Sunday Rundown: Gigging at the Acoustic Lounge and Plans for the Future.

I’ve been debating about what to do with myself and my career next year for a while and this was the week I finally made a decision, which feels like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders!  Feels so nice to have my direction back and not be constantly worried.

Monday: I worked out the setlist and set order for the gig on Saturday at the Acoustic, practised my set for an upcoming wedding, registered some songs on Music Gateway’s sync Portal and started reading a great book on promotion and marketing in the music industry.  It was a day of admin and rehearsals, but it felt like a very productive one!

Tuesday:  I spent most of the day learning my cover for my Wednesday Cover and trying to record the video…. despite multiple interruptions!  I then read more of my new book: ‘The Music Marketing and Promotion Road Map’ to help me work out how to best get my music out there!  So far I think it is a great read and it’s given me loads of new ideas.  I played golf in the evening too to get some fresh air!

Wednesday: Golf again first then followed by a very long rehearsal session with my guitarist George.  It was a much less than perfect rehearsal, so fingers crossed all the mistakes are out of the way before the gig.

This week’s Thursday Twenty is Ella Eyre’s ‘Ego’ as I think it’s a great track and not that many people have given covering it a go yet on YouTube.  I thought I would do my own acoustic piano version and put my own spin on it!  I’d love to know what you think on YouTube!

Thursday:  I had a golf competition but played terribly… so we won’t talk about that any further!  I did put together my Thursday Twenty playlist for this week and it’s my favourite one yet I think!

1. Glue by Fickle Friends – I only discovered Fickle Friends this week but oh my god… I am in love!  The whole EP is so 80s nostalgic, catchy and fun!  Definitely check it out!
2. Heartlines by EMBRZ & Meadowlark
3. Only Us by Paperwhite
4. Show Me (feat. Madison Ryann Ward) by John Splithoff – I love this song as it feels so cheery and summery and the production is so good!  It’s a windows down, driving kind of song!
5. Fire by VHS Collection – A bit more indie/alternative than my usual picks but I really like the 80s vibes in this track too and how they are mixed with a modern sound.
6. You by LINES – I literally can’t get this out of my head and it is SO satisfying to sing the chorus with the cheeky swearwords emphasising the frustration in the lyrics!  I can definitely relate to this one!
7. Childhood Dreams by ARY
8. Bathwater by WESLEE – OBSESSED with this one!  So so catchy and it has a slight echo of Terror Jr, who I love, so it’s right up my street.
9. Find Yourself by Great Good Fine Ok & Before You Exit
10. Lights by NOVAA
11. Alive (Ashworth Remix) by XYLO
12. Quicksand by Tim Legend & Colin Dieden
13. Friends (with BloodPop) by Justin Bieber – I have to admit I do have a bit of a weakness for Justin Bieber’s recent music… it’s always so catchy and has amazing production on it!  Friends is a good example of this, catchy hook (nothing earth changing in terms of songwriting though) and great beat.
14. The Author by Wildwood Kin – Much more chilled than my usual taste in music but I love the layering in this.
15. Fading Youth by Punctual
16. Chasing Marrakech
17. Hymn by Kesha  – I really like this song as I think a lot of younger people feeling lost (like me a lot of the time) could relate to the lyrics and feel the urge to sing it out.
18. Unpredictable by Becky Hill
19. Pitfalls by Sistek & Tudor – I found this track (and artist) whilst researching managers and I think its fab! Definitely one of my top picks this week!
20. (Not) The One by Bebe Rexha  – At this point in my life I can really really relate to what she’s saying in this track!  I get the feeling of not wanting to be in a relationship but liking the option of having someone there when you need them… good pop song that broaches a topic usually ignored!

 

 

Friday:  I started off the day by touring The Manchester MIDI School, which was awesome.  Ever since I started producing Alive and experimenting with looping, I have been wanting to learn more about music production, but just didn’t know the best way for me.  After visiting the MIDI school today I’m really excited that I’m going to be studying Music Production, Electronic Music Composition and Music Business there next year!  I think it will really help push my writing to the next level and hopefully bring something new into my live set up too!

Saturday:  I had a great day of rehearsals followed by an amazing gig at the Acoustic Lounge!  The crowd was really engaged and enthusiastic, which always helps to make a gig memorable, and it was my last gig with George before he heads to London for university, making it even nicer that we had a great time!

