Untitled - Concrete Marketing

DJ Booth feature interview
by Dave Manack
TIRED OF ALL THE POP DIVAS? HINDER HAS YOUR REMEDY—
AND A GREAT TUNE FOR YOUR CLUB—WITH “STRIPTEASE”
F
or every Beyoncé, Pink or Christina Aguilera—you
know, female pop artists with actual musical talent—there are a dozen other so-called pop divas
whose only real “talent” is looking good in as little clothing
as possible. Thanks to a recording studio trick called “AutoTune,” these ... ahem ... singers ... need not actually sing
in tune. They simply need to look good—and shake those
money makers.
It’s no surprise, then, that
“real” musicians resent the
Britney Spears’ of the world for
becoming massively successful while possessing little to
no actual musical talent. One
such group of musicians, the
platinum-selling rock band
Hinder, got angry enough that
they decided to channel that
frustration into a song:
“You’re one mean stripper
with a microphone, and I’d respect you more if you just took
off your clothes.
You’re a waste of free minutes and a dance routine/You
ain’t no Madonna, no you ain’t
no pop queen.
Gotta shake that ass ‘cause we know you can’t sing/You
think that you’re the real deal/You’re nothin’ but a strip tease.
And I got a stack of ones, but it ain’t for your CD/I’m only
sayin’ what everybody thinks.
So take it off nice and slow, or take it off my radio/You’re
nothin’ but a strip tease.”
The song—custom made for an adult nightclub and
featured on the new StripJoints CD—is called “Strip Tease,”
and it comes off of Hinder’s brand new disc, the band’s third,
titled All American Nightmare. As the quartet’s drummer and
co-founder Cody Hanson explains, the band was only too
happy to record this track.
“We were sitting around, talking about some of the bullshit
that was out on Top 40 radio—all of these pop divas—and
talking about how shitty the songs were, how these people
have no talent whatsoever, and how we were pissed off at it,”
says Hanson. “So we just barreled in and wrote ‘Striptease,’
and it was a lot of fun. The lyrics sort of speak for themselves; it’s a pretty big stab. You’re a wanna-be stripper with
a microphone; you think that you’re the real deal, but you’re
nothing but a striptease.”
Not that Hanson or Hinder have anything against strippers.
On the contrary, they’re about as adult entertainment-friendly
as a rock band can be. In fact, the band recently made a VIP
package available to their fans that included, among several
other things, tickets to the AVN Awards Show (the “porn”
awards show) in Las Vegas on January 8 at the Pearl Theater
inside The Palms Casino.
“Doing the (AVN/VIP package) is always something that we
wanted to do,” says Hanson. “We’re also putting on a private
show at The Palms, as we’re good friends with the Maloofs
[who own The Palms]. Vegas is always a good time.”
“Having your songs played
(in the clubs) is important,
‘cause a lot of guys are going
to strip clubs. What other
time are you going to have
their attention like that?”
— Hinder drummer
Cody Hanson
They’re connection to the adult entertainment industry
stretches into the adult club realm as well, as the band frequently sets up radio promotions at different clubs across the
country. Is there a better way to write off a business expense?
“Any time we can go to a club, we’re down for it,” says
Hanson. “It’s a pretty sweet deal to go to a strip club and it’s
considered work!”
Like the band themselves, Hinder’s music is no stranger
to adult nightclubs. Tracks like “Better Than Me” and the
chart-topping “Lips of an Angel” from ‘05’s multi-platinum
debut album Extreme Behavior feature Hinder frontman
Austin Winkler’s trademark raspy vocals and catchy guitar
hooks courtesy of Joe Garvey and Mark King. With the hard
rocking, dripping-with-swagger tune “Striptease” now in their
arsenal, it’s a safe bet that Hinder will be on your club’s playlist for some time to come.
“It’s always awesome to walk into a strip club and hear
your stuff playing, or watching a chick dancing to one of your
songs—it doesn’t get cooler than that!” says Hanson, adding
that his personal favorite clubs are the Brass Rail in Toronto
and his home town club, Night Trips in Oklahoma City. “Plus,
having your songs played (in the clubs) is important, ‘cause
a lot of guys are going into strip clubs. What other time are
you going to have their attention like that?”
Visit www.HinderMusic.com for more information.
