Updates
So for those of you who may not be aware/still give a damn, seven months later, I've moved over to vox.com. (medias.vox.com)
Possibly begining to realise that this was a choice of style over substance as there are a number of technical, html-ish things that vox won't allow.
Like creating a blog-roll of external links, which is why I will attempt to link to my blog-lines account here - wish me luck...
Updates
So for those of you who may not be aware/still give a damn, seven months later, I've moved over to vox.com.
Possibly begining to realise that this was a choice of style over substance as there are a number of technical, html-ish things that vox won't allow.
Like creating a blog-roll of external links, which is why I will attempt to link to my blog-lines account here - wish me luck...
Trade Secrets
"People always want you to think it's crowded at the top. But there's always plenty of room at the top. There's room for everybody. It's crowded at the bottom!"
Judy Blame, stylist.
I first heard that quote at a dinner party to promote Rankin's new film
Lives of the Saints. It was months ago but it really stuck in my mind, as it rang so true. The guy who cited it was a 20 something Italian guy who was acting as a sort of creative consultant cum artistic go-between for Meltin' Pot, the Italian denim label that collaborated with Rankin on the production of the film.
Squashed in between the remarkably scary ceo Augusto (who reminded me far too much of my old boss in Milan - y'know the sort of guy who should be well cool but comes across otherwise) and this dude, I was amazed that in the 5 years or so that he'd been living in London since leaving a small provincial town in Puglia, not only had he gone on to consult for
Meltin'Pot but he was also regularly commissioned to create sculptures for
Elton John and David Furnish.
The secret of his success?
Trade Secrets a sort of insiders guide to the creative industries in which said quote by Blame is contained. The book is a bit outdated, published in 1999, but still gives an amazing insight into what it took for people to make a name for themselves but also highlights the difference between now and then.
It may only have been seven years ago but the vibe now seems so much more concerned with consumption. Really. Isn't it so much more about bling, getting on the property ladder and which
MP3 player you have? In the midst of this era of technological revolution the only thing being produced seems to be opinions.
Gone are the days when you'd risk your credit rating and launch a publication that could actually add something to the zeitgeist, no far safer to comment on what others are doing rather than getting out there and dirtying your hands in the process.
Back up to speed
Mid-feb for your first post of 2006. Ooh not bad but just as well I didn't add 'blog more often' to my list of new year's resolutions.
2006 got of to a good start. After spending New Years Eve in on a farm in France celebrating with my darling boyfriend and around twenty of his friends I returned to the Big Smoke to receive the joyous news that I'd finally been paid by Rolling Stone Italy (only 6 months after I filed my copy).
In the face of adversity my normal reaction is to feebly protest and then submit, which is pretty much what I've done with Rolling Stone. So first week back of work saw me sending of a round of arse-licking emails to contacts old and new to try and sure up a constant supply of freelance work for the forthcoming year.
Look's like its worked quite well with Rolling Stone. My first gig of the year was Ne-Yo. A baby faced 23 year old who is Def Jam's most hyped signing. Apart from Gwen Stefani I haven't really done many interviews with US musicians and was surprised how media savvy he was, despite being a relative newcomer. His words were just so quote perfect that tI actually found it quite hard to pull anything of interest out of the interview. It was all just a bit too polished. Take a look at the piece below and let me know what you think.
(On Friday I have 40 mins with the Flaming Lips, which I'm sure will be a very different kettle of fish.)
LAS VEGAS - the city whose neon lights shimmer in the desert haze of Nevada like a modern day El Dorado. Home to casinos and brothels it’s not called Sin City for nothing. So you’d imagine it would be the ultimate playground for a kid – just think what sorts of mischief you could get up to in America’s own den of iniquity. Yet Ne-Yo, Def Jam’s most recent signing who is fast becoming R&B’s next big thing remains surprisingly tight-lipped on allusions of a misspent youth. “Las Vegas is very much an adult town. It’s not as exciting as you would think. If you’re not 21 then there’s not really a whole lot to do. It’s pretty much the same as growing up anywhere else,” he swears. Yeah right!
Still, it looks as if some of Sin City’s glitter dust has definitely rubbed of on this 23 year-old. He’s in London to perform a showcase of material from his new album. In My Own Words blends pop melodies with rich, soulful productions. The location for the performance is an underground Art Deco club minutes away from buzz of Piccadilly Circus but it has the feel of a prohibition style speak easy or a low-budget P’Diddy video.
