Super Cam & The Incredible Josh To The Rescue!!!

OHHHHHHHH YES!!!! My prayers have been answered. After so many let downs I now officially have a drummer for my band who actually turns up for rehearsals. My amazing guitarist friend Cam managed to get his drummer cousin to drum in my band for my gig on the 27th. There is light at the end of the tunnel people and I now feel a glimmer of hope that my project will turn out OK. Now the real test will be to see if he keeps on turning up to rehearsals and turns up to the gig lol.

I know this is a short post but I just had to express my gratitude and share my joy on my blog.

Isn't It Ironic........Don't Ya Think

Alanis Morisette said it best and the irony that occurs in life still rings true these days in a lot of aspects of mine. At this point in time I'm really feeling like I have the worst luck in the the world. My parade keeps getting rained on by unreliable humans.

I just don't understand why so many people have decided to let me down. Some of them were even friends, however, I think that their actions have shown that they defy the very definition of the word. Right about now all I can do is laugh nervously at the irony I have common across. It's amazing the way in which people can blatantly behave in ways which complete contradict their title. It's funny when you think about but its a very different kettle of fish (as my Gran would say) when you've got the short end of the stick.

Now to all you drummers out there I am sorry to report that there is a harebrained group of you guys that are giving the rest of you a bad name. They are making a mockery of your profession by being wotless and unreliable for mainly no legitimate reasons. Now aren't drummers meant to keep time and be reliable by definition. It's funny how they can do this in music but not in life. Now don't get me wrong I love drummers and I personally think that drumming is a very attractive skill *wink wink* but they keep letting me down. I've been through like 5 maybe more I've pretty much lost count.

Drummers Suck!.........Sometimes

20%

I feel like crap and so does my voice

When you're a singer, your body is your instrument. I guess I never really noticed but whatever your body is feeling your voice feels also. I have recently become more in tune with picking up the subtle changes in my vocal depending on how I'm feeling that day. If I'm tired then m voice is tired. My vocal chords are one of a kind. They're priceless, I can't buy new ones like a new set of strings for a guitar.

There are some things in life that are just totally beyond your control and getting ill is one of them. Now usually when I get ill my throat gets sore and it swells up. However, on this occasion I just had a bit of a cough. Now I was quite happy about that because my voice wasn't really affected (so I thought). Eventually the silly little cough began to take its toll on my voice to the point where it was very uncomfortable and slightly painful to sing.

By orders of the doctor and vocal teacher Mark, I was told not to sing! This is a singers worst nightmare. Telling me not to sing is like telling me not to breathe! Most of the time I just can't help myself. It's a very frustrating thing when you're not able to do something that comes to you so naturally.

This was an annoying start to my project as  I couldn't do any rehearsing., songwriting or pretty much anything musical. But I suppose every Roller Coaster must start its journey from the ground up. I did however decide to quickly use my voice to document this time by recording a little freestyle about my vocal plight. This was a bit naughty vocally as I was supposed to be resting my voice lol.

20% Song

WHY ME?!!!!!!

This is the question that we as humans have asked God/The Universe (depending on ones faith lol) every time something bad happens in our lives since the dawn of time. It's kind of funny how we never question the good things. Hmmmmm.

Logic Pro Is My Bestfriend xOx

It's sad to say but humans are unreliable and it seems that Logic Pro 9 and I have become quite the acquaintance lol. I love Logic because it only has too be told what to do once, and it always plays what you want, where you want it! No "surprise" additions/embellishments. It's never late or rude, it's obedient but it can be a bit moody when it decides to have technical difficulties. Now don't get me wrong I love live instruments but for this project I really wanted to experiment because I've found a new love for electronic sounds. So I decided to jump on Logic, have a little fiddle and I let myself do whatever I want. I made two backing tracks to which I would add live drums, bass and a MOOG synthesiser. I've decided to keep my band simple. I feel like the less people that are involved the less outside factors there are that can go wrong.

On the other hand, life with Logic can be a bit lonesome. There's no human interaction, just a GUI. When Logic is your band you kind of miss the vibes that others humans bring. Part of the joy of being in a band is the adventure of joining personalities together. Everyone has an opinion and it's nice to gain insight to your music from different perspectives. When left to my own devices I can go a little bit stir crazy as I tend to over analyse things if there isn't another opinion to reel me in.

