Tuesday, October 20, 2015

SURVIVOR Returns in 2016!



VETERAN ROCK BAND HITS THE ROAD WITH LEAD VOCALIST CAMERON BARTON

Photo by Rick Diamond / Getty Images
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 20, 2015) – Legendary rock band Survivor is embarking on their next chapter in 2016 with a new member who has seemingly given new life to one of rock ‘n’ roll’s preeminent bands. With 21-year-old Nashville resident Cameron Barton assuming lead vocalist duties, the group will take their trademark arena rock sound to their loyal and devoted fan base.

Barton steps into the role of Jimi Jamison, who passed away in September 2014. Survivor is excited to have Cameron bring his powerhouse vocal style to the band’s live shows. “He’s great,” says the band’s Frankie Sullivan. “After hearing him, I was in Nashville within twenty four hours. I was in the studio with him about a day later. I stayed with him for about four days, and put him through the ringer. He just kept getting better and kept delivering.” Barton’s commitment to getting the job done is something that impresses his bandmate. “He’s a very focused guy. Most musicians aren’t that focused when they are that young. He learned twenty songs in about eight days.”

Sullivan noted that there might be pressure of taking on the role of lead singer in a group with such a historic pedigree, but he says Barton doesn’t seem to be affected by the pressure. “He just wants to do what he does. You get new people in with new ideas, and usually that comes with a different vibe.”

All in all, the band is hoping that 2016 brings more success with their impending tour and planned album, slated for later in the year. “I think it could be a year to remember. He has a great work ethic.”

Survivor released their first album in 1980 on Scotti Brothers Their first Top-40 on the Hot 100 came the next year with “Poor Man’s Son.” Their big break would come in 1982 when the band was asked by Sylvester Stallone to provide the theme song for Rocky III. That single, “Eye Of The Tiger,” hit # 1 – staying there for seven weeks, winning a Grammy for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, a People’s Choice Award, and an Academy Award nomination. The song came in at #18 on the “Top 100 Singles” chart in Billboard‘s 100th Anniversary issue and it’s well over the 300,000 mark on iTunes, where it’s currently holding strong at #9 on their “Top Soundtrack” chart. The band also struck paydirt as a result of a Stallone movie when “Burning Heart” appeared on the soundtrack of Rocky IV in 1985, hitting # 2 on the singles chart.

The band’s VITAL SIGNS, was another huge success for the band, peaking at #16 on Billboard‘s “Top 200 Albums” chart thanks to the Billboard Top-20 hits "I Can't Hold Back" (#13), "High On You" (#8) and "The Search Is Over" (#4).

Dates for 2016 will be announced soon. For more information about Survivor, log on to their www.SurvivorBand.com

Friday, October 9, 2015

Give a Beat LAUNCHES 10/24/15 [music, social justice]


Give a Beat Presents
A Positive Spin: Remixed
A Global Launch Event for the New Non-Profit
At Impact Hub LA in DTLA
Saturday, October 24, 2015

Galvanizing the Music Community to Create Tangible
Social Change in an Age of Mass Incarceration

LOS ANGELES, CA – October 9, 2015– Give a Beat is proud to announce A Positive Spin: Remixed, the new non-profit organization’s global launch event in Downtown Los Angeles, on Saturday, October 24, 2015. The inspirational event starts with a daytime electronic music production/DJing workshop for youth from 3:00pm to 6:00pm at Impact HUB LA. Scratch DJ Academy will provide gear and instructors for the workshop. The main event will follow, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, featuring performances by Pleasuremaker (aka Joey McGuire) of Afrolicious with the legendary Sandra Izsadore and Gato on percussion. Alex Simpson, the Associate Director of California Innocence Project, and exonerated football player Brian Banks will also make presentations. Moving to nearby Pattern Bar, A Positive Spin: Remixed will culminate with an after-party from 9:00pm to 2:00am, featuring DJ Garth, Wiseacre, Tamara, Sascha Lahti, and more.