 

Sunday:  On Sunday I had a golf competition with my Dad and we actually won third prize so that was a great end to the weekend!

Thank you so much for reading!

 

 

Sunday Rundown: Video Locations, Rehearsals and Collaborations

Photo: Geena Sharma Singh Photography

This week has been a pretty fun one considering I still have a little bit of the holiday blues!  Being back in England hasn’t stopped me doing a bit of travelling and it’s been great to get back to work and get focused again!

Monday:  Pure admin!  After being away for a week, I had to catch up on loads of things and get back to work on submitting for playlist consideration, emailing my distributor about updating my Vevo channel and replying to some venues about potential bookings.

Tuesday:  On Tuesday, I travelled to East Yorkshire – Flamborough, Robin Hood’s Bay and Scarborough to be exact – to scout for potential locations for the music video to Alive.  I had the pleasure of the company of my friend (and videographer) Geena, making it a really great day!  We found some amazing places to potentially shoot and had great weather all day, which really helped us to imagine the shots we want to capture!  Check out some of the pictures from the day below!

Looking out over Thornwick Bay

North Landing

Danes Dyke

Thornwick Bay

Thornwick Bay – Taken by Geena Sharma Singh

North Landing

Danes Dyke

Thornwick Bay – Taken by Geena Sharma Singh

Looking back on North Landing

Looking out over Thornwick Bay

 

Wednesday: I was in a horrible mood on Wednesday for some reason, so I went to the driving range in the morning to get some aggression out, but that actually didn’t work!  Then I had rehearsals all afternoon with George ready for our gig next week.  We were learning a lot of new material, which was a little stressful but is quite exciting as I love changing things up!

Thursday: I spent the morning applying for sync placements, resulting in a very positive response from a publisher, which was encouraging!  Then I played golf (terribly) in the afternoon, but thankfully the sun was shining!  This week’s Thursday Twenty is slightly more chilled than the party playlists of the last couple of weeks, with more of a modern pop vibe!

1. Everybody Else by Emmit Fenn – I literally love every song that Emmit Fenn brings out and this is no exception; chilled, electronic perfection!
2. LMK by Kelela
3. Run For Your Life by Mako feat. Rat City & Natalola – Definitely one to get stuck in your head… very catchy and cheerful!
4. Warriors by Sander W, Sandero and Julie Elody
5. Champagne & Sunshine (Ellusive Remix) by PLVTINUM & Tarro – I love the slightly naughty vibe of this one… makes me want to be reckless.
6. I Need You by Obregon
7. Listening by Cages – One of my favourites this week… absolutely in love with the drop on this!
8. Scream by Amaal Nuux
9. Overnight by Karo
10. like that by Bea Miller – Another favourite, I love the attitude and strength in this.  Modern and fresh pop at its best!
11. Work The Middle – So catchy… a bit of a guilty pleasure as it makes me want to sing and dance along!
12. Ego (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) by Ella Eyre – I’m a big fan of Ella Eyre’s voice and I saw a video of her performing this live a few weeks ago and loved it… love it even more now it’s released!
13. Free by Axel Thesleff & Ronja – Another great track!  Such a mysterious and edgy feel to this one, almost alien like, but then when the beat kicks in it feels so perfect for summer partying.
14. Heartlines (MOUNT Remix) by Broods 
15. Bow Down by Louis Mattrs
16. Do About It by Lucas Nord – I love the combination of the male and female vocals and how the track builds after the breakdown.
17. Walls by Loving Arms & Blu Eyes
18. Motion by Sam Smyers & M. Maggie – Maybe my track of the week… so so catchy but really cool at the same time.  Love how it isn’t structured like a normal pop song and it’s very fluid throughout and the vocals are dreamy.
19. F**k with Me (Never Again) by Ramon Esteve & Finja Messer
20. I Like by Superfeel – Really chilled hip hop with an infectious hook and very summery vibes!

 

 

Friday: Hospital appointment in the morning to look into some of the problems I’ve had with my voice.  The diagnosis was that due to being unwell a number of times I’ve lost some of the core strength and muscle control I used to have, making it harder to sing at different parts of my range.  I’m going to be having some rehabilitation for my voice with some therapy, learning some new warm ups and getting a bit fitter to help with the muscle strength!

