We got to chat with Alex and this is what he had to say about the experience he had with his song Forever Yours and the events that followed its launch. Here’s what we got:

Alex Day

* You’ve been quite successful as a vlogger and musician for a while, but this is the first time you actually took on a mission as difficult as this (except reading Twilight). What brought this on? 

Alex: Well you should always aim high, I think. I didn’t actually expect the Christmas Number One – I said in my very first video about it, ‘we probably can’t do this’. But it’s fun to be part of the Christmas race, I miss that battle between all the top acts fighting for the top spot.

* Forever Yours is not what people would expect to come out around this time of the year and be so successful, how come you chose to do something other than songs involving love under the mistletoe and father Christmas? Why Forever Yours?

Alex: Yeah, I’ve seen people be a bit weird about that, saying “you should have released a Christmas song”. The whole point for me was that it isn’t a Christmas novelty thing, it’s just my first single, and I wanted to push it for success beyond just that one week. It was an investment move, I suppose.

* I have been following your timeline on twitter, you’re drawing in quite a crowd. Do you think it’s a reaction to the bad music we’re “graced” with on a daily basis or just love for the underdog? 

Alex: Thank you! I think it’s a couple things: interest in seeing how far an unsigned artist can go without any tricks except good music and a receptive audience, coupled with the fact that I’m very honest on Twitter and will continue to be so. But yes, most music is shit isn’t it?

*  There is a strong and strange phenomenon going on on twitter now, you actually got your followers to gift the song to people less fortunate and it’s actually working. How does it make you feel? It might sound like you should lie on the couch to answer this one.

Alex: It’s a shame, I think, that selfless generosity is referred to as a “strange phenomenon” in this day and age! It’s a wonderful thing, and it started because I was doing it – a couple people said their parents weren’t letting them buy the song because they didn’t ‘trust iTunes’ or something stupid like that, so I gifted it to them as gifting a song still helps for the chart. And from there I had people requesting the song but also a lot of people offering to gift it to others, so we set up a hashtag and they worked it out from there.

* There are several different version of Forever Yours going around and all of them have made the charts, do you have a favourite out of all of them? And why are there so many version?

Alex: Yes, the fifteen versions combined to one single chart place which is a useful little loophole in the UK charts, so that’s the reason for the number of them, but I didn’t release any that I wasn’t proud of as alternate versions in their own right. My favourite is the one that my friends Michael and Bill recorded – they did a dramatic reading of the song,  similar to William Shatner’s ‘Common People’ cover.

* The video…just the video. It’s quite different from what we see on TV, no flashy effects or big names directing it, but it’s still awesome. Who came up with the idea for it? And speaking of the video, how come it’s on Charlie’s channel and not yours?

Alex: Thank you I’m very proud of the video. It was Charlie’s idea, after asking me what the song was about and trying to get that across. That’s the reason it’s on Charlie’s channel – it’s Charlie’s video, he made it himself so he deserves to showcase it on his page. It also means he gets as much out of it as me, because he gets the subscriber gain and I get the exposure of the music. It’s something I hope we’ll be able to do again with future singles.

Alex Day

* The money you’ll be making from selling the song will go to World Vision, is Karma keeping you on top? You’ve been involved in several other charity events, any particular reason you chose World Vision this time?

Alex: World Vision is always the charity I’m most loyal to because they flew me out to Zambia for two weeks last year to personally observe their work in the field. I made a few videos about it and loved the experience of being out there. And yes, I’m sure it does make people feel a little better about supporting me. I’m really not in this for fame or money, I just want my music to be heard and enjoyed.

* You are the first unsigned artist to get this far, considering the competition you’ve had, you’re doing great. Would you like to become a signed artist? Join a label? Or would you like to keep doing your thing with little to no outside involvement?

Thanks – I’d like to keep doing my thing my way, but it’d certainly be nice to have a team of people helping me to do it better and with more money. I’d sign to a label if I was sure that I could still make every decision about my career on my own, I’m not against it – as I said, my biggest joy is that people enjoy my music, and being with a label would certainly help more people to reach my work.

* Any advice to future artists who might be looking at you for inspiration? 

Alex: Yeah, get off your arse and get known! Most artists settle for just putting a song out, they put it on YouTube, they moan that it doesn’t get as much views as they like, but they’re not doing anything to help – for the last month I’ve been non-stop ringing press people, newspapers, TV shows, music websites, radio, all to try and bring exposure to Forever Yours, saying “this is my story, let’s talk about it”, and you have to do that stuff. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you. And work out what your story is – for Forever Yours my story was “unsigned artist running for Christmas Number One”, which is a good story. You need to find something unique that will make people want to share your story with other people.

