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Joie de Vivre and the joy of music

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SVR sponsor Joie de Vivre is California’s largest boutique hotel company. Started in San Francisco in 1987 by Chip Conley, Joie de Vivre has built a reputation for creating one of the most unique collections of lifestyle businesses in the U.S. with an eclectic portfolio that ranges from the budget-oriented, philanthropic-minded Good Hotel in San Francisco to the luxurious Ventana Inn & Spa in Big Sur to the chic surfer lifestyle inspired Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach. Joie de Vivre’s brand personality has a lot in common with the California lifestyle experience: it’s fresh, inventive, casual, and grass roots oriented. Joie de Vivre also operates more than 20 restaurants in California and five spas.

Joie de Vivre’s new Joie of Life campaign is rooted in the belief that it’s the little things that matter — sharing an ice cream cone with a friend, a day on the Santa Cruz boardwalk, the way your dog greets you when you walk in the door. We talked to Linda Palermo, Joie de Vivre chief revenue officer, about celebrating life and other things joyful.

SVR: Tell us about the Joie of Life campaign.

Linda: Our company is named after the French expression Joie de Vivre — which means the Joy of Living. After what’s been a tough year for many, we wanted to create our Joie of Life campaign to talk about Joie — a new way of looking at the world around us and making the most of it. The site allows you to get a 3rd night free if you want to extend a 2 night stay, it offers special packages, contests (currently a Jump for Joie photo contest!), ways to express Joie or share Joie with others.

SVR: How does Joie de Vivre support the Silicon Valley community?

Linda: We have six hotels in Silicon Valley (Avatar Hotel, Hotel Avante, Wild Palms Hotel, Moorpark Hotel, Domain Hotel and Hotel Los Gatos) and all are active within their communities. One of our organization’s five core values is to have a connection and responsibility to our community. We participate in numerous community activities and each hotel is given a goal of how much they should donate throughout the year to local causes. The general managers of the hotels are evaluated on these metrics (along with customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and profitability). Many of our hotels double and triple these donation goals.

SVR: In addition to being a hotel industry executive, you’re also the keyboard player for The Minks, who played at Silicon Valley Rocks! last year. How important was music education to you as a kid?

Linda: Music education was really important although I value it much more now as an adult than I did as a child! It helps to build confidence and conquer fear, build reasoning, improve self esteem, promote teamwork (when playing or singing with a group), stimulate creativity, and the list goes on! I have such a great appreciation today for music and if I could do it all again, I would have dedicated more of my time throughout my childhood and college to it. Most of all, music brings people JOIE!

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Don’t drink and drive… get a room!

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At these prices, you can afford it!

Our friends at Joie de Vivre are offering an unbeatable deal at the Hotel Carlton:

$75 plus tax for a Superior King or a room with 2 full-size beds!

Seriously, where else in the city can you stay for that kind of money? And it’s only three blocks from the Great American Music Hall!

To make a reservation, visit http://www.hotelcarltonsf.com
Use this promotional web code when booking: svrocks

If we had six more hours…

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… we’d include these contenders in the lineup too. On December 9 you’ll be blown away by the six bands we selected, but today we want to give a shout-out to the fabulous finalists who almost made the cut. Have a listen here or catch them live as noted below:

Domestic Electrics (upcoming show: October 26 at El Rio, San Francisco)
Lou Reed

The Elevens (upcoming show: November 8 at Kimo’s, San Francisco)
Don’t Be Afraid

BentPeter
Better Now

RubberSideDown (upcoming show: December 5 at Beale Street Bar, San Francisco)
Alabama Hammer

The Tender Morsels (upcoming show: October 29 at Peri’s, Fairfax)
The Color of Things

As a People (upcoming show: October 24 at The House of Shields, San Francisco)
Henry James Rifle

5 Easy Pieces
Eleven

Las Pulgas
Dodge

Frank Innocent
Sorority Girl

Leif and Dangarosa
Déjà Vu

Drumroll, please… announcing this year’s lineup!

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We’re thrilled to announce this year’s lineup for Silicon Valley Rocks! Ladies and gentlemen, your entertainment for the evening (not necessarily in order of appearance):

CORINNE MARCUS & THE KINDRED SPIRITS — catchy and intriguing with hints of Lilith, pop, rock and lounge. Tech Affiliations: Walden Venture Capital and Digidesign.

FAREWELL TYPEWRITER — melodic rock music that’s energetic yet tight, dancey but tough. Tech Affiliations: Hewlett-Packard and Thing Labs (makers of Brizzly).

MARROW — electronica/dance beats guaranteed to make you move your gloomy ass. Tech Affiliations: Pyramind Studios and the “sflogicninja” of YouTube fame.

THE OPEN SOURCE BAND — featuring Jonah Matranga (lead singer of Far) and Randi Zuckerberg (Facebook) — a Silicon Valley Rocks! special freely available for your listening pleasure. Tech Affiliations: Facebook, Norwest Venture Partners, Walden Venture Capital and Amplified Music Services.

THE TELL-TALE HEARTBREAKERS — tearing through the post-punk music scene with tense, guitar and bass-driven songs that reflect the darker side of rock and roll. Tech Affiliations: PDI/DreamWorks.

THE WHITEHALLS — from straight-ahead rockers to political drama to crowd-pleasing ballads to electronica, this band covers all the bases. Tech Affiliations: Digg.com, Aldon (software), IT for Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco, Bite PR.

There were an enormous number of bands who wanted a spot this year — nearly eight times the submissions we received in 2008. Fortunately we had a dedicated and discerning listening committee of music pros and enthusiasts to help us work through the list.

Even so, it was a tough decision with only six available spots. There were so many talented applicants, in fact, that we’ve selected ten additional finalists — though we couldn’t slot them into the lineup this year, we’ll be profiling them in a future post (complete with audio clips)… so stay tuned!

