We as humans are always ever revolving. Our minds cannot be in control, but only our inner being and spirit must be in control. The ego can be a detrimental thing if it’s not understood. In order to stay committed to uplifting our lives, we must know who we are. No confusions or uncertainty. We must stay positive and keep looking onward. It’s hard to escape from the past when those choices you made affect you today. There is so much to look forward to, and there are many things that we want to accomplish. We really should put ourselves out there and do all the things we have dreamed of. There is no reason for us not to. It’s time, people. There is a life that most of us have envisioned for ourselves ever since we were little, and it will come to pass. Do less of looking to materialistic things and more digging into yourselves. I am learning that life comes from the inside. Look inside for health, creativity, confidence, and just for life. Take that step now, because you will begin to glow inside from knowledge, from living each day.

Most successful artists, composers, playwrights, dancers, businessmen, and even politicians go through this process. This is a sure way to rebuild and stand firm on your beliefs. What are you passionate about? What is your calling to life? Are you a musician? Do you love to write lyrics or scenes from experiences you have encountered? Follow that little voice inside of you. What I want us to figure out now is what do we want from this life? If we want to be successful, are we willing to make the necessary sacrifices and put in the work to see results? Are will riddled with guilt and fear or freedom and courage? Some of us have been stuck in a rut for ten or more years. Where and when is the breakthrough coming? God provides more than enough for us to succeed and conquer.  We can be weak, at times, as humans. Looking inside to our inner being seems like the last thing we want to do, instead we drink, eat, smoke party, sleep, watch TV and waste our years of living.  It’s time for a new beginning and a new way of thinking. I would like the opportunity to challenge ourselves to step up to the challenge of change. Sometimes life forces us onto the path that we must go, because we would have never done it otherwise.

We are each here for a purpose and we must seek it out daily. It’s not just one thing, but a mirage of things over the course of our days here on earth. Life is a credit, because we definitely have to pay it back. As Cornel West said, “we are on borrowed time, nothing is promised.” Every day, seek out the best opportunities and do your best to challenge your inner self to do things you would never do and to say things you would never say. YOU WILL SUCCEED!!

]]> http://www.meandthestereo.com/2009/10/27/let%e2%80%99s-begin-to-look-inside-ourselves/feed/ 0 http://www.meandthestereo.com/2009/10/02/cover-songs/ http://www.meandthestereo.com/2009/10/02/cover-songs/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:25:39 +0000 Vodes http://www.meandthestereo.com/?p=805 As the old saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…or something like that. In general, I think this is a true statement, but with one little tweak. If you’re going to do something that someone else has already done, you should do it just as well, or better, than the original artist did it. If you’re a musician and you plan to cover a song that was already recorded, particularly if that song happens to be kick-ass already, you better put some serious effort into it and make it sound great. This brings to my rant for this week:

Cover Songs.

I was on the road the other day, and I heard a cover of ‘Hey Joe’; you know, the Hendrix tune. But, it was Deep Purple actually performing the song…and not incredibly well either. I was a little put out by this because I like Deep Purple and I am a rabid Jimi Hendrix fan, but I consider it blasphemous that anyone would cover a Hendrix tune and do it in such a poor manner. That’s not the worst of it; ‘Hey Joe’ has been recorded over sixty (yes, 60!) times since it was first penned and recorded in 1965 (by a group called The Leaves). Say it ain’t so! I haven’t listened to all sixty versions of the song, but I bet that each cover is at a different level of quality. In recent memory, I think the worst version of a song I have heard is Avenged Sevenfold covering ‘Paranoid’; the old Black Sabbath tune. Have you heard this? I think it was recorded for a sound track. Not only is it a piss-poor version of the song, but who told M. Shadows he could sing in the first place.

Just awful!

Of course, not all covers are bad or performed poorly. I thought that Guns N’ Roses did a pretty good job with ‘Live and Let Die’. And their cover of ‘Hair of the Dog’ was decent. I recently heard a cover of ‘Born to be Wild’ that was performed by The Cult. I was never a big Steppenwolf fan and I have always walked the fence on whether I liked this tune or not. But to hear Ian Astbury belt out the vocals and Billy Duffy crush the guitar riffs, I found myself singing that version of the song for the rest of the night! Another great cover that comes to mind was ‘Come Together’ done by Aerosmith. Man, that was a great cover of a great song! No problem with that performance at all. Oh yeah, and how about Stone Temple Pilots cover of Zeppelin’s ‘Dancing Days’; very well done. My all-time favorite cover is…drum roll please: ‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ performed by Iron Maiden. If you can find a copy of this, put it on and crank it up. This version will rock your socks off. It was recorded on one of Maiden’s many EPs, probably some obscure import; I don’t remember. Jethro Tull could never come close to sounding like this! I think Ian Anderson would promptly put his flute away and go back into retirement after hearing this version of his classic.

