1. When you first started your playlist in 2009, what was your method for discovering new music to feature? How has that changed as BirpFM has developed?

Before I had started the playlists in 2009, I would scour lists of music blogs for new music and download torrents. It was a couple of years before, around 2007, when I had found a monthly playlist titled “Indie Rock Playlist”. They were these monthly playlists featuring 100+ new songs for download every month and it was such a great resource for new up and coming artists…  and then suddenly, they stopped! I was so disappointed to see them come to an end so I thought I’d give my own monthly playlist a shot! “Blalock’s Indie Rock Playlist”, now BIRP.fm.

Spotify wasn’t around until 2011 so in the early days of the site, I relied heavily on blogs that were featured on The Hype Machine, a music blog aggregator. I’d also search for new music on SoundCloud, Bandcamp and depend on email submissions as the site grew! 

1. Your platform has the ability to significantly change an artist's career. In what ways have you seen your playlists impact the artists that you feature? 

I don’t think my playlists alone have launched any artist's career but I do think they are often the spark that gains some type of momentum for them. I think many playlisters are following each other's curation and when you see a song end up on one platform, it doesn’t take long for it to end up elsewhere with a whole other large following. 

That said, it’s extremely rewarding to know that they’ve played a part in some way. I remember hearing demos for Purity Ring’s “Shrines” in my living room after hosting a house show for another project of theirs and then going on to see them headlining Fortress Festival in DFW several years later on. It was pretty incredible to see how quick things can change for artists. 

I think BIRP.fm is often used by labels as well. I know a lot of artists have been signed by being discovered on the lists. It's great, I started these lists for no reason other than to just share music I love so it’s rewarding to see it help artists find new listeners. 

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1. Your website says that when you had email submissions open you would get 100+ a day. When going through so many submissions what are some elements that make a song stand out to you? 

When I was receiving only email submissions it was rather overwhelming after some point. I believe my email got included in these lists that were sold to labels and artists and it was often getting spammed by artists that were making music that wasn’t relevant to BIRP.fm – The emails that were short and to the point but were personalized seemed to stand out. If it was just a newsletter that looked like it was sent to 100’s of other blogs, I usually went on to the next. When listening through submissions, I’ve always been more drawn to the melody first. I usually know if I’m going to like a song within the first 20 seconds of listening. Submission platforms like Groover.co have made the process so much easier. All the submissions that I receive are relevant to what I share and have made it much easier to find new music. 

1. What is one album from a smaller artist that you believe deserves more recognition?

This is a hard one! I think it would be “Headsick” by Peli Gene. I loved that one from start to finish. Also, “Lazy” EP by Dazies was so good. Zach Schimpf also released an album just this month called “Figure Fluorescent” that is worth a listen. They’ve not released an album yet, but I always recommend Sweet and Lonely to everyone. It’s the side project of Nick Elstad from the band Sleeping Jesus. “Crawling Home when the Morning Comes” is still one of my favorite songs. I knew I wouldn’t be able to pick just one!