PropertyOfZack is excited to welcome back Lo Fidelity’s Jamie Malerba for her third Contributor Blog. Last time Jamie checked in with us, she was preparing to launch the first annual RaleighPalooza. The festival is now two weeks behind us and Jamie is back to discuss the major undertaking, what she learned, and her future. Read up and make sure to check back for more from Jamie in the future!

Last time I checked in with POZ I was in the middle of producing an all day music festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. It took place on Saturday, May 5^th at the Raleigh Convention Center. If you’re curious as to what bands I booked for the fest, the full lineup is still over on www.raleighpalooza.com/lineup!

From As Cities Burn to The Early November to The Almost, it was a nostalgic and rewarding day for me. I used to wake up before school and watch some of these bands on VH1 before catching the bus. I was sitting in Lo Fidelity’s office last night, and “Something That Produces Results” by TEN came on shuffle. I kept saying to myself, “Did they really play my festival?” I did it. I did it. I did it. 

The only dream I ever had was the dream of music. Live music. It was always enough for me. There’s something powerful about standing in a crowd of people, singing along to the same words. It can give someone the most happiness ever needed.

It was the first week of March and all 38 bands should have been announced and promoted for May 5^th. I only had 6 bands on the website and it took everything in me not to shut down and give up. The delays were out of my control. The venue held up two weeks of production, I had a handful of bands jump ship, issues with scheduling in Raleigh, investors bailed, production flaked, and I finally came to the realization that I was addicted to Red Bull. 

Now, let’s fast forward to mid April.

If you look up loyalty in the dictionary I’m sure you’ll find pictures of Adam Puckett and Seth Titus. These guys have seen me at my absolute worst, but they’ve always been there to pick me up. Adam and Seth both left Greensboro and lived on my couch two weeks prior to RaleighPalooza. 

When I say I was understaffed for RaleighPalooza, I MEAN I WAS UNDERSTAFFED. Everyone was doing jobs for at least three people. That’s all I could afford and more importantly, that’s all I could trust with this new festival. 

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PropertyOfZack is excited to welcome back Lo Fidelity’s Jamie Malerba for her Contributor Blog. Jamie kicked off her feature a few weeks ago with an introduction and is back to further discuss the issue of dealing with age in the music industry in addition to the process of setting up the first annual Raleighpalooza. Read up and make sure to check back for more from Jamie in the future!

Jamie here. I just wanted to thank Zack again for giving me this opportunity to be a Contributor on POZ. I’m humbled by all of the kind words and new friends that Lo Fidelity has gained after my first post. 

I did reveal my age in my first blog. It was tough, but it’s something that needs to be put out there, because sooner or later people are going to find out.

The road to achieving your goals and dreams is a hard one. Whoever said it was easy, well, they are full of shit. (Can I say shit?) You can propose as many in depth business plans, and have these wonderful thoughts and ideas, but there are always those ‘what if something goes wrong,’  or ‘what if someone bails ‘ that you need to think about. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but if you don’t train yourself to think this way, if something does end up falling through, you will have no backup plan.

I can talk about this in confidence because it’s something I’ve been dealing with since the beginning process of Raleigh’s first all day music festival ‘RaleighPalooza,’ that will be taking place on May 5^th, 2012.

Lo Fidelity was a sponsor at last year’s Unsilent Night Music Festival in Dallas, Texas. (Yes, As Cities Burn was incredible) We have traveled to Texas more than any other state since we’ve launched. People there have insane amounts of respect for the scene, and they have such a love and passion for music. After being a part of a handful of music festivals, and getting our hands dirty in our own local scene, my team and I came back with a longing to bring something on that scale to our home, Raleigh, North Carolina. 

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PropertyOfZack is excited to welcome in Jamie Malerba as our newest Contributor. Jamie has her own clothing company entrenched in our music scene called Lo Fidelity. Lo Fidelity has made quite the splash within the past year or so, and we thought it’d be great to have Jamie blog about her experiences in creating the company, running it, and taking it into the future. Jamie’s first blog is a little introduction on herself and Lo Fidelity, so read up and enjoy, there will be more to come!

My name is Jamie Malerba, and I’m 20 years old (that was actually hard to type.) Hopefully by the end of this post I won’t change my mind and erase that.  They say age is just a number, but that always isn’t the case in the music industry, or any industry for that matter. 

Music has always been able to speak to me in ways some people in my life simply cannot. I treasured my parent’s vinyl growing up and in middle school I started a collection of my own. I still sit at home, lie on my bedroom floor, and let the sounds, voices, and textures run through my whole being. Music is truly one of the most nourishing experiences you can make for yourself. 

Lo Fidelity started as a mock business plan for a project in my music business class Spring of 2010. I wanted to find a way to acknowledge and support talented musicians that are sometimes overlooked and not getting the exposure they deserve. I brought Lo Fidelity to life the following September, and well, here I am, honored to be writing a Contributor Blog for PropertyOfZack!

Lo Fidelity is a Grassroots Music Organization focused on assisting unsigned musicians and bands fulfill their dreams. 85% of the profits from our line of branded merchandise goes to grants we set up for endorsed musicians to help with music funds such as touring, recording, equipment, etc.

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