Magical Escape

Magical Escape

The film crew redid my parts in the music video for Nighttime Story. Check out the new version of the song for the video: https://soundcloud.com/samayaformusic/nighttime-story-video-edit.

Every time I get into the production for the video, or am in the studio recording or composing I escape to these incredible realms. Tuesday night’s shoot felt magical, and I was so happy and energized after.

I felt the same rush today, when I was working on the chord charts for Porcelain Doll before my voice lesson so I could go over the theory with my teacher. In one part of the song, I hit an A flat major chord, then a D flat major, and that progression is triumphant in what it declares. I felt like life was perfect, and I could repeat that moment over and over again; I never wanted it to stop. I felt powerful in what I was trying to express, and felt confident that I was capable of unconditional love and forgiveness. I felt at peace, even as I was feeling a rush of energy.

These are the moments that I live for.

Chasing Around Sanity

There’s so much I want to get done, and I keep stalling and being to stressed out to do anything. Argh. Generating ideas, but I need to nail down some of them to create concrete songs and videos. The music video for Night Time Story is proving to be a little more difficult than originally envisioned. Being a producer is a lot harder than being an artist, as I have immediate and absolute control over what I create when I’m doing my own work. Will keep chipping away at everything. Wish me luck. 🙂

Video Shoot Completed!

3574_10200255775371707_394935842_n 270881_10200255769931571_1546943220_n 303020_10200255741210853_830907635_n 480214_10200255760291330_75886909_n 921759_10200255757891270_473519832_oAfter 3 crazy days of filming, we wrapped up the final shoot on Monday. We’ll work on editing and adding the visual effects portions next. We’ve got a long haul ahead of us, but it’s been a blast so far. Can’t wait to get started on the next part. 🙂

Closing The Gap

At 53% on Kickstarter, with less than 5 days left. In a few hours, it’ll be four days: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/622384021/music-video-night-time-story. We need to raise $940 in four days. Hmmmmm.

Castello di Amorosa Finalized as Location! and Kickstarter

Castello Di Amorosa

After weeks of chasing people down, we finalized our location. I’m so thrilled. We’re on their calendar now, so it’s official. We’re shooting at the Castello Di Amorosa winery in Napa. The castle is beautiful; check out their website: http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/.

Shameless plug…We’re running out of time on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/622384021/music-video-night-time-story. We only have a week left, and $1,115 to raise to make another music video. Here’s the video we made for Porcelain Doll: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XlkTAQogqr4. I’m extremely proud of what were able to achieve last time, and I really hope we can do it again.

I was doing the math the other day, and if we could get 100 people to contribute $5 (the price of coffee or a drink at a bar), that would be a quarter of our budget. 200 people would be half our budget. What does it take to get 200 people to trust you and care enough to contribute the price of coffee to an art project? Hope we figure it out in time.

Day(5)

Jump into the cycle

We just had our first couple of kick off brainstorming sessions for the new music video. And we’ve already got a concept and a possible location. It feels crazy to think that we all went through the exact same process last year at around the same time, when I met up with my friend who was one of the writers for the concept for the first music video, Porcelain Doll: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XlkTAQogqr4. We then met the director of the video and the rest, as they say, is history. Amazing how quickly this year went by and equally amazing that we all decided to do it all over again.

Super excited about it–my energy levels are really high these days, I can’t help myself. I almost feel like I could convince myself to run a marathon on the fly. Almost. It’s magical, I can sit in front of a computer for hours and hours a day at a job that is rewarding only because my co-workers are awesome, and fantasize about the beautiful locations we may be shooting at.

Quiet Moments

I haven’t spent much time blogging in a while, and I felt an update was long overdue. One of the major crises in my life has been somewhat resolved–I got a new job and decided to stay here. For some time I wasn’t sure it was the best choice for me, but I’ve got a few fun things in the works that are making me feel like it’s the right choice, at least for now.

I’ve finished rough arrangements for four more songs after Porcelain Doll, and am currently working on the final song for the album. Once that’s done, I’ll start looking for a producer to help me improve and master the tracks. There may also be another video in a few months…stay tuned. 🙂

I was doodling on the piano earlier this evening, playing a piece I’d composed a few years ago. I play it nearly every time my fingers touch the keys these days; it’s like hanging out with a good friend with a complex personality. Even though the notes are comfortable and familiar and the melody extremely well-traveled, there’s always an opportunity to discover something fresh, fascinating and beautiful. An unexpected shift from a melody started in D minor, to F major. Some notes you didn’t think would fit that actually do. And while I was working out this analogy in my head as I played the notes, I began to think about the people that I love: my family and dear friends, who make me feel safe, happy, and welcome in their lives. And then I felt incredibly grateful, warm and fuzzy. Lucky, even, which was a welcome break from the angry brat I’ve been for a while now.