Saturday: Piano practice was a main focus due to a wedding I’m playing fast approaching, along with reading a book on music marketing and promotion and researching managers.

Sunday:  Studio dayyyyy!!! This time I was in the studio with the lovely Sophie Smith, recording our collaboration – a song I wrote called ‘Body Of Mine’.  Without giving too much away, it’s a song about not letting people label you and about being so much more than people see on the surface.  I’m really excited to have recorded my first collaboration and to be sharing this in the near future!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Deja Vu

The third track to be taken from my Experiments EP is Deja Vu!  Deja Vu is the most dancey and summery track on the EP, with a real tropical vibe!  One of the main aims when planning the concept for the video was to capture that summery influence in the visuals, whilst filming in a studio in February!  The way we achieved that was to take inspiration from the film Neon Demon and Demi Lovato’s ‘Cool For The Summer’ video in terms of lighting and makeup and then running with that to make it our own.  We used fluorescent tube lights to give that ‘clubby’ party effect and then in the drops amped that up further with EL (electro luminescent) wire.  I absolutely loved using the EL wire and tying it around my hands and clothes as I’m obsessed with neon things and it gave me the opportunity to switch on my light up trainers!

Deja Vu is a really upbeat and playful track in terms of production, but it was actually quite emotional for me to write.  The lyrics are about being let down by someone close to you and you realising that you have a pattern of trusting the wrong people.  It’s a song born out of frustration from being naïve and not noticing when you are being played for a fool.  It’s that feeling of being hurt but being mostly angry at yourself as you know you could have prevented it yourself by being a bit wiser! As the third song on the EP, Deja Vu is the ‘turning point’ in the narrative, when the character starts to fully realise how toxic the relationship is and let that anger and frustration show.

Check out the video on YouTube below, and head to iTunes or Spotify to give the Experiments EP a listen!

 

Poison

Poison is the second track on my Experiments EP, so it is the second video to be released!  Out of all the videos I filmed with Cosmic Joke Productions, this was probably the most fun to work on.  When planning the concept we wanted to incorporate the sparkle and colour of my branding into the visuals and the way we ended up doing this was with powder paint and glitter.  One of the most memorable parts of Poison is the drumbeat, so when they suggested I bang a drum I was so excited and thought it was perfect!

Poison is such a fun, catchy song that I thought it was really important to shoot a video that supported the track and was memorable and playful.  The song is about knowing you are crazy for being with someone who doesn’t treat you right and for loving them when they behave badly.  It follows on from the encounter in the first song on the EP ‘Lead Me Down’ as part of the running narrative on Experiments.

I absolutely love this track and the video, so check it out on YouTube below, and make sure you give the Experiments EP a listen; it is available to buy/stream now on iTunes, Spotify, and all other major digital retailers.

 

Sunday Rundown: New Video, Portugal and Ingrosso.

I’ve been a bit quiet for the last couple of weeks due to being on holiday in Portugal!  It was great to get away for a while and let off some steam, especially as I saw some great DJs whilst I was there!  Although I spent the week not really working, my new video to Deja Vu did premiere this week, which was awesome!  Instead of my day by day Rundown I’m just going to go over my highlights of the last two weeks!

Filming Live Lounge videos:  Just before I went to Portugal I filmed some live lounge style videos of four of my original songs.  We did the loop pedal versions of my songs, which only people who have seen me perform live will have seen before, so I’m very excited to share those soon!

Brunch at Purobeach:  One of my favourite days of the holiday… chilled deep house vibes with a daytime pool party!  Such a beautiful pool with an amazing DJ and food and drinks!  Most of this week’s Thursday Twenty tracks were taken from what I heard at this party!

Seville: I took my best friend to Seville for her (belated) birthday present and it was such a beautiful city!  We went to see the Alcazar Palace as it has featured in Game of Thrones and we had such a great tapas lunch in a local restaurant.  We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city which was lovely but slightly too hot at 45 degrees Celsius!

Ingrosso at Bliss:  Whilst we were in Portugal we went out everyday but this had to be one of the best nights we had.  Ingrosso was so good but his support, Salvatore Ganacci, was even better as he was a real character and really entertaining to watch!

