My video is finally done!
Yaaaay! The day we have ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!! The video for Little Girl is finished... Watch it by clicking on the title! Little Girl by Shennie Smith.
Thanks so much to everyone who has been a part of creating it! The video, the music... Thank you.
I hope you like it.
Listening party/music video
Today is the day of the showing of my music video, and we just finished getting the track ready last night. This is gonna be fun:) We're also gonna play some tracks that I've been working on lately. Yay I can't wait :) I'll post links to everything later on tonight.
Have a great day!
OMG what an amazing weekend!
Recording at Playback was amazing on Saturday, Matt Lawrence (Burnt Matches) is producing our songs, and he's doing a great job. We finished the vocals on Smitten first, and it sounds really good! Watch the recording of Smitten ! Our new friend and engineer Seth Allen did a wonderful job laying down bass on the tracks, and Raymond Jones came in again to help us out on the drums for Broken Night .
Tucker Bodine was, as always, amazing at what he does, and the overall vibe was perfect.
We stayed at the studio from 11 AM on Saturday til 6 AM on Sunday morning.. It was so much fun!!
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On Sunday I got to be a part of Bishop Lamont's video for his song Sadatay, that I have a small vocal part in. It was a lot of fun, and I got to sing my part into a fancy microphone. Hopefully they use that footage! Bishop is awesomely talented and the song is gonna be a HIT :)
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Me and Sethaliscious
My boys Matt and Tucker
Filming the video for Sadatay
F
Tracking VOCALS at Playback... I finally get to sing! ;)
I'm back at Playback after a few weeks, laying down some bass and vocals on Matt and my four tracks. Although I love watching the creative process of creating the music, I am so excited to be singing today. Our friend Seth is helping us out by playing bass, and it's sounding exactly the way we wanted it. Taaaleeeent! :)
The vibe in the studio is really good, between everyone who's helping out on the tracks as well as our friends who are helping out by taking pics and filming. Turning it onto music videos eventually :)
The tracks are sounding better and better, I promise you will love them ;)
Hope you're all doing great! You are beautiful!
My roomie is a news reporter!
I am SO proud of my beautiful roommate Itzae, he just got a job as a news reporter on a local channel. It didn't even happen on purpose, he applied for a job there about eight months ago and they just recently contacted him about this news reporting job. I'm so happy for him and proud of him for deciding to do it! Yaaayyy just wanted to share that with everyone :P
Me and Itzy <3
Christina Aguilera's new video!
Christina Aguilera - "Not Myself Tonight"
I'm so excited. Christina Aguilera has finally come back with a new single and music video, and it's freakin HOTTT! Check it out here. It's absolutely beautiful and has the perfect amount of Christina's freaky and dirrty side combined with her insanely powerful voice and presence. OH MY GOD LET ME MARRY HER, PLEASE?!?
Playback and babysitting
Veronica and I stopped by Playback studio last night and hung out with Young De who was working on a new track, very inspiring. I love hanging out at that studio, the people there are so chill and I learn a lot by just watching what they do. Now I am headed to Pilates class and after that, babysitting my lovely girls in Montecito :) Can't wait to see them!
Love you!
Have a great weekend, everyone! Watch Christina's vid and stare your eyes out... AAhhhh!!!!!
Me and Veronica. Beautiful?
Tuesday morniiiiiing!
Good Morning!
I am up and drinking yerba mate tea (mmmm) at 6 am, ready for a new day! Arwen has spent the night, and she is currently taking a shower. We're going to Starbucks and then to business class. JUST SO YOU KNOW! Useful information right there.
Music Video
Veronica has been editing my music video, she showed me a tiny clip yesterday. I'm so excited to see it, we're gonna have a showing party at Playback studio at the end of May. We have, and she still is, pouring her heart and soul (and a lot of time) into it, and I'm sure it's gonna turn out awesome. Now I need to get my ass moving to get vocals recorded and completed. I can't wait, it's my favorite part of the process!
Songs
I went to Playback and picked up a CD of Matt and my songs yesterday, and I LOVE THEM!!!! I'm so thankful that our friends Raymond Jones and Edwin Vega decided to help us out by playing on them. We have a long way to go with vocals, bass, mixing etc, but it's already sounding good. Hopefully they'll be done by the time the video's done, so we can have a mini listening party at the same time.