On stage NeYo, who looks like a younger, sweeter version of 50 cent smoothly wraps his vocal chords around five tracks including the ridiculously catchy ballad ‘So Sick’. Considering it’s his first performance outside of the US he works the stage with remarkable ease and establishes a witty repartee with the crowd. He’s brought a little memento from Vegas with him: two dancers who look like they’ve stepped straight out of a hip-hop video bump and grind their way around the stage which can’t help to placate the guys in the audience who may find his music a bit too sweet.
Nicknamed by producer Deon "Big D" Evans, who compared his musical instincts to the talents of The Matrix character Neo (Keanu Reeves), Ne-Yo wrote last years hit ‘Let me Love You’ for R&B crooner Mario. In the year since he signed to Def Jam has caught the eye of a number of influential figures. Rapper Jay-Z has taken him under his wing and is teaching him the tricks of the trade. Ne Yo is about to help Beyoncee with her new project. Ciara and Christina Milian will also soon be benefiting from the Ne-Yo touch as he goes into the studio to work on their new albums with them. But now he’s looking to step out from the studio and on to the stage. He’s already his feet wet performing several dates with Grammy award winner John Legend this last autumn.
So what’s the music scene like in Vegas? “There’s a lot of very talented people in Las Vegas but thing about Vegas is that is has its own music industry. The big Vegas shows are the height of what an R&B singer can do in the city. When you get booked you can make really good money out of it. If you’re doing it for the money then you can live very comfortably doing that. But if you want more than that then you gotta get out of there,” he says.
Ne-Yo has been a professional songwriter since he was 16 years old. “Right after high school, literally the day after we walked through graduation, my friends and I hopped in a van and headed for California and get a record deal,” he says. After spending more time than they imagined sleeping in the van while they looked for their big break, the boys eventually met the head of a production company who had a boy band who were putting their record together. Ne-Yo and his friends ended up writing four songs on that album. Over the course of time the group split up but Ne-Yo stayed with the company and signed on with them as their staff writer.
His appeal is perhaps a reflection of his unorthodox musical influences. NeYo spent his formative years in the backwaters of America’s Deep South before moving to Las Vegas. There aren’t many R&B musicians who will admit a love for country and western music. “I love country because of the things that they write about. Music today is all about making yourself looking as good as possible. That’s good but life isn’t always shiny and pretty and country music reflects that. I wanna be the artist that can write songs that someone can relate to and make people say ‘yeah, I feel that too’. I don’t want to be flossy, shiny guy all the time.”
“Growing up in Arkansaw I was always surrounded by gospel music and deep soul. Y’know like Donny Hathaway, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye that type of stuff. Then I got to Vegas and it was all flamingo feathers and bright lights and the sound there is all about Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr and Tom Jones. Basically I took the best of both of these two worlds, slammed them together and…here I am,” he says.
Despite a deep-seated love and appreciation of music Ne-Yo didn’t always plan on being a singer. “Everyone in my house was singing from the oldest to the youngest so it wasn’t like a special thing, it was as common as salt,” he remembers. “It wasn’t until I got outside, to the 11th grade of high school that I began to take singing seriously,” he says.
So does this young pretender to the R&B throne have any fears and doubts about moving from being a song writer to becoming a performer? “My attitude is just do what you do,” he says. “If it works then it was supposed to work if it doesn’t then it was never supposed to work anyway so you can’t feel bad about it. I’m taking everything in my stride. The moment I get excited about something then that’s when things will go wrong because I’m cursed. I keep calm, say thank you very much and stay humble because that’s the number one rule in this game.”
Isn't he Wonderful
It's been ridiculously long since my last posting. Drinks at the weekend with my old chum Guto reminded me that people do actually look at my 'blog' (can I actually call it that I post once every blue moon?) So here I am checking over this page and I realise my lasting posting was about the amazing Kanye gig.
Guess what? I was only back at Abbey Road again. This time it was for a Stevie Wonder showcase. Once again small but intimate but this time it was a seriously industry crowd, mainly made up of golden oldies who wet their pants when they heard the Wonder play the classics.
Highlights? Stevie's daughter Aisha, subject of 'Isn't She Lovely' which was written on her birth coming on stage and singing the song as a duo with her dad (cleverly changing the lyrics to 'isn't he lovely' when she sings a solo verse). Ever the consumate performer, Stevie developed a charming repartee with the crowd and when he stopped and was over-come with emotion mid-song while singing a tune he wrote in the mid-seventies for his wife who only recently died from cancer, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Stevies been out of the game for 10 years and you could tell - he didn't want to get off stage. What was supposed to be a 50 minute showcase turned into a two and a half hour exclusive gig. Priceless
Kanye Believe it!
