Musings from Story Jam Land

7/15/10

Home Office



"I believe that writers are terribly sensitive to our environments. We need very much to have a desirable workspace in order to let our creativity unfold." Pamela Phillips Oland












I've been reading "The Art of Writing Great Lyrics" by Pamela Phillips Oland, from which the above quote comes. This idea-rich book, which is responsible for forcing me to whip my lyrics into shape these past two weeks, is loaded with great writing advice from an established industry lyricist. I've learned lots of tricks and tips, including how to make the song into a story and how to better choose words that get to the point rather than sound like lovely poetry (one of her major points is that lyrics are not poetry). Though some of the information is slightly dated and some of her examples of simile are a touch cheesy ("You are as tempting as an apple tree in Eden"), the book is helpful for anyone with or without formal songwriting training. In addition to all the surprising advice (it's okay to use a rhyming dictionary!), there is a chapter on the importance of one's working environment that has stuck with me these past few days.





I have always had a very personal relationship with my workplace. I cannot work until the house is clean and I require space and color, light and calm, before I can even so much as compose an email. I am in the midst of recording and finishing writing for a new cd and every song, word, idea and melody came out of my home "office." After writing songs for nearly two decades, I think I have finally gotten a workplace which both feeds my soul and functions well.


For what it's worth, my ideas tend to start at the piano. We purchased this piano at a small college sale; therefore this "writer's instrument," which I love so dearly, was formerly used by music majors. It is not a "pianist's piano" and as I am no concert classicist, it suits me well. I love its work-horse, academic-musician energy. It's something I pound on without worry of offending; a very easy, forgiving instrument. The swirly rug underneath is vintage and cost us about forty bucks. Small price to pay for so much happy.


I do most of my lyric writing and all of my editing in the adjacent room. This is my "lyric room," which is our office, bill paying dock, telephone conference room, comfy reading area, etc... It has three walls filled with windows and is very cozy.

I don't really know what most songwriters do, but I start with a song idea - usually at the grand above the swirls - and often with a recording device of some kind (lately it's been a recording app on the iphone). When I have culled the ideas on my recorder, I bring them into the lyric room for some work on the mac. Then I spend the next hours, days or maybe weeks, on and off, bouncing back and forth from computer to piano. When its ready, I load the song into my small protools setup on the mac with a keyboard and a microphone. I keep working on it until I finally bring it to the band to rehearse and possibly try out at a small gig. Quite often, the song just sits there, either as a just word file, or maybe as a protools file. 

I wonder if other people in other fields feel a kind of intimacy with their environment? Do accountants need great lighting in order to numbers-crunch? Does a chef relish in a clean floor? Would a lawyer prefer to be surrounded by books? 

I am scouring the internet for pictures of artist homes. Here are a few homes of interest...
rickie lee jones at her home in washington
tori amos in her home studio
sting at home in wiltshire
joni mitchell's home in laurel canyon, 1970's
(grand piano not visible)

posted by Hipchick @ July 15, 2010  2 Comments

4/24/10

The Facebook Etiquette #1

I recently put up a Stephanie Rogers Band Page on Facebook but in the process, have discovered the bald truth about the rise and fall of one's online psyche. 

What used to be my continual, open, silly attempts at witticism and flirtiness have now become simplified, softened bits of restrained fluff. An increase in "friends" I don't really know has left me wracked with status self-consciousness and I think I may have developed a case of Posting Paralysis.
Six months ago, I was posting the likes of: "the only reasons to post fb updates are to gloat or to entice. today i gloat..i got carded today! suck it under 40s!" and "Stephanie has a body for business and a mind for sin" (a flip on the famous "Working Girl" quote "I have a mind for business and a bod for sin!"). And now I am releasing stifled missives like "Stephanie needs a cool string section for recording" or "Miss Thing is Very Busy." Have I really gotten this boring, or is it that I am TOO SCARED TO POST (maybe both?)?
I did post something once (which I'm too ashamed to relay to you now) that led to someone calling me with a warning. Do not sound too "unprofessional" on FB, she offered, there will be potential clients or music business people reading these things. So I stopped. Posting. Naughty. Little notes.
I have never had anything to hide, and now I am realizing that inhibition can be damaging to the psyche. Which is why I have created a hidden, secret FB moniker. Now I can post all the curse words and pet annoyances I like! Well, I haven't actually done that, but I have considered it and sometimes dream I could quit my usual facecrack habit for just one week! Actually, now that my grandma, plumber and friendly check-out guy at the bike store are all on facebook with me, I think I might hit the road like my dear friend Bradford did. Instead of mindlessly filing through pages of postings and offering safe, empty status updates like I seem to do, Bradford has cut loose. He was thrilled to de-activate his FB account last week. 
Maybe I'll do the same, but not before I get in one last post about my day/band/recording project/pet anecdote/bowel movement/favorite song from the 70's/co-worker who dresses sleazy/whatever....! I love you facebook. But you have to let me be me. And I can't be me living like this.