* Ok, question time over, what would you like to tell your fans? I’ve seen on the trending topics you went across the borders, people from all over the world are listening to you so what is the one thing you would like them to know?

Alex: I’d like them to know that I’m grateful, that I will keep them honestly informed on all the major decisions regarding my career and that you made my Christmas

Visit Alex Day’s Official Website and/or Official Twitter.

EV: Welcome to Entertainment Vine, Steve. Thank you for taking the time to discuss Music Saves Lives and Supa Pirate Booty Hunt with us.

SS: Thank you so much!

EV: To begin, would you share a little about how you became involved with animation? Were there any specific cartoons that inspired you as a child?

SS: Wow, so many cartoons I loved growing up including all the Disney classics movies, Disney Afternoon including Darkwing Duck (that’s why Cpt Zack Stevers wears a purple cape), Looney Tunes, Woody Wood Pecker, Transformers, GI Joe, and Robotech. Of course, the biggest influence on me was The Simpsons.

Supa Pirate Booty Hunt started as a skit on my internet college radio show at WVAU American University in Washington, DC. I was the general manager of the radio station and wanted to inspire my fellow students to try and take their shows seriously. So I started this skit called “Storytime with Steve Sievers” where I did these voices of a pirate and turtle going on different adventures each week on my show. The skit became such a hit but I didn’t realize it until the summer of 2004. I used to own a clothing line called Level 27 Clothing with my best friend Billy Martin from the band Good Charlotte. I went on the whole Vans Warped Tour in 2004 having a booth for Level 27. I was so surprised that so many people came up to me in cities all across North America telling me how much they loved the skit. It was in Vancouver Canada, on a Vans Warped Tour date, that a girl asked me to record her cell phone voicemail greeting in the Daniel the Turtle voice that I was like struck by lighting, I have to do something with this silly skit! When it came for me to decide on what to do my grad school thesis project on, I thought to myself “well I plan my day around on when The Simpsons comes on and still love animation, why not turn my radio skit into a cartoon show?” My journey into animation began!

Steve Sievers and Dahveed Kolodny-Nagy

EV: And what a journey it has been! How did you begin collaborating on Supa Pirate Booty Hunt with Dahveed Kolodny-Nagy?

SS: After I graduated college in August 2005, I moved to North Hollywood to try and find some animator/artist to team up with and help bring my cartoon to life. I went through four different animators and was about to give up on the whole thing. My friend Jason from college told me his friend Jeff worked with this animator/artist named Dahveed that was going through similar experiences as me and I thought this would be my last chance. So we were set up like a blind date and at first we both didn’t really trust each other because we went over our contract so many times. But the funny thing is that we became really good friends from it. We both share the same vision and passion for the project. We have been working together since 2007 and it’s been a great time.

EV: You and Dahveed have been guest panelists at a few conventions, what advice do you give aspiring animators?

SS: When I first moved to the Los Angeles area, everyone told me to pitch your concept right away. You don’t need any artwork or animation, just make some calls and get in there and pitch. Of course you can do that, but Hollywood gets pitches everyday, how can you stand yourself out from the crowd? My goal was always to build up the animation, self produce them, and create a following online. I’ve been in bands before and I have always treated the cartoon as one. To build a following you need to play live shows, right? Well, for cartoons you do conventions. So Dahveed and I have had a lot of booths at conventions and we have built up a following where we have been asked to do panels at conventions. Last summer I was a guest speaker on the cartoon workshop panel at San Diego Comic-Con. You can’t just create something and except people to find it on their own. You have to get out there and tell people about it. My advice is to produce some animation yourself. Even if nothing happens with it, like getting a TV deal, it is still an amazing feeling to see your characters come to life!

EV: I’ve noticed a lot of your fans wear a Daniel the Turtle necklace. How did Daniel find his way into the fashion industry?