The workshop is free to registered youth participants. Early bird tickets for the main event are $20 with a “music changed my life” story (discount code provided upon submission) or $40 without. General admission at the door is $50 and VIP tickets are $75. For ticketing details, please click here. Impact Hub LA (workshop & main event) is located at 830 Traction 3A, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213-325-1271; http://impacthubla.com). Pattern Bar (after-party) is located at 100 West 9th St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 (213-627-7774; http://patternbar.com). For additional information, please visit http://www.giveabeat.org.


Give a Beat was founded by Lauren Segal and Virginia Cheung, both known for their humanitarian work with NextAid, which harnessed the power of music to support sustainable development projects in Africa. Once again bringing together a community of music lovers, musicians, artists, activists, promoters, and entrepreneurs, the new non-profit organization will raise awareness about our nation’s mass incarceration epidemic and support youth development and entrepreneurial programs through live music events and online platforms. Greg Lucas, best known for his work with the world famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band, was also instrumental in launching the new organization.


Event Details –Give a Beat Flyer - A Positive Spin
A Positive Spin: Remixed celebrates the birth of Give a Beat, which provides music lovers with a unique channel for activism and philanthropy, while enabling change in the face of inequality. The event breaks down into three parts: a youth music workshop, main event, and after-party.


Workshop
    • Sat. 10/24/15, 3:00pm – 6:00pm
    Impact Hub LA
    The daytime music workshop program will provide instruction to youth, primarily from Los Angeles organizations such as A Million Drops, A Place Called Home, Everyone Deserves a Chance, Notes for Notes, and The Advot Project. Organized by Andrea Giardina Graham, aka DJ AquaVee, A Positive Spin: Remixed’s workshop will be led by LA-based professional DJs, such as Mr. Choc and DJ Lillyanne (Headinghome/Futurehouse), who will be paired with the gear that they know best, to instruct and mentor the youth participants in DJing skills and electronic music production. Scratch DJ Academy will provide gear and additional instructors. The workshop portion of the event is free to registered and confirmed youth participants.

Main Event
    • Sat. 10/24/15, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
    Impact Hub LA
    After the youth workshop, the Hub will transform into a lively event space for a special evening filled with inspired conversation, compelling art, tasty food, and great music… all for a good cause. A Positive Spin: Remixed’s mixer event will feature live performances by Pleasuremaker (aka Joey McGuire) of Afrolicious with the legendary Fela Kuti-collaborator Sandra Izsadore and Gato on percussion. Alex Simpson, the Associate Director of California Innocence Project, and exonerated football player Brian Banks, who lost his youth to wrongful incarceration, will make presentations. Also presenting will be filmmaker Karen Criswell (Koncept Films), whose upcoming documentary, Shift Forward: Re-Defining Life After Loss, addresses the collateral damage of incarceration from a unique perspective.

In addition to supporting the workshops as an instructor, DJ Lillyanne will also hit the decks at the main event. The evening will include live art, spoken word performances by LA youth, hors d’oeuvres, and beer/wine. Early bird tickets are $20 with a “music changed my life” story (discount code provided upon submission) or $40 without. General admission tickets (includes snacks and beverages) will also be available at the door for $50 and VIP tickets are $75 (includes tax deduction, goodie bag, and drink ticket). For details, please click here.

After-party
    • Sat. 10/24/15, 9:00pm – 2:00am
    Pattern Bar
    A Positive Spin: Remixed’s after-party, which will take place a few short blocks away, will feature DJ Garth (Wicked SF), Wiseacre (theLIFT), Tamara (Universal Rhythm), Sascha Lahti (Beat Anomaly), and more.


America’s Mass Incarceration Epidemic
The United States loves to lock people behind bars more than any other country on the planet. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2.3 million people are incarcerated in our country. While we only make up 5% of the world’s population, we account for an estimated 25% of the world’s prisoners, according to the ACLU. Federal spending on prison costs the U.S. $80 billion a year (The Hamilton Project/Brookings Institution).


Through active collaborations with music producers, promoters, artists, and socially conscious companies, Give a Beat raises awareness about America’s mass incarceration epidemic through live music events and online platforms, while providing dance and world music lovers with a unique channel for activism and philanthropy.


