FreshoutMedia.com, a Web site for people to share their passion for music and art, isn’t afraid to explore uncharted territories. Its user-friendly site breaks down the barriers that keep independent and underground artists silenced.
It is also a hub for readers and writers of the underground media to speak their minds. If you want to find unknown musical artists or gush about your new favorite photographer, FreshoutMedia.com is the place to do it.
Temple alumni Chris Anderson and Navid Safabakhsh started Freshoutmedia.com in 2005 while still in school.
It began as a music enthusiast’s Web site that focused on emerging Philadelphia talents. With only 20 local freelance writers, the site originally explored trends in art and culture. Soon, however, Anderson and Safabakhsh expanded their enterprise and began producing events under the Freshout name at places like The Khyber in Old City and The M Room in Fishtown. This gaining momentum turned Freshoutmedia.com into a multifaceted media machine.
In 2007, the Freshout Media team coordinated Flava Fest, a three-day hip-hop culture extravaganza. The festival included slam poetry contests, break-dancing competitions and a performance by legendary MC Pharoahe Monch. Freshoutmedia also organized the Canvas Clash event series, which allowed Philadelphia artists to paint on the roof of South Street’s Whole Foods grocery store while local DJs spun eclectic music and vendors sold unique pieces of art. Held the first Saturday of each month during the summer, the Canvas Clash events created a sense of community for artists.
These days, Anderson and Safabakhsh stay busy doing Web design for sites like the Arts Garage, a performance venue where freelance and emerging entrepreneurial artists interact and show their creative talents, according to its Web site. They also do marketing projects for the World Café Live.
Perhaps the most interesting and endearing quality about FreshoutMedia.com is its openness. Quite literally, the site is open to writers from all around the world. Their mission is to expose new and groundbreaking talent.
Writing for Freshout is simple: all you have to do is create a log-in name and send them material. Your piece will go into a database, which the recently hired full-time editor checks for quality and then publishes to the site.
FreshoutMedia.com is a place for people of all backgrounds to write about the music they love in a personal way. Think of it as your own blog: you have the freedom on FreshoutMedia.com to talk about how that new artist made you feel while you were listening to him on the subway. Or, if you are hungry for a new sound, FreshoutMedia.com is filled with videos and MP3s for your listening pleasure. Some artists you can find there are hip-hop mash-up act Soul Position and Spanish folktronic princess Juana Molina.
Though their idea might seem like a free-for-all, there is a reason for the open format, Safabakhsh said.
“The idea is that people are browsing,” he said. “You know, people only spend three minutes maximum on a Web site. All you need is an introduction. Our position is to expose.”
Rachel Nichols can be reached at rachel.nichols@temple.edu.
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