SS: So when I had Level 27 Clothing, we made this necklace with Rusty from the band H2O’s company called Pnut Jewelry. Early this year I was at a Todd McFarlane signing at Golden Apple Comics and wearing my Level 27 Necklace. This guy said “nice necklace” and I replied “thanks, I helped designed it”. Then he replied “cool, I sculpted it”. Turned out his name was Oscar Ayotzintli and he used to work at Pnut Jewelry in New York City and just moved to Hollywood to get his own company Tlakuilo Kalli going. So I had Oscar sculpt and produce Daniel the Turtle necklaces. We have been selling them at conventions this year and now have them for sale online (you can buy them here). They make a great X-mas gift.

EV: Those would make the perfect gift! Captain Zack and Daniel the Turtle have set sail across the globe. Where is the most remote location you have been surprised to find fans from?

Tattoo of Captain Zack & Daniel the Turtle

SS: That’s hard because we have fans all around the world including Australia, El Salvador, UK, Brazil, and Sweden. We were actually in a documentary from there called Kree-ey-tiv-i-tee which means “creativity.” However the most surprised I’ve been is Kristin Miller from Maryland who got Cpt Zack Stevers and Daniel the Turtle tattoos on her leg.

EV: That is incredible how supportive your fans are. You support a non-profit organization called Music Saves Lives. Would you explain their outreach and how you became involved with them?

SS: Music Saves Lives is a non-profit that encourages young adults to donate blood and get rewarded with free music tracks, back stage passes, and more. Each blood donation can save up to three lives! They wanted to produce some PSA’s and go after the adult swim crowd. Music Saves Lives director Russel Hornbeck thought Supa Pirate Booty Hunt was the perfect fit. You can get involved in Music Saves Lives by finding a blood donation event near you or you can organize one yourself. Find out all the info at musicsaveslives.org.

EV: Your recent PSA for Music Saves Lives guest stars the band 3OH!3 leading to the introduction of your comic book on the Vans Warped Tour. Have you found that you are able to reach a different audience blending your animation into both the music and comic worlds? 

SS: Well since Music Saves Lives works with tons of bands, we wanted each animated PSA episode to include a guest star from a band. We asked 3OH!3 to be apart of our first animation because they were headlining the Vans Warped Tour 2011 and were big supporters of Music Saves Lives. Turns out it was an easy sell for them because they loved Supa Pirate Booty Hunt. The animated episode was featured on WarpedTour.com and 3oh3music.com with a lot of people commenting on how the cartoon made them decide to donate blood, which is amazing! Dahveed and I were guest at 4 Colors Fantasies comic shop for Free Comic Book Day festival and I thought to myself “why don’t we turn our animated PSA into a free comic book that Music Saves Lives can give out at events?’. Russel loved the idea and a month later we had our launch party for the comic book at Golden Apple Comics and also 10,000 comics were given out at every date of the Vans Warped Tour, San Diego Comic-Con, Anime Expo, Chicago Comic-Con, and Mid-Ohio Comic-Con.

Steve and his wife Chelsea at BIFF

EV: While folks were taking home your comic book you ended up taking home some very impressive awards. Congratulations on your recent six wins at the Burbank International Film Festival. Which categories did you win? Were you able to actually keep any of the awards?

SS: Thank you. I was so shocked. I would of been happy with one award but we ended taking home six awards for the following:

• Best Voice Acting
• Best Original Writing
• Best Art Direction
• Best Character Design
• Best Production Design
• Best Sound Editing

The best part is that the judges were Al Jean and Mark Kirkland of The Simpsons.  I even told them at the film festival how The Simpsons made me decide to turn my radio skit into a cartoon show. How neat is that!? I did keep two of the awards but I am ordering more so I can have one of each.

EV: You currently have a kick-starter campaign for a new Music Saves Lives PSA starring Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. Will you tell the readers how they can become involved with this project and the amazing rewards you are offering?

SS: We feel so inspired after winning six awards at the Burbank Film Festival for our animated episode MSL PSA “Nurse Boobies Please” that we want our next episode “Metal in my Shell” with Dave Mustaine to be amazing! So we have decided to open it up to fans to help this life saving message and be rewarded with concert tickets, monster energy case, and even star in the animation along side Dave, Cpt Zack Stevers, and Daniel the Turtle. Find out all the details here (ends on December 1st).

Steve with Steve-O

EV: Are there any additional upcoming Music Saves Lives or Supa Pirate Booty Hunt celebrity collaborations you’re able to share with us?

SS: After we finish our Dave Mustaine episode, we will have future ones with Steve-O from Jackass and Chuck Billy from Testament. Hopefully, we’ll have time to finish some other Supa Pirate Booty Hunt episodes we have yet to complete.

