Last night I attended a screening of the new Pedro Almodovar film, "La piel que habito" (The Skin I Live In), followed by a Q & A with stars Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya. I enjoyed the film, and the Q & A was especially great. In talking about the turmoil he went through as an actor filming this film, something that Antonio Banderas said resonated with me. He was quoting something Laura Linney said to him years ago. She said something to the effect (and I'm paraphrasing) that if you are an actor on a set and you are comfortable and relaxed, you won't bring anything to the table. You need to be shaken, stirred and on edge to do great work. It reminded me of a conversation I had a while ago with someone about creativity. I came to the insight that to be creative takes great courage. To really create something is to bring into existence something that was hidden - to expose something unseen. Antonio's words reminded me that the nerves I often feel when being creative (acting or singing), are a vital part of the creative process. They are to be embraced rather than fought. The trick is to find that balance where the nerves and emotion doesn't get in the way of the creative process, but are there informing it. I do believe that when emotion is true, others can feel it in themselves, and I think that's what makes art. It was a great reminder to me! Thanks Antonio!
It has been eons since my last blog, so I'm sure it looks like I've vanished, but I'm still here! I've been keeping updates through Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. If you don't already follow me on any of those sites, please add me from the links above (or at the bottom of this blog). I'll do my best to keep up with writing blogs once again - and hopefully it won't be so long between posts.
2011 has been a busy and productive year for me so far. The best news is that my latest CD, "Revelations", is getting more airplay and acclaim than any of my previous music. It is being played on internet radio, podcasts, and has even made it onto some non-commercial FM radio stations. You can see a partial list of where I'm being played on my website (click here). In addition, I released my first music video for the single, "Love is Love", which garnered much attention. It was mentioned in many internet news sites upon its release (including "USA Today Online", "Towleroad", and many more). It also won two awards in the "Love Unlimited Film Festival" last May, and is an official selection in the upcoming "The Other Venice Film Festival" this October. It continues to receive hits on YouTube, and at the writing of this blog, has surpassed 25,000 views! Not bad for my first music video (if I may say so myself)!
I began recording some new songs early in the year, and hope to get back to the studio very soon to continue recording them as well as some other new songs. I'll mention it in this bog once I'm back recording.
My other big project this year has been my one-man-show, titled, "Mental Creatures". I have been working hard to get it up and running before the end of 2011, but I don't think it will be ready in time. Being an independent artist brings many challenges, especially with something so complex as producing a show. This is my first time producing a live show, and it is quite a process! The good news is that I've done several readings of the show, and the responses have been amazing. As the show stands now, it will feature music from all three of my CDs (mostly "Revelations"). I will be using most of my energy and focus on getting the show launched - hopefully in the beginning of 2012. I will blog about the progress of the show, and advanced tickets will be offered through my newsletter first.
A huge THANK YOU to all of you reading my blogs, signed up for my newsletter, following me on the social networks, and especially for listening to my music! Thanks for your patience! Until the next blog, sending great vibes your way...
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I'm proud to announce that I have just released my first ever music video, in conjunction with the release of my third CD, "Revelations". This music video, directed by award winning filmmaker Gabriela Tagliavini, is for the CD's first single titled, "Love is Love". "Love is Love" represents the essence of my music, with socially relevant lyrics against a trip-hop beat. I believe the message of this music video is universal, all encompassing, and uplifting. I sincerely hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating - it with the support of an incredible cast and crew.
If you have the chance, please share it among all your friends via email, Facebook, etc., and if you like it, please rate it on YouTube. I appreciate all your support!
It has been a long journey, but finally I am on the eve of releasing my 3rd CD, "Revelations", which is due out this Friday, November 19th. Of all the work I've done to date, "Revelations" is overall the most personal and expressive. Not that the songs are necessarily autobiographical, but I have gotten closer and closer to expressing my voice through my art. I can see how creating music (or any artistic endeavor) is a life long process. Like peeling back the layers of an onion to which there is no middle - but you get closer and closer to the core with each outer layer gone. Starting work on "Revelations", I found myself having gained a new sense of comfort and "mastery" of my own writing and recording process from standing on the shoulders of both of my previous CD releases. Looking back, I now realize that enabled me to push the limits of my voice as a songwriter - both lyrically and musically. This has been the most fulfilling, exciting and expressive project I've created to date!
I'm very excited to present and share my newest work, "Revelations".
