Launch of New Direction

​Hello all, again.

With a new year rolling in and a constant desire to grow and do better, I’ve decided to rebrand what was formerly known as “Channel 213” and make as much of a forefront effort of quality coverage of all new underground music, as well as local culture within the scene of my hometown, RVA, and surrounding areas. While I do not intend for this publication and podcast to remain exclusive to RVA or VA in general (just as before), a lot of my most immediate access pertains to that region. But once more, don’t be surprised to see me branch out. I plan to cover as much as possible as often as possible, and put genuine, quality art, music, people, places, and things at the front page of the public eye; Good things deserve to be known about.

That is probably my mantra, actually: ‘All good things must prosper and be cherished.’ But at any rate, if you’re looking for news on things both heard and unheard of, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re looking to absorb something fresh, something with a true sense of culture and finesse to it, or maybe even just a cool spot to visit when you’re in town – this publication will deliver. Once more, I do this because I want the good things I discover to be known of – or perhaps, even more known of.

That all said, I plan to leave what exists with Channel 213 as it is and still as accessible as it once was. I’m even working with a team to make this thing run smoother and have more contributions provided than just my own ramblings or writings, but it’s likely I’ll end up being the bulk of the traffic behind this blog and definitely the podcast at least for some time. Regardless, those on this aforementioned team – I appreciate you and hope you continue to contribute!

So, as a conclusion to this welcome article, I’d like to say THANK YOU for following and reading, I have decided to name this Sound Condition, and while much of the exposure is along the lines of shoegaze, punk, metal, rock, indie, alternative, and electronic material? I am open to and delve into virtually any genre, even if just a little, and am always looking for something fresh to talk about. So, below is my little ‘About the Author’ section that I may slap somewhere else on the site. But for now, read up below to learn a little about me and this site, and find details on how you can submit your stuff to be talked about!

About the Author:

Hello! My name is Dylan Nicole Lawson. I am a non-binary RVA native in my thirties and I have a deep passion for all things art, music, nature, culture, and generally awesome adjacent. I have been writing for essentially all my life, but only in recent years decided to make a point of doing it in a journalistic formality. This is my own personal publication and podcast through which I plan to never shut up about all things awesome.

Throughout my life and especially recently, I have witnessed and been involved with an immeasurable amount of history and evolution within the RVA music scene and elsewhere. The things I’ve learned, seen, heard, and done myself yield more stories than I have time to tell here. Given my enthusiastic, passionate need to talk about all the wonderful people, places, and things I’ve been privileged enough to learn about, and continue to, I felt it best to share this with the world and make a big point of why everyone needs to know about it. 

Everything you see and hear on this site comes straight from the heart, no other incentives exist here other than an itch I can never fully scratch on needing to talk about it. Does your thing need some talking done about it? Do you think what you have is something you need to share? Well so do I, pal. Please send an email to conditionofsound@gmail.com and let’s do it!

IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE BEFORE SUBMITTING LITERALLY ANY EMAIL:

• Every email is read (at some point)

I assure you, anything you send through the lines WILL be read and checked out. No immediate response isn’t really a bad thing – we just have to take it in and decide if we want to write about it. Generally speaking, I like to give everything a chance, but if you don’t see your submission talked of on here, don’t take it personal. Music and art in general are incredibly subjective experiences; Just because my goofy little site doesn’t feature you on its front page doesn’t mean what you’ve made is not good (to someone), it just didn’t quite hit the right notes with me or any of my fellow writers. No biggie. Please don’t spam, don’t harass, and don’t try to push any envelope – I’ll likely respond at some point with some kind of insight regardless, but don’t take lack of response as anything other than we’re getting to it. Typically speaking, we will let you know if your submission has been accepted, at the very least.