Collaborations
I met some great people at the ASCAP convention, and I'm so happy to say that I'm collaborating with some of them on a few new songs as well as having them help me on some of my pre-recorded stuff. My new friend, Joe Little, is going to help me produce three new songs as well as record another ASCAP person, Andrea Whitt, playing viola on my songs Falling and Savior. Dustin Abels, a producer from New Orleans, is working on creating some music for Little Girl. I can't wait to see how everything turns out, and I'm excited to be working with new and fun people :)
Have a great day everyone!!!!
Lots of love <3 <3
About ASCAP's "I Create Music"
After going to ASCAP's "I Create Music" convention, I am now back in Santa Barbara with new insights and new thoughts about... Well, pretty much everything. I took the time today to think through everything I learned, and I want to write a bit about what the various musicians said during their talks...
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JASON MRAZ
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Jason Mraz was the first person who made an impression on me. He was on the first panel I went to at the convention, and he was talking about his creative process when it comes to writing music. He talked about how he could become inspired by anything around him, and how he believes that songs are there for the taking (or writing) if you are open to it. He talked about how he thought his hit song "I'm Yours" was just a silly song when he first wrote it, and he didn't want to put it out as a single. When he went to Sweden to do a concert, everyone was singing the lyrics to "I'm Yours", and that's when he realized that it actually appealed to a lot of people. I thought that was a cool story :)
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JOHN MAYER
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John Mayer spent a lot of time talking about how he got to where he is now in the music industry, and basically he said that he just kept on doing what he loved and worked hard just for the love of it, and he met the right people who wanted to work with him. He said that he believes that anyone can do what he has done and become successful, but it takes a lot of patience and dedication. He said that you have to accept the fact that you will grow quickly, and oftentimes grow in separate ways from your friends, which means that they won't quite understand you or that they might resent you.
He talked a lot about ignoring what others think and say about you, and work on music for your own sake and not others. If you do that, he said, you will enjoy the process of it and not just slave away to get to your ultimate destination. I loved listening to him speak because he is so down-to-earth and honest, and although he is perceived as arrogant, I believe that he is just confident and honest.
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LINDA PERRY
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Linda Perry is a musician and songwriter who has written, amongst many other songs, Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful". She is a bad-ass! Damn. She is very confident and seems to be somewhat a bitch, but I think she's just very confident and comfortable with who she is and what she does. She is definitely powerful and strong. Inspiiiriiiing...:) She basically said the same things as Mraz and Mayer, and she also emphasized the fact that if you think your song is great, don't change it for anyone else. She told us about how she thought "Beautiful" was completely stupid when she first wrote it, and she was totally caught off guard when Christina said she wanted to use it. She said that she's always open for different things, and that it's important to stay open for changes if you want to be in the music industry, because everything changes so quickly.
I have to drive my roommate to work right now, but I'm going to write more about the rest of the speakers and the event later :)
ASCAP convention
I'm at the ASCAP music convention in LA with my friend Arwen. It started on Thursday morning and so far it's been a very good experience, and I've met a lot of nice people and learned a lot about the business. I even ran into a friend I know from Santa Barbara, Grover Anderson, which was a nice surprise :)
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We saw an interview with John Mayer on Thursday, which I thought was pretty informative. He's very intelligent and had a lot of good things to say, and I feel like I gained some insight. We also saw an interview with Jason Mraz, who I find very inspiring because he is so down-to-earth and real. He seems like a very genuine person, and I love to see how he has remained a laid-back, chill person even after all his "fame". We also got to see a singer/songwriter showcase featuring Natasha Bedingfield, who has a very sweet stage presence and is very talented.
Yesterday we went to a songwriting feedback session with Linda Perry, who has written a bunch of great songs such as Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful". I thought that was one of the coolest events, because she is such a strong woman and she's grounded and knows exactly what she wants, which is what I'm figuring out how to be and do.
Today we are going to see Justin Timberlake speak about his career. Hopefully it'll be interesting! :)
Arwen and me outside the convention center (hotel)
I'm back, feelin' it again..
Yes! I'm finally feeling energetic and motivated again. I was so burnt out for a while. School, music, friends, working out, life... I just wanna do it all and sometimes I just can't stop myself from being overactive, the result being a completely worn-out little Shennie who doesn't have any excessive energy left after accomplising what "has to be done". But now, after a weekend relaxing at our friend's beautiful house in Montecito, where I laid by the pool and played guitar while Eli was horseback riding, and sleeping and getting excited about going to this weekend's ASCAP songwriter/musician expo, I am feeling much better.