DJ Booth stripjoints
by Dave Manack
DON’T BE A N.E.R.D.! IT’S TIME TO SAY “GIMMIE DAT”
NEW “STRIPJOINTS” CD ... IT’S “F***ING PERFECT”!
N.E.R.D.
“Hypnotize U”
Ever since 2001’s “Lap
Dance,” N.E.R.D.‘s music has had
an undeniable presence within
adult nightclubs. And for good
reason: their catalog just plays ...
really, really well. Funky, transcendent and irresistibly danceready, the trio offers up another track for your entertainers
with “Hypnotize U,” the second single off of N.E.R.D.’s
Nothing record. Leader Pharrell Williams channels his inner
Isley Brothers to concoct a slower yet sexual track that is
built around men’s wanton desire of women. Produced by
Daft Punk, this cosmic coupling of progressive hip-hop and
alternative instrumentation creates a song that works well
on either the stage or in your VIP room. We can’t be certain
that strippers serve as inspiration for N.E.R.D., but we’re glad
they make us believe they do.
Ciara
“Gimmie Dat”
It’s rough being an R&B pop
star nowadays. For every Beyoncé and Rhiannon, there are a
choir full of marginally talented,
vaguely familiar-sounding young
women who all have songs on
the radio that are here today,
gone today. Which is why it’s probably a good idea to have
the video for Ciara’s “Gimmie Dat” playing at the same time
your DJ is spinning her record. Once the bass hits and the
song goes into the first hook, your customers may ask who
in the hell (or heaven) is singing this thumper. Oh, and did
we mention she’s hot? (Hotter than Beyoncé—yeah, we said
it.) Lest we forget her hip action—fluid and effortless—that
is a true testament to proper orthopedics and carnal choreography. “Gimmie Dat” might even be enough to inspire your
dancers to pick up on Ciara’s routine. She’s doing it right.
Big Boi
“Tangerine”
In 2010, most of the talk
within the state of hip-hop had
been centered on Kayne West,
Lil’ Wayne and/or Eminem. And,
in all fairness, rightfully so. The
three had the best hip-hop
records of the year, and there’s
a good chance your club will be playing tracks off of those
discs this very night. But just inches under the mainstream’s radar was Big Boi’s Sir Luscious Leftfoot: The Son
of Chico Dusty album, also one of 2010’s best. From this
record comes “Tangerine,” Big Boi’s Southern-playalistic’s
stripper shout out. With a flow and beat that recalls oldschool Outkast (Big Boi has always been more traditional
than his counterpart, Andre 3000), a guest spot from fellow
Georgian, T.I., references to Atlanta’s famed Magic City club,
and enough euphemisms of female anatomy to fill an Urban
Dictionary page, “Tangerine” is all dirty south no matter
where it’s spun.
Travis Porter
“Make it Rain”
Travis Porter is actually a
group, rather than a solo artist,
that have been making music via the mix-tape in Atlanta
for some time, but were just
recently signed to Jive Records.
Their first mainstream track, “Make it Rain,” sounds exactly
like if three dudes wrote 16 bars in five minutes inside a VIP
Room in some local strip club. (Hey, good enough for us!)
Utilizing the most overused cliché since “shake that ass,”
what the song lacks in original metaphors it makes up for by
using off-color humor and sly, if not completely on-the-nose,
lyrics. These aren’t thugs yelling about bitches and hoes;
they’re kids happy that their IDs are completely legit. And
you can’t say it isn’t relatable. It’s like what we’ve all heard
before: Write what you know. These young Turks just love
them strippers. Wanna hear a song about it? Here it goes.
Pink
“F***ing Perfect”
After well over a decade
of making sticky pop tunes
batched in with a healthy share
of thoughtful ballads, who
would have thought that Pink
would be still be played inside
adult nightclubs? Maybe it has
something to do with the balance found from one song to
the next. Her vocals are consistent, never overblown, and
hardly ever annoying. While “F***ing Perfect” doesn’t have
the hyper tempo of “Get the Party Started” or “Funhouse,”
it fits well for your entertainers who like to slow down their
sets for the song or—hark!—those who actually perform a
routine. Pink has shown that her music is always unpredictable, but never unwelcome.
Your StripJoints disc comes courtesy of Concrete Marketing.
For more information, email [email protected].