On August 17 2010 I released my most collaborative and exciting music project yet...The ALTER-EGO EP's on my label ENCHANTED RECORDS. I raised over 5k independently, through Pledge Music, with the help of family, friends, and fans to help fund them.(Big shout out to SKOPE Magazine and my creative team for all the support).This double EP is 2 saucy sides and ultimately 1 hot dish!They can be experienced together or separately. No rules! One EP has a real dance-pop soul. The other EP is influenced by late 70's/early 80's rock!If ya wanna know a little somethin about the backstory, and where I am at now..Perhaps I might entice you to read on......I joked recently that life seemed to finally be" better than back to normal because unbeknownst to most, "normal" was getting a little too tumultuous for my taste. The last two years, I couldnt help but feel as as though I was perpetually at the center of an eternal storm, as if my angels had been on some extended, out of town bender. Finally they returned with the onset of spring; souvenirs in hand, after months of build-up and anticipation. I had literally been seeing triple digits for six months on buildings, clocks, and all around me, like an episode of the twilight zone 4:44, 222, 1:11,333 etc...Despite my unexpected tango with superstition the Alter-Ego seems to have had some immaculate conception of sorts. I was not planning on making a new record quite yet, but less than two years after the release of Shotgun Daisy I found myself writing Sunny on a gloomy evening in Jersey. I just kinda spewed out on the heels of a gut-wrenching moment in time. And so the moment passed--and there was Sunny. I knew this was the first of many new songs to come like the flood that usually becomes my process. Yet the flood of inspiration did not arrive for many months. So, I waited until the universe started sending me signals. One thing lead to another, as it often does. I wrote, sang, and cultivated these songs in my home in the wee hours, in the kitchen, in the morning, whenever the words and melody arrived. Song after song after song--in my car, while walking, dreaming, the pile grew. Soon I started doing demos, then one-upping my demos and ultimately re-recording those demos with Robert L. Smith, a longtime friend and collaborator who happens to be a great producer, mixer and engineer.I began getting requests for songs from different programmers and producers looking for trax to rework, reimagine, tailor beats to, and build soundscapes for. A sexy, electronic current started running through my life, and a little project emerged. Hearing these songs all pimped out with clubby beats, and shiny, fly, grooves was thrilling...every week I would get something new in my inbox. The songs became like little care-packages that I would anticipate. The Raw Sugar side of the ALTER-EGO EPs was born.I desperately longed to hear the songs in a more classic rock environment. I had always secretly wanted to try something a little more off the cuff, with cracks and scrapes edges, and live energy much like the 3 a.m. demos with which I barrage my publicist, Ashley, and lawyer, Evan. So, I spoke with a good friend and collaboraborator, Producer/Bassist, Jeff Allen. I asked him if he would be up for producing a component EP to the electro luxe dance trax, where some of the songs would actually overlap--the other side of the Alter-Ego project. He was in, and so we began. And the Means to an End EP was in motion.Because this all came together rather serendipitously, I had NO budget.My friend, another music lawyer, Jason, stepped in with a groundbreaking music development in beta phase. He introduced me to Benji at Pledge Music, and thus I became one of the first Pledge artists to raise funding to create my ALTER-EGO EP project. The lovely part is that when reaching out to friends and fans for support, I could tell them that a portion of the money raised would go to a wonderful charity called THE SEEING EYE. This organization empowers blind people by enhancing their independence, dignity, and self-confidence through the guidance of Seeing Eye dogs.Now it was time to cast for the project. Who would play on the rock EP? Where would we record? Jeff and I pooled our thoughts, made a wish list, visited studios and began to search for the dream team and perfect studio.We knew we wanted raw, electric energy in these tracks. We decided to do two rehearsals and then cut the tracks. Down and dirty! We also did not have the budget to get fancy so it forced everyone to really be in the moment and bring their best game.The Alter-Egos, overall, were intended to be fast and furious. I imagined working on it for three to five months, tops. However, the project spiraled and evolved and soon became bigger than me. With all the different producers involved on the electronic EP,Raw Sugar, its amazing how quickly the project came into focus and the songs started to align like planets in a galaxy. But, with that EP and the Rock EP, Means to an End, I realized we had all the right stuff and just needed some minor overdubs, vocal collaborations, and some final toppings. I exercised patience (not easy for me) found a new respect for the process, and decided to go with the flow and let it grow into the music that it is supposed to be.Throwing myself into such an ambitious project became a thing of both love and survival. I am grateful for the role that music plays in my life--a source of joy, solace, discovery, healing and ecstasy.I am also thankful to the musical collaborators I have been fortunate to have attracted into my orbit. I hope that these songs will make you wanna dance, crank it up, and remind you of the intensely dire significance of living in this very moment! (for I am still learning)
photo by angelshots.com
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