I have been overwhelmed by the warmth and the friendship you have all given me in response to my song for Gaza, "We Will Not Go Down". I am doing my best to go through your numerous messages, emails and comments, and ask you to kindly bear with me until I am able to do so. Please forgive me if I am not able to respond to each and everyone of you; but please also know that I really appreciate your messages.
My original intention to donate proceeds from the sale of the MP3 to charity has been complicated by technical matters; therefore, I have decided to make the song available free of charge (for personal, individual use only - all rights reserved). You can download the song at my website, which is
www.michaelheart.com
I would like to request that after downloading the song from this page, you kindly donate directly to a charity or an organization dedicated to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. Worthy of note is UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), which has been helping Palestinian refugees since their dispossession in 1949. Please click here to donate through them:
UNRWA WEBSITE
Thank you for your continued encouragement of my work as a musician, for your purchases of my CD, and for spreading the song, the video and the message as you have been doing. I am grateful for every demonstration of support I have received from you, and for every thought and prayer that has gone to the people of Gaza.
Michael Heart has no propensity for nonsense. Neither in his life nor in his music. His no-frills approach to songwriting and production work is a clear testament to that. Despite his vastly diverse musicianship skills in different genres (clearly a direct result of having been raised all over the world), he has an affinity for authenticity and purity when it comes to his music. When he makes a Pop/Rock record, you just know it’s a Pop/Rock record.
Such is the case with his just released, debut Pop/Rock CD titled “Unsolicited Material” . Although this record may not necessarily entirely sound like the work of his musical influences, you can definitely hear traces of artists such as Don Henley, Bryan Adams and possibly even a hint of Daughtry, in a song or two. His raspy, breathy voice has a very identifiable sound, which commands attention from the listener. The songs are well crafted and the lyrical content is somewhat diverse, yet relevant. He tackles serious topics such as adultery (“Living In Sin” ); the challenges of making a living (“Life Goes On” ); war (“Damaged World” ) and even domestic violence ( “Finally Free”). Having said that, once in a while, Michael still lets his sense of humor come out in a song like “Wanna Be Bad” . After all, rock’n roll is about having a good time. And just for good measure, he includes the obligatory, radio-friendly, mid-tempo, Pop/Rock love song, “Lost In You”. Although the moods of the various songs on this CD do vary, there is still a common thread in all of these songs that unify them as a collective work.
Michael’s background is as diverse as can be. Syrian born and raised in Europe (Switzerland and Austria), the Middle East and the United States, he has lived a multi-cultural life and absorbed the music of different parts of the world (although his current CD release is purely categorized as Pop/Rock). He started out on piano and guitar at age 10. Shortly thereafter, he began dabbling in songwriting and eventually made the natural progression towards recording. After earning his audio engineering degree from Full Sail (recording school), he moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and spent the past 18 years working on the local studio circuit both as a session guitarist and a recording engineer. In that time, he has worked with such artists as Brandy, Will Smith, Toto, Natalie Cole, The Temptations, Phil Collins, Patty LaBelle, The Pointer Sisters, Earth Wind & Fire, Ricky Lee Jones, Lou Rawls, Jesse McCartney, Hillary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Paige, Al Jarreau, K-Ci & Jojo, Deborah Cox, Monica, Taylor Dayne, Keiko Matsui, Steve Nieves, Luis Miguel and Tarkan. Michael’s fluency in French was definitely an added bonus when he also worked in the studio with French artists like Calogero (The Charts), Marc Lavoine and Veronique Sanson. Other projects also included work with producers Rodney Jerkins, Philippe Saisse and David Foster. (note: on most of these recording credits, Michael is credited as “Annas Allaf”, his real name, Michael Heart being the stage name). Although most of Michael’s work has been in the recording studio, he has also done some touring (notably back in the early 90’s, when he toured as a Flamenco guitarist in a guitar trio with Juan Manuel Canizares , opening for Dire Straits). He has also recorded and toured with the smooth jazz band Jango. More recently, he performed in a live radio broadcast on the Mark & Brian Radio Program (Los Angeles Rock radio station, 95.5 KLOS).
These days, when he is not promoting his new CD or writing new material, Michael is lending his production skills to various local artists, primarily working in his home studio.
In January of 2009, Michael wrote and recorded a song about the horrific situation of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The song is called "We will not go down". Check it out on youtube, here below.
Hey buddy! Hope everything's going well...I'm playing this Saturday at the Cabana Club in Hollywood! If you're free, you should come out. Would be great to see you! Send me an email if you can make it!
Hi there Mr.Michael. How are You? just wanted to thank You for the beautiful song "We will not go down" .I have so much repect for you in acknowledging what is going on in the world that people tend not to want to hear or see in what the truth reveals!
I'm glad to inform you that your song "We Will Not Go Down", is one of our favorite airplays of ZanZanA WebradiO and will be played in heavy rotation during the next days.
Hello, and Welcome my friend, Thank you for adding, The more people coming together and helping spread awareness is more powerful. I started writing just over Three months ago and it is already a huge success! I am moving forward in telling my story, spreading awareness, as well as raising money for awareness. Thank you for joining me! You must be a wonderful person to care enough to take your time to spread awareness. I look forward to knowing you. I have triumphed over Domestic Violence. My horrific story is in my blog. Please read and feel free to post it on your website. To help spread awareness. I am almost finished with my book of my life and how I overcame DV thru practicing what I know about the law of attraction. My passion is to teach others how they can do it as well. I have written most of it in my blog on an almost daily basis for the past Three months. I suggest starting on the oldest blog so it makes sense and you know who the people are. To find the story of how I came to start writing, look for “THE BIG BANG, My husband tried to kill us both then when he failed, he killed Himself” Or “My Story” It will blow you away! There is a lot more to the story than that. I was abused as a child then it followed me into my relationships as an adult. I HAVE TRIUMPHED OVER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. In Love & Light, Michelle Miller
You are AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for being a friend!!! Hope you are having a great summer!!! I sure am, Hope to hear from you soon!!!
Wrapped Up In Me is #31 on the New Music Weekly Country Main Chart!!!! I am also #12 on the top 30 Indie Chart this week!!! It is on radio stations across the nation, you can request it now!!!!! Also, If you are around Friday August 28th I'll be having a big show at Tumbleweed Texas with the Spiffingtons in Houston Texas I really hope to see you there!!! Love ~Susan www.susanhickman.com