Deja Vu Premiere:  The video for my third song off the Experiments EP dropped on Wednesday on the blog, ‘Musicandotherstories’ and on YouTube… I’m really happy to be able to share it!  This is the most dancey and summery song from the EP so it seemed like the perfect time to share the video, when I was on holiday myself!  Check it out!

Boat trip to the islands:  The second part of my friend’s birthday present was a trip to four of the islands in the Algarve, including Deserta Island.  I loved seeing the different islands and doing something I hadn’t done before in Portugal.  My favourite island was Farol as we found an amazing beach bar with a party atmosphere and awesome sangria!

Claptone at Lick:  Lick is the newest club in Vilamoura and it’s absolutely amazing!  It really reminded me of the clubs in Miami but I actually preferred it!  The first night we went, we were there to see Claptone, who I have seen before at the Warehouse Project.  I knew he was good, but in that unbelievable venue he was even better!  Such a fab night!

Dinner at my favourite restaurant and then Black Coffee at Lick:  My favourite restaurant in Portugal is called Pequeno Mundo and I have been going since I was a child, so it was so nice to finish the holiday with great food there!  Then we headed to Lick for our last night to see Black Coffee, who was awesome too!  Made some German friends and spent our final holiday day in great company, which was thr perfect end to a great trip1  Regretted not going to bed slightly the next morning in the aiport though, when I felt like I was from the walking dead!

First match of the season at Old Trafford:  A trip to Old Trafford for Manchester United’s first game of the season numbed the holiday blues a little bit, especially with a 4-0 win!

Sunday Rundown: Location recce, video editing and practising for live lounges

Another busy week with many projects on the go!  Hopefully they will all start coming together soon and I’ll see some results 🙂

Monday:  I was editing the video for Shackles.  In particular I was colour grading all the clips and starting to have a look at where to put the different clips on the timeline.

Tuesday:  More video editing!  With the help of my friend Geena (who knows much more about Adobe Premiere than I do) we arranged the clips for the first half of the song and added transitions and effects.

Wednesday:  Wednesday was a full day of rehearsals with my guitarist, George, ready for our gig on Saturday and our live lounge videoshoot next week.  For the live lounges, we are preparing loop versions of four of my original tracks, ready to shoot as one take videos on Monday.

This week’s Wednesday Cover was ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ by Foster The People.  I absolutely love this song and I love performing it live at gigs, so it was really fun to film our version!  Check it out below!

Thursday:  I ended up playing golf in the pouring rain, which was rather miserable and then going out that night for dinner and drinks with a friend!  Not the most career focused day, but it was good to take a break!

My Thursday Twenty playlist this week was a mixture of happy songs for the sunny days and chilled songs for the rainy days, as the weather has been very variable recently!

1. Back To You by Louis Tomlinson, Bebe Rexha & Digital Farm Animals – I really did not expect to like this song, but I actually do!  It’s a nice, easy to listen to pop track, with a relatable lyrical theme!
2. Remember I Told You (Dave Aude Remix) by Nick Jonas, Anne-Marie & Mike Posner
3. On My Mind (Alex Adair Remix) by Disciples – I love both the original and this more chilled out remix of this song and I also can’t wait to go see Disciples in November!
4. Empty Room (Elderbrook Remix) by Big Wild & Yuna – Such a great summer chillout song, I love listening to it whilst driving!
5. Planez by Jeremih & J. Cole – Completely forgot about this one, but I really like it for when I’m trying to relax!
6. All I Want Is You by Miguel & J. Cole
7. The Other (Eden Prince Remix) by Lauv – The perfect song for when you are by the pool and watching the world go by… definitely a holiday track!
8. Your Song (Cheat Codes Remix) by Rita Ora
9. Crowded Places by Banks – Banks is my artistic idol and her newest track is definitely her most summery and soft… perfect roadtrip song!
10. Say You Love Me (Alex Adair Remix) by Jessie Ware – One of my favourite ever remixes… beautiful.
11. Teenage Fantasy by Jorja Smith
12. We Don’t Talk Anymore (Attom Remix) by Charlie Puth & Selena Gomez
13. The Motion by Drake
14. Wicked Game by Tula – A really great version of one of my favourite songs!  I heard it whilst watching Love Island (don’t judge) and instantly loved the sexy vibe.
15. Get It Together by Drake
16. Alaska by Maggie Rogers – This was a recommendation from my guitarist, George, and I really thing it is a great take on modern pop.
17. Plain Sight by Kita Alexander
18. Creep (V!RTU Edit) by Ember Island
19. Now Or Never (R3hab Remix) by Halsey
20. Lose My Cool (Couros Remix) – Such a great clubby remix with the catchiest hook!

