Gotta Love Public Transportation III: Transport with a vengance

They say that walking and taking the bus builds character, not to mention help the walker/bus taker lose a decent amount of weight. Loads of bullocks. I suppose it did make me humble when I was forced to take the bus when my car decided to stop working, but as far as building character and losing weight, it did nothing. I toned up a bit, if toned means staying the same size and shape, except for the muscle pack building OVER the fat I already have. On top of that, summer is rearing is hot, sweaty, sunburned tanned head sooner than later, and I haven't lost one pound, which means when I hang out with my UFC friends and model friends, it will be 18 buff guys and ME. Last year didn't bode so well, since I felt the need to overcompensate for my, lets call it "fluffiness". Everyone was talking about swiming to the half mile bouy and back, making it a one mile swim. It didn't seem like that big of a deal. My friend Musa, who speciallizes in Judo and other mixed marital arts, was having cold feet about swimming. I, on the other hand, was totally game, and kept making fun of him, which made everyone else make fun of him. This pissed him off to no end, as its slightly embarrassing for a chubby man twice your size to challenge you to a swim, especially since he's WAYYYY more out of shape than you are. To be honest, it didn't seem like a hard swim at all. So, to get it over with, we decided to swim together, that way if one of us fell short, the other person could back him up. Bad idea. As soon as we started, I was regretting it every step of the way. At first, I really got a good stride going. It was a breeze, and I was making it look way too easy. By halfway to the bouy, Musa turned back, insisting that he was drowning. I kept going, since I was almost there. I looked back and saw my friends john and jeff join me. I reach the bouy, and started to swim back, and that's when I lost the stride. The tide was against me, and I started to panic. I paddled and kicked as hard as I could, and it seemed like I wasn't going anywhere. Just as I felt my legs lock, I saw the lifeguard come to get me. At least I made it halfway.

Anyways, until then, there's always music. And comfort food. But as far as music goes, it is the reason I'm on the bus right now; I'm sick of using a loner mic, so I'm off to get one for the home. Which means you will have to deal with more songs by me. HA. Right now, the plan for the week is this: thursday, chase will record his part for flamboyants songs, as well as several songs of his own. I will demo some hooks for unfinished songs he has, as well as songs for nick, and several other artists that I'm working with whose profile is much higher than mine (which means I'm not going to disclose any names). On top of that, I'm also going to work on songs for my AMR outfit, my hiphop album, AND my spoken word project. Busy. First things first. Off the bus I go.....

GoodByes (or Bad Byes, rather)

I hate it when people leave. Especially people I care about, because whether you mean to or not, as soon as you care about someone or something, you save a small (or large, depending on the care factor; patent pending) place in your heart for them. When they leave (and they will, as people always leave), it leaves a hole in your heart. Thats my theory, anyways. I find it near impossible to love someone who isn't there, which is why long distance relationships are usually doomed from the moment the one person boards the plane. I dont think you will stop loving that person, I just feel that the absence of that person leaves a void thats really tough to fill. When my friend Jeff died, it left a whole so big, it still hasnt been filled up yet. And now, Seqouia is leaving for Las Vegas (although, by the time this post goes up, there's a good chance she could already be gone.) On account of whats happened in the past week (which I'd rather not get into) it's rather understandable, I just hate the fact that it's happening. It's so out of what I expected how this week would end, I just want to wake up and find out the WHOLE week never happened. But oh well. Like I said, people leave. This week was a busy one, and at the very least, on the music side, things were pretty good. Flamboyant and I redid some of his songs, doing a bang up job, I might add. Chase still need to add a middle verse on DIGITS, along with some choruses that need filling out, but other than that, we're very close to the completion of the album.

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Nickasaur has been doing pretty good on recording himself. He drops me a line every other day, sends me some songs, and then I master them. I've been talking to him about using the Fanboyz itunes account to sell his songs, and he sounds game, so thats great.



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Chris (aka Nonsenze, and the dork geniuz, to some) made a new song, and its great. The bad news is, hes real private and he doesnt want me to post it up, so if you want to hear it, and you have a quarterlife or myspace, and you just so happen to have his quarterlife and/or myspace, flood his page with the request of a song called "Who U laughin at" and you will not regret it ( I dont think.) his myspace is right here, his QL is here.

as for me, im just writing new songs for my A Makeshift Romantic outfit, as well as songs for my hiphop album, but, I may or may not post them, so.... yea. Hopefully, a better week tommorrow.

Twenty One

This is a post that I posted on Quarterlife on my birthday....


