Featured News

This week's featured artist is Lexus Melodie, who has been performing soulful indie folk in Second Life for about a decade. Her interest was piqued by the creative and entrepreneurial sides of SL, and she even met her RL husband inworld! She's been writing songs about experiences from both of her lives ever since.

Please check out her Youtube channel for some RL content, as well as some inworld performances: Cafe Musique, this glamorous closeup, and a birthday concert.

Q: When/how did you hear about Second Life?
A: Back in about 2008, I was working in London and a friend showed me an article about Second life and the people who were making money with land and making clothing etc.  I had already played Sims for a few years and it felt like the ultimate upgrade. I spent a year making clothing until I rented a store at the classic old SL venue Guthries, where I got my first taste of live music in SL. I never looked back.

Q: What instruments do you play in addition to singing, and at what age did you start practicing music? 
A: I play guitar for the most part these days, but I've been pretty musical since the age of 5, when I started playing trumpet, piano, and later, cello.  I was lucky enough to live somewhere where music education is free. I feel like music has always been in me. Guitar is the only instrument I hadn't had formal lessons for, so it's my bit of fun really.

Q: Tell us about a few of the musicians who have influenced your style.
A: This is a difficult one... I love so much music but I'm probably influenced quite a lot by the angst of Alanis Morrisette, the heartbreak of Amy Winehouse... the melodies of SIA and a whole lotta soul music.

Q: What do you think is the best show you've ever played in SL, and what made it so special to you? 
A: After 10 years on and off of playing music in SL it would be almost impossible to pick a single event, but the thing that makes it so special in SL are the people who come out and listen to the shows.  They could just plug in the stream on their land, but they make the effort to come out and support the venues and the shows. They make me feel like my words mean something in a world in which it's hard to be heard sometimes. It's a relationship... I perform, but they give back so much... it would impossible to do it without them.

Q: What advice would you give to other musicians and artists who are struggling to find inspiration these days? 
A: Don't be afraid to step away from music, whether it's for a week or a month or longer... sometimes you just need to refresh and give yourself the time to get inspired again. Listen to the music that used to make you sing aloud in the car, or dance around your room with a hairbrush mic.  

Q: What is the most meaningful aspect of the SL music community to you? 
A: Just that.... that it truly is a community. For all the good and the bad... we come here to escape and end up mimicking reality. We might not want to be physically near people but you still want the other parts of the community, friendships, and even commerce that SL has to offer.  It's a really special place that has been important to an awful lot of people for a million different reasons. It's slife as we know it.

Thank you, Lexus! If you or anybody you know would like to submit content for Music Mondays, please fill out this form.

Tone Uriza at Blues Seduction

This week's featured artist is Tone Uriza, a local blues legend in his home state of Arizona and an active Second Life musician since 2007. 

Check out his website to listen to his music and learn more about his lengthy performance career.

He also plays at his own club, Blues Seduction (http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rainy Valley/238/227/21) every Saturday at 7pm SLT.

Q: When/how did you hear about Second Life?
A: I found out about Second Life in January of 2007. A friend of mine that played drums in my hometown, Kyle Bronsdon (aka Kyle Beltran in Second Life), sent out an email to all of his musician friends and fans about a virtual club that he had created. He said we could all come and see his avatar perform on our computers. The catch was it required creating a Second Life account. Because some of our peers were technically challenged (mostly baby boomers) most just ignored the email. But I did not. You see, I began studying digital electronics in 1976. From 1980 to 1989 I worked for a digital electronics research and development corporation as a line tech and later as a senior technician for reliability engineering. Needless to say, I used computers on a daily basis for testing line product as well as new designs from engineering. All the while playing music professionally at night. In 1990 I quit my day job and went full-time as a professional musician and sound tech. Meanwhile, I began raising a family and wanted to stay close to home while my wife worked by day as a computer aided drafts person for a missile corporation. Her job required a computer so we got our first PC in 1995. I became fascinated with it and started building and fixing PCs for myself and others. So when Kyle emailed about Second Life I had come to a time when I was not playing in the real world much, so I said yes please to SL. And I was so happy I did. It came very naturally to me as I was also a casual gamer. My experience with sound tech made it easy for me to set myself up with a stream and start playing to a worldwide audience. I left for a short period to take care of health issues, but it’s all good now. I came back in December of 2019 and started getting bookings right away. Soon I was able to set up a club of my own. I like having one as a backup in case I have a cancellation or just feel like playing when nothing is scheduled. One of the great aspects of Second Life is the flexibility. Real world performers and clubs don’t have nearly as much flexibility. I play several venues now on a regular basis, and I have Blues Seduction, which is the name of my club.

