Jayanti's Blog
The mundane is merely Magic in disguise…Archive for artist
Painting this town blue!
I am in love with LA. So much talent, so many sweet spirits! I’ve been running around every day, meeting people, observing, learning, breathing it all in and of course singing. That is why I’m here. I did a rendition of the Isley Brothers’ For The Love Of You at RedWhite&Bluezz and was incredibly fortunate to sing with some of the most amazing musicians out there: Herman Jackson (keys), G-Mack (guitar), Stanley Randolph (drums) and of course my good friend, Brandon Brown (bass)!
Painting the town Blue!
A lot of people warned me about LA, fake people, superficial, plastic, short term, fleeting. And maybe it’s because I’m meeting the Brandon Brown approved people and also seeing the friends I knew before I came out here, but I am meeting such lovely people here. The total opposite of superficial, really endearing, people who go straight to the core and talk about real things. People who remember you from last time and hug you like you’re their long lost daughter. Maybe it’s because I’m meeting musicians. Maybe it’s because you create your own world, teach people how to treat you by staying true to your values, talk about the things you want to talk about. Brandon said LA is a place that puts a spotlight on who you are and magnifies it, and I think this is true. People are intensely passionate here, and I love that.
I’ve had a lot of people asking me about my blog and “what’s up with the stories, J?”, so I promise to write more during my stay in LA. I need to go now, going to a show at Stevie’s! Be back soon!
MTV Voters Shout Out!
So here it is, my list of shout outs to everyone who has voted for me in the MTV Ray Ban Battle by rating my Girl From Mars video with 5 stars! I have more votes than names, so if you don’t see your name in this list, and you did vote for me, or maybe even asked your friends to vote, please leave a comment with your name(s) or send an email to hi@jayanti.me and I will add you to the shout out list. If you would like me to add a link to your name (of your website, facebook, youtube channel, twitter), I’ll gladly do that, so let me know!
Thank you all so much!!! The Valtifest festival -which this battle is a part of- will be held in September, so you can still vote. I will keep you updated, and maybe, with your help, I will get a feature on MTV!! Fingers & toes (& tongues?) crossed!
Acha (mama!)
Björn (1st on facebook!)
Nagali (1st thru email!)
Win (= my external harddrive & made this vid)
Vin (we will post your Indulge spoof, be scared!)
Wesley (beat knockin dad to be!)
Silvana (via Win’s link – farm!)
Marca (via Win – nice to meet you!!)
Molgerd (real recognize real)
Jeffrey (video bro)
Alex (B. Black)
Farah (5* as you are!)
Erika (my hoodie & musical gem pusher)
Steve (Erika made him)
Steph (Erika made her – GTC member)
Priscilla (she got me!)
Ouxu (fellow crop top ‘do rocker)
Tanchita (1 of the Tinkerbell nick originators!)
La Toya (sooner than later!)
Caspar (tweetincarnator)
Angie (likes this – heals with food)
Sharine (oops again?! yay!)
MūSiz (T2U Renaissance Man)
Michael (F. mad hatter)
Wilma (yes latte soon!)
Mila (birthday planner)
Susan (+1000 forwards, so thank you 1000x!!)
Oesha (msn link tnx!!)
Truu Soul (Cardiac Arrest)
Jacquinn Johnson (poetically correct)
Sharmila (remember Paris? lol-geez-cough)
Stacey (exhilarated by law.. oolala!)
Sophieheartspotter (MJ and Harry, lovely!)
RBCHILD4EV (great music channel)
logosfabula (somewhere over the rainbow)
tcade25 (anime & music)
wrldtvlr2 (beautiful MJ vids)
TUNEin2BLISS (waves all around)
TheCalebson (sweet lady, sweet music)
jm423 (real voices on this channel!!)
theknkjohnathans (knowledge)
youriish (likes it on yt & fb!)
ThatKidFromRussia (hiphop hoo-russia!)
Dorothy (MJ!!!)
BigbankX (vibe with Lee..)
Saskia (ah yes, usb sticks.. you rock!!)
Poonam (Master Pookie)
Rinesh (Mister Pookie)
Pookie’s Friends (expansion!)
Cher (+ Lion & Hira by proxy)
Nashira (worth a try? but once is great!!)
Soye (Tang Soo Do, uhuh..)
Djavan (lil bro who likes to jump off things +421!)
Desiré (sol the night away)
Amin (Pan Afrikanz Warrior *3)
Robert (P. my non-homie)
Brandon (puts the Captain in EO! Skype jams!)
Jennifer (Mrs Jones)
Michael (C. defying lingual barriers)
Karlos (no conditioner macho man)
Greg (El Hoggy – comic relief Master)
Almar (Mr Mars, forever 21)
Rory (Nightlight & sushi)
Rokesh (IT guru)
Ratna (sweetest mathemagician)
Marcel Groot (Blushing Man)
Jaouad (fashionisto)
Annemarie (fashionista)
Randell (fellow nocturnal brotha)
TwilightForestLight (peace & Isis)
You can still vote for me and help me get featured on MTV! Here’s how:
Click here
Slap my Girl From Mars video with 5 stars
Hit the “stem” button.
Done! Thank you sooo much!!!
Indulge (Part 2)
In July 2009, after having dinner with my friends, they asked me to sing something. We debated over the right song for me to sing: Baby Be Mine, The Way You Make Me Feel, Girl From Mars, even My Heart Will Go On (naw…) were thrown in there, until Cas asked me about the song I used to do back when we all met: Indulge.
This was my very first YouTube video (Life is a Musical!) and we even got featured on abduzeedo for the first time (Weak also got featured later on), a Brazilian inspirational website for artists. I did the first verse and chorus and promised to do the second verse when the time was right. Today was it! We’d had our eye on these colored columns for a minute, they seemed the perfect addition to the first Indulge video at the restaurant. I hope you will indulge in the lovely colors: peach & lavender…
I wrote this song when I was 15. I was sitting on my bed one afternoon and started singing it from beginning to end, the complete song came to me all at once. Funny thing about this song is, I met my closest friends during the days I performed with Indulge, including Win & Vin (my photos, videos, website) and Al Mar (my producer, co-writer, pianist). Al Mar has even done some vocal harmonies to this song at some of the shows, cause back then, he was a pianist and vocalist with a close harmony group and we were in a hip hop musical together. So Al Mar and I will definitely include Indulge in the Exotic Tinkerbell Music Tale, along with Girl from Mars, High on Life, Nightlight (with Kofi Anonymous) and a bunch of new songs that Al Mar and I are working on. Indulging in the lovely lovin’: inspiration galore!!
In case you missed it, here is Indulge (Part 1)
All Life is a Musical videos (a series of me singing anywhere: bookstore, subway, roof…)
Exotic Tinkerbell – Photo Mixtape *night*
I hereby release the last picture on my ET Photo Mixtape: *night*. And then tomorrow, around this time, my website will launch with Exotic Tinkerbell the Photo Album [13 new photos]!
And in this picture, I am wearing my own jumpsuit! All other outfits courtesy of Van Dijk.
Exotic Tinkerbell – Photo Mixtape *dusk*
Here it is, the third photo on the Exotic Tinkerbell Photo Mixtape: *dusk*.. The last one will be posted tomorrow and then it’s time for the full Photo Album on my new website!! I’m so excited for you to you see it!! Wooooooo!!
Exotic Tinkerbell – Photo Mixtape *noon*
The second track on the visual mixtape, strolling into the afternoon..
All Exotic Tinkerbell photos by Vinod Singh and Winand Singh for the collective Me We. Makeup by Yohana Yfara. Styling by Van Dijk.
Exotic Tinkerbell – Photo Mixtape *dawn*
Starting today, I will post a new photo daily until it’s time for the launch of my new website on Saturday May 15th. A Photo Mixtape as a prelude to the Photo Album to be released on the website in four days. Photos have melodies, too… listen and you will see! This is the first of four previews, taking you from morning to night, bubbly to intense. The different sides of me: Exotic Tinkerbell.
A full gallery will be displayed on the website, which will serve as a hub where you’ll be updated -in realtime- on my tweets, facebook status updates, youtube videos, new songs and of course, my blog posts.
High on Life [introducing Sexual Chocolate]
I always look forward to my Friday Pow Wows [E! ;o>], when Almar (aka Al Mar, producer and co-writer of Girl From Mars and amazing Piano Man), Mitchell (Mr Close Harmony Vocal Arrangement Smoothifier and Amazing Piano Man) and I get together to work on our songs. We always have a wonderful time, playing Almar’s beats really loud, dancing around, cracking jokes, and using that great energy for our music. I love these guys!! Yesterday, we worked on one of our new songs, High on Life. Their friend Björn joined us, so I shoved my Flip cam in his hands and he did such a great job in capturing the creative process: thank you so much, dude!!
Also, we decided that my team and future band will bear the name Sexual Chocolate. The guys were all for it! And if you don’t know, now you know! Sexual Chocolate! Yes Win… you have VISION!! :oD
Interview with Urban Monks
Wow, I am very very proud to be the latest feature on Urban Monks, an inspiration website for creative people. And aren’t we all creative? You might be doing the 9-5, but you like to think outside of the box, try to find the unique little things that make your life more interesting, conjure up the most crazy scenarios, if only inside the realms of your mind. I know you do. You’re a human being (if not, please leave a comment!! please!!!!!). Hence, you’re creative. It’s in your design. You need to challenge those neurons. Let it out!
And in the meantime, if you’re interested, read my first online interview. It includes pictures! A picture of my hand and an empty tea cup!! Yes!! And also, two new photos from the Exotic Tinkerbell shoot..
Michael Jackson on Creating Magic
Michael Jackson is my mentor, that is how I feel. He inspires me like no other. I learned how to cultivate my voice, by listening to his early work, like Ben, Ain’t No Sunshine and I Wanna Be Where You Are when I was a little girl. I’d perform these songs with my afro wig on, at talent shows and weddings. After writing my first song “Starlight” when I was 7 and had just gotten back from a family visit in the States and was longing to go back, watching the tiny specks of light of airplanes moving across the sky, I studied Michael’s work on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad and was amazed by the art of creating songs. The game of making up songs was called songwriting, and the melodies I hummed were compositions, the way I changed the melody when I found the right words were arrangements… How marvelous!!
My mom took me to his concerts and each time, we’d fly (that’s how I remember it, now I really don’t understand how she did it!) all the way to the front row, me and mama, nobody in front of us, just a clear view of The Master. She taught me one of my most valued life lessons: picture yourself already standing there, it is where you’re supposed to be! The security guards even placed me in front of the barrier when I was really young and even shorter than I am now (yeah..) so I was able to dance and run and feel like I was hanging out with Mike while he was performing… Amazing!
Part 1
On this full moon, I would like to share a rare interview my mom found (yes, mom, you were right…. it’s beautiful and I should have watched it right away and I didn’t and I’m an idiot…) which I think is so special, because he really talks about the process of creating and you can see little J5 Michael in his face, his gestures, his voice, his smile. His smile… :o)
Part 2
Thank you, Michael, and happy Full Moon to you, may your spirit be blessed and dance on the tides of the universe, as it always has!! I love you…
Marsha Ambrosius EP –> Put It On repeat!
Win sent me this link, and I had to share.. Marsha Ambrosius released her ep/mixtape Yours Sincerely and I love it! I’ve been devouring the third track, Put It On, following Marsha’s instructions as she melodiously urges us to “put it on repeat”. I Say Yes, Marsha… this song is a main course on a delicious plate of hors d’oeuvres to her upcoming album.
ArtByShake (2dopeboyz)
Download: Yours Sincerely
Cruising down thesixtyone…
I joined thesixtyone, a platform for new artists. You’ll be able to listen to my music, buy my songs for $1 or simply heart my songs or favorite them. I will upload more songs along the way and keep you updated. There’s a lot of very interesting freshness going on over there, so check it out, sign up as a listener or an artist and hit the road with me!
Exotic Tinkerbell
January 26th 2010 was one of the happiest, most blissful days of my life! An extension and crown upon months of preparation, hours of conversation, saving (thanks mom & Win for the extra support!!!), creating a mood board, diary entries, inner traveling, outer channeling by means of the right setting and perfect wardrobe (Van Dijk!), working with my favorite makeup artist (Yohana!!!), an amazing hair stylist (Wendy!!!) and to top it all off: shooting with my best friends, Winand and Vinod Singh. Two rooms, two moods, two elements, two cameras, two angles, toooo smooooove!!!
We made our first selection last night, and now I’m going over the first batch to make the final cut. We will use these pictures for the new website, which will hopefully launch in March [May, hooray!]. Here’s a first glimpse of our shoot: Vin shooting Win shooting me working as the creative collective “Me We”!
-click image for full size-
Things are really coming together for me on all levels, I’m surrounding myself with the loveliest, most inspiring, gifted and giving people blessed with incredible talent and the purest of spirits. Beautiful Yohana, the makeup artist with an incredible eye for detail, literally sprinkling me with fairy dust to make the magic shine through, the ladies at Van Dijk (Barije, Tatiana and of course Wendela) helping me with my gorgeous wardrobe, Wendy the buoyant spirited hair stylist with pizazz and flair while doing hair (girl you funny!), Winand and Vinod really stripping me to my core then turning it inside out to show my soul on camera for everyone to see. We really captured me: Exotic Tinkerbell. People don’t tell me I’m an alien for no reason, and now we know what E.T. really stands for! ;o)
I made a playlist for this day, click to see the titles and create a sonic image of the Exotic Tinkerbell photo shoot. I also played the album “janet” by Janet Jackson and “Les Fleurs” by Minnie Riperton.
Full Moon / Full Circle
Full Moon on New Year’s Eve. The last night of the year, when 2009 and 2010 meet. A true full circle moment!
I find myself restless, inspired, emotional and completely open when there’s a full moon out there.. Even when it’s still waxing to complete fullness, I feel my tummy churning, songs flowing out of me and I only realize there’s a full moon (coming) when I look out my bedroom window, unable to sleep. It’s the most magical of times, it feels like all the emotions that have been brewing are released…
Enjoy the last day of this year as if there is no tomorrow. Savour and marvel at every day of 2010 as if it were the first…
Happy Every Day everybody!!
Snow!
It’s been snowing and I get all fuzzy inside watching the flakes fall while crunching virgin patches of the white fluffy stuff with my boots. So for my new Life is a Musical video, I decided to do a song which I adored as a kid and makes me feel like walking through a field of snow: weak in the knees and giddy all over!
As always, video by Winand Singh aka Wintin Tarantino (as I like to call him) :op
Yes to Life!
Say yes to life and life will say yes to you. That is the lesson I learned last Saturday, December 19th.
My showcase went really well, and it turned out, the audience could vote for their favorite artist of the night. People were walking up to me after my performance, telling me they were voting for me, and I had no idea what it was all about, but was mighty thankful all the same! Who needs to know the details (voting for what?? what’s the prize?? wait, is this a competition???) when you know people can vote for you?? So I decided to campaign for myself and scare the swag out of the hormone packed teenage boys hollering at me all night. They don’t expect you to actually talk to them!?! lol!
I walked up to them and said: “Boys!” [saucer eyes, eyeballs going side to side, then regaining their faux teenage swagger] “You liked my show?” “Alright then! Great! So vote for me!”. And swift as their young brains work (yes, yes… take that pun if you want to) they demanded hugs, so I found myself exchanging hugs for votes. And it paid off: I won a flatscreen LG tv plus a Wii (I’m selling the Wii so I can pay for a new photo shoot for my new website layout and promo pics!! yay!) by channeling my inner Mac Mommy and two people who voted for me both won a prize as well! So you see: spread the love and it’ll come back to you!
Gio aka Vanno aka Giovanno came to my showcase on his birthday (thank you so much!), so we all decided to have dinner at Bazar (the same place we recorded the very first of the Life Is A Musical videos) after the gig and we ended up singing Surinamese birthday songs and slamming the tables for the right afro-caribbean beat. I had such an amazing night, only a few days after feeling like I would break. And I did break: through! Through my fears and through my pain. If anything, this night reminded me to keep on giving. All of me at all times. Feels like the scariest thing to do, but I realize it will not eat away at me nor will it kill me: giving my all expands my soul and makes me grow. I feel intensely alive!
Hopping on stage to receive two cherries on top of an amazing night :o)
Showcase & Striking Chords
This Saturday, December 19th, I’ll be performing at Zuidplein Theater in Rotterdam around 9 pm!
Also, I am very excited to be working with producer / multi-instrumentalist Rory Ronde aka Kofi Anonymous. We are working on some tracks that really strike the right chords with me. I find myself weaving through the notes, exploring the spaces, while my soul feels like she’s coming home.
I’m very excited about the showcase on Saturday, so hop on over if you can! If not, pay me a virtual visit on YouTube shortly after or keep an eye out on my blog for echoes. Not the actual thing, but resounding nonetheless! Or so I hope… ;o)
Break
I’ve been feeling extremely vulnerable and open these past few weeks. I’m slowly breaking. Breaking into pieces to give up or breaking open to push through? I want to push through.
My voice and making up songs are what I’ve been using and doing with the deepest passion for as long as I can remember. When I was 5, I thought I’d get my big break tomorrow. When I was 13, I thought I’d get a break at least before I was 16, right?? Well, it hasn’t happened… yet. I kept writing, I kept hurting, I kept aching, I kept pushing.
I can only be so limber… I’m about to break. While all I need is a break. For brief moments at a time, I feel like taking myself up on my word and fly to Mars to be home and be whole. And then I remind myself of the amazing people I make my music with, the people who believe, the way singing is the only thing to soothe and heal the wounds marked upon my soul before I had words.
But I have words now.
Seeing Sparks: Simply Beautiful
Wow, I feel soooo great!!! I had the most delightful birthday (Nov 17th) with my mom and my closest friends, with loving birthday wishes (Dumbledore even made an appearance courtesy of Dão!!) from family & friends here and abroad. Thank you all so much for thinking of me on the day my New Year started!
And now I’ve been working on 5 songs, different producers, different vibes, yet all very close to my spirit. There is so much love around and inside of me, it’s like watching and creating a dance.. It’s all coming together and it makes me so happy!!
But last night I also made some actual, factual, tangible moves at my friend Irina’s birthday bash. I ended up getting salsa dancing pointers from Jef the salsa pro… So much fun! I’m thinking I’ll have to join them on Thursdays shakin it, just my kind of thing!
Tomorrow I’m starting my new part time temp office job, exactly what I need right now to juggle the Passion and my rent.. I’ve been meeting up with people online and offline about my music, these are exciting times for me! There is so much magic in the mundane if you only open yourself up to see it! So I’m trying to pour those sparks into my songs every free second I get.
Keep an eye out for the sparks lighting up your day eager for you to see them!
And maybe Al can help… :o)
Thank you Greg, for pointing me to this magical song with your amazingly smoldering bass shining thru on the Al Green rendition Ms. Sexy… Keep playing as you are: I hear ya!
Writing is Art
I’m all wrapped up and cosy inside my songwriting cocoon right now (as I only work Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays I get the majority of the week to write songs and be poor… lol). Al Mar amazed me, once again, with beats so hot I want to fling myself out the window and hope to fly. But instead, I’ll write some melodies and words to emulate that flying wish.
Also, I met Eric Roberson and his band last week on a singer songwriter workshop which was incredibly inspiring. The name of the band is Tito’s Turn and their energy is amazing! It was a two day event, the day after the workshop they killed it at a private show. I’ll be keeping in touch with some of the band members and I feel like I’ve gained some friends. And who knows what we could do in the future..? I’ll keep you updated! ;o)
But, the most important reason for this blog entry is that my close friend Gracielle Uda made some artwork inspired by the poem See Through
I posted recently. I felt the urge to write some poetry and decided to get on my blog and write it in realtime, which I did. I just started typing and posted it. After I read my poem I knew the best artist to grace it was Gracielle (yes, yes… pun definitely intended). So I called her and asked her if she’d be up for it. She read my poem and loved it. And now I am very very excited to present her lovely artwork on my blog and hopefully, this will be the first of many.
Artwork by Gracielle Uda
*click the image for See Through, the poem and the artwork*
Lightsaber Healing
I’m sick.. This flu is hardcore (yes it’s the same one I had a couple of weeks ago, it travelled down to my lungs and has been having a feverishly rowdy party there all week), it won’t let go, I haven’t been able to sing in weeks and I’m sad.
So I’ll try to cheer myself up with a nice picture and maybe you’ll like it too..
Kick this flu’s ass you will, young Jedi… hmmm?!
True Blooded Macho Woman
I’m in the middle of having a True Blood marathon here… Occult snacking! Yummy, I’m enjoying this bad bad badness… It’s like watching Thriller when I was a kid and being hooked and fascinated instead of being scared and disgusted (macho woman I am, hubba hubba!!!*) by all the weird, dark, murkiness. And it’s gross. Lots of blood. True blood. Normally, I can’t handle blood, but this is just right. Not real, yet True. Oohoo.
Well I’m gonna go back to snacking now, episode 4 of the second season!
*Yeah, not really… But I guess you didn’t need the *asterisks* to be convinced of my non-macho-ism. I have the entire Harry Potter soundtrack collection and I actually listen to it. That’s not very macho.
Girl from Mars
Yeah!! I feel so much better! Reboot!
So now it’s time to tell you about the birth of my new song, Girl from Mars.
I wrote this song with Almar Nooitmeer (amazing keyman, composer and producer), who goes by the producer name Al Mar. He made me a beat, basically consisting of a short loop which was the base of the hook. He played it for me and I immediately knew it was my song. The title (he’d given it the working title “I’m this girl from mars” which I later changed to “Girl From Mars”) was spot on, I’ve been called an alien, different and even E.T. (no, I get it.. no big deal… we’re both little and wow, when I wear a hoodie the resemblance knocks you right in the face.. kaplow!!) lots of times. I don’t think I’m that weird, but yeah, maybe I am…
I made the hook right then and there and wrote the rest of the song at home, after Almar made the instrumental for the verses. I sat on my bed, with the beat on repeat and closed my eyes. I need to become one with the song, really feel it move and weave through me. And then the melodies come out. And then the melodies take shape into words.
I knew it was going to be a very autobiographical song, despite, or maybe because of the quirky alien theme. Don’t we all feel different? We’re all the same, we are all part of this one universal body, but we all have our own little worlds. So I wrote about this thing I truly believe in: giving unconditionally. There is no end to giving. You can never give yourself away completely. It can only multiply.
We met up after I’d written the verses and Mitchell Thompson came in to help polish the vocal melodies. Mitchell sings in a close harmony group, and added that extra smoothness and coherence to the song. We worked on the verses and perfected the flows, feeling our way through the song, letting it tell us what needed to go up, what needed to go down. Almar played the chords on one piano, Mitchell played the vocal melodies on another, I played my vocal chords. It was magical. They’re both incredibly talented, really sweet guys and I thoroughly enjoyed creating this song with them. Thank you so much!!! Wooo!! *body roll*
After that, my friend Greg Malone came up with a backing vocal melody for the hook (we decided not to use his husky vocals and replace them by mine, though his were quite charming… ;op
-thanks Hoggy!!-), which Mitchell layered into three separate voices to stack on top of the other for each new chorus, as Greg had suggested. Almar wrote a bridge and we were ready to record!
Recording was actually very special and emotional, as we heard about Michael Jackson’s cardiac arrest and then later that he had died (hurts to even write the words) while I was in the recording booth. Everyone knew I’m a major MJ fan (I always jokingly said he’s my real dad cause my mom has been a fan since the J5 days) so they really left it up to me to decide whether I wanted to finish recording.
I felt I needed to finish it, so I did and tried to channel my feelings into the mic. It had been my greatest wish for Michael to hear this song, so I would like to dedicate it to him and his memory and send him my humble gratitude for the great impact and influence he has had and still has on me as a person and an artist.
Thank you, Michael!!!
Got to have a J.O.B.
I got a job at an art gallery!!! I. Am. Sooooooo. Excited!!!!!
Inspiration Deluxe!!
It’s also very exciting to know I’ll be able to pay my rent this month… ;op
