the dotmatrix project

You know, words can’t express how much fun The Wigg Report are live.

Enjoy!

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Louis Bekoe
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Camera: Blake Faucette
Camera: Louis Bekoe
Sound: Danny Bayer
Sound: Don Ravon

Ben Riseling, the sax/keyboard player of the Durham based pop punk trio, The Wigg Report, contacted me in the summer of 2007 to see if the band could get in on the Converge South Music Festival that I was in charge of producing that fall.

(To be clear: three original acts — Little Mascara and Thacker Dairy Road were the others — getting guaranteed money at a downtown venue pseudo-qualified the event as a “festival” in Greensboro back in the day.)

photo by Stephen Charles

Anyhow, I was happy to have them play, and at the last minute decided to document the show — my brother stepped up to shoot the video with me while Michael Dunn brought Stephen Charles along to shoot photographs of the evening.

While the music video didn’t have a clean audio track captured from the board and the cameras weren’t synced — we had to drop to black & white as a last resort — the experience of making the video and culling through all of the great shots of the evening was too much fun.

By all accounts, this show was the precursor to the dotmatrix project.

And that leads me to today. Two and a half years since their initial performance and eight months since their official DMP show, we here at HQ are proud to announce the release of The Wigg Report Live at the dotmatrix project. There’s not much you can enjoy on this spinning chunk of rock for $1.30. This album definitely qualifies.

Please support your local artists and download the tracks today.

ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer
Mixing Engineer: Don Ravon
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Doug Klesch

Steve, Chuck and Tim rocked out & Louis Bekoe caught it in action.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Louis Bekoe
Camera: Mark Steinberg, Blake Faucette, Louis Bekoe
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon

Local legend Bruce Piephoff pulled together an all-star ensemble for his DMP performance last February (sweet Jesus, it’s been that long?). With Renee Mendoza (Filthybird) on vocals, Scott Walker, Landon Walker & Jennie Walker Brunner on bass, cello and violin (Walker Family Band) and David “Driveway” Moore on harmonica (ETI & The Goodbye House), Bruce led the audience through a memorable set of narratives steeped in southern tales — stories of inequality and of politics and with bits of love splashed here and there.

Please enjoy this beautifully shot slice of that down home pie.

And remember, Bruce’s live album is currently available on Amie Street for only $1.82.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS

Director: Harvey K. Robinson
Editor: Zach Hadgraft
Camera: Mark Wagoner, Alex Maness, Blake Faucette
Gaffer: Jonathan Faw
Grips: Matty Sheets, Barry Staples
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon and Cesar Oviedo

If you listen to Morgan McPherson’s lyrics carefully, you’ll discover that the young lady knows where she’s been. With self-described influences ranging from Tori Amos to Bush to Beethoven to Aerosmith, Morgan now seems to be in the process of finding her own sound… and having a bit of fun along the way.

Just like it should be.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Michael McQueen
Camera: Michael McQueen
Camera: Jeremy Hyler
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Sound: Danny Bayer and Don Ravon

You can check out Morgan’s entire DMP set on Last.fm or support a local musician by picking up the album over at Amie Street.

What else can be said about Mr. Rozzi? As a long-time staple on the Greensboro hip hop scene, Rozzi constantly brings the energy, no matter the show or the circumstances. On this fine evening last March, he rolled into The Green Burro with a posse full of performers, including the lovely and talented Vanessa Ferguson, the R&B dynamo Jeremy Johnson and L in Japanese on the 1’s and 2’s.

Killer.

And give Ioannis Batsios some dap for the creative rendering of the video. Way above and beyond…

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Ioannis Batsios
Camera: Ioannis Batsios, Matt Williams, David Bradley
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon

When I heard Kristen’s sound for the very first time — as the background music to her own interview in Harvey’s Kitchen — I couldn’t get it out of my head for weeks. In a very, very good way.

After watching this video, I’ll bet the same will be true for you.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Michael McQueen
Camera: Michael McQueen
Camera: Jeremy Hyler
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Sound: Danny Bayer and Don Ravon

You can check out Kristen’s entire DMP set on Last.fm or support a local musician by picking up the album over at Amie Street.

When our music director, Don Ravon, booked Randy Furches to participate in our singer/songwriter night last June, I knew very little about his sound. The most I could find about him online was an interesting article the New York Times ran, delving into the subject matter of his song, Poor Ellen Smith — a tune about a distant relative of over a hundred years gone by, Peter DeGraff, who happened to be the last man (legally) hanged in North Carolina.