posted by Hipchick @ April 24, 2010  2 Comments

1/20/10

Toot Toot

http://www.hipchick.com









Yikes Gal! Do you believe this? I have been transformed into "serious band leader" through aligning my band with an organization called STITELY ENTERTAINMENT. Run by Jeff Stitely, a most excellent dude, the company represents a group of high-level party bands in Chicago. They have an office in Evanston and have been on the scene for over a decade. I've worked for them as a singer a bunch and now they are enlisting my band to be one of four in their roster.



Ah, how these people are sitrring up my world of contentment and ennui!!! 


Of course, I've been a willing bandleader at parties for many years, but I've only provided music for people I know - or for people who've been referred to me by people I know - and I've never actually promoted myself as Miss Party Band Thang before. Yet, when I met with Jeff Stitely and his posse a few months ago to discuss the prospect of working with them, I felt that I was finally ready to take it awn and become La Chick Leader.


So...I have spent the last two months cranking out recordings, photo shoots, music charts, blurbs, song lists, bios, and Everything Else these fine people require for my band to become one of their select few. Lots of meetings, calls, sessions and rehearsals have ensued, in preparation for our official entree into the intensosity of rawking party music. What an upstanding disciple of business acumen I've become!!!


Do I look a little freaked underneath the smile? 


I know I am an artist above all, but to get to play music for a living is a true privilege. I love giving people the gift of music and doing it well. Plus, I am not going to be singing anything heinous! This band is for groovesters. Obviously we will play whatever they want to hear, but we're heavy on the indie and acoustic pop rock and that which might be a little under the pop culture radar. It's a pretty fresh thing, combining very familiar stuff with cool, semi-popular or less known tunages...and my keyboard player is also a dance/re-mixer/dj, so he can jam the mashups at the end of the night for the clubber types.


So, here begins a new adventure. I'm pretty proud to be able to do this and I'm very proud of the musicians with whom I work and to be a part of a really honorable, cool company. I have been approached before by other bandleaders to lead a second or third band for their organization, and the timing wasn't right. Now, it feels just perfect. 


I am still doing my singer-songwriter thing, of course! I'll never stop cranking out rebel-cry tunes in dingy, late-night bars (BTW, I am concurrently producing my third cd of original music right now with the guy from Sons of The Neverwrong).


In continuation of this horn tooting campaign, I am also back on the audition trail for commercials with a hotshot Chicago agency. Oh, the lucky life of an Artsy Fartsy Soccer Mama!











posted by Hipchick @ January 20, 2010  0 Comments

10/27/09

Sound Bites


I was worried. I know...I've been performing for awhile now (last year marked my 20th year of being in rock bands), but still, sometimes I get that panic-in-the-gut feeling.


The panicky feeling I get now isn't related to nerves - I did used to get very nervous performing before a crowd - no, it is more related to the details of the gig. Will the sound be ok? Will I remember the chords if I'm playing piano or guitar? Will I be able to engage the audience while looking at the fret board? Did I practice enough?



When I sing at someone's wedding, the only two things I fret over are: 1. How is my monitor mix? and 2. What does the band think of my performance? I KNOW I can make a crowd happy at any party or wedding. It's not hard. With great musicians, good song choices and a really professional band leader, any jobbing band can rock it. Rocking it is a given in the high-caliber bands and orchestras, so sometimes the ones who take notice of your golden (or not so golden) moments are your band mates.

But, when it's my band doing mostly my original songs in a small bar or club, the pressure is ON and I am the one who is truly responsible for bringing game. Well, I can't bring game unless the technical stuff is solid. Mainly, good SOUND. That means that I should be able to hear myself perfectly without screaming, and

that every instrument is beautifully balanced in my monitors.


Happily (and to my surprise), I did get good sound on Friday at Bill's Blues in Evanston. I was able to free myself from worry. I got into my performer flow and rocked it. The great crowd of friends really helped the energy too and I was able to sing and perform with unabashed confidence. After a bad experience last year and many months of not wanting to perform out at clubs, I am now getting interested again. My new caveat: there must be good sound. My next show is with a group of solo performers at The Wilmette Theatre on November 19th, where I know the sound and crowd will be fantastic.