I've got a lot going on these days - and unfortunately it has kept me from writing blogs. All my energy has been going into my work. First on the plate is the upcoming release of my next full length CD, which is titled, "Revelations". It will contain 12 new tracks, and is produced by Barrett Yeretsian (who also produced my last CD, "Ready"). "Revelations" promises to be the most bold work I've done to date and is scheduled to be released in early November.
Also in November, I'll be releasing my first music video for a song titled, "Love is Love" (a song from "Revelations")! I really had a top notch cast and crew working on the video, headed by my outstanding director, Gabriela Tagliavini. The video should be ready for release shortly after the CD.
In addition, I found another outstanding director — this time for my one-man live show! We have begun work on the show which promises to be a truly creative and original piece. It is titled, "Mental Creatures" (named for one of the tracks on "Revelations"), and will feature many songs from the new CD (as well as some from "Infinite Man" and "Ready"). The show will be an unusual combination of a concert and a one-man-show theater piece. It will open sometime in early 2011. I'll post the details on my website and in my newsletter (sign up for my newsletter for advanced ticket sales notices).
I'm very excited about all of this new work and can't wait to share it with all of you! Stay posted here for more details!
Today I finished recording the vocals for my upcoming CD! Recording my new music has been such an amazing experience. I'm seeing how each CD (this will be my third full-length CD), has a personality of its own. With this new one, I've really broken out of my "safe zone" - musically, lyrically, and vocally.
This CD started off differently from the very beginning. Before starting my last CD ("Ready"), I was very clear that I wanted to make a trip-hop CD. With this new one, I had only a feel for the direction I wanted to go in (and my producer totally "got it"), and we kind of felt our way along, dictated by the songs themselves. In the past (for about 80 percent of my songs), I would write the lyric first and then write the music. For this CD, I can't really remember which came first! I think for almost all these songs (there will probably be 14 on the CD), I wrote the music and lyrics together - something very new for me. All the songs on this upcoming CD have very definite view points, and that dictated the music, and how I approached each song vocally. It was an exciting creative challenge. I loved recording every song! And of course it helps - big time - to have an amazing producer (like Barrett Yeretsian who also produced my last CD, "Ready"). This was an incredibly creative process, and it was really heavenly working out the details of each song.
So, we've still got some mixing to do, mastering, CD production, and if all goes as planned, I hope to release the CD this fall - in September or October! Stay tuned... I'll try to get back on the blogging wagon.
This has been a great week! First of all, I shot a pilot for the Sci-Fi Channel. For those of you who don't know what a pilot is - a pilot is a scripted and filmed first episode of a new, hopefully upcoming, TV Series. It is shown to networks in the hope that they will pick it up, make a full series from it, and air it on TV. The show I was in has a great script, and we had a great crew, so hopefully it will get picked up!! Keep you fingers crossed!
More great news: Barrett Yeretsian, the producer of my upcoming CD (as well as my last CD, "Ready"), is the co-writer and producer of the hit song, "Jar of Hearts" sung by Christina Perri! The song is a MAJOR HIT, and is in the top 20 songs on iTunes!! Check it out and buy it!!
And finally, my newest CD is getting close to completion! I can proudly say that it is the boldest, most interesting work - both lyrically, musically and vocally - I've done to date!! Can't wait to finish it and release it!!!
It has been a long time since I've written a blog - the longest since I've been blogging. I think it has been because I've been in such a heightened and focused creative state. All my energy, focus, and everything I've wanted to say has been put into my work. To update you, I have finished writing my one-man-show, and am now in the process of finding a director. It has taken me approximately two years to write this show. Never having written a show before, I can now understand and appreciate the process of writing. For me it was a lot of writing, digesting, then editing, reshaping and reworking, then more writing, digesting, reshaping, and so on. I didn't realize, much like songwriting, how much discovery comes in the writing. I thought you had to have it all figured out before you wrote anything. Once I let go of that idea, the process was easier and much more productive. I am very happy with the show, and excited that it will feature many songs from my upcoming CD. Regarding my next CD, my hope is to release it sometime in September. I am in the process of recording the last two songs. This CD will be a stretch for me in many ways. I really have pushed the limits of my songwriting, my voice, and the music. Between my new CD and my show, I can honestly say that I'm in the most creative period I've ever had. I'm VERY excited about my new songs! They reflect my new discoveries about life, society, and the world around us.
