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

Danes Dyke

North Landing

Thornwick Bay

Thornwick Bay – Taken by Geena Sharma Singh

Danes Dyke

North Landing

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!

Upcoming Gigs: January to June 2017

2017 marks the release of my new EP, Experiments,  so I am aiming to be gigging as much as possible!  I’ll be doing acoustic cover gigs as well as original gigs with my guitarist, so there is plenty of choice!

• Acoustic Cover Set – The Royal Scot, Marple Bridge, Cheshire – 14th January at 9:30pm

 

• East Cheshire Hospice Ladies Lunch – The Bridge Hotel, Prestbury, Cheshire – 2nd February at 12:15pm

 

• Acoustic Cover Set – The Cheshire Cheese, Gee Cross, Cheshire – 18th February at 9:30pm

 

• Acoustic Cover Set – Marple Tavern, Marple, Cheshire – 29th April

 

• Acoustic Cover Set – Platform One, Romiley, Cheshire – 5th May

 

• Acoustic Original Set at Sunday Sessions – Fab Café, Portland Street, Manchester – 7th May at 7:00pm

 

• Supporting Inhale – Gullivers, Northern Quarter, Manchester – 13th May

 

• Original Set at Absent Kelly’s Camden Clique – Proud Camden, Camden, London – 19th May at 6:00pm

 

• Original Set supporting Art Fan Delay – Hangar 34, Liverpool – 1st June at 8:00pm –

 

• Original Set at Access to Music’s Summer Showcase – Cinnamon Club, Bowdon, Manchester – 5th June at 7:30pm

 

 

 

 

 

I hope to see some friendly faces at all the gigs and check out my Facebook page for details of open mics and radio appearances!

Upcoming Gigs: Autumn 2016

With my upcoming single release in November, followed by the EP release in early 2017, I am hoping to promote my new material as much as possible by playing it live!  I have a few live shows booked for the upcoming months and I will also be playing as many open mics as possible, which I will post about on my Facebook Page.

If you want to catch me performing a live acoustic set, you can catch me at these venues on the following dates:

• Winter Wonderland Charity Ball in aid of The East Cheshire Hospice – Mere Golf Resort and Spa, Cheshire – 25th November at 7pm
• Quack Open Mic (Headline Guest)  – White House, Stalybridge, Manchester – 28th November at 9pm
• Quack Open Mic (Headline Guest) – The Navigation, Marple, Cheshire – 29th November at 9pm

Reload Sessions

Reload Sessions

Recently I had the opportunity to go down to London  and record two live sessions for an amazing YouTube channel called Reload Sessions!  I was lucky enough to get to visit the Google offices and record in the YouTube studios.  It really was one of my favourite experiences that I have had since starting to pursue music as career.  Everyone involved was so lovely and made me feel so relaxed and surprisingly I hardly suffered from any stage fright at all! I chose to do an acoustic cover of Sorry by Justin Bieber and an acoustic cover of my song Stuck In Limbo and I think it went quite well…. The videos should be up on their YouTube channel in the next few weeks so fingers crossed they have turned out great!

Stuck In Limbo

Stuck In Limbo is a song that is very close to my heart and also happens to be the song me and my producers have chosen to be my first ever single.  There are three versions of the track that have currently been produced: the original song as I wrote it, a house remix and a garage remix.  I can be seen performing the original on my YouTube Channel or below, however, it is the house remix that we have selected to be the debut track off the EP, as it’s just so upbeat and catchy.

The song is about a very intense relationship with lots of ups and downs. Like most of my original songs, it is written from a place of personal experience and genuine emotions.  At the time of writing the song I felt like I had no idea where a relationship was going and how to resolve all the issues, despite still loving the other person.  This led me to feel like we were ‘stuck in limbo’ because I didn’t know whether we would or should break up or stay together.  I tried to get across the feelings of confusion and hurt through the lyrics of the song and the awkward position of being trapped in a middle place between being happy together and being happy apart.  The song is one of the slowest and most ballad-like that I have written, with a slow, soulful feel to it.  Below is a video of me performing the original version of this song in the studio in London…. I hope you like it!

My Upcoming Music Video

I would like to talk about the video that is being planned for one of my songs at the moment!  The plan is to release a ten track EP consisting of both a house and garage remix of five of the songs I have written and this should hopefully be happening this summer.  It has been decided the lead track will likely be the house remix of a song I wrote called ‘Stuck In Limbo’, so a video is now in the works!

