Unplugging: Coachella success stories and music/movie powerhouses

This year’s Coachella Festival may be over, but it lives on with post-fest success stories. We noticed yet another trend this week  – music and movies are swapping star talent to lend a hand in their opposite mediums.

Typically after major music festivals, it’s nearly impossible to get your hands on festival footage, but post-Coachella, the trend of artists releasing their own footage has been picking up. American DJ Kaskade has launched a fun, interactive way to gain access to his latest Coachella set through the likes of Twitter. In exchange for one tweet, DJ Kaskade is offering his entire performance from the popular festival for free.

Once you post a tweet regarding the Coachella set, you’ll be redirected to a site where the set can be downloaded. More details on this sweet deal are on DJ Kaskade’s tour website. This deal was put together with the company Pay with a Tweet, a project by Innovative Thunder, as a way to get festival sets to the public for publicity.

Following the unforgettable Coachella performance of Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and a hologram reincarnation of the late rap legend Tupac, hologram projections joining performers onstage seem to be the next big thing for live music. TLC, a female hip-hop group popular in the 90’s, lost one of their members, Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes back in 2002 in a brutal car accident.

The remaining TLC members, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chili” Thomas, have announced that a tour is in the works that will feature a hologram of Lopes with the inclusion of the late rapper’s vocal work. Dates have not been officially announced, but the tour is expected to kick off later this year. Thus far, TLC has secured venues in five cities.

Newcomer bands often have the chance to grace major festivals with brand new music, and if it’s well-received, oftentimes their music careers take off running from there. This is exactly what happened at this year’s Coachella for the group Gardens & Villa.

After debuting their self-titled first album at Coachella, and being met with positive responses, the Santa Barbara group has now lined up a West Coast summer tour to showcase their synth indie pop. Gardens & Villa consists of five college friends, who started playing together in 2008. Their band name was inspired by Villa Street, where they lived.

In movie news, Jack White, no stranger to movie soundtracks, or anything for that matter, has signed on to compose the soundtrack to Disney’s new The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer. A remake of the 1949 version, The Lone Ranger opens May 31, 2013.

Disney reached out to White specifically, and he will now add this movie soundtrack to his repertoire along with material he wrote for Cold Mountain and Quantum of Solace. In the meantime, White is pretty busy with the tour in support of his newly released solo album Blunderbuss.

Speaking of Johnny Depp, although he’s pretty busy with his latest upcoming films Dark Shadows and The Lone Ranger, Depp was able to find time to accompany the Voldemort of the music world, Marilyn Manson, on a cover track of “You’re So Vain.”

Additionally, Depp recently performed with Manson at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, where the duo conquered some of Manson’s classics. With this new cover track, the pair put a dark twist on the famed Carly Simon hit. Johnny Depp seems to be proving that he’d make a pretty radical rock star.

Unplugging in Brief:

Kaskade Offers Entire Coachella 2012 Set For Free Download For Only a Tweet – DJ Kaskade is offering his entire Coachella set for free in exchange for one Coachella-related tweet.

TLC To Go on Tour with Projection of “Left Eye” – In light of the recent Tupac hologram craze, TLC has started planning a tour in which the late member Left Eye will join the group onstage as a projection.

Gardens & Villa Announce Summer 2012 Tour Dates – After a wildly successful Coachella performance, this indie pop group has secured a nice West Coast summer tour that will hopefully launch them to even more success.

Jack White Set to Score Disney’s The Lone Ranger – As if Mr. White isn’t busy enough as it is with his new album Blunderbuss finally out, the legendary musician has agreed to compose the soundtrack for an upcoming Disney remake.

Listen: Marilyn Manson and Johnny Depp Cover “You’re So Vain” – Johnny Depp took a little break from acting to try his hand at being a rock star, alongside Marilyn Manson.  

* Lily Angelle, MXDWN