Week 3 of Music Success in 9 Weeks

Hmmmmmm Week 3 is proving to be a little tricky. I have lots of different sites to re- assess and opt in strategies to create/ change/work on. Meanwhile I have gone over quota on my internet connection. So I am down to dial up speed arghhhh. So hmmmmm I am a little behind with things. Meanwhile- Good news that one of my videos will be featured on Skope Magazine's Site for a month. It was through a submission to Sonicbids. Meanwhile #2 - I have sent off some VERY rough demos of the songs for album 2 to Brian Siskind in NYC to have a listen. Nerve raking. Meanwhile #3 - Played tennis today- I now have a regular tennis date- Meanwhile #4 - sold an album this week to a woman who recognised me from drumming and dancing at the folk festival recently. So yes - the diverse things I do kinda operate like a transmedia approach : ) ? : ) I have been reading about transmedia. Interesting. The idea of creating a story across mediums has always appealed to me. I have always thought of the web work I have been doing as creating a web world. Within my web world dwells Me and also dwells Mahri Autumn who is a particular part of me extended into a narrative which resonates with ancient mythologies and archetypes. Mahri Autumn is a kind of Meta Me... the me which is not so bothered by the day to travails of being human. Who somehow exists only within a creative sphere- the timeless zone. Mahri Autumn does not pay bills or worry about insurance or feel impatient about things manifesting slower than expected- Mahri Autumn exists in the fullness of time- permanently. She yearns and is passionate and feels absolutely everything without being the slightest overwhelmed by her own or others desires or possibilities. Mahri Autumn does not spend time thinking about opt-in options : ) Luckily I do occasionally : )

Week 2

Ok so i have been working on my goals- fine tuning them - thinking- and thinking again. And I have been writing and re writing my pitch. Today i got completely sidetracked doing an admin chore that has been waiting to happen for ages! I finally got around to setting up an email list on MailChimp. I am promoting my drum and dance classes for the term and needed to put together a newsletter . So YAY! Finally done.

I have been working on my pitch but I am still going. Here is a start.

Ambient World Music - thoughtful, poetic mantras sung with an "astounding emotionally exposed voice". A mix of Jane Siberry, Sandy Denny and Laurie Anderson. Lush accordian drones,  ambient piano, percussion, guitar, sounds & otherworldly harmonies soaked in spatial electronic ambience. The first album -ri-solv- was created in the ether via email between NYC + the South Coast of Australia. The result is something other than either.

Gotta sleep. I need to get up at 5.30am to go and do drum circles with children all day tomorrow. Rewarding but exhausting : )

Didn't quite get around to promoting this blog to folk yet. Will do in the next couple of days. Probably lots of other things to report......but...must ...... sleeeeeeeeeeep

Review in Week One : )

This week I scored a lovely review from Sarah Morrison of -ri-solv- You can have a look here at the whole thing. Miss Morrison's Mix
Here is a little snippet of it. It was great to wake up to this the other morning : )

"She creates ethereal soundscapes, with overlapping vocal melodies and layer upon layer of carefully-placed instrumental and electronic elements.

I’ve spun this album many times, and it is one from which you can garner something new from each listen. From twinkling piano and gorgeous accordion drones, to the delicately plucked acoustic guitar and unique percussive elements, and of course, that astounding emotionally exposed voice, Mahri Autum’s ri-solv is a beautiful cluster of deeply heartfelt songs that are wonderful in their subtle complexity."

Meanwhile I have been working on a my goals, objectives etc........ hmmmmmmmm as ever...... focus, focus, focus is the key.
Not trying to do everything at once. Passion and the ability to get really excited about the world is a great strength but.... being excited about too many things at once can lead to exhausting myself. So ..... one thing at a time.... keep it simple... Two of the things that Brian Siskind said to me on a regular basis while we were making the album : )

Music Success in Nine Weeks

OK so........ I have decided to enter a 'challenge' entitled Music Success in Nine Weeks organized by Ariel Hyatt - The Web 2 promotions queen who is based in NYC. I first came across her work via Derek Sivers. Now there is a story !!

Before I get into that........

I decided late last night to actually enter the competition after idly contemplating it for about a week. Late last night , later than was at all sensible, I managed to sign up and unfortunately also managed to post a mangled pitch which I have not as yet worked out how to fix!

I have been writing and re writing "the pitch" for some time and of course it changes slightly depending on the recipient, my mood and the phase of the moon. I have a whole folder I call BLURBS. I am not entirely sure pitches, blurbs, shameless self promotion? are supposed to morph quite so much. I have always thought of myself as a bit of a chameleon. It is a hard habit to break. Thus my bands name (The Chameleon Collective)

The pitch as it stands reads something like-

A natural integration of  folk, indie rock, classical, world music & ambient sound design. Lush accordian drones,  ambient piano, percussion, guitar, sounds & unearthly vocal harmonies. Created in the ether via email between NYC + the South Coast. The result is something other than either.

This is the very short version - which I think for these purposes is STILL too long.

Today I have been teaching disadvantaged kids how to drum all day and so...I am buggered... Working out how to fix "the pitch" is going to have to wait till tomorrow. As is the Derek Sivers story and how I came across Ariel. How I made my first album with the insanely talented Brian Siskind who is also based in NYC who 'met' on myspace and am yet to even have a conversation with and how so much of my life in the past 12 months has been eaten by a cyber reality which has left me more than ever unsure of my corporeal reality is also going to have to wait until tomorrow.

The other thing that is going to have to wait till tomorrow is finding out what I actually have to do in WEEK ONE !

More tomorrow. I only need to blog once a week for the purposes of the competition. But , i think i may do a little more than that : )