Thank you to all who have been in touch re my last entry. I had a great time in L.A. but to me it was always a business trip,so I didn’t do much sightseeing(plenty of time for that later). Instead I got to see how people, right in the mix of the industry, spend their time.
By the third day in I was getting up a little earlier than normal to get ready. You never knew when you were going to get a call to go somewhere and meet someone, so I had to be ready all the time. This was both exciting but also a little tedious. I get what they mean when some artists say, ‘It’s not all glitz and glamour!’ Sitting in full make-up, trying not to get your clothes creased, while waiting for the phone to ring, was not fun. And then, in a flash, the call would come through and you’d be bundled out of the door, headingdown Freeway 101 towards Wilshire Boulevard or maybe Downtown to get a new outfit for a show the next day.
Now that bit was fun! Being driven around and watching the skyline change from the tops of posh high-rise apartment blocks to mountainous views with houses perched right on the edge of a cliff. Beautiful!
Now the cars on the freeway were something else!The cars were huge to start off and the drivers in L.A. are CRAZY! I have never seen such awful driving! We’re talking bumper to bumper! So close you can see the sweat forming on the driver’s neck in front of you! And that was probably the safest time to drive! At least there was no room for the mad manoeuvres these people would make when there was about an inch in between cars! I think the speed limit was 65kmph but who knew? No-one stuck to it! Each driver would go speeding down the freeway and then slam on the brakes so they came to a halt about a millimetre from the car in front. All good if you've got ABS, but if the man behind you hasn’t and you slam them brakes on... it’s carnage! An experience I found out the hard way as we drove from Calabasas to Ventura.
My driver (not mentioning any names) slammed on his brakes and he stopped in plenty of time, but the guy behind us had to use the back of our car to stop. As I saw the car plummeting towards us and heard the brakes screaming, all I could do was cover my ears! Real smart I know, but as my life flashed before my ears, clearly I was more concerned with not wanting to hear what death sounded like! So I covered my ears! Genius! We escaped, thankfully, with not even a scratch on the bumper! The cars out there are made with this erratic kind of driving in mind, don’t you know.
The second time it happened we were on our way to Venice Beach. The guy behind began screeching uncontrollably but then managed to swing his car onto the path alongside the road and pulled up next to us. My driver apologised and explained how it wasn’t his fault. The other driver simply smiled proudly as he said, ‘Don’t worry ‘bout it....lucky thing I’m a boy racer’. The girl sat beside him (completely un-phased) grinned and nodded in agreement. I had to look around to make sure I wasn’t on the set of the next ‘Fast and Furious part 35’.
Following my two week stint in California, I have come back with a clearer idea of what I should be doing to get towards my goals. Don’t get me wrong, I have always been focused but often I got to the stage where I had so many ideas and so many suggestions,that I didn’t know where to start. Or I’d get started, get side tracked and then forgot things. My mind is pretty crazy so I needed to narrow down the list.
Not one to keep these ideas to myself I figure in the next few blogs I will share a few for those of you getting started or already in the process. Now with my true business head on, I am only going to give you a few tips per blog. Otherwise what’s the point in you coming back right??....
Tip 1.
Material:
Try to have at least two original songs that you can perform. Either write them or buy them. There are lots of songwriters out there. Prices vary but look around. I write songs to order. People simply tell me what style they like, give me a topic and I write them.
Think carefully about the content of your songs as well. Your fans will see your music as a reflection of you so be sure your words send out the right message about you. It may not be true but a lot of people I have met in the industry see swearing on tracks as a sign of ignorance on your part, maybe even disrespectful. A lot of places won’t even allow you to perform once they know you do that. Maybe you should think about doing two versions of a track if you really feel you need to swear to express yourself.
Along with the original material try and have one or two covers that you can do really well. Just to in case you want to get in somewhere that only accepts covers. I had to do this in Hollywood and it would have been a mad hassle to try and learn a new song in two days. Once nerves kick in the song words usually go right out of your head anyway.
When picking covers be careful to distinguish between songs you like to sing and the songs that make you sound good! There is a subtle difference. I love Mariah and Christina Aguilera, but would never perform one of their tracks. It’s just too easy to make a mistake. I had to be honest with myself. I can sing but I’m not able to do the same as all singers! I can’t do the same acrobatics as Beyonce but on the plus side I have a texture that she does not use; I have a different sounding vocal. So I work with my strong points.
No-one will know why you picked a song either.When I first started doing covers I deliberately chose songs by artists like Madonna or Britney Spears. Why? Because the melodies are so simple I can change them around and show my range without being compared to the original artist! If anything, because I am a stronger singer, I already have the audience thinking, ‘Oh she sings the song better’.
Stay tuned to for more little tips and don’t forget you can see me performing every month in Brum!.....
Flutter x
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