Misley - Fashion for Women
Misley - Designed and Made in Spain
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Misley - Fashion for Women Misley - Designed and Made in Spain |
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Maia Sharp - New Album
The person in “Things to Fix,” stands in contrast to “John Q Lonely,”
from Maia Sharp’s 2008 album Echo, and he was also dealing with a
relationship that had come to an end.
She explains, “It shows that I
have been doing it long enough that we can compare the end of a
relationship thirteen years ago compared to the end of a relationship
now.
“John Q Lonely,”
is just a crab and his reaction to being hurt is just takes his football
and he is going home. He is not going to play this game anymore. He
closes himself off. His reaction is to pout. If love didn’t like me then
I’m not going to like love. “Things to Fix,” is a pretty different mindset.
It is open and she is aware enough to see that there is something at the
very top of my list that I’m avoiding, but the crux of the song is
procrastination. It is when you have something in front of you that you
should really be prioritizing. All of a sudden, the screw in the
doorknob is the most important thing, because you will do anything to
distract yourself from the most important thing you should be working
on. The biggest difference between the songs is “John Q Lonely,” was a title that I had, and I brought it to my co-writer Mark Addison who I had been writing with on and off since my first album. It was from a phrase that we liked, and we created a character. “Things to Fix,” is real. I moved to Nashville at the end of 2019, and I found my place a couple of months later. Anytime you move into a new house there is always something. There are little things that…as cool as the previous owners were, there are always little things. |
Evie Sands - New Album
“I trust in the music and then I let it go. I think it is probably a
combination of things. It is my ongoing and will be forever, my insane
passion for music, about making it, listening to it and breaking it
down. I enjoy it, but I like to figure out what is that stuff sonically,
what is going on and it is the enjoyment part of it. It is just ongoing.
It is just like I was born, and I started listening. I just get excited.
Then there is the striving to continually get better and all the skills
that are involved, whether it is continuing to be a better singer, a
better songwriter, better composer, a better musician, a better producer
and engineer. It drives who I am.
I
never look to chase the trends. I have learned that is a losing game. By
the time we see and hear things, it already took a while for those
things to be created and released, so by the time we say that must be
the kind of stuff people want to hear and by the time I could get it out
there it would be a day late and a dollar short. It would be old news.
Also, it wouldn’t be honest, because for me making music is all about
being connected to the heart. It is a combination of my heart and
honesty. There is also the little bit of the artistic muse that visits
us. Sometimes stuff comes and I don’t know where it comes from. It is
like a channel.
Sometimes I have something I really want to say. It might turn out to be
more R&B or Rock with elements of something else. It could be rootsy,
Jazz and whatever happens, I just go with it. When it feels right, and
it feels good… (she changes direction) …the first person I have
to please is myself. Once it meets the bar where I go yeah, yeah that’s
cool then I will bounce it off a couple of people whose ears I trust,
and I will just see how they respond. |
Misley - Fashion for Women
Misley - Designed and Made in Spain |
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Amelie Blake - U.K. Interview
She recalls that moment, “My husband, Mike and I created some demos and
we sent them to a lot of production companies, trailer houses and
publishers and eventually after hundreds of emails one got back to us.
They asked if we could do music for this brief and so we did. (Next) we
were introduced to several publishers. We then wrote the album Songs for
the Soul, which was a collection of a few songs we had written over the
years and we also wrote some new ones for the album. It was put out
there for the music supervisors to pick from. It is not written for a
(specific) trailer. We write them and then we do not know what is going
to get chosen.
I
was driving to a job interview for a teaching job, but I had wanted to
get out of teaching for a few years, because I really wanted to pursue
my music. The phone call came (when I was driving) and I could not
answer it, so my husband answered the phone and put it on the
loudspeaker. My dad said, do you know that you are on this trailer? He
started playing it over the phone and that is when I started to scream
(as I was driving) down the motorway, because I was so excited. I didn’t
care about my job interview after that.”
