AMforte Clarity performs regularly in Second Life. Her shows always draw a large audience, and the venues fill up quickly. Her singer/songwriter skills are apparent in her original work, which seams flawlesslessly with her choice of cover mate-rial. Her acoustic, strum-driven style, backed by her wide range of vocal technique always inspires the crowd. Her songs range from the heart wrenching to the su-blime, working from one emotion to the next with the true intention of a seasoned writer. She approaches the guitar with a simple-but-effective mentality. Drawing from progressive rock influences, she carries the torch between the experimental to the mainstream. Sometimes punk rock, sometimes sweet as sin, her songs display a sensitivity of someone who has felt the sting of life, yet has derived enough beauty to compel her to share her experiences. AMforte Clarity may be a tormented angel on an out of control planet, but one thing is certain: Her drive to create, and her ability to press forward in the midst of great turmoil, ensures her success within the music community for some time to come.I had the good fortune to sit with AMforte Clarity, winner of Ministry of Motion's Musician of the Year award for 2009. She prefers to go barefoot in Second Life, and we first met in her simple, yet elegant, living room. Her music is full of passion, and her fan base is very loyal and suppor-

tive. You can visit Amforte online at http://www.amforte.com and http://www.myspace.com/amforte .

When did you discover your passion for music, and what was your first instrument of choice? When i was young, my mother use to sing, so I picked up sing-ing from her. As I got older, i wanted to cre-ate music. I took piano lessons at a young age, until my pre-teens, then stopped. In my early 20's, I picked up the guitar one day and decided to stick with it since I used to write poems. I learned how to put the two togeth-er.

What goals do you wish to accomplish with your mu-sic? I really just decided to pursue a music career when I was around 20-21 years old. I'm actually looking for a band. I want to go on tour but I just can't find people who are willing to join me. I decided to go all out when I almost died back in 2007 of a massive pulmonary embolism. After that happened I was like dude, from now on I refuse to take a job that I hate. I would rather die happy then die unhappy with a job I hate, going nowhere. And music really is my passion, so doing what I love is awesome

What kind of work were you doing? Just the odd jobs. I was a store manager for a furniture compa-ny, or a secretary.

Once you decided to pursue that direction, what were your challenges? Well, learning how to walk again of course but once I put that behind me, I kept writing songs. Trying to set up a tour, but mainly collaborating with some people and of course trying to find "the" band. I have over 300 ideas of songs, only five are professionally recorded. I mean, when I say ideas, I have them all recorded. When I stream into Second Life, I use a guitar, a mixer, a microphone, and a computer.

How has Second Life been helpful for your music perfor-mance? It helps with stage fright. It helps getting my music out there,

gathering fans/friends, meeting other musicians, it's great. I think when you play here, it's about the music and not what you look like. It doesnt' matter, peo-ple come to hear the music, which is cool. To be honest, I don't think I'm all that and a bag of chips. Actually, i have pretty low self es-

teem. I'm my own worst critic.

What about the business side of music in SL?

I like keeping the relationship between venue and

performer on a professional business level. So many

people assist me, but my main assistant Lingual

Markus is a tremendous help. I don't have the best

organizational skills, so it's best to

have others take that role. And Second

Lifehelps supplement my income, since

I don't work while I'm in school. I en-

joy it though. It's definitely put my mu-

sic out to places it might not have reached other-

wise.

What are your favorite foods? Do you like the

color pink?

My favorite foods are Thai food/sushi/Indian. I love

pink and I wear it.

And finally, what's that stuff with the french

fries, cheese, and gravy?

Oh, poutine, love it!

I’M ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR A

BAND. I WANT TO GO ON TOUR

BUT I JUST CAN’T FIND PEOPLE

WHO ARE WILLING TO JOIN ME.

I HAVE OVER 300 IDEAS OF

SONGS …. I HAVE THEM ALL

RECORDED … ONLY FIVE ARE

PROFESSIONNALLY RECORDED

The minute you teleport into OD Designs, you're immersed in Ortho Var-

gas's fantasy music world. With over 1000 unique products, ranging from

acoustic guitars to fully programmable stage lights, OD features one of the

best selection and highest quality out of any music store in Second Life.

Vargas and his crew are deeply committed to offering the best customer

service anywhere on the grid. Between building long-standing relationships

with his return customers, letting them have input on his ever-evolving line

of products, and innovating new ways to stay in touch with a customer base

that is active, energetic, and all over the map, when Vargas describes his

business as a family, it certainly rings true.

OD Designs started out with Ortho getting into Second Life and building

himself his first guitar. At the jazz clubs he frequented at the time, friends

asked him where he'd gotten it, he told them he built it himself. Immediately, they asked him if they could buy one

from him, and OD Designs was born. In addition to designing and building all the guitars in OD's line, Vargas also

does all the scripting for OD's collection of music animations, for both guitarists and singers. I tried one out at the

store, and was impressed with the fluid movement and natural, relaxed look as I played along to the store's streaming

radio.

One of the unique aspects of OD's offerings are their fully licensed

gear from companies like B.C. Rich, Dean, and Washburn. When his

business started growing, Vargas developed an OD-branded line of

instruments, but also wanted to offer instruments that were virtual

versions of real-life guitars. Of course, worried about copyright in-

fringement issues in Second Life, he thought it would be great if he

could partner with real life music companies to create authentic piec-

es. Vargas used the connections he had in real life from the music

industry to get in touch with design and marketing people at these

instrument manufacturers. Now, representatives from the companies

review and okay his branded designs. The list is growing, and Var-

gas says he's currently trying to get more companies on board with his project.

Vargas also wants to explore customization. Since many of his design decisions are driven by by clients' requests for

new features or new colors, patterns, and designs, Vargas has recently rolled out a custom shop allowing customers

to place and size stickers on their instruments, with more custom features coming soon. In addition, the programma-

ble stage lights are something he's very proud of -- he likes to think of his job as giving Second Life musicians and

venues all the tools they need to succeed, and see where they go with them. Sometimes, he said, customers come

back to him and show him something cool they did with his prod-

ucts that he never would have guessed anybody would have done.

But business isn't all making instruments and scripts. In addition to

the family of seven full-time staff, as well as some part-timers and

additional temporary help, OD has a family of musicians who play

at OD's three live music venues. They offer a database of musicians

and bands looking to work with others in Second Life, as well as a

rewards point system for purchases made at their store. For Vargas,

running a retail store is only part of the job -- building a community

is also an important part.

Vargas was proud to add that Team OD raised L$250k in one day

for Relay for Life, a fundraiser that they've been doing regularly -- offering sales on goods, and pledging the pro-

ceeds to Relay. They've been doing fundraisers for Relay for some time now, and the next Relay fundraiser is a great

time to stock up on OD instruments and animations.

Vargas's attitude about business is that success is about paying your tier and having fun doing it. He and his team

clearly seem to enjoy their jobs, helping their customers and each other, as well as the broader community. It's excit-

ing to see that a successful Second Life music business is also in the business of helping others, from the musicians

they call customers and family, to the broader community by giving to Relay for Life.

See more about OD Designs, as well as browse their store, at http://www.odmusic.info/.