Riddle me this: What has a rooster, a sound booth and one of the greatest guitar instructors packaged into one of Austin’s landmark buildings? East Side Music, of course.  After over a decade of playing and teaching guitar, founder Alex Ballentine decided it was time to offer the good people of Austin a one-stop shop to learn, create, and record music, so he founded East Side Music, nestled on the edge of Austin’s blossoming East Side.

Alex and Ari hang out in the studio at East Side Music

Early sunset on a chilly night, a group of friends and I gathered at the ND to get a peak at the inner workings of the budding endeavor. After pouring into the music studio upstairs for a private recording sesh, we opened up a few bottles of wine to loosen up the vocal chords and wash away any performance anxiety we might have. The end result was a night of recording yoga-ish stretches, somersaults, beat-boxing and improvised vocal and musical stylings from several of my favorite Austinites. Verses on girls, bible scripture, sex, dating, and skewl (school) freely flowed from out of the ether into the mic. Even my good friend Candace summoned up enough courage to make it into the sound booth and bang out a rap song.

To Alex, music is an imaginative sequence of sounds that convey a story and a perspective. To demonstrate this, we decided to collect everyday sounds of the East Side and weave them into a musical score. From tattoo guns to breaking bottles and flashing railroad crossings, the end result is something fun and danceable.

Check it out:

Remixing the East Side with East Side Music’s Alex Ballentine

Alex breaks a bottle, a sound he'll later use to remix the East Side.

Meet Alex and friends this Saturday at the ND from 6-9PM. Come dance to the stylings of Greyson Singleton, and chow down on complimentary Jimmy John’s. No cover to enter! And Alex is even giving free lessons!

EXPERIENCE: East Side Music Opening Party… (02.12.2011); The ND (E. 5th at Brushy, 78702); 6-9P; FREE Facebook Event

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