“Give a Beat is launching programs that aim to address and transform the racist and profit-driven policies of mass incarceration,” says Give A Beat Director Lauren Segal, “Our goal is to bring down the walls of injustice and support those trapped inside with love, compassion, forgiveness, and real life opportunities to live dignified, creative lives.”


Lauren Segal, Give a Beat Co-Founder, President, & Director
Lauren Segal is best known as the Co-Founder and Director of NextAid, an LA-based organization that supported sustainable development projects in South Africa and Kenya for a decade. Determined to find innovative solutions and having been influenced by LiveAid, Segal became inspired to engage in her own brand of activism and quest for social justice at an early age. While earning a bachelor's degree from University of California, Santa Barbara, in Political Sociology, she developed an interest in harnessing music as a vehicle for creating positive social change. She became enveloped in the dance music scene and started building relationships with influential electronic music DJs, marking a pivotal time in her life.

In 2000, she was hired to help produce the largest outdoor dance music event in Mexico's history at the time, the ACA World Sound Festival, which was attended by 60,000 people from around the world to experience 75 global musical artists. A percentage of proceeds from the event supported the Million Wishes Latin American Charity in the building of a kindergarten and a generous donation was made to an HIV orphanage in Acapulco.

Her experience in Acapulco led to the inception of NextAid, “the next Live Aid,” in 2002. Imagining the potential of the international dance music community, NextAid was born in order to help children in Africa orphaned by AIDS. Through NextAid, Segal coordinated over 100 charity events, organized several benefit CD projects, and initiated dozens of campaigns, earning NextAid the role of a leading activist organization in the dance music industry.

For Segal, a tireless public servant, social action is the most fulfilling aspect of her life. Her efforts have raised immeasurable awareness and hundreds of thousands of dollars for humanitarian projects. A recipient of the prestigious 2010 African Goodwill Ambassador Award, Segal has been featured on VH-1, KPFK-FM, various panels addressing African issues, and in numerous publications. Her current focus is Give a Beat, the new non-profit organization that she co-founded with Virginia Cheung, to change the lives of at-risk youth and communities impacted by mass incarceration.

Virginia Cheung, Give a Beat Co-Founder & Vice President
Virginia Cheung is a non-profit development professional with experience in helping small- to mid-sized organizations create and implement fundraising strategies and organizational infrastructure.

Greg Lucas, Give a Beat Founding Board Member & Treasurer
Greg Lucas is the Director of Development for the world famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He has over 25 years in the creative industries, developing brand partnerships and activations to leverage pre-event marketing initiatives, on-site media, and post-event rich content distribution to maximize ticket sales and exposure for sponsors.

Give a Beat
Give a Beat is a California-based 501c3 organization that provides music lovers with a dedicated channel for activism and philanthropy, while facilitating change in the face of inequality. Serving as a catalyst for tangible social change by bridging global electronic dance music culture with youth and families impacted by incarceration, the non-profit:

    • Partners with youth organizations to provide impactful music workshops
    • Shares inspirational stories that demonstrate the transformative power of music
    • Creates a mentorship and entrepreneurial program for previously incarcerated individuals
    • Generates gift-giving campaigns for exonerated individuals and their families

Give a Beat is a community of music lovers, musicians, artists, activists, promoters, and entrepreneurs that cares about the current state of domestic affairs and wants to create tangible opportunities to make a significant impact on vulnerable communities around the United States. Music is the organization’s inspiration, mode of communication, and conduit for change. The organization draws on the positive elements of dance music culture, a community that fosters peace, love, compassion, understanding, and unity by celebrating music together.

Supporters
Supporters include Creative Visions Foundation, Electronic Music Alliance (EMA), Everyone Deserves a Chance, Fusicology, Universal Rhythm, Amoeba Records, Impact Hub LA, Pattern Bar, Scratch DJ Academy, SubPac, Green Galactic, and Jordan Strong.