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Actress Ana Cerdeiriña
Life began for Ana
Cerdeiriña, “in Salamanca, a little town in Castile y León. It is a big
area in the northwest of Spain, but not as far north as Galicia. It is a
university city with students from all over the world. I have a small
family, my father, my mother, my sister, and me. The center of my life
is my father, my mother, my sister and now my daughter. My mother is a
nurse, my father is a doctor, and my sister works as a hospital
administrator. My father and mother split up when I was twelve years
old, and I went to live in Madrid with my mother and my sister. I have
lived in Madrid for thirty years. When I was a child
and I wanted to become an actress, my mother and father thought that was
bad news. They wanted me to study for a different career. In Spain when
you are fourteen and sixteen years old and if you say you want to be an
actress, it is not beautiful news, because it is so difficult to be an
actor or an actress here. Our country has a lot of good things, but the
arts and acting or creative (careers) are difficult. If my daughter
came home and said she wanted to be an actress I would probably tell her
no, but fortunately she loves math and science,” says Ana Cerdeiriña.
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These Fine Moments - Season 10
Hilary Kaufmann talks about their respective musical styles when she
first met Robert Watts, “We were different in that my musical interests
were completely opposite from Robert’s. I was more into Bonnie Raitt,
Linda Ronstadt and I guess more Folk Rock and Americana, but I have been
doing original music in bands for a long time. My band was a finalist in
the Kerrville Folk Festival. I am also a songwriter. Robert is much more
edgy than I am, and he took me way out of my comfort zone. Our voices
blended so well together it was a natural progression. I feel writing
with him has really helped me to grow as a musician.”
Robert Watts picks up the conversation, “I come at it from a little
different angle. My writing style is not so much literal, but it is more
abstract. Hilary centers me a lot to keep me from getting too far out
there.”
“Robert’s influences are more from eighties music and I am slightly
older, so my influences are mostly from the seventies,” she says.
As far as how their music has evolved during their ten-year careers
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Shadow and Bone - Review
Jesse Mei Li’s character Alina Starkov grew up in an orphanage with her
best friend Malyen "Mal" Oretsev
played by Archie Renaux, both actors are relatively new to the film and
television world and both turn in splendid performances. Alina Starkov
is a mapmaker who discovers she has a rare gift that impacts the
storyline, while Mal, is a solider in the Kingdom of Ravka’s army. In
the midst of all the drama, there is an undercurrent of are you going to
tell her how you feel about her big guy? Jesse Mei Li brings
vulnerability to her character and innocence, but she also brings
strength. Her character does not really understand everything that is
happening to her, but when thrust into an opulent world, she longs for
the simplicity of what she once knew. Li’s eyes portray deep hurt, at
other times defiance, but never resignation. The dramatic tension
created between Jesse Mei Li and Archie Renaux is believable and the
sensitivity draws you into these two characters, both in their current
time and through flashbacks to the orphanage.
One of the most amazing actresses this writer has seen in a very long
time is Amita Suman who was born in Nepal and spent most of
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Allyson Morris - Jazz Album
The album opens with an old David Frishberg song, “Peel Me a Grape,” for
which a sultry, mysterious, almost James Bond like companion video was
filmed. The creation of the video has a hint of mystery to it with two
Peters and an Allyson, during a pandemic.
Allyson Morris recalls, “I ran into an old friend (Peter Clifford) who
is in the film industry. I played the album for him and he loved “Peel
Me a Grape.” He said you need
a video
Allyson. Nobody in the film industry was working in Toronto, because of
COVID. That conversation was in June of 2020.
