Jayanti's Blog
The mundane is merely Magic in disguise…Archive for rory ronde
Getting it on while basking in my Nightlight!
You know when you take a dive, and you can feel the arch of your body is just right, the sun is burning on your back, you take a good breath and feel know this is going to be such an uplifting swim? No? Yes? Well, that is what it felt like when I dived into 2012, performing at Holland Got Soul in Rotterdam. I was asked to do an original song and a Motown cover and decided to do my own song Nightlight and a rendition of Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On. Our Nightlight shone bright, my co-writer Rory Ronde (on guitar!) and I were so happy to perform our song with a band for the first time! Take a look at our faces in the very first frame of the video, that pretty much says it all! :o)
Lyrics Nightlight
The most incredible feeling, hearing your song come to life and sharing it with a beautiful audience!
When I decided to do Let’s Get It On, I really wanted to pay tribute by replying to the original. What would the seductress, the lady, say to that man, wanting to get it on? Well, yes we can get it on! Let me tell you how I’m feeling, sir! Something I have a hard time doing in real life, but a stage, a band, lights and a loving crowd can give you that extra push. Euphoria! I was really feeling it, the band was feeling it, the crowd was feeling it, it was glorious! We were getting it in and getting it on!
Huge shoes to fill, so I decided to respect and admire the man’s shoes and give you my high heeled, feminine interpretation of this classic!
Revolution in B-Minor
My mini-concert at a Revolution in B-Minor at Grounds in Rotterdam was the perfect venue for me to share my songs and lyrics in an intimate setting with guitar magician Kofi Anoymous by my side, while broadcasting the show live on my livestream channel. People from all over the world (Canada, Korea, US, UK) tuned into my little party and chatted with me during the break and afterwards: intimate, reloaded!
I started my set with Indulge, a song I wrote when I was 15. It’s a fictional tale of love at first sight, including a hug and kiss that lived inside my mind… . This song came to me at once, from beginning to end, while I was sitting in my bedroom, dreaming of some magical romance in my future: wishful thinking poured into melodies and words. The song is now included as one of the four Fresh Faces of July on YouTube’s Music Tuesdays along with my no-budget music video Girl from Mars!
The second song of the first set was the only cover I did that night: For the Love of You, my 2nd rendition of this beautiful Isley Brothers song. The first time was with a full band (and what a band that was!!) during my trip to LA. I had a poll on facebook, asking my fb homies what song they’d like me to sing at my upcoming acoustic show and this song won by a landslide, and I’m glad it did, cause I love to sing this song!
I started the second set with a ballad version of High on Life, originally an uptempo song I wrote with producer Al Mar (we also created Girl from Mars together), a song about my outlook on life. We were arranging the song and slowed it down to really work on every note, when we realized it would also work as a ballad. When I got booked for the Revolution in B-Minor gig, with the objective of stripping down your songs to the core, I decided to do the ballad version of this song with a guitarist, as the chords work beautifully on strings.
Nightlight is a song I wrote with the guitarist, Kofi Anonymous and this was our first time performing our song together. The story is: I’m in bed, anxiously waiting for my lover to enter the room. We haven’t seen each other in a long time, so I don’t want to miss a moment of him and want him to see me as soon as he comes in. Thus… I leave my nightlight on.
I concluded the night with my song Girl from Mars. The music video got featured on YouTube’s homepage (worldwide!) last week, which gained us an extra 100,000 views!
Tales of April and Magic in May
It’s May! That means that this month, May 13th, I’m performing at A Revolution in B-Minor! Ooooh, I’m so excited, less than 2 weeks to go!! This night is all about the essence of the song and stripping your music to the core, so I’ll be doing two short acoustic sets, including the cover you guys voted for on facebook: For the Love of You by the Isley Brothers. Rory Ronde will be strumming his guitar, as lovely as he did in our Simply Beautiful video, and we will be doing a live stream! I will update my blog, facebook and twitter with the link and of course, the songs will be uploaded on YouTube after the show.
Before May comes April. And in April, I made two videos: one came prepared, the other on a whim. Mitchell Thompson accompanied me on keys in the first video, we made a rendition of Quincy Jones’ You Put a Move on My Heart, one of my absolute favorites. Mitchell worked with me on Girl from Mars and High on Life, and I’ve been wanting to do a video with him for a while now. It was a joy, and I’m planning on doing another one with him, but that might take some time, as Mitchell just won the Dutch Sing-Off with his close harmony group Gentle Voices!! Woop woop!
Singing with my homie Mitchell!
As you may know, I love stories and truly believe Life is a Musical. So, one sunny Saturday afternoon, as I was strolling around the neighborhood, a sea (alright a pond, ok a puddle) of gorgeous red roses caught my eye and I stopped. It was the day before Easter, and I know my grandparents would love these flowers. I rummaged around my purse, but I didn’t have any cash on me. I asked the flower man whether I could pay with my card, but he said it was cash only or… I could sing him a song. Well! You know what happened next! :oD
Funny thing is, the name of the flower shop is actually The Flowerman and I didn’t know!
Those were my own videos. But April brought me 7 other videos all shot at the very same moment at the YouTubeStars convention I got invited to in Amsterdam. I did some impromptu singing at the end of this seminar because after all… I believe Life is a Musical!
One of seven: uploaded by strapschronicles
To my fellow YouTubers StrapsTalksBack, Whizprtised, howhowdecrow, HetVideobureau, spixara, maschadriessen and vit0r1979: Thank you for taking the time to grab your camera’s, hold them up in the air, save the content and then even uploading it to youtube!!
Simply Beautiful
Friday the 13th was one splendid day, filled with a thunderstorm, lots of sun, wonderful vibes and triple scorpio energy*! Winand -and his sexy camera- joined me for my music session with Kofi Anonymous (Rory Ronde). We finished the basic form of our song Nightlight (remember me writing and recording the very first draft of the chorus?), so that the instrumentalists can record their magic under my vocals, after which I’ll record the final vocals. After working on our song Nightlight, Rory and I decided to do an acoustic rendition of one of my favorite songs: Simply Beautiful, by Al Green.
Video by Winand Singh
*Rory, Winand and I are scorpio’s… not a big deal, just thought it added extra flavor. Yeah, maybe not. Still think it’s pretty neat. :o)
Nightlight: Layering the Chorus (draft)
So here’s a first draft of the backing vocals to Nightlight’s chorus. I basically recorded these vocals as a guideline which I will write the lead vocals to and Rory aka Kofi Anonymous will use to deepen the song musically.
First, I did the higher vocals which I doubled and then layered with lower vocals which I also doubled. Then you’ll see Mr Kofi aka Rory listening to all 4 voices on the basic beat (in the final version, the lower vocals will be much less prominent to mesh with the high vocals). Later on, when both Rory and I finish our parts (me: completing the lyrics and vocal arrangement for the verses, lead vocals and ad libs – Rory: completing the musical composition and arrangements), I will sing this all over again to make a perfect blend with the rest of the components of the song.
Next week, I’m seeing Al Mar and Mitchell again, the guys I made Girl From Mars with. We’re working on 5 new tracks (one at a time!! :o>) and will also do some acoustic videos in the coming weeks.
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)
