I had an epiphany last night.
First, I must give you some background to this story. I'm in the habit of having a mini-meltdown the day I play a show. I freak out about how I haven't practiced, how I'm going to be horrible and make a fool of myself ... even if I know that only five people will show up. Such was the case at my Stetson Station shows - where the only people who saw the whole thing were the employees, my boyfriend, and my good friend Amanda - and at my 169 Bar show. (For the Wicked Willy's show, I was too focused on getting my keyboard to the venue to freak out.) Last time this happened, I complained to Dan, "I hate how I fall to pieces before every show." "Then don't!" he replied.
The logical antidote would to be more prepared, yet I've barely practiced in weeks. I meant to squeeze in some last-minute practicing last night, but I was exhausted and went to bed instead. And yet, in my dark cozy cave of a room so conducive to sleep, I couldn't fall into it. My mind was racing thinking about the show I would play tonight, but not in the typical nervous pattern - in an excited one.
It's usually nearly impossible for me to get out of bed in the morning - I have to set one alarm by my bed and one down underneath the loft, otherwise the artificial darkness overpowers my will to start the day.
This morning, I was so stoked for my show that I woke up before my alarm.
I think you can guess what the epiphany was.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
A New Start
What a wonderful birthday present.
The past two months have gone by in a blur. I was working too much at a job that sucked out my time and energy (Starbucks), living in a creepy area an hour away from everything, and unable to play many open mics because I was under 21.
I have free time now, and I live in a great new area. I walked home from my voice lesson today! Living in Hell's Kitchen (terrible name, great neighborhood) makes New York City feel like a huge college campus. There's so much to do, and much of it is within walking distance.
I'm moved in to my new apartment - my bedroom is basically a walk in closet in a 5th floor walkup (meaning there's no elevator), but for some reason I love it. It's cozy and has charm. Here are some pictures.
Living Room:
Kitchen:
My Room:
It feels like getting to start over. I'm riding an energy high from having Dan here, and I feel like this is going to be a great, productive week.
The past two months have gone by in a blur. I was working too much at a job that sucked out my time and energy (Starbucks), living in a creepy area an hour away from everything, and unable to play many open mics because I was under 21.
I have free time now, and I live in a great new area. I walked home from my voice lesson today! Living in Hell's Kitchen (terrible name, great neighborhood) makes New York City feel like a huge college campus. There's so much to do, and much of it is within walking distance.
I'm moved in to my new apartment - my bedroom is basically a walk in closet in a 5th floor walkup (meaning there's no elevator), but for some reason I love it. It's cozy and has charm. Here are some pictures.
Living Room:
Kitchen:
My Room:
It feels like getting to start over. I'm riding an energy high from having Dan here, and I feel like this is going to be a great, productive week.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Grace in Music
Peter called me into his office again today. I always get excited when he does because it usually means that something cool is about to happen.
PETER: You know my stepdaughter Grace is a musician based in Paris? She's huge over there, and her label does nothing for her. She's playing all these festivals and we need people to hand out flyers and spread the word. You speak French right? Have you done any street team organization? I'll have Barbara give you a rundown of what to do and you'll be in charge of organizing street teamers for Grace in France.
Seems like the folks at Invasion Group are doing their best to use everything in my skill set. =)
PETER: You know my stepdaughter Grace is a musician based in Paris? She's huge over there, and her label does nothing for her. She's playing all these festivals and we need people to hand out flyers and spread the word. You speak French right? Have you done any street team organization? I'll have Barbara give you a rundown of what to do and you'll be in charge of organizing street teamers for Grace in France.
Seems like the folks at Invasion Group are doing their best to use everything in my skill set. =)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
I'm a P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing, as MJ would say)
New York City is still reeling from Michael Jackson's death. The day it happened, everyone at work was freaking out trying to find out news because it was only on TMZ and therefore not so reliable. I still hadn't heard for sure when I left work, but I overheard people talking about it walking down the street, and when I stopped by the Macy's Starbucks everyone already knew.
The radio stations, stores, and passing cars are all playing a nonstop stream of his music. There are Michael Jackson tribute parties everywhere, and T-shirts being sold on the street. I have met so many people who are completely devastated.
I was having a conversation about it in Barnes & Noble with a friend, and a man sitting at a nearby table joined in. We were discussing whether or not it's possible for a really great artist to have a balanced life; in the case of MJ, everything he did was for his art - the nose jobs to sing better, the female hormones to keep his vocal range, the painkillers to numb his aching dance-wrecked knees. "I can see it now - someone's already writing a screenplay about his life," the man said. (Turns out he's a screenwriter.)
I had been thinking about that all day too. His life is a classic tragedy - the gifted and passionate performer who destroys his life through his love for his art.
On a lighter note, it looks like there's a light at the end of the slave labor tunnel. Peter called me into his office to discuss the website with me, then asked me about Starbucks - my hours, my pay, my motivations for working there (i.e. insurance), and then clarified, "I'm asking because we're going to be putting an offer together for you in the next few weeks, since everyone here loves you, and I wanted to know what your plans were." I did my best to hide my excitement, but I told him I'd be happy to quit or scale back my hours at Starbucks if needed.
