Of course there are high moments and low moments on the road, but overall there were a lot more of the classic moments that make you smile when you remember them than there were bad. To walk into a bar a thousand miles away from home that is filled with people who have never heard of your music and have no idea who you are is a little overwhelming at times. But at the end of the night having those same people buy CDs and t-shirts, offer you a place to stay and go out of their way to try and help you in any way they can is absolutely amazing!
This tour we were on the road for about a month and a half, we started out in Ruidoso, New Mexico went up into Oklahoma and then made our way across the Southern States going all the way to Florida before looping up into Georgia and then making our way back to Texas through Tennessee.
We have a lot of memorable stories from the road! One of them was in Albuquerque, NM. We performed at a house party and it was right around Albuquerque’s “Annual Wine Festival”. There was a guy who had been outside at the Wine Fest all day and he had ended up really badly sunburned. By the time he got to the party he’d also had a little too much to drink and didn’t seem to understand why his face hurt. He kept walking up to us after we had finished playing asking us to touch his face and figure out what was wrong. We told him he was sunburned but he wouldn’t believe us. He was very persistent until we finally told him, “Look, dude. We’re not going to touch your face”.
Hello Disco - Ze!
I am Glam - Ze
A feisty chick that's emerging as a vibrant trend setter and innovative musician, Ze! pops in as a force to be reckoned with in 2010. With a synth-pop club sound, the MIA comparisons are limited but her individual touch and boy lusting streams through her songs and art. Take a sec and enjoy our chat with the lovely Ze!
AS: Right now, who do you think is revolutionizing music a)globally and in b) Kuala Lumpur? Why do you think so? What are they doing differently than the rest of the crowd?
Ze!: In Malaysia, I'd say KRU, a boy-band of 3 brothers who've been around for more than 15 years and are still creating changes in the Malaysian industry not only with music but also with movies. Globally, I think artists like Madonna, Kanye West and MIA are revolutionizing not just music but image as well. They're distinctive and I guess you gotta be made of steel and be a little crazy to put yourself out there and make a stand. While everyone else seem to want to follow trends, they don't listen and wait for trends to happen but get out there and create their own.
AS: Could you recap this past year; where you've performed, who you've met, songs you wrote and any effects that the journey has had on your music?
Ze!: This has been a good year! I did the European tour in July and opened for Chicks on Speed and Afrikan Boy, performed at Reebok's Pump Up 20th anniversary party in Berlin, collaborated with many talented producers and got 2 of my songs picked up by MTV. I simply can't complain. Not so much this year, because the journey that has created a lot of change for myself and my music was actually in 2008 where I spent a whole summer in UK and Europe going to the biggest music festivals like Glastonbury, V festival, etc. We don't have these sort of festivals back in KL and I can't quite imagine Malaysians camping out in the mud just to see their favorite bands play. So just being around this energy and experiencing the craziness has helped me grow so much as an artist.
AS: When is your next album release and tour? For both of those, what are you most excited about?
Ze: My album is scheduled for release this January and working on a tour in the summer. As I would tell my friends, it is a complete nightmare getting these things together and I work my butt off but in the end it is worth every tear and sweat! Having the album would be great tool getting my music out there and sharing it with the world; and touring is always an adventure, i love discovering new places and making new friends.
AS: Could you describe your recording experience thus far? Who did you work with: producers, clowns, musicians? Any words of wisdom?
Ze: Being in the studio can be fun and it can be very stressful as well. I studied at SAE so it's good to know the ins and outs of a recording studio as an artist because I know what it's also like to be on the other end of the room pressing the record button. I've been in the studio with producers, musicians, voice-over talents and there's really nothing glamorous about it. But being a part of creating something new is a great feeling, and it's beautiful. Words of wisdom? Always come prepared!
AS: Over the past few months what are some of the road blocks/ difficult times you’ve over come. What did you learn about yourself and the music industry?
Ze!: The past few months have been difficult, because I made the decision to leave the fashion line entirely to my sister now so I can focus full-time on my music. I spent sleepless days and nights thinking and doing research, but mostly I was listening to my instincts. It's been an eye-opener and I wonder why it took me so long to finally do this. I guess, without realizing it, I was doubting myself and I learned that there really is just one person and one thing only that can stop you from getting to your dreams and that is you and you alone. The music industry is tough, as all kinds of show businesses are, which is what makes it so damn irresistable!
AS: Your style really allows you to stand out from the crowd, where do you look for new ideas and inspiration for your threads?
Ze!: Thank you. I don't think I go out of my way to get ideas, I mostly like to browse about at the most random of places and if something catches my eye I’ll get it. And then it's about mixing and matching those things together which is the fun part. But I do like reading or watching something that has nothing to do with music or fashion whatsoever and then put the 2 together to create something new.
