the other day from today’s featured band, Marqui Adora. They mentioned two very cool things that made me decide right away I’d devote a post to them. First, they are a rock band from Miami. I’m not sure if those of you outside Miami-Dade County realize just how rare that is. Miami doesn’t rock; Miami spins turntables and dances to steel drums.

Next, the members of Marqui Adora have gone the same route as Radiohead (they may even have been doing it longer) and are giving away their music via the Internet. While Marqui Adora may not yet be as big as Radiohead, I will definitely salute them for their approach to disbursing their music.

I read an article the other day about bands at CMJ. The gist of the story was how much more important it is now for bands to get a “blogger buzz” going. With government radio in decline, word-of-mouth and the Internet are the only ways people are hearing new music. If a band can produce its own demos or albums and release the music cheaply on the Internet, why would it want to hassle with record deals? Even an artist as successful as Trent Reznor has announced he will no longer deal with a record company, but will “be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.”

Getting off my soapbox and turning back to some music, here is the description drummer Joe Shockley gave me of Marqui Adora:

Marqui Adora is a rock band made up of four guys from Miami, Fla., who have a soft spot for keyboards and 808 kick drums, along with a love of layered sounds and a good hook. We often get comparisons to U2 and The Cure yet we listen to copious amounts of Pink Floyd, Daft Punk and Dub Reggae. Go figure.

Somehow this year we had two songs licensed, one for a national Nissan ad campaign and the other for a small indie film in Portugal. Licensing is nice and all – it helps to pay off the mounds of credit card debt we have, but the real interesting thing is that the two songs that we licensed were ones we gave away freely, no strings attached. So we wondered, “What would happen if we gave all the songs away?” And so, here we are, letting everyone know that we’re out here, that we write what we think are great songs and we want everyone to hear them.

Give these guys a listen and if you like them, which I hope you do, there is plenty more music available on their Web site. All they’re asking is a donation if you can afford it and for you to help spread their name.

I Suppose.mp3 the newest single
The March.mp3 from the White Buildings EP
I Walk for Miles (live acoustic).mp3 from the Marqui Adora EP
Only (NIN remix).mp3 remix of a Nine Inch Nails song, from the Marqui Adora EP.

Here's the link for the Nissan commercial, featuring the Marquis Adora song "Empty."

Labels: indie, local stuff, new stuff

posted by aikin @ 9:16 PM