Launch of the New Invisible Community Web

Howdy from Invisible Records HQ!!!
Our web site just took a huge jump... integrating new forums with blogs, video, and the ability for you to make your own profiles, upload pictures and MP3s, interact with each other through integrated e-mail and live chat, and more.  This part of our web site is going to be ground zero for announcements, live broadcast CD release party events, and in the future special interactive events like online Tour:Smart band seminars, and more... as well as a place where we offer specials, secret sales, contests and coupons for the web store.

It's in its infant stages right now, but is functional and will be getting loaded with more content.  Please visit and create a new profile, introduce yourselves, and help us evolve the site into what Invisible Records online should be!

http://invisiblerecords.com/community

11:26 PM - 6 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment

invisible is 20 years old today
Category: Music

I have a new blog here:

http://martinatkins.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/invisible-is-20-today

the label is 20 years old today

MA

3:34 AM - 18 Comments - 25 Kudos - Add Comment

my drums sounded louder

..

Well this is hard and getting harder as time ticks by this sunday afternoon. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Washington DC getting ready (or trying to) for a band seminar at a local club. Things keep surprising me and alternating waves of laughter and intense sorrow bash at my door. He was a great bass player, but, so much more than that. Its horrible and stops me in my tracks to realise we won't fire up Age Of Greed, Termite, Murder Inc, Suck! No More Beers Steers And Queers - the crazy mash up we did in europe during a Jagermeister/Ozzy frenzy - no more of any of that again, ever. ugh, that hurt just to write it down, but its not even that. Theres a weird thing between a drummer and a bass player - a kind of joined at the hip-ness that doesn't go away. Even when you're mad at each other (and i dont think raven and i were) its difficult to maintain it for long - what do you do? hit the drums really hard and get tired - or, achieve new heights of groovy-ness and then, glance at each other again because the elastic fantastic glue has pulled you back into one unit. Its like a three-legged race - you cant be angry and rebellious with each other - the unit HAS to win - or everyone loses......so you give yourself up to it.
My drums were louder when i played with Raven than with anyone. what does that mean.? Well, i didn't know until i started to work with digital audio and i could see the pictures of waveforms and grasp the tiny difference between amazing and not very amazing - understand phase / phase cancellation - we combined in an unscientific way to be LOUDER. thats it. somewhere in both of us was something (wow, great fucking descriptive language martin) there was something inside us that, when we started both of our clocks, they ran in glorious synch together. not intellectualsing, not technique, not nothing - it just was. The fact that it cannot be again sits very heavily in that same spot that inperceptibly tuned in with him - thats very difficult for me to sit with right now. BUT its not that, its not the loss of the bass player thats really it - he was a fucking beacon, a glimmer, a spirit, a smile, a fucking hands down character that sparked all he was around a fucking entrepreneurial pirate in the old fashion charming sense of it all - thats what I'm really grieving right now and, the kids left behind.
Jolly Roger just called me, and, maaaan I just lost it.

I'll try and post some things up here - i'm on the road right now so I can't easily scan and post - i'd like to do something in Chicago for any musical family that are smacked in the face and heart by this.......

onstage in ten mate, we're starting with Extremeties then straight into Wardance......was it you that put 27 people on the guest list and made all of those phone calls to South America????

Martin

10:50 AM - 24 Comments - 29 Kudos - Add Comment

Austin, Atlanta, Suicide Girls,Caffeine and Murder
Current mood: DRIVING!
Category: DRIVING! Music

Wow, great response from the Austin crew at Elysium. Great to see such a good turn out - and thanks to John and all at the venue and the guys from CHANT for their help. I really enjoyed the seminar - blasted through loads of great strategies and ideas to help a new or start-up band get wherever they are going better, quicker harder (ok, theres a good shirt) a LONG day for sure - after the 3 hour session with Q & A i hung around to sign some books then span a couple of sets from the dj booth - i really enjoyed it - kind of zoned out with the headphones on (i think at one point i had the cue engaged so everyone could hear me rawling around on the second deck! oh yeah what a pro!) here i am pictured in the middle of this super gruelling day with Suicide Girls Selket and Illyria (oh the struggle!) Amazing poster girls for SG - smart as fuck and hot as hell........finished up at 3am somewhere, delerious. If you see any video of a guy that looks like me dancing.....well, thats me. Sold out of books ! Thanks Mike for bringing out some more.
A quick stop at Criminal Records Atlanta for a mini version of the info session (thanks to everyone there : Lillian, Eric an all!) too much coffeeeeeeee. but damn good coffee. Then, a drive by The Masquerade were we have performed so many times with Pigface and all....drop off a book for Greg......and then a good nights sleep.....NOT, of course the guys next door (it seems like there are ten people in the room) woke me up when I thought (really) that someone was being murdered .....then, i thought what we would all probably think immedeately after that - this is the most amazingly good sex I have ever heard someone else having.....it just sounds like someone is being murdered.........then, i realised when things started bouncing off the walls - that it was just a bunch of drunk guys. So, if you are reading this guys, that was me at 6.30 am ringing your phone just once or twice at random, disturbing intervals, and it will also be me in ten minutes when I call your room and order breakfast - I'm going to print up signs saying "free breakfast - call 7536" and leave them all over the hotel.........dissapointing to not see the payoff - but, a smile on my face as I leave Atlanta and head for Mobile, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Memphis and St Louis.......
what happened to my pancakes??
yeah, i'd like the sausage
do you have blueberry muffins?

