Recently I was asked for advice about approaching a record company.

This brought back happy memories of my times in bands where we would all traipse up to a record company, meet someone in A&R, and play them our latest demo.

These were never successful meetings and I doubt A&R departments still allow young hopefuls through the door so this is how I would approach it now.

Find someone whose musical opinion you trust and ask them if you are any good. If they say no then either improve, or give up and stick to the day job.

If they say yes find the record label most suited to your sound; the one you would really love to sign to.

Then find out who is responsible for new acts and try and speak to them. You’ll need to be charming to get past the receptionist. Don’t be put off by a negative response.

Once you have a name; you have a contact. Send this person your demo but make sure the whole package looks impressive: a plain silver CD with a hand written note is going straight into the bin.

So maybe send your trusted friend from above the whole package and see what improvements they can suggest.

And be prepared for a positive response. If they like you they will want to: see you play live as soon as possible and how many albums of material you already have.

Good luck!

In this Sunday’s Original Showcase we have Loz Bridge and the Box Social in session.

Loz used to sing for the Portsmouth band Suburbian who split at the end of 2007 leaving him to concentrate on his song writing and find musicians to compliment his new direction.

The Box Social includes Showcase regular Andrew Foster on guitar (left) and Matt (right) on a rather beguiling Spanish drum that you sit on to play.

Every Showcase session is always a new experience and it sometimes feels like the old days of recording when we try to get the best positions for the microphones and balance the sound levels.

Afterwards a small amount of reverb is applied to give the songs a “live room” feel but we don’t add compression any more as it seems to take away something from the band’s performance.

I didn’t realise we were part of an “anti-compression” trend until I heard about the “Loudness War”.

Compression has been used to make songs louder and help them stand out on the radio. However if today’s songs are loud, tomorrow’s will have to be even louder!

To counter this vicious circle, and the resulting poor quality sound it produces, the “Turn Me Up” campaign has been started by music professionals Charles Dye, John Ralston and Allen Wagner.

You can find out more about their attempts to bring dynamics back to music at www.turnmeup.org

It will open your eyes and maybe your ears too!

Jackson Analogue have a groove; the type that grabs your body and demands attention.

This groove comes from the Isle of Wight and contains infectious guitars acting as a whip to drive the beat or a counter balance to the emotionally charged vocals. All of this energy is seeped in Hammond organ.

Combined it makes Jackson Analogue one of the most authentic rock groups around.

They’re also willing to experiment. Their debut album “And then, nothing” (above) was mastered onto vinyl and then recorded back into a digital state. Thereby changing the tone of the recording and yet again finding the groove.

This album was also a way of cutting ties with the past and forging new relationships within the media and music industry for the future.

As guitarist Jim Holmes explained: “The deal we signed went sour and this album released all the music owned by that company. It’s had great reviews and brought the band to the front of people’s minds. But at the same time we are free to find people who can deliver more than we are capable of.”

Thanks to web sites like MySpace, YouTube and digital downloading, bands have access to more tools than some record companies release. So when they can’t any extra then bands have to move on.

As for future record deals Jim has this advice for himself and others: “Don’t rush into anything. Know who you are working with and get advice from as many industry people as possible.”

Jackson Analogue are in the process of making their second album which again will be recorded in the water tower on Osborne House on the Island. And have a new EP coming out soon via download.

They are playing The Bestival (Saturday, 6pm) an we’ll have a track lined up for this Sunday’s Original Showcase – 6pm original 106fm

Every Sunday, after 9pm, the Original Showcase has Fanpower, in which listeners, or fans of an artist, can request more plays of their favorite acts.

If success was based on the amount of requests we receive then Southampton based Melissa would be top of the charts.

She consistently gets requests from all ages, genders and nationalities. And it is no surprise.

Her voice is excellent; her songs are about love and life, and the music is a mixture of laid-back jazz and country. She plays keyboard and flute, Dave accompanies her on guitar

The requests arrive by text, email and telephone and it’s during the calls you can hear that Melissa’s songs have tickled an emotional response with her fans.

“I write about what ever springs into my mind, or is triggered by events around me, even conversations on the bus.” Melissa explained. “The song ‘Who Knows’ was about a depressed and lonely colleague who was hoping for that special someone to come along. I just put myself I her shoes and wrote about how that would feel.”

There is nothing new in Melissa’s approach to writing but she definitely has something which links her music to the minds and hearts of the listener.

Thanks to the Internet this effect is being felt abroad with an appreciative following on the American country circuit.

As soon as the album has been recorded Melissa is hoping to head out to the States; but the album comes first and that should be with us by the end of the year.

The Original Showcase will be playing a song by Melissa this Sunday after 6pm on Original 106fm.