Cory Graves
Irving Gets A Music Factory, S1 Teams With Madonna and Double Wide Axes Good Luck Karaoke.
For years now, the City of Irving has gone back and forth on how to best make use of the empty lot once occupied by the long imploded Texas Stadium.
Late last week, though, the Dallas Business Journal reported that the North Carolina-based Ark Group plans to break ground on a concept called the Irving Music Factory that will enter that space — one that doesn't sound all that far off from a proposed idea that had been discussed for the space back in 2011, actually.
Plans call for a 500,000-square-foot entertainment complex being built on the site — one that will house multiple stages and amphitheatres, 100,000-square-feet of offices, 350,000-square-feet of boutique shops and some 40 bars and restaurants. Oh, and all of this will start being built sometime within the next three months.
The project is currently scheduled for completion sometime in early 2016.
And just in case you were wondering: No, Ark's Irving Music Factory is in no way affiliated with the California-based ARK Music Factory, which you may recall as the entity responsible for unleashing Rebecca Black into the world. We checked.
Also nothing at all like the latter's approach to artificially crafting pop stars? The method being employed by onetime Fallen From the Nest singer/guitarist Taylor Robinson to shape the next generation of rockers. Through his Taylor Robinson Music network of instructors, he's helped prospective students get hooked up with local, vetted musicians for private lessons. It's an idea that earned Robinson some national recognition of late when he appeared on ABC's Shark Tank seeking some backing from investors like Mark Cuban. Unfortunately for Robinson, not even a little hometown bias could help him score a deal with the outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner — or any of the other “sharks,” for that matter.
Then there's SymbolycOne, who has had no trouble at all landing production deals from the absolute biggest names in the hip-hop and pop worlds in recent years. His latest A-list collaboration? It comes in the form of none other than Madonna, who this week tweeted a picture of the two hard at work with the following caption: “Having an Iconic Moment in the studio with Toby-Mozilla and S1. My throat hurts from singing laughing and crying. #artdorfeedom”.
Similarly, local musician/producer Nick Seeley has tackled his share of high-profile projects as well. Seeley, who you may remember playing a small role in crafting Ke$ha and Pitbull's most recent hit, is also responsible for co-writing the song “I Won” from Future's sophomore album Honest, which is out today via Epic Records. Check out a video for that single — which also features a guest verse from Kanye West that's almost exclusively about Kim Kardashian's ass — below.
Not to be outdone, the formerly Denton-based musicians in Parquet Courts released a video for “Sunbathing Animal,” the title track from its upcoming sophomore album. It features a cat, whom the band says inspired the song in the first place.
Blue, the Misfit also released a video this week for his X, the Misfit-featuring “TRILLionaire” cut from his debut LP Child in the Wild. Check it.
Meanwhile, a bunch of other local outfits offered up streams of their latest material this week, too. For instance, Old 97's, whose filthy new LP we've been digging on for some time now is now streaming in full here.
Similarly, Denton's Centro-matic quietly uploaded a heavy, blues-y new song called “Salty Disciple” to its Soundcloud page a few weeks back.
And, despite the fact that rapper Bobby Sessions uploaded his “Buckle Up” track his BandCamp page at exactly 4:20 p.m. on April 20, it inexplicably has nothing at all to do with smoking weed.
Also released last week was a new Daytrotter Session from Toadies that features the band covering Blondie's “Heart of Glass.” Though it requires a subscription to Daytrotter in order to stream that particular track, we wouldn't worry about signing up; there are plenty of videos online — like, say, this one — where you can see the band doing their somewhat lackluster take on the tune at recent live shows. We also imagine that the band — whose Rubberneck was just named one of the 40 best mainstream alternative rock records of 1994 in an oddly specific Rolling Stone list — will probably whip that one out at some point during its headlining set at next month's Homegrown Music & Arts Fest.
That fest, meanwhile, released its full schedule of set times earlier today.
Similarly, the Black Flag-headlined Elm Street Music & Tattoo Festival released the full lineups and schedules of bands performing at Three Links, Dada, Wits End, and Trees over the course of its own five-day run. You can find that information here.
Lastly, we must pour one out for Double Wide's long-running Thursday night staple, Good Luck Karaoke, whose relationship with the bar ended this week after a three-year run. In Good Luck's place on Thursdays nights, new Double Wide PR guru Jessica Luther says the bar will host a new, '80s wrestling-themed competition karaoke concept called Thursday Night SmackDown.
“Participants will have the option of 'ringing into the ring,' which will be hosted by alternating guest 'referees,'” says Luther. “Ringing in will announce the singers' intent to compete. As always, anyone will be able to sign up and sing. Competing is not required to participate. At 1 a.m., referees will use crowd applause to determine the winner, who'll receive the honor of a championship belt and a $50 Double Wide gift card.”
As for Good Luck? Well, per at least one comment on its official Facebook page, they'll “be back sooner than you think.”
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