Q: How did playing music become a part of your life? 
A: Well that's an easy one. It runs in my family. My dad played guitar, my uncles played guitar, my maternal grandfather played guitar, my mom played piano, and her mom played guitar as well. An interesting fact about my maternal grandfather: he played guitar and sang in the brothels that peppered the Arizona-Mexico border at the turn of the last century. So when I asked my dad for a guitar at 9 years old, he immediately said yes, took me down to Sears, and got me my first guitar. I’ve been playing ever since. That would be 56 years. Well except when I had to have carpal tunnel surgery. LOL.

Q: Are your band members also SL Residents?
A: Only one, but the band was retired a few years back in the real world. His name is Marx Loeb aka Speelo Snook in Second Life. He DJs in SL these days. My friend Kyle is also still in SL and sings/plays piano in his own club, Meatspace.

Q: Blues music has been interpreted in so many different ways, how do you personally describe it?
A: Historically, everyone knows where and when the music came to fruition. But it has transcended history to become a major thread in the fabric of American life. The blues are nothing more than a good person feeling bad and having a musical language or vehicle to communicate that, and possibly rid oneself of the feeling. It can also be a very celebratory type of music, such as the blues from the New Orleans area.

Q: Tell us about the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame experience!
A: The Arizona Blues Hall Of Fame is a virtual place where musicians and supporters of the blues can pay homage to the outstanding achievements of the great players in our state who have used their music and notoriety to promote and preserve the blues heritage. I am humbly honored to be included as an individual player. Additionally, my band The Torpedoes was recently inducted this year.

Q: What is the most meaningful aspect of the SL music community to you?
A: I think that would have to be how much they support one another and care for each other. And it allows all kinds of collaborations by musicians that would have never come together otherwise. But there are so many, it’s hard to name just one. All I know is that I love to play for people and Second Life has been a blessing for my soul. Thank you, Linden Lab.

Thank you, Tone!

If you or somebody you know would like to submit content for Music Mondays, please fill out this form.

(Photo by Melony Parker)

In just a few months, Music Mondays has been an incredible journey of getting to spotlight the part of life where music and SL overlap. A space filled with people of all ages, from all over the world, who play a broad spectrum of genres.

I hope newcomers have felt inspired to take to the stage, and that maybe even some veterans have dusted off their virtual gear. I also encourage musicians from lesser known styles and every type of avatar aesthetic to feel excited about sharing their creative outlets.

As always, if you or somebody you know would like to submit content for Music Mondays, please sign up here.

(Photo taken at the Altitude music venue)

This week's featured artist is Oblee, whose performances in SL center around live looping to create a unique experience for the audience every time. 

Please check out his music on his official website, as well as his social media below:

Spotify
Facebook
SoundCloud
BandCamp

Q: When/how did you hear about Second Life?
A: I heard about Second Life shortly after its release, but didn't spend any time inworld until late 2007. It was an exciting time to be there! I had some friends in France who had done a little machinima pilot in SL and wanted me to do some voices. That's when my current avatar was born. At the time I was playing drums in a few touring bands and was looking for a way to play live, original music to people around the world without having to sit in a van with 5 other grimy musicians. I was becoming the prototypical and annoying drummer gone solo and SL was my accomplice. 