So many bands, so little time…

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From punk to pop, alt country to electronica — we asked and you answered! Thanks so much to all the performers who applied for a spot in this year’s show. It’s going to be tough to narrow down the list to just six!

Submissions are now closed and our selection committee is hard at work choosing among the many entries we received. We’ll be revealing the final lineup soon, so stay tuned… it’s going to be a fantastic show!

Meanwhile, ticket sales are open! In fact, right now, we have a special promotion for those monsters of rock who love music and Halloween. The RIP ticket – which is the VIP ticket but for only $50 (a $25 savings)! Free drinks, food, and a premier viewing spot – yes! There are only 50 tickets available at this rate. Don’t wait – until it’s too late. Mwaaaah. http://svrocks09.eventbrite.com/

Calling all techies to the stage!

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Submissions for Silicon Valley Rocks! 2009 are now open!

Six spots are available. Bands must be connected to the technology industry (work in it, write songs about it, or use technology in their music) and be willing to play for free to support music education in the schools.

Last year, what really struck a “chord” with us was how prevalent music is among technology industry professionals, and how much the bands rallied around helping the next generation of geek rockers.  Want to show off your stuff while making a difference?  If you’re in a band (or know someone who is), tell us about it here.

Be sure to include links to your music and video if possible, and explain how you’re connected to Silicon Valley.  We have several contenders already… For more details, please check the FAQs page.

Submissions will be open until mid-October, after which the SVR selection committee — a mix of music and tech professionals — will choose the final line-up.

Can’t carry a tune in a bucket but want to join the fun?  Our registration and donation center is open. Event tickets include entry to the showcase and the after-party featuring the best networking, drinks, and dancing north of San Jose. Ticket purchases are tax deductible. Tickets are $25 or $75 for VIP tickets which include free drinks and food. Tickets can be purchased here.

On stage or off, we hope to see you at the show!

And we rocked!

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That’s us – we were there. And if you were there, what a night of music! Thanks to all who came out to support the bands and the cause – bringing music to kids in the Bay Area! Huge thanks to all of our sponsors, partners, and volunteers who made this happen.

Nokia’s SWAT team of “citizen journalists” armed with N95s snapped videos and…


and pictures…

Let’s rock!

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Silicon Valley Rocks! is almost here! You can still get your tickets here – http://svrocks.eventbrite.com/ or at the door. Silicon Valley Rocks! is a benefit for Music in Schools Today. Ticket purchases are tax deductible.

THE DETAILS:

Wednesday, December 3
7:00pm*
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 885-0750

Directions and parking: http://www.gamh.com/info/directions.html
NOTE: Parking across the street – for more options click on the link above. (Sorry, no valet for this one)

FOOD!: Great American has a full menu, too, so you can eat AND enjoy the music. Check out the menu: http://www.gamh.com/info/menu.html

*Ticketholders, please plan to arrive no later than 7:00pm. Slilcon Valley Rocks! is not your typical concert, where the doors open and the first band doesn’t go on until 2 hours later.

** Just Announced:
To reward you for being on time, we will be giving away two (2) VIP/premium tickets for any show at Shoreline Amphitheatre through December 2009 (offered by SLO / A Ticketmaster Company, value: $400)! Drop your card in the door on your way in. Drawing will take place as the Open Source Band takes the stage!

THE LINEUP:

You can check them out on the links above. Or connect to their profiles on Strands and discover more about them. Request an invitation to join Strands using promo code svrocks

See you at the show!

Shhh… a sneak peek at the fab items up for silent auction at SVR

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We have some incredible items up for bid at Silicon Valley Rocks! Here’s just a sampling of what you’ll see at the silent auction table. All items have been donated, and all proceeds from the auction will go to Music in Schools Today (MuST).

…and lots more, so be sure to check it out Wednesday night and put in your bid for a good cause!

Got bass? DJ Kid Kameleon rocks the after-party

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photo courtesy of Kelly Koehler

http://www.myspace.com/kidkameleon

We recently caught up with DJ Kid Kameleon, who’ll be spinning an eclectic mix for us at the SVR after-party—from breakcore to b-more, dubstep to dancehall, club, pop, and maybe even a little rock.

SVR: Who are your major musical influences?

Kid Kameleon: DJ Singe and MC Verb of Soundlab, DJ Spooky, DJ C, DJ Ripley.

SVR: What’s your history? How long have you been DJing?

Kid Kameleon: I’ve been into electronic music ever since I heard Axel F in the mid-80s. I picked up DJing in the late 90s. I was involved with the Soundlab collective in New York in the early ’00s, a group that was interested in boundary-pushing music and art in alternative spaces throughout New York City. For the last 2 years I’ve been involved with a crew in San Francisco called Surya Dub that does a monthly party at Club 6 focused on the wide variety of bass music.

SVR: What’s your day job?

Kid Kameleon: Representing a currently important Silicon Valley constituency: the unemployed!

SVR: What’s your connection to the tech industry?

Kid Kameleon: Work through the Electronic Frontier Foundation, plus who isn’t connected to the tech industry in SF?

SVR: Why is music education for kids important to you?

Kid Kameleon: Exploring music as a kid, either solo or in groups, is the vital spark of curiosity on which much future learning is based.

Kid Kameleon has been mixing, mashing, and maximizing bass genres for over 10 years. As a staff writer for XLR8R magazine, both his interviews and monthly column “Basic Needs” take readers to the furthest extremes electronic dance music, as do the numerous mixes he’s made for Shockout, Mashit, and dozens of other sites. As a blogger and scholar, his work ranges from measuring the social interactions of online networks to the implications of file-sharing on music business models.