If you’re going to cover it, play it right! Perform it well. Execute it with gusto! I’m not whole-heartedly against bands covering other bands’ songs. In fact, I’m a big fan of the ‘tribute’ albums that were popular a few years back. Not all of them were good, but I think they’re done with good intention…sort of a cool way to honor a band. And I think one of the best ways to get some air play is to cover a ‘famous’ song. Remember Marilyn Manson doing the Eurythmics tune? Whether you liked their cover or not, you definitely noticed it! If you’re going to do it, just do it right!

Awesome place for chili!

Living in DC has many perks: The White House, Smithsonian Museums, Georgetown, and most of all, the Music.  Jazz, R&B, Go-Go, Hip Hop, Latin, Classical, it’s all in Washington DC. There are so many good places to go and hear live music, especially on U St. It does not matter what day of the week it is, you will always find a broad selection on this side of town. U Street is the center of Washington’s music scene, with the Lincoln Theatre, Howard Theatre, Bohemian Caverns, and other clubs and historic jazz venues.

U Street has a collection of shops, restaurants, nightclubs, galleries, and residences located along a nine-block stretch of U Street in NW Washington DC. It extends from 9th Street on to 18^th Street and Florida Ave. On Mondays through Thursdays you can visit Club Pure, Jo Jo’s Restaurant and Bar, or HR 57, and listen to a variety of music.  On Friday thru Sunday, you can check out Café Nema, Twins Jazz Lounge, Indulge, Station 9, Bohemian Caverns, Utopia Bar and Grill and if you don’t mind traveling further than U Street, visit the 18^th Street Lounge. There are also specific groups that perform on certain nights. On Thursdays, The Young Lions give a great show at Café Nema. On Fridays you have the Collector’s Edition at Utopia Bar and Grill, Saturdays are the Twins Jazz Lounge to hear local and national touring jazz greats, and if you want to hear some Go-Go, visit Indulge on Sundays.  It really does not matter when or where you go because there will always be an artist performing there.

A wonderful view of U St.

Source

If you would like to check out these places visit the links below:

http://dc.about.com/od/washingtondcnightclubs/tp/UStreetNightclubs.htm

http://www.dcjazz.com

First things first, you need your track. Picking the actual track gave me the enjoyment to hear all kinds of music and concentrate on what style I would like to focus on. It’s better for you, the artist, to be involved as much as possible in this process so you can be comfortable and really treasure your work. After I picked the music, I took a few days to come up with the lyrics, drawing from my relationships and experiences in the past.  I picked which part of the song was going to be the verse, the chorus, and the bridge. The next step was rehearsing and rehearsing with my producer to get a feel for the song as well as have the chance to switch things up if need be; this  helps you spend less money and time in the actual studio. Now off we go to the studio!!!

I could not possibly sleep the night before because I didn’t know what to expect; it is said that you should get a good night sleep, but clearly I could not. The day finally approaches with 6:00pm at hand. I get to the studio located  in Long Beach, California and from the outside it looked like a quiet residential neighborhood.  The gentleman escorted me through the house back to a garage that had been completely remodeled into a studio. WOW!  I thought to myself, here we go.

I give the track to the man and he plays it. Meanwhile, I am so nervous because the room is full of my producers,  artists, and  friends. There has to be a level of concentration and confidence in one’s self to be able to  go through this process. Well, it’s time for me to step into the booth and start singing. We laid down the whole song and I thought that would be it, but little did I know I would be there for another 3 hours that day, leaving with only the hook completely done. We decided to work specifically on the chorus, and I had to sing that about a thousand times until we picked the one that sounded the best. When that is done, it was time to do ad libs, harmony,  and add special effects to the track. This was still only the chorus, and I still  had two verses and the middle of the song to complete. It is important to keep your energy up so you won’t sound tired on the song, so bring plenty of water and healthy snacks.

On the last day, I knew I had to finish the song because I only had a few days left in California before I returned back to the East coast. When my producer and I entered the studio, the recording man played back what we did the other day, and it sounded good. I stepped back in the booth and went through the whole process for each verse and the bridge of the song. Luckily for the bridge, a talented rapper came in and completed it quickly. By the time it was over, I had spent about 5 hours in the studio. Okay, now we are done, I thought to myself, but it was  now time for the mixing and mastering process. I wanted to scream!!! Only because it was after midnight and I had to get up for work the next morning.  Even though I wanted to scream, I still had fun and enjoyed the final product. I received a good deal on the price and spent no more than $200 for this song.

I believe that creating your own music is nurturing for your soul. As an artist, it is importnat that we have these experinces to build and grow on. I look forward to completing an album and letting you hear my music.

If you live in Long Beach and you need a good studio call 562-999-6099 for the Chamber Music Group.