Q: Your music is hard to define. What genres would you say it draws from?
A: Thank you! I think that in part, a lot of my original music was born in SL, or at least born when my mind was often in SL. As far as a specific influential genre, I really can't say. I've never been very proficient at describing music or knowing which genre was which. I'm a lousy critic, and can usually find something I like about any piece of music. That said, I think the musicians I look up to the most are the ones who just did what they were going to do without commercial pressure. I've never heard music that didn't influence me in one way or another. 
 
Q: Who are some of the musicians that have influenced your style?
A: The musicians I've heard! While I say that with some degree of humor, I really have been influenced by everything I've heard. I do hear bands like The Cure or artists like Tom Waits pop up in my original material, and the band The The was always an inspiration to be a self-produced one man band kind of act. A lot of the musicians with whom I've played in bands have influenced my style and my attitude toward songwriting. The Country/Americana songwriter Sand Sheff was a huge influence on me personally and professionally, and all this after my first words to him were "I hate country music!" I guess in the end, the artists who have influenced me most were the ones I perceived as authentic or honest, playing their music because it was burning a hole out of them instead of playing it to seek some kind of commercial success. All this aside, I think that a lot of non musical things have affected my musical style as well, the natural world in particular. I used to describe my music as like the "house music on the Millennium Falcon" in an attempt to say it respected the old and the new, the classic and the modern, technology and nature, all at the same time. 

Q: What type of equipment do you use?
A: At this point? OLD equipment! I've recently become a parent, which has, predictably, stopped my impulse buying of musical equipment and instruments. I use a Boomerang III looper run on a sub mix from a 16 channel mixing board. Into that looper goes a DW drum set, a few acoustic guitars, an electric bass guitar, a handful of vintage synthesizers, an upright piano, congas, djembes, bongos, and whatever else I can get my hands on. I'm not much of a gear head, and feel like the "feeling" far outweighs the instruments, but I am slightly addicted to old synthesizers. Outside the mixer I use the normal rack full of compressors, gates, and effects units to make a hopefully bearable, radio-like sound to my live performances. The looper itself has no permanent memory or click track or other bells and whistles. It is just a bare bones machine that records and plays. One of the reasons I've stuck with that particular looper is the fact that it has no safety net. Once a song is over, it's all erased forever. Mistakes can be song-ending and quite embarrassing. I think the potential for catastrophic, embarrassing failure is what makes live music live music. {In SL, Oblee likes to use Thunk equipment.}
 
Q: Tell us about your favorite experience playing live in SL.
A: I've had some amazing times in SL. Some of the most fun was on those wild nights quad-streaming with Los Federales, or dual streams with Beth Odets. (Ask her about what I did on her birthday.) Apart from the musical collaborations, my favorite experience, in a broad sense, is having an audience who wants to hear my original music. An audience who is listening, often alone, at home, is so much different than a real life bar audience because they notice musical nuances and they actually hear the lyrics to songs. I've had a lot more audience members tell me they liked the lyrics to a song in SL than I have in RL. The first time someone IM'd that the sim is full and they couldn't get in was a wild and exciting experience. It was so nice that I now play homestead sims as often as possible.  After all these years, I have trouble pointing to specific moments in time as the best times, but I can say with confidence that it is the people that make those moments. Playing the SL birthday celebrations has always been a highlight to the year, and one of those moments that I am very proud to be a part of such a vibrant community. Oh yeah, Simon's party for the solstice was a real hoot!

 
Q: What is the most meaningful aspect of the SL music community to you?
A: Musicians need an audience. At the end of the day, I think we all write and perform music as an act of communication. The music industry can be a cruel beast, and a lot of times a musician's ability to reach a larger audience is inexorably tied to their location and/or willingness to take enormous risks. The Second Life community tears down a lot of those barriers and is a loving and supportive group who gives artists a place to shine, sell their music, and perform. I often say that my original music was born in SL and that is very true. When my paying gigs in RL demanded playing popular cover songs, my SL audiences were encouraging me to write more and cover less. I'm eternally grateful for the people I've met playing music in SL.

Oblee was also featured in the Drax Files, a Destination Guide video, and his local paper.

Thank you, Oblee!

If you or someone you know would like to submit content to be featured in Music Mondays, please fill out this form.
 

