On the Couch Music is a place for independent artists to promote their music in the most authentic setting: on the couch.
Xavier McCallister, an alumnus who graduated with a music technology degree in May of 2015, began On the Couch when he was still a senior at Capital. For his senior project, he recorded four different artists, edited the videos, and turned them in at the end of the year.
But what started out as a project has turned into a blossoming music video production company. Since graduating, On the Couch has taken off. The group–which also includes Capital alumni Jay Olson, Kody Orris, Dean Lawson, and current Capital student Braxton Cleveland–produce a music video every two weeks and are currently booked through April.
“It was hard to do something like that when you’re trying to pass your classes and graduate … it started out just doing it when we could get someone who was available. We had to book studio time [and] … make sure Huntington Recital Hall was available for us to use,” McCallister said. “We were also working with all school gear. We didn’t own anything.”
Now, the group has a space that they share with Mission Coffee that they use once a month to shoot videos and they are almost self-sufficient on the audio front. While they are still working with borrowed cameras and camera gear, they plan to launch a Kickstarter at the end of March to help with the equipment costs.
When they first started out, McCallister said he and the other members of On the Couch would ask friends that were in bands if they wanted to record. They then started making connections to others to record more music videos. On the Couch is now at a point where artists and bands are approaching them using their online submission portal.
“Our niche is really kind of alternative … A lot of [these] artists are independent artists. They’re not signed to a label … so they’re reaching out directly to us.” McCallister said. “We get at least 3 to 4 submissions everyday.”
In the line up for videos are a couple bands from Michigan, a band from Tennessee that they hope to record in March, and Capital’s very own Chris Jamison.
“Right now my favorite part is getting the music out there [and] having people discover these bands that they’ve never heard of because they are small and independent,” said McCallister. “It’s awesome to see that people who are into Twenty One Pilots [are] finding out that Brave Weather is right here in Columbus too, and they’re awesome.”
Brave Weather is the most recent band to be featured on On the Couch and their video currently has over 600 views. To hear and discover more bands like Brave Weather, head to onthecouchmusic.com. If you’re interested in being featured, you can also apply on their website at onthecouchmusic.com/contact.
