Monday, September 27, 2010

A Look At If You Make It and The Pink Couch

If You Make It, commonly abbreviated as simply IYMI, is a Web site operated by Dave Garwacke that focuses on original audio and video content. According to the site's About page,  Garwacke (who plays in many bands himself) started the Web site to document the bands that he knows personally or just bands he really enjoyed. IYMI features video series, a forum, music videos, and comics. However, the site's two most popular features are the Pink Couch Sessions and the free album database.
According to the site's About page, Garwacke said the decision to do the Pink Couch Sessions stemmed from his desire to control the sounds of shows. The Pink Couch Sessions feature either a band or a solo artist performing on a big pink couch (hence the name) in Garwacke's apartment. The audio of the sessions are perfect and it feels like watching a small concert. Throughout the years Garwacke has had popular musicians such as the Vivian Girls, Maps and Atlases, Lemuria, Kevin Devine, Walter Schreifels, and Franz Nicolay (formerly of The Hold Steady) appear on the Pink Couch Sessions.

The free albums portion of the page features numerous albums available for free download, although donations are suggested in order to help support the bands. Some of the more popular records on the site are Snowing's debut EP, Grown Ups "Songs", and Everyone Everywhere's "A Lot of Weird People Standing Around".

What I like most about the site is the fact that it is very interactive, comments can be left on almost every page of the Web site. The free download section of IYMI is also beneficial to bands because it exposes their music to a large audience and the donations go straight to the band in order to help them fund other projects. IYMI is one of the most original music Web sites I have come across and I have been exposed to so many great bands through the site. Below is one of my favorite Pink Couch Sessions, Failures' Union's "Lake Erie Nosedive".

Failures' Union - Lake Erie Nosedive from If You Make It on Vimeo.

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