I'm receiving this news much sooner than I'd ever expected. I thought they'd milk my unpaid status for all it was worth before finally offering the possibility of legitimate work at the end of July. I'm hoping to start getting paid in a few weeks instead of mid-August when my internship ends - I'll move to a new apartment closer to work and stop working 60+ hours at two jobs.
Whenever I tell people my schedule, they freak out. And really, I don't know how I do it either. But my life's always been like that - I maximize usage of my time so that I barely have any downtime, and somehow I pull it off. I don't feel like I'm burning out, though I am more emotional than usual. Time goes by so fast this way that I'm sure I'll be out of it in no time and will be able to devote more time to my music.
The radio stations, stores, and passing cars are all playing a nonstop stream of his music. There are Michael Jackson tribute parties everywhere, and T-shirts being sold on the street. I have met so many people who are completely devastated.
I was having a conversation about it in Barnes & Noble with a friend, and a man sitting at a nearby table joined in. We were discussing whether or not it's possible for a really great artist to have a balanced life; in the case of MJ, everything he did was for his art - the nose jobs to sing better, the female hormones to keep his vocal range, the painkillers to numb his aching dance-wrecked knees. "I can see it now - someone's already writing a screenplay about his life," the man said. (Turns out he's a screenwriter.)
I had been thinking about that all day too. His life is a classic tragedy - the gifted and passionate performer who destroys his life through his love for his art.
On a lighter note, it looks like there's a light at the end of the slave labor tunnel. Peter called me into his office to discuss the website with me, then asked me about Starbucks - my hours, my pay, my motivations for working there (i.e. insurance), and then clarified, "I'm asking because we're going to be putting an offer together for you in the next few weeks, since everyone here loves you, and I wanted to know what your plans were." I did my best to hide my excitement, but I told him I'd be happy to quit or scale back my hours at Starbucks if needed.
I'm receiving this news much sooner than I'd ever expected. I thought they'd milk my unpaid status for all it was worth before finally offering the possibility of legitimate work at the end of July. I'm hoping to start getting paid in a few weeks instead of mid-August when my internship ends - I'll move to a new apartment closer to work and stop working 60+ hours at two jobs.
Whenever I tell people my schedule, they freak out. And really, I don't know how I do it either. But my life's always been like that - I maximize usage of my time so that I barely have any downtime, and somehow I pull it off. I don't feel like I'm burning out, though I am more emotional than usual. Time goes by so fast this way that I'm sure I'll be out of it in no time and will be able to devote more time to my music.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Optimism
Peter, the President of UFO Records, asked for Barbara's bio at the staff meeting yesterday, as well as mine. Barbara runs tour marketing to UFO and said that it was a really good sign that he wanted mine too.
Here's what I wrote for him:
Jana Fisher has a B.A. in Digital Arts: Sound and French along with a minor in Music (Voice) from Stetson University in Deland, FL. After graduating from Stetson in May 2009, Jana moved to New York to pursue a career in the music business. She is currently interning at Invasion Group/UFO Records where she assists in tour and Internet marketing for artist such as Enter the Haggis, The Guggenheim Grotto, and The Abrams Brothers.
He replied, "Let's be optimistic. My changes OK?" and changed "interning" to "working."
Let's hope that actually means something.
Here's what I wrote for him:
Jana Fisher has a B.A. in Digital Arts: Sound and French along with a minor in Music (Voice) from Stetson University in Deland, FL. After graduating from Stetson in May 2009, Jana moved to New York to pursue a career in the music business. She is currently interning at Invasion Group/UFO Records where she assists in tour and Internet marketing for artist such as Enter the Haggis, The Guggenheim Grotto, and The Abrams Brothers.
He replied, "Let's be optimistic. My changes OK?" and changed "interning" to "working."
Let's hope that actually means something.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Connections
The city decided to welcome me back from Florida with lovely weather. It stormed all last night, with thunder so loud it woke me up two or three times. At work today everyone was talking about how they thought the city was being bombed and felt their apartments shake. It was still raining in the morning and dreary all day.
I started reading St. Augustine's "Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love" on the subway this morning. I sat down next to a Hispanic man who turned out to be a fashion photographer. He told me he was interested in my nose ring and gave me his business card so he could do some headshots. He got up to leave then realized he still had another stop to go, and we started talking about books. He asked what I was reading and must have sensed that I found it confusing because he recommended me some reading on chakhras and the Dalai Lama.
St. Augustine's writing, being from the fourth century, isn't immediately comprehensible, and I often found myself re-reading paragraphs and entire pages. I was so engrossed in the reading that I missed my stop, and jumped off the subway as soon as I realized it. Fortunately I was only one stop away from where I normally get off, and walking the extra five blocks did me some good.
I had 26 unread emails from being gone, mostly street team packages to mail and new shows to put in the database. At our staff meeting today, I got signed on to some website projects and jokingly suggested to work with a non-Francophone producer writing songs for a Francophone superstar. I'm secretly hoping they'll make me his assistant or something.