 

Friday:  Despite being super hungover, on Friday I drove to Anglesey with Geena to look for locations to potentially film the video for Alive in.  We are looking for a very specific type of scenery and this was hard to identify on Friday as the rain and wind was just crazy!  It was such a tiring day due to the weather, but I think we did find some potential places to film in the end… so it wasn’t all for nothing!  We have some other recce visits planned around the country though before we make a decision!

Saturday:  More rehearsing followed by a gig in the evening.  It turned out that the YouTuber ‘Syndicate’ was at the gig and a sneaky 10 sec clip of our performance made it into his daily vlog… so that was awesome!

Sunday:  Such an amazing chill day with my bestie, Abi, consisting of face masks, mani-pedis and Beauty and the Beast!  A much needed rest day to round off the week and prepare me for the one ahead!

Thank you so much for reading!

Sunday Rundown: Finding locations, shooting videos and finally finishing Alive

This week I have been working on loads of new projects including shooting a video, planning another and finally finishing the mix on my track Alive.  I’ve also been talking to some promoters about booking some gigs very soon, so hopefully I’ll have many announcements coming soon!

Monday: I was travelling back from London so I was just doing admin stuff on the train!  Pretty boring!

Tuesday: Tuesday was a great day as I was shooting a video for one of my upcoming songs, which is called Shackles!  The song is quite dramatic and dark, so we thought a very simple black and white video might work really well.  The track starts with just piano, so it was fun filming that part with me playing what is on the track!

Wednesday:  On Wednesday I was back in the studio for the first time in a while, to put some new vocals on a couple of tracks I recorded back in February.  However, I ended up changing the structure of three of the songs from my Chemistry album… which just goes to show the creative process isn’t always finished even though you thought it was!

My Wednesday Cover this week was a duet with the lovely Sophie Smith and we did cover of Strangers by Halsey and Lauren Jaugerui.  Check it out:

Thursday:  On Thursday I was playing in another golf competition and I played the best I’d ever played, which was a great feeling!  I actually ended up winning the whole competition and having my handicap dropped.

As it was Thursday I curated my Thursday Twenty playlist for the week, with a lot of emphasis being on holiday songs again, particularly Spanish songs!

1. Higher Love by Charming Horses
2. Mind Games by Nicolas Haelg
3. Save Me by LISTENBEE
4. Freak (Sam Feldt Remix Edit) by R3hab – I love this track as it reminds me of the Sugababes version from when I was younger… such a nostalgic track!
5. Low by Matt Kali
6. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Taladego Tropical Mix) by Sara Farell – I really like this version of this song as it’s so summery and happy!  I actually prefer it to the original!
7. Take It to the Beat by Sons of Maria
8. No Vacancy (with Sebastian Yatra) by OneRepublic – In summer I always listen to a lot of Spanish music, so I was really happy to see Sebastian Yatra had teamed up with OneRepublic for this track!  It’s the perfect sunny day song and the Spanish parts work really well with the English hook!
9. Mala Mujer by C. Tangana – This track has such a sexy vibe and it really makes me excited to go partying in summer!
10. More by Total Ape
11. Get Low by Zedd & Liam Payne
12. Came Here For Love by Sigala & Ella Eyre
13. Love$ick by Mura Masa & A$AP Rocky – I bought my tickets to go and see Mura Masa at the WHP this week and I’m super excited, so I thought I would include a track on the playlist this week!
14. Fetish by Selena Gomez & Gucci Mane
15. Mi Gente by J Balvin – I loooovvveee J Balvin and this track is no exception!  Such a great beat and definitely my favourite song this week!
16. Loving Life by Rationale
17. Love Me More by Chase & Status & Emeli Sande
18. immortal (Snakehips Remix) by Elley Duhe
19. Sober (Jerome Price Remix) by CVIRO
20. No Love in the Jungle by Harper – Another favourite this week!  I’m new to Harper but I love what she’s doing so far!

 

Friday: I finally fixed the mix for Alive and put a master on and started editing the video for Shackles!  I also had a meeting about potential locations and ideas for a videoshoot for Alive.  Exciting stuff!

