Chowderhawk.com blog

Death Of Luke EP Cover

In August 2009 DJ Bricksta released his EP Death Of Luke after numerous setbacks and delays. Fortunately it seems that those delays were in good nature as what was produced was an enjoyable EP from an up and coming artist. With the EP coming in at just over 30 minutes it’s just the right length to be able to listen to it on the go. It’s lucky for the EP that it can be listened to in one sitting as the tracks would not be as strong on their own as they are together. Each track is decent on its own, but when brought together into an EP the style evident throughout causes the tracks to stand more solidly.

Unfortunately for the cohesive aspect of the EP it ends with a remix of L.S.M.O. by Ross McGrath. Since the EP does not have any clear singles and rather works better as a whole package, ending it with a remix appears to be an odd choice. This leaves the listener with the final impression of DJ Bricksta being one that is not actually of him, but of Ross McGrath. Had the track been left off the EP, the EP would not be any weaker for it and perhaps may be stronger. Another letdown is the seeming lack of experimentation with this EP. It’s safe and it works, but it doesn’t seem to want you to explore it and rather presents itself on the surface. It’s a solid first release, but nothing more than solid.

The strongest tracks by far on the EP are Tears and The Heart both featuring Nick Astbury. Those are closely followed by Civic which features Jesse Whithear. Throughout the EP it is clear that DJ Bricksta has placed his emotions into this album and it does work. From the brilliant guitar in Civic to the poppy synth melody in The Heart it is clear that this EP has been slaved over until it was just right. If you had to describe the album in a sentence it would be this:

Death Of Luke is an album bred from emotions and despite a few quizzical musical choices still performs as a whole musical package, rather than as a collection of songs.

Rating: 7.5/10

Death Of Luke EP was released in digital format only and is available for free download in a variety of formats at djbricksta.bandcamp.com and in 320kbps MP3 from mininova.org.

See DJ Bricksta at:

• Kill The Noise @ Transit Bar – 3rd September
• 360 @ UC Refectory - 25th September
• Foreshore Music Festival – 28th November

Hey everyone!

I’ve had some people wanting to get a copy of Digital Translation, my EP released in late 2008. Apparently I mentioned that the physical product was “Limited Edition” and people got interested in it. Firstly I’ll tell you how you can get one and how sales have been so far.

How to get a copy:
If you want to get a copy the first thing you should do is either drop me a message via facebook or send me an email at sales@chowderhawk.com. However you choose to contact me about it I don’t really mind. The price of a CD is $7 (Australian) plus any shipping if I can’t give the CD to you personally.

Physical over Digital:
I had a discussion with a friend of mine where he bought up the fact that with 5 songs on the CD it comes to around $1.40 a song. As much as I’d wish I was making $1.40 profit from each song, I’m really not. With everything included the CD came to $602.80 for 100 copies. So for manufacturing the CD and packaging it comes to around $6.03 leaving roughly just 14 cents a song. When I look at the work I put into the music selling it for 14 cents a song with a maximum possible profit of $97.20 it seems rather idiotic for me to have got the physical product made at all.

I’m not naive, I know people weren’t gonna just run up to me and throw money at me to get these CD’s. But if you want to know why I did it then read the next few sentences very closely. I did it for you and I. I’m not doing this for the money, I’m not doing this so that women and men alike will throw off their clothing in admiration me and I’m not doing this because I like losing money. The fact that I put my music up for free download on www.chowderhawk.com and The Pirate Bay was so that anyone in the entire world could hear my music for free.

So, after reading that I’m making a gob smacking profit of 97 cents and that I’m not forcing you to buy the music in order to hear it, I guess that you’ll want to know why you should even bother thinking about buying the physical product. I personally believe that holding a CD in your hands is infinitely better than just pirating/downloading it. If you really enjoy an artist then having a physical product that you can proudly say “I own this, here it is” about is the greatest complement you can make. My motivation for making music isn’t driven by getting that 97 cents from someone buying a CD, it’s from people saying that they enjoy listening to the music. So buy a CD, give that ultimate gesture to me that says “I want you to make more”.

That gesture is the thing that keeps me going.

To sum everything up:
If you have $7 and want a CD then contact me any way you can and just ask to buy one. I might be holding some more giveaways in the future. Also, if you enjoy the music I make, don’t want to buy a CD and want to help me feel motivated to make some more music, then invite more people to become fans. Just click that “Suggest to friends” button and go nuts.

Thank you so very much,
Ross