Nov 9, 2010
Current mood:jedi
Hi there
In the last month, many people have asked me, “Are you really, honestly happy?” So of late, I can’t help but question what is it that makes me happy? To answer this question, I’m going to start up where I ended my last blog about diversity…
Last month I had the honour of meeting the mastermind behind el-live Productions, Georges Elchakieh. He came to meet us as well as evaluate and shake up our show to make it even better. We all spoke to him for hours learning about what it takes, what makes a star, how to captivate your audience. Georges is a well-known performer through Asia, he used to pack clubs out daily, so I really respect what he shared. Since our discussions and then actually doing it on stage, I swear I will never be the same performer again. He helped me reach into the depths of my soul to release the superstar inside. I work on it everyday and night religiously. Anytime, I sense distraction in the audience, I work to draw them in and connect. This is what he taught each of us in the band whilst he was here. It’s not like we didn’t know, it’s just that we needed a nudge to raise the bar and work that much harder a zillion times harder.
I live my life as a full-time, well looked-after musican. Yes I live in a foreign country a million miles from home, but knowing the financial climate there, right here in Asia is the right place to earn a consistent living. My suitcase carries my home – the bare neccessities of clothing for stage and day-to-day living, accessories, make-up, toiletries, shoes (and more shoes), laptop, music bits and little memoirs from family and loved ones. But my mind, heart and soul bear much more luggage than material things…
As I move from each location, I face new changes. Since July, I’ve worked with three bands…each has a niche which differentiates it from every el-live Productions’ band. MaXimum was more hip-hop, Magenta was more RnB and Liquid (my current band) is more rock, etc. However, each culture in each country we play in also likes to hear certain songs or genres more than others, so once we get a hang of our audience and have a chat as to what they like…we learn what makes them sing-a-long without thinking, run to the dancefloor whilst clapping and wooohooo-ing for more.
At the moment, we are at bootcamp in Safari Club, Grand Hyatt, Muscat. Omani audiences like to watch and listen and need a LOT of coaxing to even step onto the dancefloor – they’re just a bit reserved at first. But embrace what makes them tick and you have a party exploding in front of you!
So…there is not much time for thinking about what does not work, I rather focus on what can be better…whether I need to review the song’s melody line again or check what lyric I forgot or discuss with my band leader what I could have done differently in my performance to capture the audience. Each day I like my mindset to be positive, no cloudy thoughts…this is the only way I can deliver a show and another reason I sleep a lot. I find that normal life can be such a distraction to achieving my daily stage goals and for what I am doing right now, it works. Raise your eyebrows and shake your heads all you like, that this may not be a realistic life I’m living, but my life has been a hard road traveled until now, so the hitchhike to the port to jump onboard and head out for sea is plain sailing…and everyday I feel the wind in my sails, just that little bit closer to my desert island of showmanship…NeverNeverland is ready and waiting for me, heehee!
My daily schedule is a little like this…
3am-2pm Sleep (from the extent I’m singing, speaking and hyping out to the audience, my voice needs about 8-10hrs sleep each day to perform at the same standard for each show)
2pm-3pm Wake up, eat, check email, paint nails, sort show wardrobe
3pm-6pm Rehearsals (2-3 x per week)
5pm-6pm Exercise (3-4 days per week, try avoid if rehearsal day)
6pm-8pm Get ready for show, eat
8pm-9pm Sleep
9pm-9:30pm Vocal warmup
9:30-10pm Setup at Safari Club
10pm-2am Showtime at Safari Club (4 x 45 minutes sets, 3 x 15 minute breaks which I redo make-up/hair and chat to the audience)
2am-3am Chill time after show
(All other sparetime = find me playing the piano or chatting to loved ones, and sometimes tanning!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=236385&id=66703105678
As an el-live Productions band we each have the same vision: know our part within the band, play music at the highest standard and rock out our audiences so they come back for more. We cannot do this if someone is not delivering to their full potential, we need each other and stand by each other. If anyone decides to mess that up, consider it a guarantee that you’ll be singled out to get with the programme or go home. Some stay, some go, but those who really stick it out, have the most fun. Music is a gift we gotta keep giving, day in and out…and a gift is something given with a lot of thought, care and detail and that is exactly how we like to present it.
Since relaunching my music career just three years ago with my album HerStory on iTunes, I have seen quitters, timewasters and enough musicians who just stay in their little box and that frustrates me to no extent. I see my talent as a gift to the world and if I don’t go all out to give everything, 1 it just has the title ‘talent going nowhere’ and 2 my job is not done. Until I can see the audience dancing, singing, hollering for more…I will not stop, cannot stop, it’s not in me to stop halfway. I find it so satisfying seeing the audience convert into the party…it starts with just a tiny movement from the bar to the edge of the stage tapping their foot to them running out dancing like crazy fools…this is what I love, this is what makes me happy.
“But, but, but…what about your family, your friends, your lovelife?” Yes, they are all there across the world and I have been surrounded by them my whole life to lean on, but now it’s time to really do this properly and I really want to clear my bills too thank you very much! I don’t know how long I will stay on the road for, it’s been a year and a half already, with a few stops home…but know I will not stop singing and writing my song…as well as their songs, as long as I live. The one I do know though about my nearest and dearest, is they support and understand what I do, so I am blessed. I really have all the love in the world, even if from afar.
So every night, we head out to ‘boom, boom, shake, shake, the room’ and it’s exhilirating, satisfying and not satisfying, then satisfying…!
One question…do you want more……….?
LT
XXX