Saturday: Rehearsing during the day and then gigging in the evening!  Such a lovely crowd and a great atmosphere, including two encores!

Sunday: Brunch and then the golf presentation evening, when I got my trophy!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Sunday Rundown: Wimbledon, London and Gigging

This week has definitely been one to remember!  I’ve fulfilled my life-long dream of going to Wimbledon, had my first gig with my new guitarist, George, and redone the mixing on Alive to get back to the point I was at before I lost my pen drive!

Monday:  I started the day off by going to the driving range and then I went into college to find the latest version of the Alive project on the studio computer and see how far behind I had put myself!  It actually wasn’t as bad as I had feared as the project on the computer had all the vocals imported into it and some of the mixing had been started.  I did a little bit of mixing and bounced the track, ready to listen and make notes at home.

Tuesday:  Again, I started the day off at the range and then I had a day of rehearsals with George ready for our gig on Friday.  We were finalising the set list and making sure we had our loop arrangements sorted for each song, especially my original songs (Take It All and Lead Me Down).

Wednesday:  On Wednesday I played tennis and then went back into college to do a second mix on Alive, using the notes I had written at home.  I think this mix is now pretty much right, with just a few minor alterations needed… finally!  I’m hoping next week I’ll be mastering the track and sorting out my backing tracks for when I want to perform the track.

For my Wednesday Cover, I teamed up with the lovely Sophie Smith to cover Drake’s ‘Passionfruit’.  I had a lot of fun doing this track with her and it was great to be able to harmonise together!  Check it out:

Thursday:  This week’s Thursday Twenty is summer themed as I’m getting super excited for my holidays coming up!

1. We Start Fires by Little Giants 
2. Cold Ain’t For Me by Oceans – This song perfectly sums up how I feel every time I come home to rainy Manchester after being somewhere amazing and sunny.  Perfect pick me up song!
3. New Rules by Dua Lipa
4. The Heat (I Wanna Dance With Somebody) by Ralph Felix – Great summer revamp of Whitney’s Classic!  Makes me feel like going and dancing on a beach somewhere.
5. P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing) by John Gibbons
6. Wicked by mansionz – I love this track!  It’s so funky and infectious!
7. Pretty Girl (Cheat Codes X CADE Remix) by Maggie Lindemann
8. There For You by Martin Garrix feat. TROYE SIVAN
9. Fall At Your Feet by Lucy Neville
10. The Nights by Avicii
11. Heaven Is A Halfpipe (If I Die) by OPM – This is one of my guilty pleasures!  I used to be obsessed with this song when I was younger and it always puts me in such an amazing mood.
12. Steal My Sunshine by Len – I think this is my ultimate summer sing-a-long song!  Another guilty pleasure… but such a great one!
13. Giving It All (Joe Goddard Remix) by Bondax – For me this is an example of when the remix actually surpasses the original.  I’ve always loved this track and in summer it just gets me in the mood to escape and party for a few days!
14. My Head Is A Jungle (Extended Vocal Mix) by Wanklemut – This is just the best summer nights song and reminds me of so many amazing times in clubs with my best friend… this mix is my favourite as the guitar is just so nice to listen to and it builds so well.
15. I Like Me Better by Lauv
16. 2AM (Matoma Remix) by Astrid S – This is one of my favourite summery songs because it has such an island feel to it.. such an amazing remix!
17. Deja Vu by Sally Caitlin – I thought I would throw Deja Vu on this playlist as it’s the most summery song on my EP and the video is going to premiere soon!
18. Call Me (White Gold Caviar Remix) by NEIKED
19. 212 by Azealia Banks
20. West Coast (ZHU Remix) by Lana Del Rey – There are sooo many great remixes of this song and this is one of my favourites as it’s just so bassy and has such an edgy vibe.

On Thursday I also played in a golf competition.  Looks like my visits to the driving range paid off because I actually won my division and got myself a little trophy!

 

Friday:  On Friday I had a gig at Platform One in Romiley with my guitarist.  We spent the day rehearsing and that was definitely worth it as we didn’t make any mistakes and the gig went super smoothly!  It was definitely a good start to our partnership and I’m very excited to gig again together next week!