As it turns out, Randy’s sound is much more of a cross between pop artist and crooner than alternative acoustic. IMO, his vocal delivery is reminiscent of Tom Jones engaged in a footrace with Richard Cheese, and hell, I like Richard Cheese! Collaborations like the one above with local MC King-Kev-O exemplifies Randy’s inclination to toss the genre box aside when making his music.

Aside from all the marketing mumbo jumbo that drives the music “industry” these days, isn’t that what it’s all about?

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Michael McQueen
Camera: Michael McQueen
Camera: Jeremy Hyler
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Sound: Danny Bayer and Don Ravon

You can check out Randy’s entire live set on Last.fm or support a local musician by picking up the album over at Amie Street.

Sometimes, when the band you’ve booked begins to play you instantly know the evening is going to be special. Other times, it happens when you get yelled at by everyone involved.

The Filthybird show, by all accounts, was special.

I had to run back to HQ as the sound check got underway and made it back to the show just prior to Renee starting up. As I heard her last warmup on the keys and vocals, I jumped out of my seat in the packed house and yelled over to Don to turn down the reverb.

NO!!! came from every direction on stage.

Trust your crew was the lesson I learned that night.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Blake Faucette
Camera: Andy Coon, Blake Faucette, Sean Coon
Sound: Don Ravon

The live album is available at Amie Street, with all proceeds going to the Filthybird crew.

Photo by Kevin Belton

Imagine this:

Everything in the world can be broken down into three nouns. Negativity, positivity, and neutrality.

Now imagine looking up and seeing an atomic bomb being dropped straight onto your brain. Now imagine that, while most atomic bombs are composed of negativity, this one is of a very unique composition. Imagine that this bomb is composed of pure positivity.

Now imagine that this bomb is actually the imprint left on you by one, Clement Mallory, aka Universal Mathematics.

Photo by Kevin Belton

An infinite number of varying descriptions could be used to characterize a performance by this man. Perhaps one in several thousand would even begin to come close to completely accurate.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Ioannis Batsios
Camera: Ioannis Batsios, Matt Williams, David Bradley
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon

Universal Mathematics is more than music, more than poetry, and more than performance. It is a full-blown inspirational experience. When Clement Mallory picks up the microphone, you are intrigued. When he performs, you are entranced. When he puts down the microphone, you are left feeling better about yourself and about life in general. While Mallory seems to identify more as a poet than a musician, and while a good half of his DMP set is spoken word, his performance is less poetry reading and more interactive motivational theater. He makes smiling your only option.

Photo by Kevin Belton

The message throughout this distinct and almost unclassifiable performance is one of love and appreciation. Backed by the immaculate DJ skills of L in Japanese, Clement Mallory seems almost unaware of his audience much of the time. It is almost as if the words flowing from his mouth come forth from a deep well of honesty and compassion. His words seem inspired from his personal experiences, yet, the selflessness of his delivery leaves one with the impression that, more than self-expression, this performance is designed to help us, to make us feel better about who we are. A good example of this can be found in the track, My Love, wherein he states:

Loving you increases my love for me, so I’m going to love you more ’cause I have to love myself.

He seems to do what he does strictly out of a genuine desire to make us all feel happier and more comfortable about who we are.

Photo by Kevin Belton

During the tenure of the performance, Mallory deals with issues ranging from creation, self-reflection, acceptance of our fellow human beings, the importance of teaching ourselves and our children, and the very nature of existence.

In the track, Who am I?, he asks:

Being human, am I characterized differently from any other human being? Do we not all have one head, two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth, one neck, two shoulders, two arms, two hands, one chest, one stomach, one gender, defined with private section, two legs and feet?

The answer to the title of this piece comes near the end of the track, right before a moment of too-perfect-to-have-been-planned feedback where he boldly states:

I am God.

It’s a concept piece full of imagery so heavy that it seems to overwhelm even the PA. This track is definitely a highlight of the set.

Photo by Ioannis Batsios

Placing Universal Mathematics into a musical category is a nearly impossible task.

Clement Mallory is a writer, an MC, a teacher, an outlandish angel. His performance is poetry, it’s hip-hop, it’s motivational speech, it’s emotional release, it’s nearly theatrical in it’s execution. His message is uplifting, it’s inspiring, it’s fun, it’s… dare I say… universal. This man puts on a performance that is more than a performance. It is an intricate spiderweb of imagery and sound that leaves one with a feeling of happiness and well-being.

For the love of love, check out Universal Mathematics at c37words.

Recording Engineer: Don Ravon
Mixing Engineers: Dan Bayer, Don Ravon
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Kevin Belton

You can also listen to the live album on last.fm.