EV: If Supa Pirate Booty Hunt were to become a live action film who would you want to play Daniel the Turtle and Captain Zack?

SS: Great question! Jason Mewes would make a great Cpt Zack Stevers and Danny DeVito would make a great Daniel the Turtle.

EV: Thank you so much for sharing with us today, Steve. We wish you luck on your kick-starter campaign and can’t wait to see who gets animated.

SS: Thank you!

Tony Bennett ft. Lady Gaga

I came across this song with Tony Bennett featuring Lady Gaga ~ “The Lady is a Tramp” and it’s definitely a must listen/buy type song.  I have been a fan of Tony Bennett since I was young and seeing Lady Gaga duet with him was great. I also love seeing Lady Gaga merge with classic artists and perform a song without all the theatrics.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Lady Gaga music, but I really tend to like her when she does collaborations more.  This song comes from one of my childhood idols Frank Sinatra and both artist pay a great tribute and respect to him and the song in the way it was performed.  So for me this gets 2 thumbs up and you should go check it out.

The series follows these cops, especially Lily Rush, as they do their best to go back years to serve justice and give closure to those left behind.

The music in the series is stone cold brilliant, weaving pop songs along with music from the year the crime has happened. This being a Jerry Bruckheimer produced series, all the music is done by the original artists.

But, what about the score? The pieces of music that help move the story along. Well lucky for us lovers of score music, TV scores are on an up rise and this is a wonderful example of what happens when it’s done right. Michael Levine’s score for “Cold Case” is extraordinary in its depth and richness yet retaining a bit of a modern edge to it.

What I find amazing in this score is that it was composed and played by three artists, including Levine. It rivals any major Hollywood film in its depth and pacing.

Now while I also admit I don’t really care for soundtracks, I think a case could be made for a Cold Case sound track as well and it would be a real treat to all us Cold Case fans!

(written by Michael Sullivan)

This is a pretty well put togther soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh who has carved a nice little niche in cult movies like ‘Rushmore” and “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”. While Mothersbaugh may be best remembered as the lead singer for the New Wave band,DEVO…much like Danny Elfman ahead of him,Mark has turned to making music for TV and movies,winning a Emmy in the process.

But composing a score is vastly different from doing a soundtrack and while I tend to favor scores much more,a good well thought soundtrack of GOOD original music can also drive a film along.

This is a nice blend of well known names (The Jam),solid underground (Billy Bragg),some fellow New Wave acts (The English Beat) and the best part…3 new tracks contributed by Mark himself. Its a nice little mixing bowl for old and new fans alike.

As for the movie…it has Anna Faris in it and based on that alone,I recommend seeing this highly.

Despite the fact I have yet to read any of the Spiderwick series..I thought the previews of the first movie looked promising, full of adventure and derring-do in a PG world, nice and safe.

Well if the movie matches the score,the Spiderwick Chronicles will be much darker and interesting to look at. My favorite film composer,James Horner,has created a most brooding and deeper score then you think this film can handle. Its a fast and very brisk score with lush strings and heavy brass on most of the CD. There is no light or airy “feel good” theme, mostly more of “what will happen next” type of suspense.

You can tell Horner has taken this project to heart,his score is inventive and creative..it showcases Horner’s comeback from many poor efforts of the past 2-4 years. Simon Rhodes did a masterful job recording and mixing this,its a very crisp recording indeed. With such a fine score in hand, Paramount should have high hopes for the movie featuring the fine young actor, Freddie Highmore.

Recommended!

One of the most delightful movies of 2007 was Disney’s “Enchanted” featuring a princess from a animated fairyland coming into the “real world”. While the story was old hat, it was the cast and the wonderful score/soundtrack that made this film such a big hit.

Scored by a old Disney hitmaker, Alan Menken and featuring some very catchy tunes by Stephen Schwartz, you expect some very good music and with this album, you’re not let down.

While you think the focus would be on a very Martina sounding Carrie Underwood singing “Ever,Ever,After”, its the film’s star,the late blooming Amy Adams who steals the show. Adams has a very sweet voice and a very well trained one as well..by not overpowering both the material and her vocals,she is joy on the biggest songs in the movie.

The first three songs are the best by far and its no fluke that all 3 songs are Adam’s…including the reggae influenced “That’s How You Know” which is a great song.

The score is workmanlike,sturdy but not outstanding by Disney’s standards…which makes it even cool that a album like this is so magical!

Highly recommended!