Saturday: I went down to London to visit my brother and do a little sightseeing!  We went to the Darwin Brasserie in the Sky Garden for their brunch buffet and some cocktails.  The view from the 35th floor was amazing and we could see the Shard, London Bridge and loads of other sights!  After that we did some intense window shopping in Harrods and Knightsbridge!

Sunday:  I am a huge tennis fan and on Sunday I got to finally go to Wimbledon after years of being desperate to get there!  We started the day with an amazing brunch in Chelsea and then jumped on the tube to head to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.  It was a really great experience and the place was even more magical than I imagined it would be!  My brother’s friend works at Wimbledon so gave us a tour of the broadcast centre, which was awesome as we saw the press conference room.  It was a pity that Marin Cilic was injured for the final, meaning the match wasn’t as competitive as it could have been, but it was great to be on Henman Hill/Murray Mound when Federer won his 8th Wimbledon title!  I was a massive keeno and bought myself a Wimbledon sweatshirt and tennis skirt along with a huge strawberries and cream sundae and lots of Pimms! For the doubles final we got resale tickets for Centre Court, so got to see Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis win the mixed doubles final!  All in all it was a great day, and the only thing that could have improved it would have been Rafa being there!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

Sunday Rundown: Collaborations, Imperial War Museum and Interview Features

This week has been full of ups and downs!  I had a great gig, a really lovely interview feature and met the lovely Sophie Smith for some YouTube collaborations….. but I lost my USB stick with the project files for my track Alive on it!  That was a massive disappointment and has put me many steps back in finishing the track!

Monday:  Most of my day was taken up with rehearsals, both with my guitarist, George, and the band I play with, Inhale!  Whilst I really enjoyed the rehearsals, I was very glad to stop singing after 8 hours!

Tuesday: I wasn’t actually feeling well at all on Tuesday and was worried I was losing my voice, so I took it very easy!  I did a bit of writing for the next track I’m hopefully going to produce myself and just generally tried to relax!

Wednesday: Due to being worried about my voice I didn’t want to record a Wednesday Cover this week, but don’t worry as I’ve already recorded next week’s and it is a great one!  I was actually playing in a team golf competition on Wednesday, which was really fun and topped off by the fact we won the prize for ‘Best Ladies Team’!  I also won two of the raffle prizes, which was very exciting for me as I usually have terrible luck!

Thursday:  No Thursday Twenty playlist this week as I was too busy with sound check and gigs!  Next week it will be back though, I promise!

My gig was at the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, which was such a unique and cool place to perform.  It was with Inhale at the MPAN Ball, which was Alice and Wonderland themed, so the venue looked amazing!  It was good to be back onstage after a few quiet weeks!

 

Friday: On Friday I went back into college to work on the final master for Alive, only to find that I had lost my USB stick with all the files on and that we didn’t have recent backups on the studio computer!  It was a little bit heart-breaking actually!  Now I’m going to have to re-import the vocals into the Logic file and do the mix all over again and then re-master the track when it’s done!  So much extra effort unfortunately, when I was so close to being finished!

However, I was interviewed by the lovely She Makes Music blog so that was a silver lining!  Check it out!

Saturday:  Collaboration time!  I recorded two covers with the lovely Sophie Smith for our YouTube channels 🙂 It was the first time we’d met and we worked really well together!  We did Passionfruit by Drake and Strangers by Halsey and Lauren Jauregui.  The Passionfruit cover is already up on Sophie’s channel and I’ll be posting a snippet to it for the coming week’s Wednesday Cover on my channel.  Keep your eyes peeled for that and the Halsey cover too!

Sunday: The perfect day for getting outside and going for a hike with one of my best friends, Sophie (different one).  Really great to get some fresh air and have a girly catch up!

I know it was a shorter post this week (probably a welcome change) but thank you for reading all the same! 🙂

Sunday Rundown: Watching Whitney, Recording for Alive and Finishing College!

