Thievery Corporation appears in Behind The Lyric Episode 16. I am inspired by the way they integrate their social consciousness into their music. Here are some highlights from my conversation with Thievery Corporation.
1) Background & Working Together:
"Once we started working together, it opened doors to really express ourselves musically....and try to forge our own sound".
Unlearning Your History....
"That's kind of where the real fun comes in....you can see things for what they really are".
Respecting Opinions....
"In the studio, it's good when you have two...if half the room doesn't like it, then maybe you're not really going down the right road. Especially if you respect the others opinion".
2) Connecting With The Lyrics...
"I might want to choose my words carefully and say something you yourself feel is important".
"A band like Rage Against The Machine makes more sense to me than kind of just listening to people who are just about like 'Dance your cares away and put your ostrich head in the sand....'"
3) Warning Shots & Radio Retaliation
"About the control of many by a few...and who are the few...."
"Keeping people in a prison of fear and ignorance"
4)Alternative Views:
"We found the alternative theories were often times the most plausible....the people in the mainstream are not really telling us anything worthwhile. It's kind of an upside down world"
5) Meaning of Amerimacka...Meaning of Truth & Rights:
"It is a paradox. The capital in our hometown is built by slaves. What is freedom?"
Music & Censorship:
"We did an anti-war concert in D.C., and a person who used to work at the IRS told us 'if you do that, you will be audited', and two weeks later we were audited."
"Music is potentially really powerful, and that's why MTV exists...to not have interesting Artists with any sort of impassioned message take the airwaves."
"In the hip hop world...lyrically what's happening is just so cut off from what it originated as."
6) Why have live vocals on stage?
"People kind of crave that human connection....We've seen enough DJ's...we've been part of that culture for a long time".
Winter is in full force, and there's lots of snow everywhere. I love the fresh air, and crisp starry nights. Even when it's dark and cold, I try to find things to do outside! Here are pics from some of my recent winter activities:
Glow Stick Garden:
I received a gift of glowsticks from a friend. We decided to light them all up at once, and arrange them in the dark in freshly fallen snow. Thus, we made a 'Glow Stick Garden'!! Unfortunately, we forgot that cold air makes glow sticks stop glowing...so our lovely garden did not last long. This is a picture of it before it faded away.
Niagara Falls:
I took a snowy tour of Niagara Falls in late December. The Falls are on the border of the United States and Canada, and are made up three parts. On the American Side are 'American Falls'. The 'Horseshoe Falls' straddle the U.S./Canada border, and look like...well...a horseshoe. The Falls were formed by Glaciers, and in addition to being beautiful to look at, they provide hydroelectric power for the region.
Me and my new friend....
You can sort of hear the falls in the video below. They were very loud in person. 600,000 gallons of water rushing over per second!
I couldn't get to the Canadian side on this trip, but I found a picture online of Horseshoe Falls....does anyone remember the scene that took place here in Superman 1?
I'd like to present the second in my series of Webisodes. This time, I collected questions from fans and answered them onscreen. Thanks to everyone for writing in! If I didn't get to your question in the video, then please read below. I am posting some more questions and answers here in my blog.
Questions in webisode from:
Zahira Kharsany from South Africa
Katerina Tsambis from Canada
Fabian Sunset from France
Little Timmy
&
Birdman
More Questions and Answers:
Ariel-Fors Klein, Detroit, USA: "How long does it typically take her to write lyrics - & can I stay with you the next time I'm in Boston?"
Some of my lyrics have been written in just a few moments. They appear almost like a flash in my mind. But a full song never really works that way. I usually spend awhile trying to figure out what I'm trying to say, and the truest way to say it. Then I have to spend time making sure the lyrics and melody marry each other. Some of my lyrics come from writing as stream of conscious or journalling. This is a way I can figure out my emotions. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few months to write a lyric I feel is complete.
Let me know next time you're in Boston. We can at least meet up for coffee. Maybe you can do a guest appearance on a future webisode! :)
Wally Ragaey - Egypt Favorite producer to have worked with and why?
I've worked with a lot of different producers, and each experience has been unique. Some of the work relationships are very serious, and our only communication is solely music related, and sometimes there's a lot more casual conversation involved. Timothy Allan and Damien S are always fun to work with because they both make me laugh so much. Steve Birch is very kind and reliable, David Akermanis is creative and also quite funny.....I could go on and on. Sometimes producers and I don't have that much fun writing a song, but that's just because the work is hard and we're really pushing each other. That is still a great experience. Songwriting can be very hard work. I don't have a favorite, I'm just grateful that I've had so many nice and fun experiences with my collaborators.
Eleni Tramas - Australia What is your greatest achievement to date and what determines great success?
I think my greatest achievements occur when I feel I am fully living in the moment. This pertains to both day to day life and in my musical life. Any activity or relationship I approach from a distracted mindset is one that is short changed. I don't want to participate in life half heartedly, but it can be quite difficult to live and participate in life without falling prey to soul harming distraction. There's not enough time to do everything, and thus if I don't believe what I'm currently doing is significant, I will feel I'm living a wasted life. I feel successful those times when I find the balance between doing what I want to do, and wanting to do what I have to do.
