The Sal Filipelli Band

Sal Filipelli is one of the hardest working songwriters/singers in the music industry today. He is a rare individual who pursues his passion for making music daily. His songwriter ability spans genres from folk to rock n’ roll to hip hop.
He currently has two albums out and available for purchase. The first was released in 2007 titled “The 23rd Century Presents: The Sal Filipelli Band.” His latest album “The Last Generation of Tape” was released this past January.
Sal’s best songwriting is heard in his ballads. The song “Why Can’t I Keep You?” from his first album is an excellent example of his abilities as both a songwriter and composer. “Back Home” from his second album is another outstanding example of the quality of his work. The song is frequently played on FM as well as online radio stations such as UCLA Radio and iRadio LA.
Sal recently toured through Northern California in May. He was featured in the program “Live in Studio A” on the UC Davis radio station. Sal has played in venues in cities all around the world, including San Diego, San Francisco, London, and Sevilla.
As an independent artist, Sal Filipelli has made great strides in advancing his career. It’s only a matter of time before he is “discovered” and presented to a mainstream audience. - Shanna L. Maschmeier (http://www.littlebiggy.org/viewSubject/2841868)

"Declaration of Independents: City Student Makes Music on His Own Terms

What do you do when you have spent a year of your life writing and recording an album and you can't find a record label to release it?

You start your own record label.

City student Sal Filipelli spent nearly a year of his life, and money from his own pocket, writing, performing and producing an album. He searched for a label to release it. By the time the recording was done, he still had not found any takers. At that point he says he decided everything a label would do was already done, so he picked a name, made a logo and released it on his own.

A six-song collection titled "23rd Century" is the product of all that work. It is the first release of Not British Productions, a new label named after his previous band. Filipelli co-produced the album with his drummer, Charlie Weller. In addition to Weller, the other members of the band Not British performed on the compact disc.

This incarnation of the lineup is called The Sal Filipelli Band because the songs were not written as a collaborative effort; all of these songs are solely Filipelli's. Not only did he co-produce and write the songs, he also sings, plays guitar and piano.

Like most musicians, and many students, a day job to pay the bills is a fact of life; Filipelli has two. In addition to taking classes at City College, Filipelli works in the promotions department at radio station Z90, and tunes pianos. He started at the station as an intern, and prior to that interned at City's own Jazz 88.

Even over a cup of coffee, Filipelli is working at the task of becoming a successful musician. He sits back in a chair at a coffee shop, his eyes follow every person who walks by, and he does a double take at a peculiar painting on the wall, capturing images that may become lyrics. When a girl he knows walks by, he stops her to chat about a project she is doing for a music class. He hands a business card to another friend who tells him about someone who needs to have a piano tuned. This kind of networking can help an artist get the word out about their music and, unlike hiring a publicist, it's free. His job at the radio station is teaching him things about the music business that he says he hopes to use to promote his own CD.

Out of necessity, everything that would normally be done by different people at a major record company must be done by Filipelli or his band. Weller is also an engineer and was working at Proxy Studios in Orange County, where they recorded the CD. The album was a year in the making, in large part because "it was a financial battle to pay for it" says Filipelli. Without the backing of a record label, he had to pay for the recording out of his own pocket.

Even with the creation of his own label, Filipelli hasn't completely given up on the corporate machine. With the songs done and the CDs printed, he says finding a good promotions and distribution company to work with would be ideal. For now, websites like iTunes, purevolume and MySpace provide an inexpensive worldwide outlet for him to promote and sell the album.

As for the future, he says he would like to make a million dollars this year so that he can go to New York City to record in Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios. He talks about the jazz style improvisation that was a part of Hendrix's live shows. He says that although "rock n roll doesn't have a lot of room for improvisation," he thinks it's important to try and give the audience something different than a precise copy of what they can hear on the CD. The value of a live show is to give the audience something to tell their friends about, he says.

In this era of upheaval in the music industry, while record companies are scrambling to keep control over their product and profits in the digital era, more artists are going the independent route. By using the skills and connections he formed at City College, learning about the business from the inside and investing in himself, Filipelli is also forging his own path into the music world."


- Larisa