This week has been full of music but also full of decisions!  I’m not the best with change or endings of any type and I’m absolutely awful at making big decisions!  I tend to get really stressed and anxious and put off making them until it’s almost too late!  This week marked my final ‘official’ week at college, so one of my main decisions was how I am going to spend my Tuesdays and Fridays from now on and whether I want to study any further in music!  So this week has been full of mind maps and soul searching…

Monday:  Monday was such a beautiful day so I tried to make the most of the sun by playing tennis in the morning and then sunbathing a bit in the afternoon!  I was working on my release plan for the Experiments EP videos whilst I was tanning and have decided that the video for Deja Vu should be premiering towards the end of July, which is very exciting!  In the evening I went to HOME in Manchester to watch the new Whitney Houston documentary ‘Whitney: Can I Be Me?’.  Whitney is obviously a massive idol of mine as a singer and I really enjoyed learning more about her personal life, her struggles and her start in music.  What I found interesting was hearing how even she struggled with her voice on tour!

Tuesday:  I went into college to submit all my work and record some vocals for Alive.  I started from scratch again and got the whole of the lead vocal done in about an hour and a half which was great!  I then got a bounce of the track, so I could listen to them overnight to see whether I was happy with the vocals and what harmonies I fancied putting on.  I also got scouted for the X-Factor from my Facebook page however, as I see myself as more of a songwriter than anything, I didn’t think it was the right fit for me.

Wednesday:  After deciding I was happy with the vocals, I put the harmony and ad lib parts down for Alive, which wasn’t quite as easy as it should have been as my voice was playing havoc!  Luckily it finally cooperated enough to get a take I was happy with!

I then recorded my Wednesday Cover, which this week was Somebody Else by 1975.  I absolutely love this song and had a lot of fun working out how to translate it to a loop version!  Such a catchy track with a great 80s throwback feel, which is something I’m really into myself at the moment as Alive has that vibe.  Check out the full version below:

 

Thursday: On Thursday I had my roots done, which always makes me feel better but is very boring when I’m in the salon!  I used this time to research promoters in Manchester and make notes on them.  After that I played golf and went out for tea, which was lovely.  As always, I updated my Thursday Twenty playlist, but I did it when I was slightly tipsy so got a very interesting mix of songs!

1. Higher Ground by Aron – Love this!  I found it when searching for Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground, but it was a very happy accident!  Great track!
2. Oliver Twist by D’banj – Bit of a throwback but a true summer favourite of mine!
3. Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller – Not usually a DJ Khaled fan, but this track is great!  I’ve recently been experimenting with putting electric guitar in tracks and in Wild Thoughts it works perfectly.
4. Feels So Good by Mase – Another biggg throwback!
5. Down by Fifth Harmony
6. Juicy by The Notorious B.I.G
7. Proud Mary by Tina Turner – I adore this song and constantly watch videos of her or Beyoncé performing it live!
8. My Love Is Your Love by Whitney Houston
9. Somebody by Natalie La Rose
10. Human (Rudimental Remix) by Rag ‘n’ Bone Man
11. Hook, Line & Sinker by Royal Blood – I love Royal Blood and from what I’ve seen they totally smashed it at Glasto!
12. Life’s About To Get Good by Shania Twain – Another idol and I’m super excited she’s brought out a new track!
13. The Line (Offiah Remix) by Raye
14. Sweatpants by Terror Jr
15. Look At Us Now by Lost Kings
16. I’m A Fan by Pia Mia feat. Jeremih
17. Buh Bye by LIZ LOKRE – LOVE this!  The middle 8/breakdown is especially great!
18. Naked by Gil Glaze
19. Rock It by Rave Radio
20. Just For One Night by Blonde feat. Astrid S – I think Astrid S is such a fab player in the new pop scene and this collab with Blonde has a great vibe and a killer chorus.

 

Friday:  The main aim on Friday was to get a first mix done of Alive.  We spent a couple of hours looking at compression, reverb and levels.  We’d already done a mix without the vocals, so the focus was getting the vocals and harmonies sitting right with the track and tweaking the other levels.  Since then I’ve had a listen to the mix on six different speakers and written notes, ready to tweak next week.

I also had my final day at college and found out I was shortlisted for Student Of The Year and Song of the Year, which was great after all my hard work!  The track I entered in the competition is called Shackles and it is one of my favourites from my upcoming album… have a listen to a clip me performing it below!

 

Saturday:  I did some more research on promoters and did some writing for a collaboration I have coming up.  I’m dueting with a great singer from Mansfield called Sophie Smith, which will be fun as I haven’t done much collaborating yet!

Sunday: I played tennis, worked out and then started contacting some of the promoters I have been researching… fingers crossed it leads to some great gigs!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the insight into my life at the moment! 🙂