Links
• Give a Beat Official Site – http://www.giveabeat.org
• Give a Beat Blog – http://giveabeat.tumblr.com
• Give a Beat Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/giveabeat
• A Positive Spin: Remixed Facebook Event Page – https://www.facebook.com/events/378103405723536
• Main Event Tickets – www.giveabeat.eventbrite.com
• Workshop Registration – https://giveabeat.typeform.com/to/XTviWv
• Give a Beat Twitter – https://twitter.com/igiveabeat

NACIYE. A Turkish Horror Film World Premiere at ScreamFest LA

"NACIYE"
THE UNNERVING FEATURE FILM DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
FROM TURKISH FILMMAKER LUTFU EMRE CICEK
TO HAVE ITS WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING
AT SCREAMFEST LA

The International Horror Film "Naciye" Will Leave a Mark!
(HOLLYWOOD, CA -- OCTOBER 9, 2015) Award-winning Turkish actress Derya Alabora ("Innocence," "When We Leave," "A Most Wanted Man") stars as the title character "Naciye" in Lutfu Emre Cicek's feature film directorial debut. "Naciye" will have its World Premiere screening at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, 6801 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, CA at Hollywood & Highland as part of Screamfest LA on Thursday, October 15 at 7:30pm.   Cicek and the film's stars Esin Harvey and Gorkem Mertsoz will be in attendance.


"For years I have followed Screamfest selections to discover new movies to watch so I feel very fortunate and proud to have the chance to premiere "Naciye" as part of this year's exciting line-up. To have the World Premiere in the heart of Hollywood and to launch our film at this prestigious horror film festival and for audiences to discover it is a dream come true," said Cicek.

"Naciye" was filmed on location during the off-season on the beautiful Princess Islands off the Marmara Coast of Istanbul, Turkey. Empty seaside mansions and gorgeous vistas belie the sinister and dangerous events about to unfold. The idyllic scene turns bloody and horrific as the body count quickly grows.

In "Naciye," a pregnant couple (Esin Harvey, Gorkem Mertsoz) travels for the weekend to check on the house they rented on a whim for the remainder of the pregnancy. On their first night at the secluded home they encounter the dangerous woman who claims to be its rightful owner.

Cicek was born in Turkey and then moved to the U.S. after high school. Like many teenagers, he grew up watching horror films and as a filmmaker, he has been influenced by movies like "Rosemary's Baby," "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle," and "Suspiria," as well as the works of Pedro Almodovar. After he moved back to Turkey, Cicek pursued his love of filmmaking; his favorite genre, horror films, was a natural choice for his first feature.

"With this movie I wanted to make something that would be familiar to horror fans in its homages to horror movie tropes but maintain its Turkish touches, like the island setting, the soap opera-esque hysteria of the leads, Naciye's style of clothing and the music." said Cicek.

Instead of making a Turkish or American horror film, Cicek made an international horror film influenced by both his Turkish upbringing and love of American Horror films. The result is a uniquely satisfyingly scary artistic and unique voice in the world of horror genre films. "Naciye" is accessible while also being quite shocking with an originality that should surely shock and please the die-hard horror fans while it intrigues and engages the not so faint of heart average audience members while they squirm in their seats and cover their eyes.

The film was directed, written, produced and edited by Cicek, produced by Refik Zafer Cicek and Begum Malaz, executive produced by Naciye Sonbay and Ekmel Sonbay with stunning cinematography by Kamil Satir.

 
Be sure to check out  "NACIYE" online at http://www.naciyemovie.com/.
Follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/naciyemovie.

Screamfest LA website for more info:  http://screamfestla.com/2015/film/naciye
 
Where:
TCL Chinese 6 Theatres
6801 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA (at Hollywood & Highland)

When:
Thursday, October 15 at 7:30pm.

About the Director
Lutfu Emre Cicek is a filmmaker currently based out of Istanbul, Turkey. His two short films premiered at Spooky Movie Film Festival and Telluride Horror Show. His screenplay "What Ever Happened to Barbara Brown?" won the Atlanta Film Festival's screenplay competition and placed in the Top Ten in Showtime's Tony Cox screenplay competition, and was a finalist at Filmmakers International. "Naciye" is his feature film directorial debut.

Press Contact:     
David Roberson        |        David@RobersonPR.com        |        310-925-8786