Sunday Rundown: BBC Introducing and London and Manchester Gigs!

Monday: On Monday I had production class at college and we were looking at recreating a house track!  Despite not being the sort of music I am planning to create, it was a great lesson as it put a lot of the things we had been learning in perspective.

Tuesday: I travelled down to Essex to go on Phoenix Radio and perform some live sessions!  This was a great experience and I really enjoyed myself!  It’s been a while since I have done a radio performance, so it was nice to get back on the horse!  I then travelled into London and stayed in a hotel ready for my gig the next day!

Wednesday: I had my gig at the Old Queen’s Head in Angel, Islington on Wednesday, so the day was taken up with rehearsals, soundcheck and then the gig itself!  I had a great time performing and the venue was lovely!  You can check out my full performance here:

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSally.Caitlin17%2Fvideos%2F1242436575902412%2F&show_text=0&width=267

Thursday: I started the day in one of my favourite places in London… Borough Markets!  I’m such a foodie (code for greedy!) so it’s my heaven!  I bought so much stuff and had an amazing pulled lamb dish!  Such a great start to the day!  Then I headed back up to Manchester ready for my weekend gig!

My Thursday Twenty is a great one this week!

1. Body Of Mine by Sally Caitlin & Sophie Smith – Thought I would include my newest single!  This is a collaboration track with Sophie about not letting people define you by your appearance and about female empowerment in general!
2. I Feel It Coming by Jillian Jacqueline – Great arrangement of this track and her vocals are so smooth and lovely to listen to!
3. I Miss You (feat. Julia Michaels) by Clean Bandit – I’m not usually a Clean Bandit fan but this track is great!  Super catchy and with awesome production!
4. Over That by Emily Vaughn
5. Not A Love Song by bulow – I looovvveee this!  Super honest, super catchy and super fresh!
6. Pictures In My Head by MJ Cole – The chorus in this song is killer…. really great vibe and it cheers me up whenever I hear it!
7. Deeper by Riton, MNEK, House Gospel Choir – Riton played this when I saw him at Warehouse Project and it’s such a great dance song! MNEK slays on vocals as usual!
8. Daylight by Gorgon City
9. Cola by CamelPhat & Elderbrook
10. I Keep Calling (Boris Dlugosch & Cassara Remix) by Wankelmut
11. Hillside Boys by Kim Petras
12. Shivers by Rachel Platten – Pretty much the perfect pop song!  Really infectious and playful!
13. Wait by Maroon 5 – No band has changed their sound quite as much as Maroon 5… I was a huge fan of Songs About Jane and the earlier material and although this is completely different, I love this track!  Their new music is so modern and influenced by trap and a lot of other trending genres, which is pretty cool as it shows their evolution as a band!
14. Give In by Vera Blue
15. Anyway by Tyron Hapi & Mimoza
16. Strongest by Ina Wroldsen – Great message about being a single mother combined with a super strong melody and great vibes!  Awesome song!
17. Not a Toy by Fanny Anderson
18. Dirty Sexy Money by David Guetta, Afrojack, Charli XCX & French Montana
19. Tip Toe by Jason Derulo & French Montana – Jason is back again with his typical club banger type track, and as usual I love it!  I can always dance to a Derulo song!
20. Jungle by Pitbull, Stereotypes, E-40 & Abraham Mateo

Friday: I went into college to learn how to use one of the studios, which was great!  I then spent a couple of hours working on my new track, followed by a steak dinner!  Not a bad day!

Saturday: Rehearsals, soundcheck and then an amazing gig at the Eagle Inn in Manchester!  Absolutely loved performing and all the other acts were absolutely amazing too!  Such a high level of talent… makes me very very proud to be from Manchester!  Perfect last gig of the year…. check out the video below!

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSally.Caitlin17%2Fvideos%2F1244347065711363%2F&show_text=0&width=267

My single with Sophie Smith, Body Of Mine, also got played on BBC East Midlands Introducing radio show!  The radio host said he thought the track was so powerful that he was going to forward it to Radio One… so I’m crossing my fingers on that one!

Sunday:  Recovery day after a night of celebration… including watching my friends conduct an impromptu karaoke session with my PA system!

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!

Thornwick Bay – Taken by Geena Sharma Singh

Looking back on North Landing

North Landing

Looking out over Thornwick Bay

Danes Dyke

Thornwick Bay

Thornwick Bay – Taken by Geena Sharma Singh

Danes Dyke

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!

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: John Mayer, Gullivers and Spotify!

Starting this week, every Sunday I will be doing a weekly blog talking about everything I have been up to, my favourite music that week and anything exciting I can think of.  This week seemed like the perfect week to start as it’s been amazing and music-filled!  I’ve been to watch two gigs, performed myself, booked tickets for more gigs and started my first Spotify playlist as a verified artist…busy, busy times!  Without further ado, here is the rundown of the past week (8th April to 14th April)!

MONDAY: I spent most of the day rehearsing for my gig on Saturday and getting the loops sorted for my new songs, ‘Warning’ and ‘Shackles’!

TUESDAY: I attend music college every Tuesday and I had a super productive day as I made loads of progress on my first self-produced track, which is called ‘Alive’.  I have been working on the song on Logic for quite a while and am aiming to create really fun but relaxing summer song about running away and staying young…. so we’ll see how that goes!