AS: What life experience(s) comes through the most in your music? How are you able to manifest it in your music?
Ze!: My love life and my contradicting need to be accepted. I'm a very passionate person and I put all of me into just about everything I do. It's actually a rather dangerous way to live because when you're hurt you're really broken, but when it's good it's really really good. I can't really write what I can't feel. I'm probably most honest when I'm writing music. And instead of it making me feel vulnerable or exposed, it gives me relief like a huge burden taken off my shoulders and that keeps me moving forward.
AS: Is there anything you would like to tell our readers?
Ze!: Thanks for reading and have a kick ass 2010!
Check Ze! on her webpage and myspace.
As always, sample the cuts here but buy now!
I recently came across an advertisement for a shoe brand whose counter-intuitive slogan was, "Get them before they become cool." I clicked on the link. It sent me back to my childhood; I begged my moms for this Personal Jukebox (a rudimentary mp3 player) so that I could rip songs off Napster and jam out in style. This was three years before the first iPod.
There are those of us who enjoy being on the cutting-edge of technology, fashion, music, sports, dance, film, art, literature, information, etc. And I am one of those people (as I'm sure are many of my esteemed collegue bloggers and you, the curious reader of ArtStar). How else can we explain (or justify, rather) scouring the Times, TED, music reviews, and other less-than-credible websites on the interweb for the newest and best [insert newest and best thing here]? How else can we relate our collective disappointment/rage when firefox3 wouldn't download on time during its opening a few weeks ago? What about when the sneakers or sunglasses we just bought become the kitchsy rage about your school, neighborhood, school, county, country?
It is this third rhetorical question (and obsession) upon which I would like to expound and it is one that I'm sure you can emphathize with me.
So it began with the Personal Jukebox. Even though that plastic, shoddy piece of shit was broken within two months, I loved it. It was sweet. Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic when it comes to keeping personal things personal and intimate, but when the iPod craze hit, I felt as though someone stole my neatly packed lunch in second grade, ate it in front of me, and poked me in the face. I felt violated.
It is the reason I refuse to adopt the iPod, Apple, and Steve Jobs as my personal savior. It, like the shoe ad, is mainstream cool. Despite their attempts to tell us otherwise, Apple is up there with Coca-Cola and McDonald's. And, for many, once a precious jewel of ours has hit mainstream, it dies.
I'll give you other examples. In high school, I was (and still am) a huge Saul Williams fan. I thought he was incredibly progressive, absurdly talented, and simply brilliant. Fast-forward to 2008. Nike comes out with a commercial for their new training package, SPARQ, and uses Saul Williams' "List of Demands (Reparations)" as its keynote track. A week later, I hear it at the local college hangout apartment. The brilliance of the song and its message was lost on the group. It was just another song to jump up and down to and to which one would pull out pseudo-training manuevers. I didn't necessarily get angry at them or feel violated this time, but just saddened by the bastardization of Saul Williams. The same thing happened with CSS on the iPod commericials (those fucking iPods again) and then again at the same college apartment hangout. And again when fellow-Pittsburgher Greg Gillis/GirlTalk started hitting the scene, that connection with him and I lost its luster. And again it was played at the hangout.
This is where the article was supposed to end. It was suppose to end on a diatribe about how the mainstream, the commercial, always steals our independent, individual, and personal bands and never shows the least bit of gratitude. Worse, once they are done, they castigate it, relegate it to the trash bin, and move on to the next latest craze.
But I realized all of those feelings are simply selfish. Just because a person who memorizes all the words to every top40 hit on the local radio station suddenly and momentarily loves that artist or band you had been with for years, doesn't mean it's a terrible travesty against everything good, pure, and wholesome in the world. It's not.
This whole process of commercializing art has its pitfalls. But art, in all of its forms, is inherently communal. Sharing your personal gems or your own personal art is an amazing gift. For example, I would never have heard of and fallen in love with Neutral Milk Hotel had a few very talented student-musicians chose to perform a cover of the band only among their circle of friends. Instead they performed in the center of campus. Nor would I have heard of the greatest band of our generation, Radiohead, had it not been for the local radio station incessantly blaring "Creep" over the station back in the day. Now I listen to them almost daily.
The point of it is, stop being selfish. All people can enjoy great music, or art, for a lot of different reasons and personal preferences. Even if the rabble do not appreciate your favorite sunglasses, or band, or art, on a deeper level, that doesn't diminish it. At worst, it means it's catchy and popular, and, at best, it attests to the greatness of the artist and their efforts. So next time that happens, take a breathe, and realize, you can still enjoy the music along with the rest of the rabble.
[Author Note: For the record, I'm still not buying an iPod.]
