Monthly Archives: October 2012

An interview that was never published

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I was cleaning out some of the old documents on my computer and I found an interview that I did that was never published. Here it is:
  1. Where do you get your passion from?
I get it from two places mainly. The first is from hearing what other people do and feeling inspired to achieve something similar. It isn’t as much as thinking “I can do that”, but “I want to do that.”  It gives me something to aspire to.  The second is from completely something. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride. In result, I want to keep doing it so that feeling returns.

  2. If you could interview anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
I don’t know. If the question were: “who would you want to spend a day with?”, it might be easier.  I would have to say either Danny Elfman or Camille.

  3. What kind of music should be cut and quartered?
Any music that isn’t original – where musicians just copy something else rather than creating something new. It is just a waste of aural space.

  4. What would your obituary say?
I hope it would say “a woman who always pursued her dreams and shared her passion with those around her”. I don’t know – is that too cheesy?

  5. If you won the lotto, would you still do music? Would anything change?
Of course I would still do music. I don’t do music for the money, I do it to create. As far as anything changing – I guess I would invest more financially into my songs. Or maybe I wouldn’t. It’s hard to tell. Perhaps I wouldn’t spend more the music itself, but promoting it.

  6. Your worst nightmare as a musician:
Rejection I suppose.  Music is an art and so that makes me an artist – and art is very personal because it is something you create.  In essence, it is a part of us, a part of who we are, what we believe, what we feel. Someone who rejects my music is in effect, rejecting me.  We are told not to take it personally, but honestly, sometimes I don’t see any other way to take it.

7. If you could change anything in the world with your art, what would it be?
Well, if I hoped to change the world with something I did, I hope it would be with my writing.  I love writing about things because I learn in the process and I get to share it with others who, in turn, hopefully learn something too. I just hope to help people discover new things, to step outside the box of conventional learning. I also love the idea of my web site Teen Jazz helping aspiring young artists. Anytime I hear that I’ve helped someone, well, that just makes my day!

  8. What do you receive the most compliments for?
I don’t really know. I notice criticism more than I notice positive input (oups) but in a way, I think that’s a good thing because it pushes me to continue to grow and improve.  I guess it would depend on each song. But I have received compliments for my ability as an arranger and how high I can sing…

  9. What story would you love to tell?
I’ve already told it 🙂 My music is my story!

  10. What activity do you most look forward to?
Well two… Traveling is number one and traveling for any reason whether it is work or pleasure or somewhere in between.  The second thing I most look forward to is completely finishing a song. Nothing feels greater in the world (in my experience of course).

  11. Your single worst memory regarding your music experiences.
This one is kind of funny actually. My first professional gig ever was put together by my former high school teacher. Throughout the entire gig, he was glaring in my direction, so I thought I was performing terribly.  At the end of the gig, I went behind the green room (a tent) and started crying – I was miserable.  My teacher found me and asked what was wrong. I told him about how his glaring at me made me feel and he started laughing.  It turned out that he had been glaring at the drummer who had been directly behind me and that I was doing fine.  It ended up being quite funny later on, but it was the worst three hours of my life when I was convinced I was getting the death glare.
Either that or the time someone stole my saxophone and flute from backstage.

  12. Best thing you ever wrote:
Lyrics or music? Lyrics, I don’t know if I particularly like any of it (laughing). Umm… well, I think my soundtrack stuff is the best, but I’ve been disagreed with on that matter.

  13. What do you procrastinate the most about?
Recording vocals! It scares me! And then, when I finally do record them, I procrastinate hearing them back. I could redo my vocals over and over with a second thought and the songs would never get done.

  14. Three things you constantly tell yourself.
1 – “You could have done that better”. I think it is best to always see room for improvement.
2 – That I need to do a little bit more of everything – writing, practicing, learning, exercising, etc.
3 – I think I say “I want to do THAT!” a lot and about a lot of things.

  15.  If you could teach any class what would it be?
Ethnomusicology.  In particular, European folk music and popular music. Namely French.

  16. If you could start your own magazine, what would it be about?
It would be for teenjazz.com – I think that would be pretty cool. It is something I’ve planned on doing, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

  17. What skills do you wish you possessed?
I wish I could remember everything I read, foreign languages included, and music.

  18. If you could take any other musicians job in the world, who would you relieve of duty?
Well, I would want to relieve Camille, but I would actually prefer to perform with her than replace her. So, maybe I would replace her pianist or she might one day need a flute player! (Wishful thinking of course) Or perhaps I would be Steely Dan’s saxophone player, or Danny Elfman’s orchestrator.  But I honestly don’t want to replace anyone – I want to work alongside them! Maybe one day Camille will finally need a flute player for live shows or Danny Elfman an intern. Unlikely, I know!

  19. If you died tomorrow morning, what would you regret?
Nothing so far. Maybe I would regret some of the procrastinating I’ve done and all the times I didn’t practice when I could have.

Teen Jazz is Back

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And it’s better than ever.

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve run a site for up coming musicians called Teen Jazz since 2004. I love managing the site and being a part of the community and nothing would make me happier than you all becoming a part of it. Teen Jazz features a lot of different articles – it used to have 100s, but a lot of them are being edited since I wrote the majority of them while I was in high school – and it also features emerging AND established artists.

Some of the articles include album reviews, concert reviews, equipment reviews, advice for young musicians, and other fun music related news. I’d also love it if any one here would be interested in contributing an article or two to the web site – any sort of review or advice that is music related. If you have an idea, please feel free to get in touch with me.

In the meantime, check out Teen Jazz.