Twenty One
Edit
March 5, 2008 at 02:34
I've been up for a while, so yesterday and today seem to be blending together rather nicely. I don't really see the use in birthdays, since today, i am no more mentally prepared for the future than i was yesterday, but the difference being that i can now buy booze, something everyone gets tired of right around the time we are allowed to buy said beverage. I've done my share of adolecent drinking to satisfy my thirst, at least for now. It's just good to know that I can always fall back on achoholism for the psedo-egoboost that I need to stumble through the day. I woke up on monday to a phone call from one of the artists that I work with, Nickasaur! (yes, for some reason, the exclaimation point is in his name), asking for a quick instrumental for a song cover he had in mind. He wanted to cover T-pain's "Lemme Buy U a Drank" (hookt on foniks must work for him), but to slightly change it, giving the song a lo-fi, game boy feel. This means, I had to make the entire backing beat from scratch, THEN change the instruments. No Problem. In fact, it was so fun I did a couple more; "Apologize" by OneRepublic, and "IceBox" by omarion:


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I then, went back to sleep. No significant thing happened that day. I awoke yesterday to another one of my artists waking me up to record a session. What resulted was I song that came out pretty good considering I made the entire thing in my PJs, including rap the last verse. (I'll post this when I load it on my PC). I also realized it was my busiest day of the week, because I had to meet with another artist, Darrell Baskin, to discuss his contract with me (just a simple recording agreement, nothing big). I also had to gloss the contract over with my Partner, who didnt quite understand the jargon, but since i was quarterbacking the deal, simply needed to know the basics. I then, went to the home studio to do two acoustic covers, both of which are on my quarterLife Page. After I finished, I realized I had been working all day and It was already wednesday. My Birthday. I proceeded to turn on my PC and blog about the last two days. And am still doing so....

Insurance Quotes from Your PC....

I turned twenty one last Wednesday, and it was about time that I transferred everything that I am responsible into my name, since I'm all grown up now. The first thing that I decided to do was to transfer my car insurance into my name, but since I didn't have the credit my mom has, and since I've been in several accidents, I couldn't afford the insurance that my Mom was paying on my car. I decided to look up some online insurance quotes. Online, I was able to find the right type of insurance for my car. Now, all I have to do is fix the car (yikes). The next thing I need to do was to secure my new business and the studio space that I'm renting out, since I'm moving out as soon as possible (twenty one, remember?). On the same site I was able to look up both Business Insurance, which I discussed and approved with my business partner, and Renters Insurance for my new pad. The last thing that I need to make sure of was that, before I leave, I was SURE that my mom was taken care of. She has a terminal illness, so Long-term Care Insurance is a must. I looked up some quotes online, and printed them out for my mom to look over while I pack up my stuff. Thank goodness for the internet, and online insurance quotes.

Gotta Love Public Transportation 2: Transport Harder

It seems I always find time to pen in this blog when I'm waiting for the bus, so I figure I'll post one up right now, while I'm doing exactly that. I can't help but apretieate the sudden surge of technology in the past 10 years that can allow me to type my blog, listen to my new tracks from the studio,email my PR guy& 2artists, chat with chris on yahoo, and ask my mom where I can take the bus at exactly where I am, all at the SAME TIME. Although I always hate to admit it, I depend on this device (my phone) so much, that every time it gets cut off, I lose my mind. It's like the scene in cast away when is on his raft thingy, and he loses that volleyball he talks to.

The craziest thing happened to me last Saturday. I was hanging out with my dad, something that I don't do much, but I want to do more of. We were going to go to a place that I hang out a lot, since, now that I'm 21, We can hang out like peers, more than just father and son. Before we left, he got a phone call. It seems that his friend, Al (who is a great guy, by the way), had some car trouble in LA, and needed a ride. My dad looked at me, and before he said anything, I knew what he was going to say. Never someone who turns away the chance to help someone, I say "Lets Go." I hop in the car and we high tail it to LA. When we get there, I checked the car out. It seems that there is a problem with the radiator. I put some fluid, but when we drive down the street, the car begins smoking. I check under the car, and realize that there was a leak. They get the car towed, and all is well. My dad and I decide to
call it night, so we hop on the freeway so he can take me home. On the freeway, a car zoomed right past us, swerved in front of us, slammed into the divider next to us and flipped over, RIGHT NEXT TO US. Had my dad not been paying attention, we would've been the car to that car in the same car wreck. That night, I hugged my mom tight and thanked God that I made it home safe.