Ilana Harkavy - Usa What qualities do you feel make a strong singer/song writer ?
Honesty, a willingness to take risks, loyalty to oneself, openness to experience, the work of others, and to the ideas of collaborators. It's important to keep one's ego in check, and to have a willingness to make mistakes even if they are in public.
Sandy Viola from Alabama: How did you know you wanted to sing trance music?
Well, a lot of you probably don't know this, but i was born on a little fluffy cloud. After I fell 'out of the sky', i was Lost for awhile. Fortunately I kept going in Forward Motion, and made my way to a city, and I said so, 'this is miami'. There I spent many nights with a man on the run. Somehow these days live on In My memory. No one can Take it All Away.
Naeem Shaboddin - South Africa If you were to give me a DJ alias , what would it be ?
I have a DJ alias. It's 'Clay DJ Guy'. hehe. He's my clay alter ego. He actually just got back from his victory party. He was awarded the #1 Clay DJ spot this year.
Thanks again to everyone who has been sending questions! Please keep them coming, as I'm happy to keep chatting with you!
I recently had the honor of meeting DJ MsDD, a long time music journalist with a resume that blows my mind. MsDD has been covering House music since its beginnings, and is a walking encyclopedia of the how and why house music is what it is today. Talking to MsDD is a lot of fun! Experts like MsDD are an incredible resource of house music history. I feel up and coming Artists can benefit greatly from a fuller understanding of what has come before us in the dance music scene.
Some points in her resume that stand out most to me:
-MsDD has interviewed many music icons, including Donna Summer, Parliament Funkadelic, and Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire. Her writings have appeared in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, and The Boston Phoenix. -In 1991, MsDD wrote a GUIDE TO THE 800 BEST DISCO TRACKS, which was published as part of the ALL MUSIC GUIDE...
-MsDD invented the term, "Turntable Jazz". I LOVE this idea! She says she invented it because,
"...turntable improvisation was no different from jazz improvisation on any instrument; nor was the music produced from these improvisations anything but jazz: the real thing. I still think so. I was brought up on jazz when it was every note a dance music, and a jazz-head I still am".
Nowadays you can get MsDD's musings a few different ways. She has a Music & Discussion Webcast, titled "THE TRANNY-SPHERE," hosted at www.thephoenix.com. She also has a "Gods of House" series where she is posting classic clips of historically important House DJ performances:
For example, check what she says about this video:
"Anybody who doubts that house has deep jazz roots should find enlightenment in this excellent 6 minute vid of legendary North Jersey DJ TONY HUMPHRIES spinnin' the swing, the changes, the rhythm, the quick-cuts, and the pizzazz at a club in Italy."
Find MsDD online at http://www.myspace.com/djmsdd http://www.facebook.com/DJ.MsDD
Today sees the release of a track I wrote nearly a year ago. It's called "Choice". I wrote it at a time when I was walking around with a dark cloud over my head. I was angry with people. I was angry with life. I felt poisoned by resentments I was carrying around inside of me.
Writing and listening to music is often therapeutic for people. Writing this track helped me to realize I had a choice about my feelings. I couldn't change what had happened that made me angry, but I could change how I felt about it, and how my feelings affected me. That much was theoretically under my control. But I still needed help. I didn't want to walk around angry anymore, but my pain was real, life is often not fair, and I couldn't just imagine that away instantaneously.
It's not easy to change our attitudes. Choosing to change our feelings means taking on a huge challenge. Even if the long term goal is to feel better, going through a change can still feel more painful than staying the same. I admire anyone who has the strength to do this. I don't always have the strength for this task, and I know it's hard to do it alone.
This is where I often turn to music. I think music can help our moods because it gets under our skin, and re-programs our subconscious. Trance Music can be meditational, and meditating can change our habitual way of functioning. I found singing this track to be soothing...I chose to use a soft tone and I kept repeating the line 'we have a choice'. When I started the song, I had an idea that seemed hard to believe in, but one that I thought I could trust in after some time and convincing. I focused on the ideal, and found a way to convince myself to put faith in it.
Repetition leads to convincing. Singing the line over and over helped me to trust it, and when I was done writing the track, I felt I was on the mend. It wasn't a cure-all. I still get sad and angry. I don't live in a bubble of non-stop happiness. But when I'm upset, I feel like I have more coping strategies than I used to. I still repeat the words of this song to myself when I feel life is bringing me down, or that a bitterness is 'stealing my smile'.
I hope you will like the track. There are three gorgeous arrangements by very talented producers, and each interprets the words differently.
If you are feeling hurt or angry, I hope it will help you find some inner peace again.
CHOICE:
If it's bringing you down
Sometimes we hold on too long Sometimes we cling to things that really are hurtful Sometimes we don't see what's obvious Sometimes we don't know we have a choice oh, we have a choice we have a choice
sometimes a bitterness will steal our smiles and sometimes life just isn't fair and though we might want to hurt the ones who are hurting us it's true regret is hard to bear we have a choice