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posted by Hipchick @ October 27, 2009  1 Comments

8/24/09

Inspiration vs. Procreation

It's nearly impossible to put off mom-ness for a rare creative moment. Balancing the two is a constant challenge, yet carving out stolen moments for writing/working is essential to keeping the creative juices flowing. My brain is in songwriter mode right now and when I'm in this state, home duties can really fall by the wayside. However, when the duty involves a live human being, one cannot just hang out all night drinking whisky while dishes pile up and bills remain unpaid (kiss those days goodbye!). I am forever conflicted by my need to be a kickass mom and my need to follow the creative urge.

So just the other night I couldn't get a song idea out of my head. I tried recording it on my iphone (using "Recorder," an amazing invention!) so I could go back to it later, but I just COULDN'T make the noise in my head go away and I was deeply entrenched in "artistic space." The chorus and the verses were starting to mentally line up - I was on a inspired roll - and yet, oh, I had to take care of our son.

So, slightly exasperated (and after many failed pleas for him to go to bed and "wait for mama"), I gave the Bambino a book, a blanket and a pillow and made a little spot for him under the piano so I could finish the song. It was crazy. It was late. It had "bad mom" signs written all over it. But...I was absolutely in the moment and hubby was busy. I had to do something revolutionary. He needed his mama and I needed to follow the impulse.

Now, if he were a toddler, I don't know if I could have gotten away with such sleep time rule breaking, but...this is still summer, we are usually pretty strict on the sleep gig and my mama's boy is just not quite ready to go to bed alone. I won't even tell you how late it was before the child fell asleep, however...

It worked. He had a blast under that piano and we both shared a
welcome rebel moment that neither of us will soon forget. He even broke from his book a few times to offer pointers for the song. So, now Mama has a finished song and he got a mutinous story that he was quite pleased to relay to his friends in the morning.

posted by Hipchick @ August 24, 2009  0 Comments

7/8/09

Uncomfortable Genius

If you're moved by music, you probably have your faves. I remember the summer-driven moment I first heard "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. I loved Carl Wilson's vocal tone and the break down section. Just listen to the first note he sings: "I..." which he made more like "Ahhhhh..." Is it not astounding?  



So, music can have this power, this emotional pull. And one artist in particular has always roused my deepest core: Miss Rickie Lee Jones.

Some people recognize the true genius that is Rickie Lee Jones; some think she's bizarre; others haven't heard of her. I am seated solidly in the first category. No other pop singer on this planet, in my mind, encircles the soul of music like RLJ. She is an un-studied jazzer at heart, who accesses some other world and creates rich harmonic structures, singing with pained clarity in a mostly pop format. It floors me. I've heard Rickie live probably 30 times and as any RLJ fan knows, you could get a moderately grumpy, pained performance as she chastise an upright bass player for his intonation, or tell the audience to hush it, but then again...you get a glimpse of her incredible creative bag. She is always an edge-of-your-seat experience. 

One time she hired a coupla guys who didn't have time to rehearse for Orchestra Hall in Chicago, so she had them work by EAR. She would start a song on piano or guitar, and the instrumentalists (a guitarist and upright bassist), just followed along while Rickie played in and out of strange time signatures, forging chords no one had ever heard, while she signaled what to do with her vocal cues. To me, it was breathtaking! My hubby and our two friends were upset by the free-flow of this, however, and took to drinking vast quantities of alcohol. Maybe it is kinda hard to "get" Rickie and what she's about, but I like her for her pop sensibilities (I'm a pop singer for crying out loud!) and her depth and complexity within the format. She actually has lots of very palatable, hit-type songs and is a two-time Grammy winner. Satellites Video.


And maybe the reason I have never toured is because of Rickie. Unlike my musical idol, being out of a certain comfort zone whigs me out. I couldn't handle living "on the jazz side of life," or partying with Tom Waits at the Tropicana Motel all night. But, would I write cool stuff if I unleashed my "demons" the way she so openly conjures hers?  Would I have access to musical brilliance if I didn't allow myself the conventions of comfort and happiness?

My favorite RLJ is her at the piano, doing her jazz thing, in that pin-point sweet soprano.



I wonder if she thinks all her wounds are worth the transcendent music we are so fortunate to hear her make...

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posted by Hipchick @ July 08, 2009  3 Comments