Anyway, since I haven't blogged in a while, here's what's going on with me and some of the projects I have been following on this blog:

Flamboyant:

He's probably the most consistent artist that I work with right now. Every week, we record at least 2 times a week. Since I last blogged, he's finished at least 5 songs, which I will put up once I get home (you can usually check my quarterlife page for those, because I usually post those WHILE I'm at the studio on that page). He's pretty much done with the bulk of his album proper, so we are just working on mastering, final mixing, and album order. While that's being worked on, We will also work on a mixtape for us to pass out at the show on the 27th. He has a slew
of songs he didn't put on the album that he wants to put on the mixtape, along with three songs he made specifically for the mixtape.


Nickasaur!:

He has a big show coming up, so I have to figure out the easiest way to trigger autotune in realtime. I have several ways to do it, nut I have to figure out the easiest way for him. I sold him an external audio recording setup, and taught him how to best use it. Since then, his home studio quality has gotten WAY better.

Chase AO:

When working with Chase, you really have to take what you can get. Granted, he is a great artist, and I dont take that away from him at all. But sometimes his schedule is so busy, he can't always make it to every session. The last time he came was the last time I posted about him in my blog, so no songs were made with him.


As for the rest, I'll continue this in my next blog, seeing as I'm already home and tired from walking....

A & R Crib Notes

I've been blogging on this site for a good month and some change now, and finally, on my birthday, I receive my FIRST COMMENT!!!! Its kinda sad how excited I am about ONE comment; it's like when a dog pees all over itself when someone new comes to visit. It was a comment from my dear friend Marianne, and the comment goes as follows:

Rather than leaving a comment on each and every blog that I find interesting, I figure it'll be easier to just ramble on the newest blog. Convenient, ain't it? Hahahah. Okay. First off, I feel incredibly stupid for saying this, but you're an incredible writer! In the year+ I've known you (damn, crazy huh?), I've never really taken notice to it. But whatever, at least I have your blog to read at my leisure now :] Here goessss! The ramblings of Marianney.

1. There was one entry where you mentioned your dear SK. Hahahahaha, remember how sad I'd get when we were on the freeway and it'd make that sound? "bloop bloop blooooooop" It sounded like death :[
2. Valentine's Day. Remember last year? With the brownies? And the Amoeba adventure? Dinner with your dad? Yay for memories.
3. Ok, so this is really random. But I'm sort of interested in becoming an A&R, as a side job thing. And I have NO idea where to start. Since you're already in the music business, would you be able to help me with that?

Lastly, happy birthday. It was exactly one year ago when all of us saw The Zodiac. Cuh-raaaazy how fast time flies.

Thanks, Marianne for the comment. Now comes the part of the show where we (meaning me) answer the "fan" mail (I'm using that term very loosely). So you wanna be an A&R? First know, that the letters stand for Artist & Repertoire .Here's a nice little tidbit; Before the release of their album Infinity On High, the band Fall Out Boy told sources a potential title for one of the tracks on the album would be "You Can't Spell Star Without A&R". The track title didn't make it; instead the track was titled "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," which is the album's lead single. This job title is very broad and has many duties that are attched to it, so I'm going to let the monster of knowledge that is WIKIPEDIA.COM explain is slightly better:

In the music industry, Artists and Repertoire (A&R) is the division of a record label company that is responsible for scouting and artist development. It is the link between the recording artist/act and the record label, generally to help with the artistic and commercial development of the label's artists. An A&R person is often required to handle contractual negotiations, find songwriters and record producers for the act, and schedule recording sessions. In the UK, before the rise of the record producer, the A&R Manager would oversee recording sessions and assume responsibility for making creative decisions relating to the recording.

Part of their duties includes keeping contact with their counterparts in music publishing companies to get new songs and material from established songwriters. Contrary to common belief, it is not one of the A&R department's main jobs to sort through the plethora of demo tapes sent by hopeful musicians to the label. A&R departments at major labels in the USA typically only accept solicited demos, or ones from business contacts with which they are familiar. However, major labels outside the USA and many independent labels still accept unsolicited demos.