Oh Lordy, 24 hours on and I'm still buzzing from the most amazing concert ever. Rolling Stone sent me tocover an intimate performance for 200ish people at the legendary Abbey Road studios by the one and only Kanye West. I was, and still am, totally blown away.
"Kanye West, Abbey Road Sessions - September 21st, 2005 > > This an event, an historic moment, a once in a lifetime intimate > concert, never done before by kanye. > You're allowed to invite stringers. Please let me know how many you > wish to invite and I'll advise as we're currently gathering all > requests for Intl. > > Kanye West will be performing 11 tracks with a 20 pieces string > Orchestra and some special guests on Sept 21st at the famous Abbey > Road Studios in London. > > > The show will be performed in front a 150 people audience. It will be > recorded and broadcast live on Radio 1 and web cast & broadcast later > on the BBC at the following address: www.bbc.co.uk/radio1 "
...or so said the Universal press office. In my words Kanye was purely and simply amazing. West is the ultimate showman working the usually blase too-cool- for-school industry crowd into a frenzy throwing their 'diamonds in the air' during the opening track 'Diamonds are Forever' and hollering back the lyrics of songs from his first album which have already become classics.
A twenty piece string orchestra, surprise appearance by John Legend, swanky as hell lighting and stage design meant that this event definitely wouldn't be forgotten.
The cherry on the cake? Power couple of the decade Beyoncee and Jazz giving their red-hot seal of approval to Kanye's performance, clapping away and singing along to each and every song like nobody's business. God bless BBC Radio 1!
Rejections ad nauseum
So I'm finally begining to overdose on the freelance lifestyle. Yeah, during the summer months its fun being king of your own hill and it sure does feel wonderfull falling asleep in the wee hours of Sunday knowing that you aren't obliged to be sitting in an office on Monday morning but after a while a steady job seems so nice and cushy.
But a good job, just like a good man, is hard to find. It is so draining selling yourself non-stop and having to try and maintain upbeat in the face of rejection. Today I decided to take a more proactive approach. Although I'd always dreamt of starting at a regional or national paper I thought I'd 'lower my sights' and cold-call editors of local papers ( the level where I started out ten years ago).
One response was particularly dejecting. It's from Mike Ferris, the charming man who edits East London's
Hackney GazetteFrom: Me Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 15:42 PM To: michael.ferris Subject: Reporter vacancy File: ZLS CV.pdf Dear Mike, I've just spoken to one of your colleagues and would like to apple for the Junior reporter position at your paper. I graduated in journalism from City University last year and have recently returned from Milan where I have been freelancing for various publications for the past year. I spent three months at the Observer on their internship scheme and my work has also been published in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Independent and The Herald. I'm very keen to get into full time journalism so if you require any further information or cuttings, please do not hesitate to contact me. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1544113,00.html http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1307871,00.html Best wishes, Me From: "Ferris, Mick" mick.ferrisTo: 'Me' Subject: RE: Reporter vacancy Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 15:47:34 +0100 You, Thank you for your e-mail. However, you do not appear to have the NCTJ pre-entry qualification which is a pre-requisite for this vacancy. Consequently I am unable to proceed with your application. Mick Ferris From: Me Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 16:22 PM To: Mick.Ferris Subject: Qualifications Hi Mick, Thanks for getting back to me. Do you think it will be difficult to find a reporting job without this NCTJ qualification? I've spent the past ten years doing work experience, three of which were spent doing a NCTJ recognised BA in journalism. I'm lost as to where to go next in terms of finding a job if it turns out I don't have enough experience or qualifications. Any tips or advice you might have would be much appreciated. Best wishes, Me To: YouFrom : Ferris, Mick I certainly don't employ reporters without this qualification. Mick FerrisOuch!
Turns out my 3 year degree is apparently worth less than a 1 year qualification. Ho hum
My picture show
Up in the eaves of the Duomo
my old boudoir
Coar Blimey its been a while since my fingers stroked these keys and to be honest i'm feeling a little bit rusty and to be honest overwhelmed with not knowing where to start. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words so here are some photos of shot during my last week as a resident in Milan.
Oh Lordy, 24 hours on and I'm still buzzing from the most amazing concert ever. Rolling Stone sent me tocover an intimate performance for 200ish people at the legendary Abbey Road studios by the one and only Kanye West. I was, and still am, totally blown away.