WEDNESDAY:  Wednesday was a great day as I managed to record a cover for ‘Cover Wednesdays’ on my YouTube channel.  The song I picked was ‘There’s Nothing Holding Me Back’ by Shawn Mendes.  I had heard it the day before, instantly loved it and knew that it was the right song to try and cover.

That evening, I went to a fabulous event in Manchester organised by Punch Records called, ‘Welcome To My City’!  The gig featured five amazing artists: Gambimi, Sub Blue, Kizzy Crawford, Nipah and Tobi Sunmola.  It was great to watch such talented artists do their thing and show off their talent.  I enjoyed having the opportunity to network a little too!

Check out Tobi Sunmola performing his amazing track ‘Run Free’!

THURSDAY:  On Thursday I had more rehearsals, bought my tickets to see Gorillaz (Yayyyyyyy!!!) and also set up my first ‘Artist Playlist’ on Spotify.  I got verified on Spotify last week so it was really excited to finally make a playlist on my artist page showing what I’m currently listening to!  The playlist is called ‘Thursday Twenty’ and is simply twenty songs that I’m loving each week… updated every Thursday!  This week’s picks were:

1. Waters by Gambimi – I loved this song when he performed it live at ‘Welcome To My City’… such a chilled and romantic vibe!
2. Committed by Sub Blue – Another favourite from the event on Wednesday… a great live performer too!
3. Lead Me Down by Sally Caitlin – I felt like I should include one of my songs in my first ever playlist!
4. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes 
5. Old Friends by Jasmine Thompson – I heard it on the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack and fell in love with the relatable lyrics!
6. Hot Blood by Kaleo – Obsessed with this song and the whole album to be honest… just a must listen if you like a bit of rock that isn’t that heavy!
7. Breathe by Astrid S – Big Astrid S fan… she makes the sort of modern alternative pop which I think has a really fresh sound.
8. 1998 by Chet Faker & Banks – As the ultimate Banks fangirl I kind of had to include her, but this track with Chet Faker is a lot more summery and softer than her usual offerings.
9. Quit You by Lost Kings & Tinashe
10. Not Going Home by DVBBS
11. It Ain’t Me (Tiesto’s AFTR:HRS Remix) by Kygo & Selena Gomez
12. Run Free by Tobi Sunmola – Amazing song by a new Manchester based artist… his voice is like Louis Armstrong crossed with Howlin’ Wolf!
13. Wherever You Go by TRXD ft. Hilde
14. Wicked Games by The Weeknd – Rediscovered this song and my love for it after playing it on piano again last week… still my favourite song by The Weeknd!
15. No Promises by Cheat Codes ft. Demi Lovato
16. Want You Back by HAIM – I love HAIM and their cool brand of alternative pop with catchy hooks and this is the perfect sunny day driving song!
17. Places by Martin Solveig
18. Feels (Jai Wolf Remix) by Kiiara
19. No Don by LottoBoyzz
20. You Don’t Know Me by Jax Jones ft. Raye

 

 

FRIDAY:  Literally the best day ever as my dream of seeing my ultimate idol, John Mayer, in concert came true!  He was absolutely incredible and did not disappoint me at all, despite me having exceedingly high expectations!  He didn’t play my favourite song, ‘I Don’t Trust Myself Loving You’, however, he did play ‘Edge Of Desire’, which is my second favourite!  Managed to get myself some sweet merch, which I haven’t taken off much since the gig!  Just an unbelievable night and a dream come true!

 

 

SATURDAY:  On Saturday I, myself, was gigging at Gullivers in Manchester!  I performed some of my original songs for the first time with my loop pedal, drum pad and my acoustic guitarist, Keenan.  Really enjoyed performing and sharing some brand new material, despite being slightly under the weather and completely losing my voice after the show!

 

SUNDAY: Rest, recuperation and planning for next week!

I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into my day to day life…. I promise next week won’t be quite as long! Thank you for reading 🙂

My Top Five Tracks This Week:07/12/15 -13/12/15

Thought it would be nice for me to share the music that I listen to to get me through the week 🙂  These are my favourite songs this week, not all new, just songs I have had on repeat to keep me in a good mood!

1. Fast Lane – Rationale – Definitely the song I have had on repeat the most this week!  I absolutely love this track; it’s got such a chilled vibe and every time the chorus hits my mood is instantly lifted.
2. Bad Blood – Nao – I could pick any Nao song for this list to be honest as I am a huggggeeee fan of hers, but Bad Blood is her newest single and it is absolutely gorgeous.  Such a unique voice and stunning production.
3. WickedSkengMan 4 – Stormzy – Love a bit of grime when I’m stuck in traffic on the way to work!  I think Stormzy is such a great artist and this is my favourite of his songs as it’s really catchy and actually pretty funny in places too.
4. Sorry – Justin Bieber – Felt like with this album being so huge I should put a track on the list.  The album is pretty good, not life-changing, but there are some very catchy songs on it with killer beats from Skrillex and team.  I think Sorry is the best song and it always puts a smile on my face!
5. Forrest Gump – Frank Ocean – Got back into this song again recently and I just love it!  I’m a big admirer of Frank Ocean and I think Channel Orange is really amazing collection of songs, with Forrest Gump being just one of many that I love to listen to in the car!