I'm assuming that she wants to be an A&R for an indie label, so I'm going to gloss over that briefly. Unlike big labels, this job title at an indie label includes sorting through unsolicited demos, which can lead to some amazing finds. If not for having to do this, I would not have found an artist that I'm working with right now, Nickasaur, and my intern Bernadette (who is more like an A&R in training) would not have led me to the prodigy that is Darrell Baskin. My intern surfs the web on a daily basis scouring myspace and other sites looking for raw talent. She literally searches for talent with a distinct sound that she feels would be a perfect match for my writers and producers (who are chris and I). As far as the contracts, though Chris and I usually handle that part of the job ourselves, our intern delivers contracts if we are tied up with sessions or meetings. Now, if you want to BE an A&R, you have to have a very good idea of how the Industry works, not to mention plenty of connections; Talent is no good if you can't pair it with a winning production team and decent writers, because let's face it; not all the acts out can write for themselves, and hardly any produce for themselves anymore. I recommend going to the Library and borrowing the following books, if you can find them:
All You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald S. Passman
This Business of Music Marketing and Promotion, Revised and Updated Edition (Hardcover)
by Tad Lathrop

Also, These sites are sites A&Rs go to often for tips and to discover fresh talent:
http://www.crazedhits.com/
http://www.aandronline.com/

Listen to the radio often, and see whats popular. Also, see what the radio is missing from a commerical standpoint, and try to find acts that are both new & fresh, but still have a stong enough following to sell a massive amounts of records, because the sad truth is that the Music Industry is an Industry: there is not industry without cashflow.

I hope that answers your Question. Till next time folks....

Birthday Blog

I figure since I've been spending a rediculous amount of time on quarterlife, I should just post my portfolio here, since it not only has everything I am currently working on (the sole purpose of this blog) but also, it has a blog for today that I wrote, and I figured, instead writing the blog twice, just post this. Btw, today is the day of my birth. mazel tov. To go to my Quarter Life Page, Click Here.

QuarterLife

I honestly don't frequent Myspace that often. When I am on Mypsace, its just to check my messages and stuff; the basics. I was on about 4 days ago (about the same date as the last time I posted here) when I saw the ad (well, I think it qualifies as an ad; the reason I'm sketchy about it is because you don't really buy anything as an end result, except for buying into whatever they're saying) for QuarterLife, A web show from the creators of My So-Called Life. I was actually a fan of that show, so I was in fact semi-curious, but I never really got into any web shows too much, so I was a bit skeptical. I clicked the trailer that was made for it, just to get a feel. I spent that first day (at its ENTIRETY i might add) going through the entire 33 episode series and still fiending for more. I was addicted. I went to the studio, and all I could think about was the show. It was agonizing. I went home, and THANKFULLY, there was another fresh, episode. It didn't last, though, since the web episode are only 6 to 15 minutes long. I wanted more still, so I went on the quaterlife website. I found that the site featured in the show (the show is about a girl who blogs on a site called, of course, QuarterLife ) actually exists. I'm assuming that the site was built in lieu of the show, but is was fully functional, not like some other show based sites (i.e. Freakylinks). Quarterlife is a hybrid of all the sites our demographic (18-25, hence the name Quarter-life) such as myspace, facebook, youtube, and your average blogging site (like this one.) They somehow managed to roll all those into one website. At first, it seemed like some kind of Myspace clone, but as I delved further into it, It was more than that. It is essentially more of a springboard for artists, photographers, musician, writers, and more. It revolves around a portfolio of media that you put together to display to the public. You can show up to 25 pieces of work, but the folder you store your work in has unlimited space. you can also export your portfolio and embed it on myspace or facebook. I've Been working on music, but sadly, I've been too caught up on quarterlife to blog here. but I promise, more posts soon. Until then, Look me up on quarterlife by clicking HERE.

Tabletop Gaming Classic Gone Digital? Chance For FREE swag??? Indeed, Indeed....

Warhammer: Age of Rekoning is a highly anticipated upcoming online game based on the tabletop game sensation Warhammer Fantasy. It's been in development since early 2004, and now that the game is on the verge of release, warhammergamers.com is holding a contest! The Instructions are simple: To enter, simply register on the forums.Every post or reply you make will get you an entry in the raffle. To make it even sweeter, Every thread you make will get you two entries in the raffle. The way it works is this; at the contest's end, every thread and the post's ID will be entered at random.org. The first 23 posts of the list will be the winners. Naturally, the first three posts will win the three grand prizes. PRIZES?? Oh, what are the prizes, you ask? There will be THREE grand prizes and Twenty runner-up prizes. The prizes are as follows: The first three winners will get an EVGA GeForce 8600GT graphics card. If the winners of the graphics card do not want the graphics card, they can choose 5 months subscribtion to WAR instead (which is still, a pretty sweet deal). The twenty runner-ups will get a 2 month subcription to WAR. To register, go to Warhammer Online Forum.