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We recorded the drum tracks for our four songs at Playback on Monday. Engineer and owner of Playback, Tucker Bodine, has become a good friend and is always a pleasure to work with. Matt Lawrence, guitarist and cowriter of the songs, blew me away by showing his production skills as he came up with awesome ideas for how to do the drums. With an insanely talented drummer, Raymond Jones, helping us out, the drums ended up sounding completely perfect. Our friend Edwin Vega layed down some bongos (were they bongos? I don't know what they're called! But they sound like something from the Lion King. Hehe.) to our one song, Smitten, and we are all very happy about how things are coming along.
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My friend, Michael Kircos, volunteered to sit in on the session and film us and take photos, which is something I very much appreciate. This footage is going to turn out awesome, no matter what we decide to do with it.
Veronica Vanglin and Andrej Landin, my two swedish friends and filmmakers, were also hanging out with us for a bit.
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All in all, it was a great vibe and everyone did a great job. For a moment I just sat back and took in the atmosphere, realizing how incredibly lucky I am to be surrounded by these people. They really are wonderful; talented, kind, loving and helpful, and I have really care about each of them. I am so thankful to have them in my life, inspiring me, motivating me, supporting me and just being who they are.
THANK YOU!!!!
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At the studio: Andy taking a picture of Veronica and me.
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My roomie, soulmate, wifey and best friend Eli watching the puppy drink fountain water.
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At our friend's beautiful Montecito home
In the studio again :)
I haven't written here in a while, I've been taking some time off from... I don't know, everything. I'm back in the studio now though, and we are recording the drum tracks for our previously recorded songs Savior, Broken Night, Smitten and Down. Having a great time with great friends and wonderful musicians :)
Rain in California
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain outside my window... I love that sound, it makes me feel so relaxed! And it also makes me feel like I'm in Norway, because it rains there so much. Now I'm having breakfast with my roommate/wife/best friend/soulmate Eli at our favorite place, Lazy Acres. Everything's organic and healthy mmmm. And if you haven't tried Kombucha yet, try it! It's a tea that's brewed off a fungus (mm sounds good, I know), but it's sooo good for you and it tastes good too.
Lately I keep thinking about how we all stress too much to get to the next point in life, and by doing that we forget to appreciate the present moment. I am working on staying completely present and thankful for every moment, and living each day as if it was my last. It can be hard because I'm so passionate about things that are going on in my life that I want them to happen NOW, but I'm forgetting to enjoy the journey of getting there. I need to breathe, relax and notice everything around me... Because if I forget to do that, nothing will ever be enough. And I don't want to look back at my life wishing I'd appreciated things more. Everything is always perfect, and everything that happens is a learning experience :)
Have a great day :)
Editing photos
I just learned that editing photos is really fun and it completely changes the look of them. Don't these photos look like something out of an old weird psychological horror movie or something? Or is it just my dark mind that's making it up? I don't know... What do you think?
Thousand Oaks
My roommate Eli, who is also Norwegian, has some friends visiting from Norway, and they are all staying with her other Norwegian friend who lives in Thousand Oaks. In addition to all these Norwegians, my Norwegian friend Anine is still here from Norway, and we are all going to Thousand Oaks to hang out tonight. Damn that's a lot of Norwegians at once. It's gonna be like being in Norway again!!! Anine and I will be going to LA tomorrow and we are staying until Saturday, which is the day her plane leaves :( So sad! I'm going to miss her loveliness! But I guess life goes on, and I am sure that she'll be back before I know it. Meanwhile, I need to focus on school and... Stuff. I'm getting distracted right now because I'm at a coffee shop and a strange man is staring at me so I'm trying to continue to look a the screen and type non-stop so that he doesn't approach me. Is that mean? I'm just not in a socializing mood right now! Oh no... That's kinda bitchy, huh? I'm sorry, karma :( . Anyway, what was I saying? Hmmm nothing of importance, I guess. Have a great Thursday evening, smile and be happy and enjoy every moment!
<3
Anine yesterday at Neverland <3
Hahahah
Just realized that Veronica had written on my blog earlier. That sneaky little bitch. I love heeeeeeer!!
