If you are looking to make a news splash in DC, call on Massey Media. From influencing international policy and trade with Egypt to gaining new audiences for a local theater group starring people with disabilities, and everything in between, our team is making headlines in our nation’s capital. Massey Media is a DC public relations company that helps you harness the power of the press to promote the arts, environmentalism, social justice, and socially responsible businesses.

In addition to making headlines, we’ve already empowered hundreds of communicators this spring in our storytelling and media training workshops. We trained mountain justice activists, the owners and members of the Affinity Lab, low-wage workers with the DC Employment Justice Center, and local leaders who took our story telling workshops. Last week, we spent an afternoon with the O Street Studios artists preparing for their forthcoming art opening. Here is one of handouts written by Sarah Massey on how to reach your target audience through media relations.

DC Venture Summit & Startup Job Fair
Join Massey Media at the Affinity Lab this Friday night at the DC Venture Summit & Startup Job Fair. This event will feature presentations on some of the most cutting edge entrepreneurial concepts by leading area startups, as well as provide great networking and a Startup Job Fair. As a public relations veteran, Sarah Massey will be giving a talk on how Massey Media recently overcame the challenge of a shrinking traditional media. She will also share insights on how the press and producers view stories and strategies for getting your message out by making news. The Summit is a laid back atmosphere targeted at connecting startups, investors, and stakeholders and providing a forum for discussing the latest and greatest in entrepreneurship. RSVP here:http://dcvs.eventbrite.com

Recent press results for our clients:

• 3/2/10, Almasryalyoum.com, Egyptian workers protest privatization
  
• 3/12/10, Washington Business Journal, Still Point moves offices in Takoma Park
  
• 3/25/10, Arlington Connection, Two-for-One Theatrical Event This Weekend
  

Please call Massey Media at 202 445-1169 to make headlines or participate in a media training. We hope to talk to you soon!

Press Release for Immediate Release
March 21, 2010
Contact: Sarah Massey, 202 445-1169

Power Pirate, DCs Youngest Electronic Rock Band, Sacrifices Family Life for Completion of Debut Album

[Washington, DC] — Power Pirate, DC’s youngest electronic rock band, is releasing its debut album titled Plane Ticket on April 10 at the U Street Music Hall. The three-piece group, all between the ages of 15 and 17, wrote, recorded, produced, and designed the art for the 11-track album themselves.

Power Pirate’s first record depicts the difficulty of family separation, and having to choose between pursuing a dream and a family life. Emily, the lead singer and guitarist, gave up living with her family in order to complete Plane Ticket. Her dad had to take a job in Brussels, Belgium, and moved there from DC in August, 2009 with her older brother. In the song “Night Drive,” she shares her personal reaction to the separation:

…The headlights hurt my burning my eyes.
They won’t be coming back this way again.
We’ve lost them. There’s no going back…

The cover of the album, a picture of a young girl succumbed by the powerful scenery of the sun setting behind the Washington Monument, emphasizes DC’s importance to Emily and the rest of the band. The three grew up in the DC area, and are keen on being a part of the DC music scene.

Power Pirate is a three-piece electronic rock band from Washington, DC formed in the fall of 2007 by Emily Pakulski (vocals & guitar), Michael Garate (keyboards), and Annika Monari (drums). The three met when Annika and Emily hosted an informal session to meet new musicians. Among them was Mike, who stayed with them with the goal of creating original music that fuses innovation and traditional musical theory.

The band is determined to employ a D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) philosophy by recording and producing their music at home, which is available on iTunes, as well as doing all the graphic design, photography, promotion, and booking themselves. The members make a strong effort to spread their spirit of self-help to other artists.

Since their formation two years ago, Power Pirate has found its place in the DC/MD/VA music scene through catchy melodies and complex instrumentation. The group has played at popular local venues such as the Black Cat, the DC9 Nightclub, the Rock and Roll Hotel, the Fort Reno summer concert series, and many more. Inspired by modern artists such as Muse, Infected Mushroom, and Daft Punk, this trio fuses 80s-styled techno synths with hard-rock drum beats and guitar riffs to create the new, uncategorized genre unique to Power Pirate.