Peter Faragher started writing out the storyboard with my friend Peter
Clifford who has an old 1968 88 Delta car, and we did that video on a
Sunday afternoon when it wasn’t busy, down University Avenue (Toronto)
and we (fastened) cameras to the car. There was a cinematographer in the
front seat, one in the back seat and there was another car following me,
as we drove through the downtown core. We ended up on York Street
overlooking the CN tower and all of the buildings served as a backdrop
for the video. They had gone out a few weeks earlier to scout out
locations. It was an incredible experience and
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Montse Muñoz - Actress, Model
“My first name
Montse comes from Montserrat, which is a really high mountain mountain
range, and they are difficult to climb. My name comes from these
mountains. I always asked my mom why she chose this name and she said,
because you asked for this name when you were born. She said all of your
life you wanted to climb, and you always looked for the difficult way to
arrive at the top. You are doing it step by step and that is why you
have this name,” says Montse Muñoz. She was born in
the small city of Manresa, sixty-seven kilometers from Barcelona,
located in Spain’s autonomous region of Catalunya. Legend has it that St
Ignatius of Loyola, while on his way back from Montserrat stopped in
Maresa to pray and that for one year he lived in a cave not far from
Maresa. She was one of
only two children in her family and her extended family on her maternal
and paternal side was even smaller. When asked if her
creativity is something naturally flows from her family, she laughs
lightly and says, “My mother is the only one in
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October 1993 A Magic Evening
Jamie James who had a band called the Kingbees and who also had played
with Dennis Quaid and the Sharks, explains how this album, which was
never intended to become an album, was born.
“My sister called me and said, Jaime I saw a picture of you online that
I have never seen before. Where and when is it from? She sent me the
link and I looked at it. I told her that is a band that Harry and I had
for about six months back in 1993. It was called Harry Stanton with the
Cheap Dates.
I
remembered that Slim Jim Phantom had been digitizing music from
cassettes. We had recorded four songs in Paramount Studios on Santa
Monica Boulevard, back in ’93. He sent me a track, but I couldn’t find
it. I called him and I said, could you resend that to me? I listened to
it again and it was the Bob Dylan song “Baby Tonight.” I liked it.
I thought I like this, and I wonder if other people would enjoy it. I
called “Slim” back and he had four songs, but it wasn’t enough to do (an
album).
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Leah Belle Faser - Rising Star
When you first listen to songs such as “Better
Than Mine,” “Back Home,” “The Lift,” and “Second-Hand Store,” from Leah
Belle Faser’s new album Crossing Hermi’s Bridge, songs about
relationships and longing for home, the first thing you want to do is go
to the album credits to find out who co-wrote these songs with her.
Surely, you think, a sixteen-year-old could not write so insightfully
about such mature themes and compose such well constructed songs. Then
you think there must be information missing from the album credits,
because all of these songs are attributed to this affable teenage girl
who answers your questions thoughtfully and you realize not only are her
songs mature, but so is she. Yes, she has all the exuberance of a
sixteen-year-old, but she also is wise beyond her years.
Leah Belle Faser
says, “There is only so much that has happened in my life at sixteen, so
there are only so many things that I can
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French Designer Alice Berry Atelier
Alice Berry Atelier website |
Actor German Torres
At the time we
spoke, 24 horas en la vida de una mujer, produced by highly acclaimed
actress Silvia Marsó, who also starred in the musical with Felipe Ansola
had just returned to the stage at Teatro Galileo in Madrid, after an
absence of nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked German
Torres what that experience was like. He said, “It was
fantastic, after the world stopped, returning to the stage is a miracle.
The theater has maximum security and culture is safe now in Madrid. We
are allowed to have fifty-five percent (of capacity) for the audience
now. In other communities only thirty people are allowed. We had forgotten,
just a little about the energy of the stage, because it had been so long
since we had performed.”
There were also adjustments the actors had to make, “It is difficult
because the audience has masks on, and we can only watch their eyes (and
not see the rest of their faces). There is a different (dyamic) with the
audience now, but they like the show. The return of the rehearsals is
very important after many months without performances.
I think people need to watch musicals and to hear music, because during
the three months (of lockdown) they had to stay in their homes with just
tv and books (editor’s note: during the time between this interview and
the publication date, many regions of Spain once again experienced
tighter restrictions concerning public gatherings).”
The musical is based on the novel by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig and
German Torres explains, “It is one of his more famous novels. It is
about a time when women were judged by their actions. Morality reigned
at that time and that a woman of her (the central character known as
Mrs. C.) class who was betrayed by passion brought about judgment and
rejection by society.
