Put simply, the dotmatrix project is a labor of love.
We’re a collective of local music enthusiasts — musicians, photographers, videographers and sound engineers — who put on and document live shows to expose the talents of friends to an audience beyond the confines of a small venue.
Each month, we rotate in original acts local to Greensboro and/or surrounding counties in North Carolina, as well as a whole new cast of photographers and videographers. To date, our media team numbers more than 40 participants.
When the show is finished, the musicians have access to a live album of their set, full album art ready for print, a professionally shot & edited music video and a number of sick photographs.
So what’s in it for the media crew?
Filmmakers have an opportunity to direct the music videos for a show, collaborate with shooters of their choice and actual musicians and walk away with a killer portfolio piece. Our photographers range from pros to amateurs, but they’re all looking to improve shooting live music and, again, build up their portfolio.
All DMP media is copyrighted with a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. What that means is that as long as people link back to the original creators of the media, they can use it however they see fit as long as they don’t make money off it. This give the bands access to high-res photos for promotional material, as well as anyone else who wants to pimp the media or the act online.
The CC license doesn’t limit traditional use of media, either. Say a musician wants to sell their live album, with the CC license they have that right. DMP is not looking to take a cut of the action. Hell, we’ve even worked an editorial relationship with the good folks over at Amie Street to help our artists make a bit of coin over there. Now if a musician wants to sell their music video, that’s a different story and becomes a negotiation between themselves and the filmmakers.
We connect and empower local artists over here; we’re not in it for the payola.
As for our shows… I’ve heard people describe them to be a cross between an intimate, great sounding media experience and an open studio session, as flashes and hot lights fill the room.
Come on out sometime.
CONTACT INFO
If you’re interested in participating in a DMP show, please contact one of the following people:
Executive Producer: Sean Coon
Manages promotions, creative direction and show logistics.
Music Director: Don Ravon
Books acts, mixes albums, recording engineer and coordinates media team output.
Photography Lead: Mark Smith
Coordinates interested photographers, manages photo standards & uploads.
Videographer Lead: Matt Williams
Coordinates interested filmmakers, manages music video production & uploads.
Sound Lead: Dan Bayer
Coordinates interested sound engineers, mixes albums, lead recording engineer.