The blog posts are hidden for now, but hopefully in the near future Gus and his busy team will find time to share their music and sound perspectives on the site. They are world-class engineers, specialists in the art and science of sound. I am fascinated by all the hi-tech mojo that they make at Igloo Studios in the Burbank Media District of L.A.

We bid farewell to our Ice design, described in a previous post. Adapting his website for multiple devices led to re-visualizing his presentation. Shown above is the slider menu for mobile screens – Responsive Menu created By Peter Featherstone. I recommend this highly customizable plug-in.

Igloo’s talented team of engineers (all Berklee grads)  have collectively won 19 Grammys and Latin Grammys combined. Projects range from studio films to music stars like Elton John, Marilyn Manson, Santana, and Phil Collins. Films include ROBOCOP, PACIFIC RIM, 28 WEEKS LATER, SUNSHINE and many more.

We fulfilled Phase 1 of Igloo’s website redesign with a custom HTML/CSS/JS assemblage optimized for large-screen desktops and touch-enabled for iPad.

The Galleria image gallery has a pop-up Lightbox showing full-screen photo albums feeding from Facebook. That’s right, Facebook is our content management system so Gus can upload photos from his iPhone to FB and his website at the same time. Have to keep an eye on Github version controls to keep that running, for those of you who work under the hood.

On the content side, Marta’s portraits of the engineers showed the team in their magic world, and I worked with Gus on the staff bios. Igloo’s clients are sophisticated entertainment executives and creatives so we let the photos mostly do the talking.

We’re now starting Phase 2, a full-on responsive/adaptive layout for all those sleek devices floating in backpacks and pockets. WordPress is our platform of choice.

My only quibble is that I can’t move into the Igloo and chill out for a week with my guitar plugged into nirvana.

Spike Radio was rated #1 online radio by Shift magazine

Spikeradio award nominations :
2000 ATOM Awards, Melbourne – Finalist Best Innovative  Production
2000 Golden Awards of Montreux – Finalist Best Editorial/News/Media
2000 London Interactive Association Awards – Finalist Best Entertainment

Live in studio guest appearances and DJ sets included contemporary artists such as Beck, Groove Armamda, BT, Alex Gopher, Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Supreme Beings of Leisure, Blackalicious, Dilated Peoples, Jungle Brothers, Ben Lee, and others. Live radio amped to 11. My favorite job of that era. RIAA compliant too.

See Spike Radio Demo

Note: The Flash demo of each branded show has to download before playing. Wish I had live streaming versions.

The Spike Radio player was a modified Windows Media player streaming multi-language Flash ads. I marvelled at the combination of live radio broadcast, Flash ads and mp3s, streaming through Akamai’s edge networks back in 2000. I want to do one of those again. Spike ruled.

The business base for Spikeradio included an number of sponsorship and services deals. These included Toyota (Overseas Marketing Division), Le Rendezvous Toyota:Paris, Nike, ATT, Paramount Pictures, Paul Frank, Skechers, Clearly Canadian , Fingerhut,and UGO (Under Ground Online ).

Olympics 2000: Radio Free Sydney
Nike and Blast Radius agency (New York) contracted Spikeradio as the producer for their online media project, Radio Free Sydney. The project consisted of DJ’d radio stream broadcasting 24/7 from L.A., in-sync with live journalists in Sydney, Australia, for the lead up and duration of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Radio Free Sydney integrated a unique blend of programming of new music, daily athlete commentary/interviews and editorial stories on Sydney’s culture into Nike.com/2000 website. Nike.com/2000 won the Communication Arts’ Interactive Design Annual 2000 – Best in Interactive Design Award.

Below is Spike’s promo video. We did a business EPK, but that one got away.

From 1994 through ’98 I was music journalist and Los Angeles interviewer for some mighty fine syndicated radio shows. House Of Blues Radio Hour was my favorite steady gig. On air, Elwood Blues was the host. On location, I was his invisible cousin, wielding a microphone and Sony DAT Walkman, asking the questions, digging for truth about the blues.

Other favorite shows I worked on include “I Want To Take You Higher – The Psychedelic Years” for Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and various programs for Disney, Putamayo and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

HoB’s Ganesha Room was the quietest hideaway for recording sessions. Artists who joined me there: Carl Perkins told of the night that he wrote Blue Suede Shoes. The Go Gos’ Gina Schock reprimanded the day shift for makin’ too much noise while we’re recording. Hot Tuna melted me by playing a couple of songs.  Sounded great through my Sony DAT rig. Branford Marsalis‘ spirit was like a Crescent City parade. Joe Ely opened up about life on the road. Ely’s show that night at the Viper Room restored any faith that might have gotten lost on Sunset Blvd.

[See post to watch Flash video]
Excerpts from two HoB Radio Hour Shows: Bo Diddley and New Orleans. Voices heard are Elwood Blues, Dr. John, Taj Mahal and Bo Diddley. Music by Rolling Stones, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Professor Longhair, Sonny Landreth, and Neville Brothers.

My other job was as Multimedia Director of House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. Fun? Yeah.  And a lot more work. House of Blues is a hi-tech juke joint museum of music and folk art. Seven days a week, all day and night, I was the house DJ / VJ, keeping the music playing with artists’ bio, music history and song info displayed on closed circuit TVs.

After four months in the nightclub, I was getting a little frayed from the 14-hour days. It was more of a lifestyle than a job. The music was our lifeblood, the food was the best, and the staff stayed focused with weekly management meetings. The relentless crowds filled the club every night. Media crews were everywhere. We did our best to tame the chaos. The music never stopped. Beautiful, wild nights.

One morning Isaac Tigrett was visiting me in the sound booth as I created the day’s music playlist. I asked him if he’s ready to take House of Blues to the Internet. You can’t say something like that to Isaac and not expect your world to change. Next thing I know I’m Creative Director of House of Blues New Media. That’s a whole other world. Ohmm.

The EPK presents Durand’s NT technology and CommunityWare, deep stuff even for a technophile like me. In 1996, Andre and Casey’s vision of the Internet was about building communities and enabling transactions. So after poring over a stack of documents, what Casey called the “court dump”, I decided on a journalistic approach. Armed with a camera and minimal crew, I followed them as they negotiated deals and conducted think tank sessions. The center piece was their presention of Mindwire technology to the Board of Directors. Those guys were serious players in the VC world.

Time has proved that the Mindwire strategy is at the core of what the web became. In 2008, Web 2.0 social networks wield increasing political influence, common man journalism rises to the shared media space.

Producing branded content comes with the responsibility to know the message. Research, write, clarify. Respect the audience and the sponsors. Learn from the best. Seek the most effective expression of the brand’s promise. Simplify the central idea into a sort of haiku. Keep it as real as possible. Tell the truth, unless the bosses expect something different.

But in forever sunny Los Angeles, I enjoy the down time in between big projects. Get back to my New Orleans mode. Maintain a bit of solitude, take time to mull over my winding trail. Where did I land on solid ground or fall on a shaky slope?

A good hike in the Hollywood Hills is a great way to start the day. Scampering over rocks and jogging along ridgetops keeps us feeling lively and balanced.