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French Actress Sandra Leclercq
We asked her how
it felt to have a puppet flirt with her, “It felt really good!” she says
laughing. We were of course
talking about her voiceover work for a French advertisement for Spotify
and Sandra Leclercq was the voice for the female puppet. I really love it
(voiceover). It is really interesting. Even when I audition for animated
movies or things like that, I like to have the picture of the character
and to see what the animated version looks like. If it is an animal what
kind of animal is it? Even when you are just using your voice, you are
still acting. I think if it is TV, theater or voiceover in my opinion it
is still the same, it is acting.
I did an audition before, but this was the first time that I recorded
something that I booked.
I looked at the puppet and I loved it. It was very technical to have my
mouth in rhythm and moving at the same time as the puppet.”
Two years ago, Sandra Leclercq starred in the short film Miss You
Dad, which was shot in the United States. It was a result of her
very first audition in America.
“When I was first contacted for the audition I was in France and I told
the casting director, sorry I can’t be there. I can’t go back to New
York, because I had just returned from ten days of vacation there. (Some
time passed) and I sent an email saying I hope you found your cast and
if not, I am back to New York. She contacted me and said I would like to
see you in an audition. That was a really good audition, and I booked
the part.
We started doing some rehearsals with Byron Chlohessy (the father)
and Annee Agnello who was playing the child. The reviews were good and
interesting. The shooting was done in Connecticut. All of us stayed in
the same house for four days. It was a really good
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Jemima - Things I Never Said
The first song on
the EP, is “As You Are,” and it clocks in at three minutes and twenty
seconds and has the perfect blend of retro Pop and modern Pop, with an
easy flowing melody. Jemima tracked her own background vocals creating
the feel of some of the early sixties all-girl groups. One should not
however think of this song as an attempt to merely giving rebirth to an
era of music that has long since vanished, by the time she was born, but
instead it is an artist who knows what she likes and has taken the best
from what she heard as a child, while listening to her parents’ records
and bringing to both her songwriting and to the studio a keen sense for
what resonates with audiences today.
She
says, “I am twenty-four and I discovered this music by sitting in my
garage, as a kid and going through my parents’ records and cassette
tapes. I really liked that music. I wasn’t into Justin Bieber or
whatever other music kids my age were listening to. It (the music on the
records) sounded so intriguing to me and there is such a focus on
storytelling, which I loved. It sounded more genuine to me. I went to
school as Elvis when I was ten years old. I had the black wig on, and I
wore a gold cape. I had this skintight white jumpsuit. I don’t know why
my parents let me do that.”
Continuing she says, “The song
“As You Are,” is about realizing you are falling
for somebody, but also learning to accept that person for who they are.
It took on a broader sense when I started working on the music video and
it turned into accepting anyone that you love for who they are and not
just in a romantic way.
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Cozy Rebel
A New Collection from DREZZ2IMPREZZ and Beatrix Reuschel
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Camila Knight - Music from Barcelona
She talks about her song “Home,” which you can listen to and watch on
YouTube, “I wrote “Home,” last year during lockdown 1.0 and I was
uncertain about what was going to happen next. I did not expect the
whole craziness with COVID, and I saw people with the fear of what would
come next. (They were thinking) I am the next one and how will COVID
affect me? I did not want to give into fear, and I wanted to communicate
in this song, that you don’t have to give into fear. I was expressing my
feeling of gratitude for little things in life. I was grateful for being
healthy, safe, having a home and for my loved ones. I was trying to keep
my spirits high. I wanted to communicate that we have the strength to
overcome this and without fear. Maybe this is a moment of probation for
us. (The message) is to appreciate what you have and your loved ones.”
Did it ever enter Camila Knight’s mind to hold back releasing some of
her songs, since there has been little to no live performances by
artists anywhere in the world during these COVID times?
“The first song that I released during COVID times was “Angels.” I had a
feeling that maybe it was not the best time, because people were
(focused) on other things life. I felt I had to share this song with the
world. The message in “Angels,” is very appropriate for this time.
“Home” is also perfect for this situation. These are crazy
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