Right about now Logic has saved my life. If it wasn't for Logic  I wouldn't have any tracks right now because sooooooo many members of band have let me down. Having these backing tracks and rough recordings have made it a little easier for me to recruit new blood and show them the ropes. And worse case scenario, I can still perform to just a backing track.

Sh*t Happens

The annoyingly optimistic say (with the cheesiest toothy grin) "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!", but what if life gives you dog poo! WHAT DO YOU DO THEN!! I'm pretty sure that you can't make anything good out of that. However I'm not the first and I'm sure that I won't be the last to try and make the best out of a crappy situation.

Now this guy is having a bad day lol

It seems that no matter how much you try, rehearsals never seem to go as smoothly as one would like. Everyone claims to be one the same page, however their actions speak otherwise. So in theory, naturally you would think that with everyone in the band sharing the same goal, things would come together for the greater good. In reality this doesn't happen. In reality most people suck. People let you down! It's quite disheartening as a leader when the members of your band seem like they don't really give a flying monkey about your work. I would say that the biggest problem that I've encountered so far is punctuality and communication. These problems also seem to be a regular occurrence in every band I've ever been in. Musicians have developed this horrible stereotypical label that they all lazy and unreliable.

I just don't get why people can't be straight forward and upfront with me. I'm not a scary person (I don;t think) and I don't bite (most of the time *wink wink*). All I ask is that people communicate with me. If you can't do something just let me know. Don't just not turn up! I don't think that a little bit of commitment is too much to ask for.

 

Lastminute.com Leaders

The clever people at lasminute.com have made a profitable business out of selling last minute people last minute holidays. However I don't think that taking this approach to music is that wise. Being a last minute leader will not make you successful, it will actually make you very irritating to the people that you need to work with. A wise tutor once told me that potential employers will pick the musician that is reliable and easy to work with over the difficult so-called musical genius.

I'm sure that at some point in their careers, every musician has worked with someone that loves to organise everything at the last minute while still expecting things to work out amazingly. In a way this kind of practice is just pure laziness and to be honest I think that the lack of effort shows a lack of care and respect for the other musicians in the group. How can you care about the success of the group if the so called leader isn't putting in the work? I'm a strong believer in leading by example. You can't expect people to follower someone who contradicts their words with their actions. Actions speak louder than words people! 

Now everybody knows that most things are not certain and that there are always unforeseen circumstances that arise. There is a difference between having poor organisational skills and having unfortunate things happen that put a spanner in the works. In my case I've had an industrial sized box of spanners dumped in my works! So now I have this idea for a gap in the last minute market. There should be a website called lastminutemuscians.com lool. It will be a place where people can find reliable and committed musicians who are good enough to come the rescue when you are in a crunch. They will be that missing link when you need someone capable to step in. Now those are the kind of people that I would like to work with.

I LOVE MR SQAUREPANTS HE ALWAYS MAKES ME SMILE!

Jigsaw Puzzle

All Time Rehearsal Roller Coaster Low 
This post is on a bit of a sad note but I'm kind of finding blogging rather therapeutic lol.

In October my family was blessed with the arrival of a special little boy named Kane but his arrival wasn't as smooth as we had hoped and after 3 long weeks of fighting my brave little cousin passed away. I got the privilege of meeting Kane the day before he died and even though I only got to see him once, he made a HUGE impact on my life. I never knew that I could love someone so quickly. The power of the family bond is amazing and through this experience I have learnt that it isn't limited to just blood relatives. You don't realise how instantly these bonds are formed until they are tested.

They day that I got the news that Kane had passed I was in rehearsals. When I got that phone call I just fell to pieces. I didn't know what to do with myself, I didn't want to be alone but yet I didn't want to be around people. I felt like I was lost in limbo land. So I did the only thing that I thought I could do. I used my grief to write a song in memory of Kane and also for anybody who's ever lost someone. I wanted to give my family any kind of comfort so I did what I do best.

With the help of my talented piano playing friend Joe I wrote this song.

Kane's Song

Verse One

Sometimes angels they have to leave our sides

They can only stay for just a little while

Sometimes the loss we feel is a blessing in disguise

For the love that he gave us can never be denied

And I may never understand,

Why you had to leave

It's hard to accept through all the pain that I feel

But...

