EVI Acts: Zenbeast Media (small business spotlight)

You ever meet someone and walk away infuriated by how talented they are? Meet Anthony Lusk-Simone of Zenbeast Media, based out of central Massachusetts. Aside from being an incredibly talented drummer (Abiotic, Pathogenic), Tony has mastered all things audio visual and is creating art that is everything from beautiful to mildly disturbing or some unorthodox combination of both.

Zenbeast Media offers (takes deep breath):

Songwriting

Production

Mixing

Mastering

Music Videos

Lyric Videos

Streaming Videos

Special FX

General video editing

Playthroughs

Weird personalized animated videos to send to your friends and make them uncomfortable

Album art

3D Modeling/texturing/rigging

Session drums/guitar/bass/synth

There are no words that can really describe working with Tony -- although "caffeine fueled" might sum it up nicely. Tony is incredibly detail oriented and meticulous when it comes to anything he puts his name on and the results speak for themselves.

Tony's most recent audio and visual work is for his band Abiotic's upcoming record "Ikigai" to be released on February 12, 2021 via The Artisan Era. Check out their most recent music video for "Smoldered" featuring Chaney Crabb of Entheos here:

You can FOLLOW Tony and Zenbeast Media on Instagram and Facebook to inquire about booking any or all of the above list.

Clients of Zenbeast Media include but are not limited to:

Pathogenic, Abiotic, Casey Sabol, JIA, Myth of I, Aversed, Lattermath, Mimesis, Atlas, Aurora, Dead Ocean, M.E.O., Till Our Collapse, We Ate The Survivors, A King In Wait (Engineering), Seren, George Orwell The Musical, The Hanover House (Film Scoring), Fight To Survive, Marching On, Jax Teller, Graveborn (Mix/master), Your Pain Is Endearing (Drum Engineering), (Soul Annihilation), I, invent, Unreality, Stoopkid, Dead River, Heavy Mass, Gonzo, Jimmy Almighty, Windwalkers, Degrader, Breathing Concourse, Ashen Wings, Begat the Nephilim, Anchor Thought, The Beast of Nod, Chuggernaut

We will be continuing to spotlight local and small businesses throughout the holiday season as we encourage you to SHOP LOCAL and SHOP SMALL to support those who have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

(Photos via Anthony Lusk-Simone, Zenbeast Media)

EVI Acts: Equilibrium Guitars (small business spotlight)

Continuing with our celebration of small/local businesses, we're talking guitars.... but not just any guitars, handcrafted boutique guitars.

Equilibrium Guitars out of Boston, MA produces perhaps the most beautiful instruments ever made. We may be slightly bias because our good friend Dave Cohen is the owner and mastermind behind these incredible instruments. Every guitarist we know who has had the pleasure of playing an EQ swears by their playability, tone, and resonance.

Dave obsesses over all the details that you would want a luthier to be conscious of - right down to the name of the company; Equilibrium (noun: a state of which opposing forces or influences are balanced). EQ strives to find the perfect balance between ergonomics, aesthetics, and tone.

Music is harmony and so your instrument should be. When the look, sound, and feel

are just right with your personality woven into each aspect -- the result is an

instrument that acts with an exclamation point for your playing style and makes

those first few notes feel like a first date with your soulmate.

- Equilibrium Guitars

If you're particularly eco-conscious you can feel comfortable knowing that EQ sources their wood with sustainability in mind. They craft their guitars from premium woods that they source from responsible distributors to have minimal impact on the environment.

Custom instruments don't come cheap, but if you're looking for a one-of-a-kind guitar of a lifetime, this is who you want to talk to.

EQ also offers top-quality instrument repair out of their Boston location performed by their master technician Ryan Hare. They are praised for their excellent customer service, reasonable prices and fast turnaround times.

Follow Equilibrium and drool over their guitars like we do: Facebook | Instagram

We will be continuing to spotlight local and small businesses throughout the holiday season as we encourage you to SHOP LOCAL and SHOP SMALL to support those who have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

(Photos via Equilibrium Guitars).

EVI Acts: Why shopping local/small is more important than ever this year

2020 has been a tumultuous year and thankfully it's almost over, but we're not out of the woods with COVID-19 yet. As we head into what might be the most unorthodox holiday season ever, we want to encourage you to shop local and shop small!

COVID-19 has changed our daily lives significantly but small businesses owners have taken perhaps the greatest hit of all, unable to stay open while conglomerates like Amazon, Walmart, and Target reap the benefits. Small businesses are "the backbone" of the United States and employ nearly half of the private sector workforce. Many of them have been closed since the initial lockdown or only open at a significantly reduced capacity, forcing them to furlough or lay off many of their employees due to little to no financial assistance.

This map shows the percentage of the change in number of small businesses open throughout the country. Sectors that have been hit particularly hard include leisure and hospitality businesses; 37 percent are reporting zero transaction data. Nearly 100,000 businesses have permanently closed or gone under since the beginning of the pandemic.

Additionally, many people in the arts and entertainment industry have seen their entire way of life stripped from them. Music venues have closed their doors, many of them shuttered permanently. Musicians, promoters, stage hands, crew members, audio engineers, small venue owners, booking agents, labels, etc. have found themselves in situations with significant financial losses and have received little to no help from the government. While other sections of the entertainment industry (i.e. professional sports) have been able to "adapt" since the initial lockdown, most music industry professionals have found themselves in need of finding other work since there is no set return date for touring and hope that things will be "normal" is dwindling.

For a more in depth look of how the music industry (specifically metal) has been effected by coronavirus, check out this article by Kyle Messick.

You can help out by shopping small, shopping local, and doing whatever you can to support your favorite bands and musicians. Consider buying merch, a subscription to their Patreon or Twitch channel, contributing to a GoFundMe, buying in and viewing livestream shows, etc.

Over the course of the next month, we will be featuring several local and small businesses on our Instagram, Facebook page, and EVI Acts page. We encourage you to check them out and to consider showing some love for your favorite local/small businesses and independent artists as well because they can use all the help they can get. Remember to shop small when you can and have a happy, healthy holiday season.