I could pretend that a professional bio-writer wrote this and talk in 3rd person...but I won't. Who am I? I'm a girl. I'm a singer. I write songs that make me happy. This is where my journey has led me.
The pre-journey began in Gig Harbor, Washington. I grew up in a stable household. Mom, Pop, a bro, two cats and a dog sorta thing. Not wealthy, but we got by. I could pretend I had a drama-filled broken family, overcoming obstacles and prejudices in life...but I won't. In high school I was a goodie choir/drama girl. Music and singing became my passion. Between school and homework, bagging groceries at Safeway, musical rehearsals, and jazz choir competitions, I somehow found the time to take private classical vocal lessons at the University of Puget Sound. This is where I found my voice.
A scholarship to the University of Southern California followed, and I was admitted into the Thorton School of Music to study vocal performance. I welcomed the opportunity to move to LA and 'find myself'. I never thought I'd pursue a career in music - too risky. But I think I like living dangerously. Music worked its way into my heart, but not like I thought it would. Singing opera became a chore. I was scolded by my teachers for singing other types of music. So I switched the major to Communication. Music is, after all, the best form of it, right? I became a founding member of USC Sirens, the only all-female a cappella group on campus. These girls became my family. We toured all over the East Coast, recorded with producer/singer/songwriter extraordinaire, Gabrielmann, and put out a bunch of albums which won a bunch of awards (blah blah).
After graduation, with a slapped together homemade demo of my Sirens solos, I found a producer who signed me to his indy label, IMG Records. We put out my first full-length album, which won Album of the Year by the LA Music Awards, so I guess I did something right. Got a band together, toured around LA at all the major venues, got a fan base growing, and was even selected to sing for the troops in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. One word: Insane! A little radio play here and there (mostly in China...random!) and an interview on KISS FM for being a Finalist in their RadioStar Competition. Oh yah, I was also a Songwriter Finalist in the Great American Song Competition. Now that I look back at all this, I think I'm allowed to give myself a high five.
Unfortunately, the time came to part ways with IMG. Fast-forward a year of trying to get out of the deal early, with no success, we now arrive at the second phase. A phase in which I own my own songs and appreciate being independent again. A phase in which I find some new friends to help me. I met DJ Solo, a hip-hop DJ/programmer (DJ Muggs, GZA), and Warren Riker, the 3-time Grammy-winning producer/mixer/engineer (Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, Santana). Warren and I spent some time in Boston at Blue Jay Studios to write and record the tunes you hear above. Filming my first music video shortly followed, with the incredibly talented directors, Anthony Lenzo & Michael Gordon. Now I'm getting airplay on national and international commercial and public radio stations, and getting my songs played on MTV and indie films. Things are finally falling into place.
I could pretend I'm a combination of other similar artists so you could peg me as a certain type, or place me some sort of category...but I won't. I'll let you decide for yourself. My new sound is trip hop. It's jazz. It's soul. And yes, pop too. It's a bit of fantasy. It's a bit of indulgence. It's all my influences rolled up in one sexy bundle of goodness. Horns, strings, the whole shabang. We got live jazz musicians, ambient atmosphere, and lush orchestration. This was my chance to transport myself into my own little 60's spy film daydream. I could pretend to be the next Bond-girl...and maybe I will :)
My dear friends...I hope you enjoy the tunes. I hope you can relate to them. I hope you can dance to them. Maybe even make-out to them. I can now truly appreciate everything I went through in order to get to this point in my life. It has been quite a journey already. And I like to think this is just the beginning...