Chorus

You left your mark on my heart

It will never fade away

You've gone to a place

Where you can smile everyday

You left your mark on my heart

It will never fade away...

It will never fade away...

Verse Two

You're gone but your memory will survive

All I can say is that we are thankful for your life

We show our love for you in the tears that we cry

You touched all our hearts in this short amount of time

And I may never understand,

Why you had to leave

It's SO hard to accept through all the pain that I feel

But...

Chorus

You left your mark on my heart

It will never fade away

You've gone to a place

Where you can smile everyday

You left your mark on my heart

It will never fade away...

It will never fade away...

It will never fade away...

It will never fade away...

 (c) 2010 Chloe Iyayi

Special thanks to Joe who helped me turn my grief into a positive memorial for my cousin.

Joe we always make great tunes together xOxOx

I guess I think of myself now as a jigsaw puzzle. I'm only just now starting to feel like my pieces are coming back together again. As a band leader, the things that were going on in my life kind of a had a bit of a domino effect on the rest of my band. They could see and feel what I was going through and it was hard to keep myself motivated let alone the band.  I have been in so many pieces in my life! I have never been such a wreck.
 
How do you put yourself back together after such major damage? I guess only time will tell.

Do you put on a brave face and carry on? But when do you get the time or give yourself the time to really sort through what you're feeling if you don't let yourself feel it. Sometimes I would think to myself "Am I being cold hearted and inhuman for blocking it all out?"

I'm so happy and grateful that I have music in my life. Being a musician helped my to be productive and channel my feelings into something unique that I will never forget.

The best thing about being on the ups and downs of a roller coaster is that after a big plunge there is ALWAYS a climb back to the top.

NO ELECTRICTY!!!!!

This is totally a non-rehearsal related post, BUT hey I need to have a good rant and this is MY blog so I can post what I like!

At approximately 11am today, the power went out in my Gran's house. I think it was a result of the silly builders digging up the ground at the end of the road!

At around 6pm I returned to my Gran's house from Uni to find that the power was STILL out and that the whole road had been affected, HOWEVER, it seemed that we were only house who still had NO power because the houses on either side and the the rest of the road all had lights on.

We called the power company and they told us that they were aware of the fault in the area, an engineer had been dispatched to deal with the problem and that the power should return by 9pm!!!!  Now my Gran is elderly and she's getting VERY forgetful so she was constantly worrying about the fridge not being on and all the food going to waste. I'm pretty sure there are other elderly and vulnerable people living on this street.

How can the energy company worry these people like this!!!

At around 8pm I was then told that the engineer on site has called for back up because it's a bigger job then they thought (LOOOL) and the power might not return until midnight LOOOOOL. Are they taking the PISS!!!!

It is now about 9pm and the power has only just come back on! I would hate think what my Gran would have done if I hadn't been there to call the power company and get information. My Gran doesn't have a mobile and the house phone was off due to the lack of electricity. Luckily my Gran has very nice neighbours who were also lucky enough to have power. But think about those that live on their own!

Bloody Builders..........What were they THINKING?!

Xmas Gift Or Xmas Curse

XMAS BREAK = NO REHEARSALS

Is this a GIFT or a Curse? Hmmmm

Uni has been closed for weeks now and its about time to dust off the old vocal chords, guitar strings and drumsticks to prepare for another semester of intense rehearsing and manic attempts to organise ourselves. To me it always seem like we pick up great momentum just when we have to take a break (very frustrating), and now coming back, I wonder if our band is gonna maintain that same drive and fire. I get the feeling that we've all had a bit too much turkey and SOME us have drunk way too much these past week, even by uni student standards lol.

Today we will see if the effects of Xmas and New Years festivities have taken their toll on the band.  I'm worried that everyone will have forgotten everything that we did before we went our separate ways for the holidays. HOWEVER,
because we are such smart little bunnies, we have RECORDINGS!!!! Yes people the key to never forgetting stuff is to write it down and when it comes to music and band stuff, the best thing is to record it. Now it doesn't have to be a perfect recording, 'cause that takes toooo much time to do, we just got a mic that picks up everything in the room (I call it a room mic 'cause I can never remember its proper name lol) and using Logic to record it we just played the songs through. This is why I LOVE Logic, it just makes music life easier. *Big Smile*