By: By Matthew Jackson

HUNTSVILLE —     Making a good compilation really is an art. Just look back at some of those mix CDs you made to keep in your car in the days before you bought an iPod. Notice how some of them got way more play than others? It’s all about the mix, baby. If you don’t get the tone right, the whole thing feels off, and the disc ends up on the floor.
    Ty Griffin of the Dallas-based music site Escaping the Ordinary has churned out two massive compilation albums over the last two years, both bringing together a diverse selection of independent bands with a variety of styles and musical energies. His latest, Escaping the Ordinary Volume 2, compiles 23 hot bands into one listening experience, and the result is a mix that’s both unique and thrilling to listen to.
    The opening to a good compilation is crucial. You don’t want to blow all your energy on the first song. You want to hypnotize, and Deadhorse does that perfectly with their track “No Particular Night or Morning,” a driving, haunting piece that seduces you into hearing the whole record.
    From there the record builds through cool tracks by Black Books, Dredg and Demians, until it reaches the uncommon and mindblowing sounds of Fair to Midland. The Sulphur Springs band has been building their prog rock cred for more than a decade, and they just keep surprising and delighting. Their Escaping the Ordinary selection, “Amarillo Sleeps on My Pillow,” is a gorgeous tune, and one of the few places you’ll hear banjos and a heavy electric guitars working together.
    The album’s middle section is a driving mix of hard rock tracks by bands like Arctic Sleep, Dead Letter Circus and Nothing More. They’re all solid, but the standout is The Constants and their track “The Sun, the Earth,” a lethal mix of relentless guitars and anthemic vocals.
    Also on the hard rock front, there’s the ethereal brilliance of Mission Red’s tune “Shifter,” a track that builds on distortion-heavy riffs and then rolls into layered, ringing guitar work, all of it dark and dense and cool.
    As the compilation nears its end it grows less reliant on hard rock and gets more complex, more surprising and even more meditative, before finally closing on Psycho Babble’s “Five Fold Kiss (Don’t Sleep),” a song that lulls you back to someplace relaxing while keeping you firmly in its grip. It’s a reminder that a good closer for a mix is just as important as a good opener, and it’s proof that time was spent crafting Escaping the Ordinary Volume 2.
    The ultimate result of this record is something wonderful: a record you can enjoy in little sips or in one big gulp. Each of the songs (and bands) were carefully chosen, and they all stand on their own. Different listeners will prefer different tunes, but even if you decide to isolate the songs you like and play them over and over, the compilation still works when you hear it as one complete album. Most compilations don’t take the time for that, and the fact that Ty Griffin and Escaping the Ordinary did is proof of its quality.
    Visit EscapingtheOrdinary.net to download your free copy.

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Interview: Ty Griffin of Escaping the Ordinary

For more than two years, Ty Griffin has been promoting the music he loves through interviews, blogging, live shows and compilations released through his music site, Escaping the Ordinary. ITZ’s Matthew Jackson talked with Griffin about his roots, his ambitions and where Escaping the Ordinary goes from here.

Matthew Jackson: When and how did your love of music began?

Ty Griffin: My love of music began when my older brother started showing me some of the music he was listening to. I was around 9 or 10 years old, and he introduced me to bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Faith No More, Green Day, etc. This eventually led to an obsession with music that has stuck with me today.

MJ: When did that love of music turn into a love of music promotion?

TG: To me, my love of music and music promotion go hand in hand. As long as I’m being involved in music whether it’s through playing, promoting, or just listening; it helps fill that musical void that would otherwise be empty.

MJ: How did you start doing promotion professionally?

TG: Well, I don’t know if I’d call myself a professional, but I’ve been doing music promotion since 2009 when I started interviewing bands with my first blog. I also started working in social media around the same time. My knowledge in social media and online marketing is what I try to apply in everything I do with ETO.

MJ: How did Escaping the Ordinary begin?

TG: I first started blogging in the fall of 2009 on a site where my name was the domain. Eventually, I made the decision that I needed to change the name to a phrase that I thought people would rally behind. “Escaping The Ordinary” was what I came up with because I thought it was something anyone could idealize with. I also decided that I needed to spend some money on a quality site and EscapingTheOrdinary.net was launched on July 1st, 2010.

MJ: Why was it important for you to design a place to specifically promote unconventional bands?

TG: It’s not necessarily unconventional bands, they are bands and artists that are bands that I believe in and feel like they need to be heard. I just wanted to give bands an outlet to get their music out there that they wouldn’t have to pay for.

MJ: When and how did the compilation albums come about?

TG: One of my main sources of inspiration for ETO is Dan Goldin of ExplodingInSound.com. When I came across his site in the spring of 2009 and saw the compilations that he was releasing, I was completely blown away. I thought “I have to get in touch with this guy.” We eventually became good friends and a partnership started from there. It was his idea for me to do my own compilation for the launch of ETO.

MJ: When you begin to put together a compilation, what do you look for in a band? After you get the band selected, what do you look for in their music?

TG: When I start compiling the bands for a compilation, I immediately start pursuing some bands that I think will help generate buzz because of their following. These are bands like Dredg, Dead Letter Circus, etc. Then the rest are a combination of bands who I think have a sound that would fit for the compilation. I don’t look for anything particular. The bands just have to be good.  

MJ: Are the compilations an attempt to capture some kind of cohesive message for what Escaping the Ordinary is all about, or are they just an effort to promote bands you feel are important?

TG: They are just an effort to promote bands that I think need to be heard. All of the bands are very diverse and have different messages in their music. It’s just about getting great music to ears all over the world.

MJ: What, if anything, do you think sets ETO Volume 2 apart from ETO Volume 1? Did you try to do anything differently?

TG: The quality of music is the same, there are just some bigger name bands on the compilation like Dredg, Dead Letter Circus, Colin Frangicetto from Circa Survive (Psychic Babble), and more. ETO Volume 3 is going to be even bigger and it’s coming in January.

MJ: Do you have a favorite among these bands? If you had to pick one that people definitely should discover, who would it be?

TG: I want you to discover every band that is on the compilations.

MJ: What’s next for Escaping the Ordinary?

 There is going to be a showcase concert in December and I will also be working with the All Together Now showcase at SXSW 2012. I also plan on booking more and more shows.

MJ: You wear a lot of hats in the music business right now, but you still make time for things like this. Why is it important for you to keep going on so many things?

TG: What keeps me going is the support from the bands that I work with and my amazing family and friends. I feel there’s room for a nice guy in the music scene that is a true music advocate, and that’s what I’m trying to do with everything I’m involved in. Working in music has been my life long goal, and I think I’ve found my calling for what I’m here to do in the music industry.

For more information on Ty Griffin Escaping the Ordinary, visit www.escapingtheordinary.net.