For the production of the show, I’ve traveled to Las Vegas and a city outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.  If the show gets picked up (even for six episodes) it looks like I’ll be spending a greater deal of time in small town Utah.  Utah is gorgeous, so I really wouldn’t mind that.

I cannot describe the show on my blog (hopefully America and the rest of the world will know about it come September), but it has been an exciting roller coaster.  We’re working with an executive producer that has a ten year history in reality television with huge pitch meetings lined up for next week.  I’ve been in charge of the visuals and produced all of the materials that they’ve been using thus far.  I’ve developed a story and characters that I’m really excited about.  This would be the first time where I completely take my hands off the camera to concentrate on story development – something that I’ve wanted to do for a really, really long time.

It would be such an adventure if this took over my life – we’ll see.

I’ll also be traveling to Madrid for the entire moth of July (don’t ask me how I’ll work on the show and be in Madrid, because I’m not quite sure…)  I have to finish up my USC language requirements, so I figured that it would be best if I went directly to the source.  This will give me an opportunity to distance myself completely from the city that I’ve found so much comfort in and experience something entirely unfamiliar.  If you know me, I live off of the thrill that comes with that.  I had a meeting about it yesterday and cannot wait to board the plane to Europe.

Lastly, I’m working on my first project for a new, smaller record label that I’m really excited about.  Their roster includes artists that I actually listen to (!).  No more music videos or meaningless videos for me – a kid has to grow up at some point.  We’ve got real projects in mind.  I’ll write about that another time.

If you’ve been reading my blog since I was working with Warner, you’ve come with me on a long journey that seemed to come to a violent halt when I decided to go back to school.  I spent the last several years with over-the-top anxiety about getting back into the working world.  It is all starting up again.  I didn’t give up, I didn’t lose passion, I didn’t lose my contacts and I can’t wait to share the continuation of my career with you.

From the shoot for Never Shout Never's "I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know"

It has been a while since I’ve had a video go to broadcast.  Dry spell = over.  The video that I directed and produced along with my brother, Garrett Ruggieri, for Never Shout Never’s “I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know” is heading off to broadcast land WITHOUT the annoying lyric scroll on the bottom.  Keep an eye out on MTV and FUSE in the late hours of the night.

Embedding is disabled on the video, but click here to check it out on YouTube.

Band of Skulls “Light of the Morning”

1. Passion Pit – “Moth’s Wings” and “The Reeling”
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero” and “Hysteric”
3. Phoenix – “1901″
4. Kings of Leon – “Use Somebody”
5. The Answering Machine – “Obviously Cold”
6. Bob Dylan – “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
7. Cat Power – “The Greatest”
8. Coldplay – “The Hardest Part”
9. The Beatles – “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”
10. Keane – “With or Without You” (U2 cover)

First off, I apologize for my lack of updates - I’ve spent this past week and a half getting back into the Los Angeles groove.  I had a single day to unpack, reorganize everything and hang out with family.  I also drove up the coast a bit and walked along the beach, met up with some friends, attended numerous Mexican dinners (Mexican food never gets old…) and spent a few evenings in Venice.  In between, I scheduled pick-ups of equipment and attended shoots.  So far, I’ve filmed a couple of pieces for Warner, purchased a brand new high definition camera (!!!) and sound kit, spent some time on commercial sets with family (learning about camera and sound techy stuff) and celebrated my 20th birthday.   I’ve also spent a great deal of time in the Shangri-La Music office helping organize their video content and setting up a workstation of my own!

Things aren’t slowing down just yet.  I’m running errands/delivering content tomorrow, filming with The Maine on Tuesday on their video shoot for “Into Your Arms”, editing a clip for Jack’s Mannequin and working out of the 2200 Main Street office for the remainder of the week.

Come visit me and let’s have lunch.

Music Download:
Gui Boratto – “Beautiful Life” 

Lately, however, I have grown to see why the structure has worked in the music industry for so many years.  I have been hostile towards them, simply because I saw unwillingness to accept that the Internet was going to revolutionize the music industry.  After all, music spreads faster now than ever before.  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ most recent album “It’s Blitz!” was leaked weeks before it was supposed to hit the street – the label had to come up with an entirely new marketing plan fast!  There is still some improving to do, but they are working on it.  For example, updating YouTube pages, Twitter, Myspace, Imeem and everything else is absolutely crucial.  This is something that independent labels have been extremely good at and majors have pushed aside – until recently.

I sat on the phone for hours the other night with a best friend that has spent years swimming through the major music industry with me.  He helped me out on my first videos and found his way to MTV at the age of 18 – soon after I found mine to Warner.  We came to an interesting conclusion:

The Internet is so cluttered now that it is extremely difficult for independent artists to reach a market beyond the mess.   Major labels have bought up all of the independent labels that were worthy of releasing music and, like the past, made it extremely difficult (if not impossible) to release anything without the help of a major.  They have closed the doors, essentially, to the valuable online portals.  It is one thing to get your album on iTunes, that’s easy, but marketing to a national audience is another story!  Though I’ve always supported the independents, I ultimately support those who work with the majors to support their “independendness”.  A major corporation has worldwide distribution and access to an infinite amount of resources, so why not take advantage of that?

When it comes to illegal downloading, the adults and tweens are willing to pay for their music (even if it is digitally).  But my generation is growing up quickly and is starting to pay for their music too.  I have found, in myself and others, that my fellow generation Y’s are finally starting to put down some money to show their appreciation of the music that they enjoy.

I came across a band called Parachute a couple of months ago.  They have been signed to Mercury and Island Def Jam since 2007 and are finally gearing up to release their first single, “She Is Love”.  I am confident that this song will be a hit single sometime soon.  Their chords are simple and seem to scream “VH1″.  You may be a diehard fan of obscure indie music and I appreciate a great deal of it, but I believe that refreshing and easy to listen to music can be heard repeatedly.  I see this as an opportunity to create art that can be backed by an institution that has the ability to support it financially.  Why fight that?

Of course this is all based off of mere observation.  I’m not one with an extensive past or reputation, but I have a good feeling that we’ll see a revival of major label success.  This is a chance for my generation to tell them what’s cool – and have them fund it.  After all, I’m sick of dancing by myself to that band that nobody knows of.  Being “different” gets old.  I want others to share the love that I have for the bands that I listen to.  I want thousands of people listening and dancing along.  Worldwide.  There is nothing wrong with that.

Comment and let me know what do you think. I’d love to create a discussion.

Some music that you must listen to:

“Wake Up” – The Arcade Fire

“Move You” – Anya Marina

“Lonely Sailor” – Rifle Recoil

It will brighten up your day.