Someone whose opinion I trust once said, “don’t worry about the stuff you can’t control.” Great advice, but tough for me to put into practice sometimes. As time continues to speed by, I can only do my best, and hope the rest works out…
Month: May 2014
Getting ready for Sunday and Monday’s gigs :)
It’s been a long week at work, and I’m trying juggle a few things on the side, but I’m super excited about getting the chance to perform a short set on Sunday at a red carpet event, and again on Monday. I will be performing all original songs for the first time ever. Really looking forward to both events!
The Trail Leading to “Impossible”
Max and I have started working to finish “Impossible” as a single. Trying to figure out all the instrumentation is really exciting, but I need to curb my disappointment when a version doesn’t make me cry. 🙂 My gauge for how effective a version is depends on whether it brings me to tears or not because the track really needs to hit me with fresh emotion in order to be working. I just heard the first version and I was nearly crushed because it didn’t make me cry. I sent a rather blunt email in response to Max; I tend to be very frank in my communications whether positive or negative as I think it’s really important to be clear about what you think and want when defining the shape of a track. Can’t wait to hear the next version.
Max is great to work with and is very talented. It takes resilience to have an artist throw criticism at you and not take it personally. I’ve always loved working with him, and I’m really happy to have the chance to work on another track as a team again.
Musings
Had a fun two hour conversation this evening with a physicist on the ability of art to make people happy and whether or not I should drop everything and run off to some remote part of the world to become a jungle or cave dweller for a while. I think the conclusion I came to was not…yet. <wink>
Addiction – The Neuroscience of Art
I haven’t been engaging as much as I would like in music lately, and my brain feels empty and unfulfilled. I know my mood tends to be better and more even keel when I sing consistently. Here’s why: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=176870. This study explains that music triggers the same mechanisms as highly addictive drugs like cocaine in the brain. My remedy is to seek out a support group of similar artists who can’t function without music. 🙂 Time to find a band to play with….
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Band Jam Night!
Had a great session today jamming with some friends for a side project. It’s amazing how four hours can fly by without you even feeling it. We got some amazing ideas out, and had so much fun. All in all, a fantastic start to the weekend!
New Song: Poison (Wheels Moving Forward!)
One of the highlights of every week are my voice lessons. I really grow and learn as a person every time and it really centers me. I thank my teacher almost every other week for how great they are.
Today’s lesson focused on ironing out the form of my new song, Poison, and finalizing Impossible to get ready for my next gig. Here’s a clip on Soundcloud of just voice and piano for Poison: https://soundcloud.com/samayaformusic/poison-piano-and-voice
I started tearing up and breaking down emotionally with the changes my teacher suggested for Impossible. It’s always a good sign when changes make you get into the core of a song and sometimes you just know when things fit. We were trying it out a couple of different renditions and making the song sound more vulnerable really brought out the emotions in it.