Sunday, June 22, 2014

YouTube Channel Profile Series: AlterWhite's Channel

As expected, it's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly look at 1-3 YouTube channels with at least a 50% concentration of local metal/hard rock concert videos, so fans can discover, read up on, and check out the content on them! Our third straight installment with a single randomly selected channel, this month's profile is courtesy of a prolific and talented local musician who seemed to be on his way to good things in the early 2010s, so read on below for this month's profile!
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AlterWhite's Channel
(http://www.youtube.com/alterwhite)

Owner: Local solo musician & former AlterWhite singer/drummer Mike Matthews

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 10th, 2011; Videos posted from May 2012 through October 2013

Channel Summary: Originally the official YouTube channel for Mike's early 2010s metal project AlterWhite (whose main activity was limited to online song postings), 9 original songs under the AlterWhite banner were posted there through August 2012, with the channel switching to focus on original songs recorded solely by Mike starting that fall. 21 songs were uploaded over the following year, with all but the last four being designated as part of "albums", though none received a paid public release. As well, this channel featured some early AlterWhite originals (including select covers) in 2011, but all were deleted by the following year.

Why Should You Watch: You should give Mike/AlterWhite's channel a look for some solid and developing original material that it'd be interesting to see Mike revisit! While his James Hetfield-reminscent vocals often sound very overdone, he does have guitar and drumming skill on his song postings, and AlterWhite guitarist Kevin McCarthy also contributed well on those early songs. There was work to be done to shore up both projects' sound, but don't let them slip you by! Note however that Mike's uploads are all song postings only, and he hasn't visibly used this channel since last fall.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

AlterWhite - Watch With Eyes Closed: Before transitioning to solo material, Mike's band AlterWhite produced some promising (if incomplete) original songs in their 2012 heyday, with "Watch With Eyes Closed" from that August being possibly the best showcase for their diversity, with slower melodic verses & aggressive choruses. Though the vocals sound forced (especially in the verses), Mike and Kevin have good chemistry, and it'd be interesting to hear this with a fuller lineup and a tighter arrangement! For more from AlterWhite, check out songs like "Taking Back My Life" and "Wolfbane Blooms" via the above links.



Mike Matthews - Too Late: The planned third song on Mike's unreleased debut album named "Connected By Light" from September 2012, "Too Late" is the most viewed song at present on his channel. More of a straightforward metal rocker, his vocals are a stronger fit on this hard hitting original, but the lyrics can be very repetitive, and a guitar solo would have been a nice addition to shake things up. Fans of AlterWhite shouldn't be too worried though, and check out other "Connected By Light" tracks like "When You Left Me" and "Wasted" above for more similar material!



Mike Matthews - Fade Away: Mike's last original postings from last summer saw him diversify his sound a bit to include more softer acoustic material (as seen on songs like "One Week"), with "Fade Away" also showing his quieter side. He has nice command of the guitar on songs like this, and the lyrics fit the tone, but on a song of this style, his singing definitely sounds a bit out of place. Still, Mike was in a good place here, and hopefully he's still working on new music!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! So, what's getting profiled in this series next month? Through completely random selection, I've chosen a single channel for a fourth month in a row, as we'll next be taking a look at prolific local punk/metal musician Rick "Styles" White's YouTube channel, featuring videos from his work with Fitswitch, Frightlight, Redundant, and more, dating back 8 years! That's all for now, but stay tuned for some big news and updates this week! Thanks everyone!

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