Have A Nice Day.........asshole!!!

5:15 AM - 10 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Tour:Smart Book and Gallery Opening in Chicago

Tour:Smart, is the new book on the business of touring. With contributions from over 120 lunatics and luminaries providing an incredible amount of insight on everything from booking and transportation, to contracts, radio, and sex on the road.Over 500 pages including chapters on: Geography and Routing, Booking, Promoters, Management, Transportation, Contracts, Riders, Settlement, Merchandising, Revenue Streams, How to be a Better Opening Band, Crew, How to Get a Better Live Sound, Touring Internationally, Good Advice from Baaad People, Stories From the Front Lines, Case Studies, and much more...

Pre-order now... the first 100 copies of the book are signed and numbered, and come with a free TOUR:SMART t-shirt.For more info and a detailed contributors list, visit the Tour:Smart Myspace page and my column at Suicide Girls.



The Religion of Marketing is a retrospective gallery show to showcase my collection of post-punk and industrial memoribilia and artwork for the likes of Pigface, Killing Joke, Ministry, The Damage Manual, Sheep on Drugs and so much more.

The public opening will be held on May 11th, 2007 @ 6PM in Chicago, IL at 1915 S. Halsted St.

For more information, visit The Religion of Marketing.

10:27 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Latest music business seminar

It's pretty rare to be able to chat about the state of education, the disconnect between hyper entrepreneurial re-invention cycles and the more corporate or institutional machinery that drives the education system.  To go from there to China, then to wearing support hose on long flights to prevent blood clots was awesome (there is a pill for that now as there is for anything except bad drumming and Mapquest).  I love these things, they fuel me more than many things have in the last few years and we are going to continue to do more and more. I'm getting a better grip on the wonderful world of power point, so my China presentation is running smoother .....now I just have to get used to the idea that I can't walk through the screen and hang out again with everyone there and work with the Tibetan singers!!!.......Attendance at this one was over 50 plus the staff here and two of my sons: Sidney (2) and Harrison (9) who stood up and recited a great part of the MLK dream speech. Talk about involving more people in the real world down here - something we are going to do more and more of - put on some protective goggles and stay tuned!

Thanks to Red Bull for the fuel and Jager for the shirts and it seems like a million things to give away - we provided the pizza - there was a pile of 20........I managed to get a slice.

Afterwards I hung out for a few hours chatting individually with loads of people about studios, the psychological component of studio work (its huge) and plays a role in basic hearing too - websites, starting a label (please dont!!) sxsw all kinds of wonderful things.......someone suggested we start a video blog of these things ..........good idea.............the book is almost finished, life is good! I am going downstairs to play drums on top of another amazing track from China.......

Peace love respect!!!


Martin Atkins

10:24 AM - 15 Comments - 22 Kudos - Add Comment

NAAM 2007

What an amazing time at NAMM convention last week.

I love it when you go somewhere to do one thing or five things and it's a completely unexpected experience.  You find five things that end up fueling your soul.

NAAM '07 Martin Atkins and CJ from Drowning Pool

I was presenting daily on my recent trip to China for the cool people at PreSonus (more work on book). 

NAAM '07 Mark of PreSonus and Martin Atkins

It's always great to see Curse, who was there with the Dimebag exhibit at Dean Guitars with Dave from the Genitorturers (more work on my book on touring).

At NAAM '07, from l-r: Dave, Curse, Martin Atkins

I got a lot of work done on my book on touring.

Then I met Fred Gretsch at Starbucks, cool people from England in PiL shirts, and one of my first students, Michelle Cho, who has now coordinated some projects at PETA.  Then I wander around a corner and fuck me it's my old friend and partner in crime Paul Raven (Killing Joke and Pigface).  He was there with Ministry signing autographs and the next thing you know I'm saying hi to Al after many years laughing about something or other. Then I was onto an amazing meeting with Ken Lopez – a born educator.  We sat and chatted for hours in Starbucks.  It was certainly one of the highlights of my trip (more work on book). 

Raven and Martin Atkins at NAAM '07

At NAAM '07, Al Jourgenson, Raven, Martin Atkins, and Ministry

That night, still buzzing, we meet up with the cool guys from Drowning Pool, Efrem from Death by Stereo, the guys from Bloodhound Gang and get taken to see Type-O-Negative courtesy of Adam at Jager.  Cool shit, cool people.  Thanks a lot!!!!

Martin and Adam from Jager

(more work on book)

(more work on book)

(more work on book)

Be sure to check out the China Music Network, and the brand new official Myspace pages for Rx (Ritalin) and The Damage Manual.

-MA 

2:08 PM - 20 Comments - 20 Kudos - Add Comment

I'm going to be in China oct 11th thru 18th 2006
Current mood: creative

I am planning a trip to China from Oct 11th for 8 days. During that time I will be meeting with distributors, friends and possible new alliances, we have some studio time booked to record some traditional Chinese percussion vs my drums and we'll be jamming our heads off too. Most nights we will be in different locations checking out bands. I beleive we are spending most of our time in Beijing and a couple of days in Shanghai. IF you want to meet when we are there - please send me a message so I can check you out and maybe schedule a time and place to meet up.
Although most recently you could call what we are doing 'industrial' the range of the label goes from spoken word through ambient, jungle, dark hop, electronica, goth, trance. club etc etc.
For those of you that don't know - the label is 18 years old this month and we have over 350 great releases!
see you soon
marteeeeeeeeeeeeN Atkins

4:06 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment