Jayanti's Blog
The mundane is merely Magic in disguise…Archive for singer
The Twitter Experiment
Today, I joined twitter. I started following a bunch of people I think may be interesting enough to help me get past the ugly RT’s and @’s and #’s. So help me Erykah, Quincy and Eckhart! If not, I will call it a day and blame the litter on twitter for this adventure’s early demise and proclaim my twitter career a case of April Fools! But who knows, I might grow to love it in these hours… Tomorrow I’ll post a Yes or a No here on my blog to let you know if I’m the fool who stayed or turned away. ;o)
And for the fools tempted to follow this fool:
RollerFunk Says Yes!
Wow! I am featured on the Canadian website RollerFunk… I am soooo honored and happy…. Thank you so very much!!
Say Yes!!
Yes!! Almar and I -the Martian duo- got together to do a rendition of one of my favorite songs: Say Yes. Winand really captured the wonderful and magical musical chemistry between Al Mar aka Mr Almar Nooitmeer or the Man behind Girl From Mars (he’s my producer and co-writer and I adore him!) and myself. I am overjoyed!! Sooo happy!!! (and Mitch… I can’t wait to rock some songs with you, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful talented spirit with me… let’s make some magic!)
It is 5.25 am and I’m waiting for the video to upload. I’m at Win’s, who’s leaving for India tomorrow, attending some fancy media congress and shooting a pilot for a television series. I remember him conjuring up the idea for this tv show months ago and us thinking it would be the ultimate amazing perk for him to go to India and while we didn’t even know whether his pitch would make the cut (and of course it did!!) I think we were both convinced he would go. Win had already said yes to India, with bold determination, then having faith to let go and see where his stream would take him. As his twin Vin always says: it always works out. And now India is saying yes to Win.
I believe the universe will say yes to you once you decide to let go of your fear to fly and say yes to life. I say yes to life, I say yes to music, I say yes to singing and hope you will find it in your spirit to unfold your wings and say yes to your passion, too! Dare to be free!
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
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.
Flip Nightlight Electronica
Uhuh, now that’s a title!! :op
I’ve been awesomely busy these past few weeks, writing songs, doing the photo shoot selection, writing songs, reading the first Harry Potter for the 7th (?) time to relax before bed [vital!], writing songs, going to music sessions… Yeah. And writing songs.
Also, I am very excited to tell you that I just made my very first Flip video! Wooooo!! Yeah!!!! The idea is to bring my new lil friend with me wherever I go, so I’ll bring him (yes him, hush..) to my music session tomorrow and kind of have you tag along… In a good way! :o) So you can see what I do and how I write my songs, work with the producers and rehearse.
On this first flip vid, I was writing (am still writing) one of my new songs Nightlight. When, right in the middle of it, Win pings me to tell me about the awesome dopeness of tonight’s Jay Electronica concert. See I was supposed to go!!! But I forgot that it was on the same night that I had a session earlier and then I also had a session the day after, which is tomorrow. Anyway… this is me with the Flipman.
listen closely and hear the draft of Nightlight thru my headphones
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!
Performing my Martian anthem!
The showcase was wonderful!! I got to sing
Girl From Mars -my theme song- which I was really excited about and it felt amazing to see and feel people really digging it! Kudos to Gio and Dao for organizing such a beautiful night… Everything was on point and the vibe was just lovely! Thank you so much for allowing me to share part of my soul at Life One Stage…
And thank you Win, for leaving your own birthday party with me to make this video!!
Here’s a virtual hug to everyone who came out to see me and sent me love, whether at the venue or on youtube, in person or online (it really is a small world after all..) :o) (((((martianhug)))))
Showcase Friday November 6th
I’ll be performing tomorrow in club Off Corso Rotterdam around 2am!! There’s a parallel party at the same venue so you can get your dance on to old skool swingbeat at New Jack City and enjoy live music at Life One Stage.
So swing on by if you’re willing and able! Running Man* not required, but I’ll show you mine if you show me yours! :op
*extra brownie points for newly 30 year old Vin… yeah I don’t care about your crutches… get down-uh!!!
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*
Skype Songwriting Session
Al Mar and I are composing on the spot, as we speak, via Skype, right now!! I feel like such a Person 2.0… Or are we at 2.1 now?
My goodness this is GREAT!!!!!!
I’ll get back to you on this particular track we’re creating now, and I’ll make a link to this post, so you can see exactly which song came out of our cyber songwriting session.
Back to it!
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?!
See Through
It aches, it does
This see-through woe
Unable to retrace
This mark it aches
Your breath will soothe
I ache for you
Caress my skin
By whispering
Healing nothings
Sweet antidotes
I know it’s not
I know it’s false
But make it go
This see-through woe
-click image for full size-
Artwork by Graciëlle Uda
Thank you, Graciëlle, for propelling my little poem into a gorgeous piece of art!!
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!!!
