SXSWORLD

Six Music Speakers Illustrate Diversity of SXSW Panel Choices Eli Janney by Melissa Joulwan in D.C., instead of waiting for a label to throw you money, you'd just start playing and recording." And it was at D.C.'s punk rock epicenter, Inner Ear Studios, that Janney observed bands like Minor Threat and later, Fugazi, who took the city's self-reliant, straight-edge ethos to the world. For engineer, producer and musician Eli Janney, the Washington, D.C. music scene in the '70s and '80s established a DIY aesthetic that shaped his approach to music, both onstage and off. "Most bands' goal was to be signed by a major label," Janney says, "But New York City in the early '90s and a decade spent playing with the band Girls Against Boys. After six albums and several world tours, two events brought Janney back to his recording studio roots: Girls Against Boys coming to a "good stopping point" and the birth of his first child. "I really wanted to be home with my family," he explains. Back in the recording studio, Janney's current gig is recording, mixing and engineering bands with that familiar DIY ethic, and his passion to be immersed in and make music has not faded. "I definitely still have a drive to create music; I can't help myself, " he says. "People think of musicians as being kids in their 20s, but age doesn't matter. As musicians, we should be making music our whole lives." That get-it-done mentality stayed with Janney, through a move to Eli Janney will participate in "Promoting DisCord in the DesCene" on Thursday, March 17 at 3:30pm. Renata Marinaro by Linda Laban Renata Marinaro is the manager of health services education for The Actors Fund, a nationwide health and social services group. The name is something of a misnomer, as Marinaro councils actors, musicians, visual artists, stage hands and, as she puts it, "everybody who makes the entertainment business happen." She guides these freelance workers toward heath insurance to fit their individual needs and budgets. "We want them to have affordable, comprehensive insurance, and to keep them insured," emphasizes the 43-year-old. At SXSW, Marinaro hopes to spread the message of health insurance as a preventative measure that keeps artists healthy and debt free: "I 56 SXSW ORLD / F EBRUAR Y 2011 recently worked with a musician who was into fitness and nutrition, but he developed kidney stones. He had some money put aside for a project, but his medical bills eventually came to $10,000. We then found out he would have been eligible for a government program that would have allowed him to keep his savings." Marinaro's career in social work has included tenure in hospitals, a drug treatment program and CancerCare. She also wrote the guide "Every Artist Insured," which is available at the Artists Heath Insurance Resource Center's website. Her duties now include explaining recent healthcare reforms, but as she advises, that is mostly good news: "Artists and freelancers are going to be in better shape in 2014 when more changes start." "It's not the sexiest subject in the world, but it's really important," she says of health insurance education. "As long as artists are educated consumers, they'll be able to take advantage of what's out there." Renata Marinaro will take part in "Break a Leg! Musicians and Health Care Reform" on Wednesday, March 16 at 3:30pm. Kevin Seal by Scott Schinder "I feel that we're a democratizing force in that we grant wider access to the airwaves than traditional radio has provided," says Kevin Seal, executive producer and show host for Pandora, the automated music service that creates customized playlists for users based upon their indi- vidual taste. At SXSW Music, Seal will participate in the panel "The Virtual Music Scene, New Communities and Influence," which will discuss how new models of promotion and distribution can contribute to nurturing regional music scenes. The former MTV VJ is in a unique position to observe how listeners interact with new music. "More than 75 million people already are listening to Pandora as part of their everyday lives," observes Seal, who also plays and sings in the San Francisco Bay Area band Griddle. "More and more people are listening to Pandora from their smart phones, TVs, blu-ray players and other connected in-home electronic devices. The car is also a huge space for us, and we have relationships with many car manufacturers who are putting Pandora in the dash. "Pandora works for people who are experts at finding new music that excites them, as well as for listeners who may not have the time to seek, Seal enthuses. "We hear from a lot of people who once were active lis- teners, but for whom jobs and families and the world got in the way. They'd stopped buying music. But through Pandora, they can discover new sounds without digging through sites and sifting through recom- mendations. Now, those folks are buying tracks and albums again, and they're excited about music again." Kevin Seal will participate in "The Virtual Music Scene, New Communities and Influence" on Wednesday, March 16 at 3:30pm.

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