The band won third place overall in the finals of a national teen battle of the bands in Anaheim, CA in January. Over 200 bands from all over the country were narrowed down to 10 finalists for a live battle of the bands at the 2010 NAMM show. Emily earned ‘best guitarist’ and received a new guitar, while Mike also took home top honors in his instrument and was presented with a new keyboard. As medalists, $1000 in grants were distributed between the band members’ high school music programs to spend on new music equipment.

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To get a preview of the album for reviews, please contact Sarah at Sarah@massey-media.com

Making headlines can unlock the doors to recognition and sales for artists. But how do you start? Artists who want to get press and attention focus on populating our openings and garnering reviews.

Submissive Heartthrob by Brad Ulreich

The press list for a DC artist with a local event should include the Washington Post Going Out Guide, Washington City Paper calendar, Art Beat at WAMU, and popular blogs like FreeinDCBlog and websites like BrightestYoungThings. These are key to getting the word out and getting seen here in DC. A coveted review in the Washington Post will bring you new fans, but that slot is highly competitive.

read it all here in Sarah Massey’s column for the Pink Line Project.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 03/03/2010
Contact: Lacy MacAuley, (202) 445-4692, lacy@massey-media.com

Revolutionary Rhymes with Hip Hop Lawyer Shahid Buttar, at G40: The Summit this Friday
Shahid Buttar organizes grassroots action by day and kicks rhymes by night

What: Hip Hop Lawyer Shahid Buttar mixes politics and music at G40, the Summit
When: Friday, March 5th, 8 PM – 9 PM
Where: 223 23rd St, Arlington, VA, near Crystal City metro

WASHINGTON DC – This Friday, hip hop lawyer Shahid Buttar will perform on the opening weekend of “G40: the Summit” in Crystal City, Virginia. The show features over 500 artists, including acclaimed graphic artists such as Caia Koopman and Jophen Stein, and DC’s own renowned Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn.

By day, Stanford-trained lawyer Shahid Buttar roams the halls of Capitol Hill, city halls, think tanks and universities to advocate for civil liberties eroded by the War on Terror. This week he was interviewed about his political analysis and grassroots organizing by KPFK in Los Angeles, WBAI in New York, and several other stations around the country. At night, Buttar haunts the San Francisco and DC underground electronica scenes as an MC, hitting the mic with DJs spinning deep house to acid breaks, old-school hip-hop and everything in between.

The G40 Summit by ArtWhino is a dynamic and contemporary art exhibit featuring curated works from artists around the world, musical and visual performances, lectures, live painting, and much more. Buttar’s work will add a politicized element to the opening weekend of the month-long exhibit. With a set including several political songs, he will inspire his listeners to question authority, reaffirm their commitment to values including peace, sustainability, liberty, and transparency—and to take action to build a grassroots movement committed to restoring them.

“Commercial hip hop used to talk more about real issues and inspire people to change, but nowadays it’s mostly fluff,” said Jessie Phille, one of Buttar’s longtime fans. “Shahid’s work is empowering and makes you want to get on your feet, not only on the dance floor but on the streets, too.”

Buttar’s music and lyrics strike at the heart of Babylon, the political culture that surrounds and enables the institutional madness that he engages more rigorously through his legal and organizing work. His music challenges people to question dominant culture. For example, in “Bumpin’ in my SUV,” he weaves syllables effortlessly over a funk track to say

Our nation’s transportation ultimately bears an inextricable relation to our foreign policy, and military policies — and actually, while we’re at it, don’t ignore the way SUVs affect our atmosphere floor: more carbon dioxide heating the planet, greenhouses gases spewing so that we can have it in comfort….As SUV owners throw us back into the past: imperial conquest, the last laugh. We be using force to subjugate other people so we can have more food on our plate, singing ‘Bumpin’ in my SUV’…” [View the video to “Bumpin in my SUV”]

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For more information on Shahid Buttar: www.shahidbuttar.com

For more information on G40: The Summit http://www.artwhino.com/g40

photo by http://www.rosinaphotography.com/