OC Music Awards Night ft. Interview with Ashley Eckenweiler

Stacy Clark - Winner of Best Pop

It was an eventful Saturday night at the 2011 OCMA hosted at The Grove in Anaheim. The bands and artist nominees made their way to the black carpet; (that’s right, black for rock n roll) for photo shoots and interviews. Some came dressed for the occasion in their best rock in roll attire such as Speaker Junkies; the three-member crew nominated for Best Electronic. Although they didn’t win the award, they won my pick for best dressed. Other bands such as Death Hymn Number 9 came slaphappy in their everyday wear, but what would you expect for these cool punks? Semi-sweet was something to talk about as the three members had apparently “lost a bet,” and came dressed in none other than Lady Gaga’s meat dress, J-Lo’s low cut to the naval green gown, and Bjorks infamous swan dress. Another interesting look was The New Limb’s puzzling attire. The five band members each had a 3×3 block of letters for viewers to solve and each displayed their puzzle in different places. Lauren Salamone of The New Limb sported her puzzle on her back accentuating her lovely backless gown while other bandmates displayed their puzzles on their shoes, wrists, and other parts. See if you can figure out the puzzle here on their facebook page. www.facebook.com/thenewlimb

Parker Macy - Winner of Best Blues

Stryker from KROQ hosted the 2011 OCMA and created a fun environment for the night which benefited Music For A Cure; a non-profit organization that utilizes the healing power of music to financially support critically ill children through music therapy programs in children’s hospitals. Stacy Clark, the well-deserved winner for Best Pop, performed her hit,  “All Time Low,” and gave an outstanding first performance of the evening. The show continued with more award winners for Best Folk and Best Blues. For fans of Thrice, the winners of Best Alternative, good news for fans that they weren’t able to attend the show because they are currently working on new music to be released later this year. The second performance was by Dahga Bloom, the winners of Best Rock. Words can hardly describe the non-vocal new song my ears heard as this group of six guys created a unique sound and delivered just pure instrumental psychedelic talent. Following Evan Stone for Best Jazz was Blok for Best Electronic. Micah Brown, an effortless talent on his guitar, performed third of the night and accepted his award for Best Live Acoustic. He sang “Coming of Age,” a song that just makes you want to kick off your flip-flops and chill on a sandy beach. Avenged Sevenfold won for Best Metal, no surprises there with their hit single “Nightmare” that also snagged them the award for Best Album which they dedicated to Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan; their beloved drummer they lost this past year.

The Lifetime Achievement award went to Stan Freese, a world-renowned tuba soloist and Talent Casting and Booking Director for the Walt Disney Company. His goodhearted nature and passion for music were just some of his attributes that deserved him this great honor. And what a wonderful surprise it was to see his pal Mickey Mouse join him onstage to share in the excitement! A video of his colleagues and talented two sons was shown recognizing Stan’s successful career and dedication to honoring OC musical talent. Mr. Freese also gave a comical acceptance speech, stating with a serious tone in the mic, “Hi, I’m Stan and I’m an alcoholic” he joked, “but that’s another story.” He gave the audience a few good laughs but it was his lifetime dedication to music that earned him the standing ovation of the night.

Up next to perform was Nancy Sanchez with the Evan Stone Quartet. The jazzy ensemble was remarkable and soothing. Nancy Sanchez won the award for Best Latin and Evan Stone won for Best Jazz. Although Dirty Heads was not present to accept their award for Best World, the presenter gave a good excuse for them, joking “It’s permanently 4/20 with those guys so I’ll accept this award on their behalf.” Best Hip Hop was taken home by I & I that later gave a bass-beating performance that only lacked the gold chains and booty shaking back-up dancers that follows the hip-hop genre. The Steelwells performed and accepted the award for Best Live Band. No arguments here, this band had 12 members onstage using a wide array of instruments from drums to violin and cello to keyboards and hand drums that created a masterpiece of harmonies onstage for their song “Boxes.” Amanda Lamb took home the award for Best Youth Artist and The Growlers won for Best Surf. An ecstatic and jumpy DJ Thrifty Lips won for Best DJ. Total F-bombs: 2. Kiev, the thankful winners of Best Indie, not only won the award but also get to join in on the fun at the Redbull Soundclash in Vegas on March 12. Good luck, guys! Next was a dedication to those musical influential persons we have loved and lost; yet not forgotten. Next up was Dahga Bloom that won for Best Rock and said absolutely nothing when accepting the award. Were they being funny? No clue. We will have to find out. Social Distortion won for Best Punk, (duh) and was also given the OC Impact Award. The band wasn’t able to attend the show for obvious reasons, given their 32-year career and most successful release of their latest album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. Host Stryker described Social D as the “epitome of social cool,” “raw, dirty, epic,” amongst other words of adoration, and the band ended their thank you video with, “Ask not what music can do for you, ask what you can do for music.”

One of the most interesting and almost disturbing performances of the night was by The Growlers; winners of Best Surf, which dressed in white masks, black lace tights and red thongs and had a mass of what looked like foil surrounding the stage. Although it was hard to ignore their appearance, you cannot argue their amicable talent. The vocalist and bandmates were goofy to watch as their vocalist “mooned” the audience in his red thong. Following was Amalgam, winners for Best Music Video for their song “Halos,’ which personally gave me goose bumps as I watched it on youtube. It is a definite must-see. The winners of the People’s Choice Award was Ugly Paint, a group of youngsters that thanked their parents and musical teachers for their love and support throughout the last 6 years they have worked together. Be sure to check out the winners of Best New Artist, Railroad To Alaska who seem to be entertaining a growing number of fans as they were also nominated for Best Rock, Best Metal and Best Live Band. Young the Giant won Best Song for “My Body,” a feel-good song that can be enjoyable to sing along to.

The show went on about an hour later into the night than anticipated but with positive irrefutable energy. The Grove delivers an amazing venue for artists to celebrate in their success of musical expertise. The after party was hosted in the Terra Rosa room which consisted of draped ceilings and chandeliers with an abundance of chic cushioned lounges and over-sized pillows. A few cocktails with DJs spinning and bartenders pouring ended the night on a high and much thanks to Ashley Eckenweiler and Luke Allen for creating this unforgettable night for OC musical talent.

An Interview with Ashley Eckenweiler

How did you get in your perspective businesses? What was the inspiration to enter publicity/music?

Luke Allen has owned Gemini Rehearsal Studios in Santa Ana since 2001. Gemini Studios was a sponsor of OC Music Awards prior to Luke’s role as Producer of the Awards. Former Awards Founder and Producer, Martin Brown was anticipating retiring from the position and thought Luke the perfect candidate to take on the role. Luke’s passion for local music and career objective to provide opportunities for local musicians to succeed in their own home town was right in line with the mission and vision of OC Music Awards. The event is a platform to do just that.

How have the Orange County Music Awards evolved since Luke took over?

Each year the Awards continues to grow and involve more pinnacle pieces of the Orange County music scene. The visibility and reach of the event gets stronger each year leading to more opportunities for the local music scene to prevail.

What’s been your favorite moment in all the years you have participated in the Orange County Music Awards? The most memorable?

There are so many memorable moments and each year has it’s highlights. This year, honoring iconic band Social Distortion and long time industry leader, Stan Freese are just two of the anticipated unforgettable moments that will be presented at the 10th anniversary Awards on March 5 at City National Grove of Anaheim.

What’s the behind the scenes effort like for hosting the showcases and awards ceremony? It all goes without a hitch and seems so effortless.

There are many moving parts to a successful event. The Awards staff works endlessly to make sure that the show goes off without a hitch and the honors and performances are the stars of the evening.

How long do you prepare in advance before the first show!

OC Music Awards works year round supporting the local music industry and artists and preparing for the next Awards season.

Thank you for your time, and thank you both for putting on these fantastic shows!

BLOK - Winner of Electronic

2011 OC Music Award Winners

Check out the gallery here!