Stuck In Limbo is about a volatile relationship, which was going through a particularly rough patch, so I wanted a video that managed to get this story across.  I have been working on potential scripts with the producers of my EP and we have come up with a video idea focussing on a young couple in a relationship that is on the rocks.  In the video they will be shown at the start as disinterested in each other and unhappy, whilst contrasted against a loved up new couple.  As the video develops, the couple becomes further and further apart and this builds to a climax.  In the end the couple have the option to either fight for what they have and patch things up or to leave the relationship behind… and I will leave the ending to be revealed when the song and video are released.

The video will also have some art effects employed in order to intensify the feeling that the couple have lost their passion and their way.  The title ‘Stuck In Limbo’ refers to them being lost and not knowing whether the relationship can or should be saved.  The idea is to have a time lapse effect that makes it seem like the main characters are moving much more slowly than their surroundings to make them seem isolated and in ‘limbo’. The colour saturation of the video will be lower than normal too to give a dull and faded feel to the scenes in order to convey the loss of passion.

So excited to finally start planned things like videos and EP releases in order to try and realise my dream of being a singer as soon as I can! Below is a link to me performing the original version of ‘Stuck In Limbo’ in a studio in London.  Fingers crossed that I will be posting the finished music video on here next!

Get To Know Me Q & A

Favourite Artist/Band?

This is a difficult question as there are so so many artists I admire and love but if I had to pick three, I would pick John Mayer, Nirvana and Fleetwood Mac.

 Favourite Album?

This is easy for me as there is one album I will play all the way through whenever I need to relax, and that is John Mayer – Where The Light Is.  The album is the whole of his concert in LA live, so has all of his best tracks along with the audience reactions and great guitar solos linking the songs.  For me it’s just perfect!

Favourite Song?

I have two favourite songs and they are both a bit odd! One is Len – Steal My Sunshine, as it just cheers me up whenever I listen to it and it’s perfect for a sunny day.  The other is Sufjan Stevens – For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti.  I just think that song is so beautiful and the banjo part is so relaxing and lovely.

Best Performer I Have Seen Live?

I have seen many great artists in concert, such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Sam Smith, but hands down the best was London Grammar.  I saw them at a festival in Nottingham called No Tomorrow and they were just amazing!  The whole band is so talented, with great songs and Hannah Reid’s voice is mesmerising.  The album is great, but live they are out of this world!

What Instruments Do I Play?

I mainly sing and play piano to accompany myself, but I also play saxophone (badly nowadays!).

How Do I Write My Songs?

I’m a strong believer that you can’t force song-writing or the song won’t have feeling and will be pretty crap.  I carry a notebook with me a lot of the time and always take one on holiday, just in case any ideas hit me when I’m on the go.  Then I go to the piano and work out a melody and chords.  Usually I write lyrics first, then melody and then accompaniment, although occasionally I think of the melody and lyrics together.

How Would I Describe My Original Music?

If I had to label my songs with a genre I would probably say Pop, but I would like to think that they aren’t superficial even though they are upbeat.  I write mostly about my own experiences and emotions, which I think makes my songs heartfelt and easy for others to relate to.

My Music Career So Far?

I’m really just getting started as I have spent the last three years concentrating on my academics, whilst doing music on the side.  My parents wanted me to have a back up plan, in the form of a degree, in case singing doesn’t work out, so I have been at university studying for the past three years, whilst writing music and travelling down to London to record.  At the end of these three years I now have a 1st Class Honours Degree in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham, a fully produced 10 track pop album and a 10 track EP of house and garage remixes of my songs ready to release this summer (hopefully!), so I’m ready to tackle whatever life throws my way!

And Finally, Why Do I Want To Be A Musician?

I’ve always loved singing ever since I was young and when I was 18 I decided I wanted to make the transition from hobby to career.  I’ve spent the last three years focusing on my back up plan, so now I’m ready to give what I really love a shot! Music has got me through some rough times and I love the idea of being able to touch people with my music and maybe provide the same sort of peace for someone else.  The absolute dream would be to perform and have a crowd singing my lyrics back to me; I think that would be the most amazing feeling in the world!