Speaking of the world around us, I just returned from a short break in Costa Rica. This was the second time I visited that wonderful country. I stayed (for the second time) in the rainforest on the Osa Peninsula - which has been called the most biologically intense place in the world. This time I stayed in Drake Bay, and once again was overwhelmed by how much life there was surrounding me. It is jaw dropping how all that life works in harmony. Once again I walked away with a totally new perspective on life. Living in a "man's world", one isn't privy to how amazing and intelligent life beyond humans is. Two stories (told to me by guides during my stay) stuck with me. I hope I get them right in retelling them...
The first is regarding the Mahogany Trees and the monkeys. One of the favorite foods of the monkeys are the seeds from the Mahogany Trees. Scientist have discovered that to protect themselves from the monkeys, the trees have created a chemical (or enzyme - I don't remember what exactly) in their seeds that acts as birth control for monkeys! So the monkeys are only able to reproduce every 2 to 3 years instead of all the time, regulating the monkey population so they don't eat all the seeds of the tree! And there is an island off the coast, Cano Island, which has Mahogany Trees but no monkeys. The trees on the island don't produce that chemical, since there are no predators eating the seeds! Pretty amazing that a tree can create a chemical when needed to regulate the birth rate of a monkey! And stupid me — living in a city, thought trees just stood there and gave off oxygen and took in CO2. I didn't realize they have consciousness. I guess if we all knew that, we'd treat trees with more respect than we do, and think twice about cutting them down.
The second mind boggling story, deals with Orb Spiders and Wasps. An orb spider spends every day of its life spinning a web in the shape of a circle. That is what it does — all it does. However, it seems that wasps have some sort of brainwashing or mind control over the spiders. They find one of these spiders, and sting it. They don't kill it, but briefly paralyze it, and lay their larvae on the spider. After the wasp leaves, the spider continues spinning its web each day, while the larvae slowly feed on the spider — not killing it. The day before the larvae hatch, the spider isn't able to make its circular web. Instead, it spins a web in the shape of a blanket (something it has never ever made before), which is a perfect size for the larvae. They then kill the spider — eating it — and cocoon themselves in the web blanket which offers great protection from weather and other insects! Studies were done where the larvae were removed from the spider before they killed it, and in a few days, the spider was able to make its circular web once again. No one understands how the wasps manipulate the spider to such a degree. Crazy!
Both of these stories (and there are others) make me realize how we are not the great mastermind race we think we are. We are just another creature on this incredible planet — and we are too smart for our own good. It is very humbling and intimidating — and incredible — to be around life in such a profound way.
A thanks to those of you who have sent messages wondering where I am! Sorry about not staying current with my blogs, twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. I haven't written a blog in quite a long time as I've been very busy writing and recording songs, and finishing the writing of my one-man-show. So I haven't felt I've had anything else in me to write! Another side effect is that I haven't been very social either. I've been totally and completely focused on my creative work. But I have a short break right now and I'll do my best to at least write an update of what's been happening...
Creatively, things have been wonderful. I've gone back to the recording studio, and have been recording songs for a new CD. To date, I've recorded and finished six songs, and am in the process of finishing two more. I don't yet have a title for the CD (I'm tossing around three ideas but haven't chosen one yet). It is turning out to be what I believe is my most creative work so far. I'm really pushing the limits of my writing, song structure, and sound. It has been (thus far) a joyous, exciting experience.
At the same time, I finally got past a major writing block with my show, and I think I'm just about finished the second draft. When this draft is done, I'm pretty sure I will be ready to start working on the performing of it! The show will include several songs from my upcoming CD (as well as songs from "Infinite Man" and "Ready").
Another reason I haven't been blogging is that I am in a creative state where I am not able to judge or even observe my process. I am so focused on what's in front of me, that I can't even begin to explain or describe my process - even to myself. And I don't want to take myself out of the creative process to examine what's going on - I just want to continue working.
But, hopefully, by the summer I will have a new CD out, as well as a live show!! I definitely will post all info on both of those, as they approach.
Thanks again for all your support, and messages. I haven't disappeared - I'm just in a cocoon with my pen and voice.
Starting on Monday, January 25th and continuing for two weeks, "CD BABY" will donate $1 from every CD sold through their website, (physical CDs, as well as full CD downloads), to the American Red Cross and to Mercy Corps, a Portland-based relief organization with a large presence in Haiti. So if you were thinking of purchasing one of my CDs for you or a friend, please do so in the next two weeks, and help support the people in Haiti as well! Below are the links:
