Elias Arts & Avenida Acceso at Latin Alternative Music Conference
		Elias Arts has always had a passion for Latin music. It’s one of the reasons we opened Avenida Acceso last year and built an ensemble of some of the best multicultural composers and players in the world. It’s also why we’re so excited about this week’s live guests and that the Latin Alternative Music Conference is back in New York, July 10th – 14th. Of course, Elias Arts and Avenida Acceso will play major roles. LAMC is to Alternative Latin music as Sundance is to indie film. It’s a huge event with five days and nights of concerts, films, artist showcases, speakers and panel discussions throughout the city. This year’s panel discussions are considered the strongest in the event’s eight-year history and include Avenida Acceso’s Creative Director/producer/musician, Andres Levin and Elias Arts’ Director of Music Supervision, Nic Harcourt. Nic Harcourt's day job is Music Director of Santa Monica public radio station, KCRW, and host of their signature show Morning Becomes Eclectic. Nic is a huge fan and proponent of Latin music of all kinds and has been dubbed “Latin Alternative's Anglo Advocate” by The Washington Post. At LAMC, Nic will join a panel discussion on Thursday, July 12th, 3:30pm-5:00pm EST, titled "Selecting the Music: How Programmers, Marketers and Music Supervisors Make Their Decisions." Don’t reveal everything, Nic. Andres Levin, Creative Director of Avenida Acceso, is a powerful force in the world of Latin Music. He has produced albums for major Latin artists like the legendary, Miguel Bose. He has composed several Latin drenched film scores--four this year alone, including “El Cantante” the biopic on Salsa superstar, Hector Lavoe, starring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, which premiers August 1st . And, of course, he is the leader of his own Latin Alterative band, Yerba Buena. Andres will join a host of Latin music luminaries for the LAMC panel discussion on Friday, July 13th, 12:45pm-2:15pm EST, titled ”Class of ’97 Reunion: A Look Back at the Last Ten Years in Latin Alternative Music.”

LIVE & DIRECT from Elias NYC!

KCRW and LAMC broadcast from Elias NYC studios

Nic Harcourt, our head of Music Supervision, will be broadcasting TWO special editions of his Morning Becomes Eclectic show LIVE from Elias Arts NYC studios on July 12th and 13th. These will be the first live broadcasts from Elias’ state-of-the-art studios and they’ll be available simultaneously on-the-air, over the internet and as a podcast.

Click here to listen to KCRW.com and Nic Harcourt on MBE and bookmark the link so you can tune in on July 12th & 13th (12pm – 3pm EST), or listen live on air at 89.9FM from 9am-Noon PST on the West Coast.

As one of the biggest tastemakers in the industry, Nic is in NYC for the Latin Alternative Music Conference. He’s sure to break some exciting new discoveries from LAMC during his Elias broadcasts. Two bands from the conference are already confirmed to join us LIVE in studio.

On July 12th, Barcelona-based Pecker will join Nic in the studio for a special live performance. Pecker, whose second album “2 Y Las Nadadores” just hit digital stores, is a leading light of the burgeoning Catalan alternative music scene. You won’t want to miss this live set of their seductive, funky and seriously danceable sound.

On July 13th, Nic has Ceci Bastida coming to our studios for another exciting live show. Ceci Bastida was born and raised in Tijuana and became one of the first women to rise in the ranks of Latin rock after joining ska-punk band Tijuana NO at age 15. Nic is a big fan and has been spinning Bastida’s solo demos while the world awaits her full-length debut.

And if he wasn’t busy enough, Nic has also curated two full channels of great new music at RadioElias that you can listen to right now. Click here to download the player and start streaming these exclusive mixes. Stream them loud.

Also taking advantage of the Elias/KCRW connection will be, Raul Campos, host of KCRW’s Nocturna, an engaging blend of house, down-tempo, urban-soul, and Latin rhythms. Raul is host of this year’s LAMC. He’ll be broadcasting his show from Elias Arts NYC on Thursday and Friday. His show airs live from 10pm-Midnight PST – listen online at KCRW.com on the East Coast from 7pm-10pm EST.

Be sure to tune in for what promises to be a great set of Latin spiked sounds, beats and rhythms. Somewhere in the middle of all this excitement, we'll try and get some work done. Hey, we’re a music company. How hard can it be?

Speaking of Music Supervision...

As we mentioned, Nic Harcourt is Elias Arts’ director of Music Supervision. We’re thrilled to have him. And not just for the celeb factor. We love Nic because he loves music. Actually, Nic lusts and obsesses over music. His position at KCRW exposes him to more new music than anyone in this business. He is constantly playing undiscovered gems and bringing new acts into the studio for live performances. Well before anyone else has even heard of them. And he has impeccable taste.

Amazingly, Nic somehow stores all of this music up in his gigantic music freak brain. Much like our other Music Sup., Scott Deleau. Both of these men know more about music than anyone we’ve encountered. But it’s how they interpret and apply their knowledge to picking music that’s so powerful. Random lyrical references, perfect rhythms, ironic juxtapositions, they’re all in those gigantic brains in ways you can’t get from an organized database. It’s kinda scary actually.

Wow. Make that WOW! What a week. Nic Harcourt live from Elias NY. Amazing bands in our studios. Nic and Andres hanging in the same studio. And both of these giants speaking at LAMC. Ain’t nobody sleeping this week.