• If you are submitting for your band or project’s music, please specify that in the email title

Let me keep it funky-fresh 100% with you, chief: Knowing what you’re emailing me (or anyone, really) for is super important so that I know what exactly to do with it. Looking for a premiere, review, artist highlight, or interview? Sick! Title it something like “BAND - SONG (PREMIERE INQUIRY)” or “BAND - ALBUM (REVIEW REQUEST)”. Similarly, if you are an independent filmmaker, a restaurant owner, business owner, entrepreneur, promoter, or just have something you want to say to the site in general – just tell me what it is ya want, pal. I do take compliments, suggestions, and inquiries for information, but, I cannot help you if you cannot specify what the email is about, and putting something in the title similar to the above, preferably brief and to the point, will help us both achieve that! 

The only emails that will be ignored are those that are obvious spam, not titled with adequate specification of where to direct the focus, or just general ignorance. Questions are always allowed and welcomed and acknowledged, though! Quite frankly, if you can’t do this small step, you probably shouldn’t be sending emails professionally anyway. I have pet peeves with terrible grammar and easy-to-fix typing errors being submitted, but that’s more or less just going to get eye-rolled, sighed at, and deciphered as best as possible anyway. I do however sincerely ask that you put at least a little effort into the email to where this is at a minimum, if at all. I just want to understand ya, pal.

• I will do my research and background checks on you

Just a friendly little heads-up: This publication is immensely in line with supporting honest, genuine art and the works of people with that sort of spirit. I’m certainly not here to act as the arbitrary moral authority to the world by any means, but this site is firmly against abusers, phobes, racists, hate speech, offenders, and any other sort of thing that is just objectively awful. I am a huge believer in people growing, learning, and changing their ways for the better, but anything falling under the above umbrella cannot be tolerated here, and that changed behavior must be shown and abided by before we can trust you, if you do fall into that. Simply put: If your band subscribes to Nazis, for instance, don’t even bother emailing. I will do my research on you and will find out what you’re about and no amount of money or threatening will change my mind. Also, just don’t be shitty. Even if you have a clean history, your interactions, should you choose to be rude, can quickly keep you out of any consideration to be featured on this site in any way.

• I am honest, WE are honest

For any good writer, or really any person trying to do anything like what we do, it is of integral importance to maintain full transparency as well as authenticity with our words and general message. Personally, I simply do not write about anything I’m not interested in, at least as far as music. About the only exception I have to that is major films, but that’s a story for a different time. When it comes to submissions, I will speak to what interests me and highlight what I like about it, with maybe some mild mentions of less-than-favored aspects about it as well. But overall, you aren’t likely to see an article with my name attached to it that covers anything I’m not interested in. The other writers here may not always be quite so forgiving. The key thing to remember here is to take everything with a grain of salt. As said in an earlier bullet point – don’t take it personal. Keep in mind this site is going to give you exactly what you are asking for by submitting to us; Honest thoughts on your piece of content.

• Keep it simple

Put as much as you want in your email, just know I’m only going to read as much of it as I feel is relevant. : - ) No disrespect, just all about efficiency. While long emails don’t mean ignored emails, the clearer and more concise your submission and what you want us to know about it is – the much better and sooner we’ll be able to get to work on it. Just be polite, just give us the details, specify release date or if the song has already been released or not, please send an attachment or link (can be Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, etc., Bandcamp or Spotify generally preferred if music), and just tell us what you’re submitting for. Easy as that!

• Name drops, clout flexes, or otherwise “do you know who I am?”’s will get you nowhere

Remember what I said earlier about good writers upholding full transparency? Yeah. So anyway: Knowing anyone with the team or knowing me personally doesn’t automatically confirm your thing will get talked about. That’s no offense and you should seriously not take it that way. That is me maintaining an unbiased nature to what I do, as well as with everyone that writes or contributes to this publication with me. Sure, if I know you, I probably know you have some history of doing cool things and I’m likely to appreciate whatever it is you’re sending. But that guarantees nothing and remember, if you’re sending it, you’re asking for an unbiased take on whatever it is you’re sending. I will always provide exactly that and no less with every submission sent. So please, don’t try to impress us with trivial things – just send the song or piece of content, Schneebly. 

Much love to all and looking forward to plenty of talk on plenty of new stuff real soon! ❤️