Parker Static-Riley at BBW Heaven Beach Club

This week we are featuring Parker Static-Riley, who has been singing an impressive and stylistically broad repertoire in Second Life for a decade. Her stage presence is sweet and uplifting, and she has performed at many major SL events like SLB Music Fest, Music Faire, and more.

Check out her music on her SoundCloud and find more information on her official website.

Q: When/how did you hear about Second Life?
A: I heard about SL in 2007... I came to SL knowing I wanted to sing after watching an episode of MTV’s True Life about a girl who performed in SL under the name Keiko Takamura. I joined and like many people, I was so confused at Welcome Island. I logged out and didn't come back for 1.5 years. I came back after seeing a rerun of that episode, this time with a little more patience. Lol! Here I am! 

Q: What initially drew you to music?
A: In RL I grew up in a family of singers... Legit, everyone in my family sings. So singing was just a normal part of life for me.  When I really discovered my passion for music, I was four years old leading songs in the choir. Music is my passion, it’s just a huge part of who I am.

Q: Who are some of your favorite musicians?
A: In no particular order, just to name a few... Bruno Mars, Stevie Wonder, Adele, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, and Whitney Houston.

Q: If you could open for any musician/group, who would it be?
A: Stevie Wonder, because he is one of the few legends of music who is still alive, and he is one of the greatest musicians of all time.

Q: What are your favorite genres of music?
A: I love them ALL but being from Nashville, country, gospel, soul, and R&B all have a special place in my heart. However, I cover all genres at my shows.

Q: What is the most meaningful aspect of the SL music community to you?
A: Second Life is a marvelous platform that allows us to share and touch people all over the world with song. For me, it's being able to make people FEEL. Whether it's happiness, sadness, a memory from childhood, or laughter at me being silly. As long as you FEEL something, I'm good with that.

Thank you, Parker!

If you or anybody you know would like to be featured in Music Mondays, please fill out this form.

This week's featured musician is Al Hofmann, whose one-man band has treated us to a fusion of rock, jazz, and electronic elements for 14 years. With over 3,000 inworld shows under his belt, his style has no doubt evolved time and time again and each performance brings fresh interpretations.

Please check out his official website and YouTube channel to experience his music for yourself!

Q: When/how did you hear about Second Life?
A: I heard about Second Life in the summer of 2006 on a local tv program about new conceptual art tendencies.
 
Q: What instruments do you play, and at what age did you pick them up?
A: I play the guitar: electric, acoustic, classical and midi guitar. With the midi guitar, you can play any instrument sound with it. MIDI is an acronym that stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It's a way to connect devices that make and control sounds (such as synthesizers, samplers, and computers) so that they can communicate with each other using MIDI messages. {I also play} bass guitar, percussion and charango, an ancient South American {stringed instrument}, kind of mandolin. I started to play the guitar at the age of 5.
 
Q: How would you describe your music?
A: The style I play is being defined as fusion. A mix of different styles, mainly jazz and rock.
 
Q: Tell us about some of the musicians who have been the most influential to you.
A: John Mclaughlin, Jeff Beck, Chick Corea, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Weather Report, etc.
 
Q: How has your relationship to music and creativity been affected by the pandemic, and what would you say to inspire other artists during this time?
A: The positive side of the pandemic is that you have time to fully embrace what you do. Whatever that might be, you can improve what you love to do the most. A wonderful opportunity to even discover the purpose of your life. I strongly believe there is art in every individual. Life and humans are an act of art.
 
Q: What is the most meaningful aspect of the SL music community to you?
A: The most meaningful aspect of the SL music community is planetary conscience. No more borders, languages, political implications, time frames. One love: Art on the planet. SL has given us all a terrific chance to connect with artists and people around the world.

Thank you, Al!

If you or somebody you know would like to submit content to be featured in Music Mondays, please fill out this form.

Photo by Selena Whalen

We would love to have more Residents sign up to be featured in Music Mondays!

Especially with SL18B and Music Fest coming up... If you are performing and haven't been featured, we'd love to get you some publicity before the events.

Don't be shy! Sign up today