Acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer and composer Mike Viola on How the ASCAP EXPO led to Producing an Album for 2011 EXPO Attendee Noam Weinstein
"ASCAP EXPO gives musicians a chance to be face-to-face with someone." - Mike Viola
In a great example of the real opportunities that attendees can experience by attending the EXPO, Mike Viola met singer-songwriter Noam Weinstein while in an elevator at the conference. The two connected musically and their meeting led to Viola producing Weinstein’s new album (read Noam's account of his fateful EXPO elevator ride). Here Mike talks about his experience at the EXPO and why attending it is a great move for any music creator.
Singer, songwriter, producer and composer Mike Viola has had an eclectic andsuccessful music career. As the musical architect of the acclaimed pop/rock band The Candy Butchers, which released three albums on Sony, and as a revered solo artist, Viola has created an impressive body of work, including his latest album, Electro de Perfecto. As a collaborator, he has worked with such artists as Fountains of Wayne, Dan Bern, Ryan Adams, Mandy Moore, Dan Wilson, Bleu, Kelly Jones and
many, many others. Viola also has a great and growing career in film work – as the co-producer and lead singer of the Oscar-nominated title track from Tom Hanks’sThat Thing You Do! to writing music for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Get Him to the Greek. Most recently, Viola wrote music for this year’s Sundance film, That’s What She Said.
At the 2011 ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO, Viola spoke on the panel “The Business of Being a Songwriter,” performed at the “I Create Music” Centerstage showcase, and led a handful of One-on-One Sessions, which as you will see in the video above also had a profound impact on him.