It was really stuffy and I was feeling a little queasy, so I volunteered to run to the post office. I took a detour to Starbucks to get my paycheck and a free drink, and in the process was assigned two more days to work this week. So much for having my weeknights off.
I called the photographer -- he wants to do a headshot session for free. I'm definitely down for that.
I started reading St. Augustine's "Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love" on the subway this morning. I sat down next to a Hispanic man who turned out to be a fashion photographer. He told me he was interested in my nose ring and gave me his business card so he could do some headshots. He got up to leave then realized he still had another stop to go, and we started talking about books. He asked what I was reading and must have sensed that I found it confusing because he recommended me some reading on chakhras and the Dalai Lama.
St. Augustine's writing, being from the fourth century, isn't immediately comprehensible, and I often found myself re-reading paragraphs and entire pages. I was so engrossed in the reading that I missed my stop, and jumped off the subway as soon as I realized it. Fortunately I was only one stop away from where I normally get off, and walking the extra five blocks did me some good.
I had 26 unread emails from being gone, mostly street team packages to mail and new shows to put in the database. At our staff meeting today, I got signed on to some website projects and jokingly suggested to work with a non-Francophone producer writing songs for a Francophone superstar. I'm secretly hoping they'll make me his assistant or something.
It was really stuffy and I was feeling a little queasy, so I volunteered to run to the post office. I took a detour to Starbucks to get my paycheck and a free drink, and in the process was assigned two more days to work this week. So much for having my weeknights off.
I called the photographer -- he wants to do a headshot session for free. I'm definitely down for that.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Why It's Hard to Do Laundry and Why I'm Glad to Be in New York by Way of Florida
I've been so busy that I haven't had time to do laundry.
I didn't realize that when you don't have your own washer and dryer, washing your clothes takes up at least two hours of your life - you have to take them to the laundromat and sit there waiting for them so they don't get stolen. Well, I've been busy pretty much from 10-10 the past few days, and the laundromat is only open 7:00 am to 11:30 pm.
I've run out of jeans, work shirts, socks, work pants ... I've been wearing everything dirty. So finally, once my laundry bag weighed more than 20 pounds, to suck it up and drop off my laundry for someone else to wash. Dropped it off at the laundromat at 8:15 am, picked it up at 10:30 pm. Pretty convenient actually, since I don't have to lose two hours of my life, or buy detergent, or fold anything. (Though it was a little complicated since the employees there don't really speak English. I was trying to ask a question last night and other customers had to jump in and translate.) Everything is nice and wrinkle-free, though it does smell a little funny.
I squeezed in a voice lesson at 9 am today. Feel like I'm making some progress -- enough that I want to go back and re-record everything that I've ever done. It's funny that I never realized exactly how to apply what I learned in classical lessons to my pop singing, but since I've already learned those techniques, I can make rapid progress once my new teacher points it out to me. I'm really excited about where things are going.
At UFO today, everyone was gone. My boss's wife just had a baby, the tour marketing lady I work with works from home on Mondays, the president and another top guy went to a conference in Toronto, and most of the other employees work elsewhere on Monday. The office housed only three male interns, a secretary, a retail/distributor lady, and me. The other interns had no work, so I made them help me with mine.
At Starbucks, I've picked up on everything so fast the other employees keep asking if I've worked at Starbucks before. Nope. I don't know, everything's just simple and really similar to my work at Tropical Smoothie. But I've noticed a huge difference in my work and the work of all the New Yorkers -- I'm not rude to the customers.
Being friendly to customers puts me in a really good mood, but the other employees get so frustrated with them. They yell things like, "C'mon people, pay attention when drinks are being called," or angrily defend their behavior to the customers. Acting like that is just completely foreign to me.
Maybe it's because I'm from *gasp* the South.
I didn't realize that when you don't have your own washer and dryer, washing your clothes takes up at least two hours of your life - you have to take them to the laundromat and sit there waiting for them so they don't get stolen. Well, I've been busy pretty much from 10-10 the past few days, and the laundromat is only open 7:00 am to 11:30 pm.
I've run out of jeans, work shirts, socks, work pants ... I've been wearing everything dirty. So finally, once my laundry bag weighed more than 20 pounds, to suck it up and drop off my laundry for someone else to wash. Dropped it off at the laundromat at 8:15 am, picked it up at 10:30 pm. Pretty convenient actually, since I don't have to lose two hours of my life, or buy detergent, or fold anything. (Though it was a little complicated since the employees there don't really speak English. I was trying to ask a question last night and other customers had to jump in and translate.) Everything is nice and wrinkle-free, though it does smell a little funny.
I squeezed in a voice lesson at 9 am today. Feel like I'm making some progress -- enough that I want to go back and re-record everything that I've ever done. It's funny that I never realized exactly how to apply what I learned in classical lessons to my pop singing, but since I've already learned those techniques, I can make rapid progress once my new teacher points it out to me. I'm really excited about where things are going.
At UFO today, everyone was gone. My boss's wife just had a baby, the tour marketing lady I work with works from home on Mondays, the president and another top guy went to a conference in Toronto, and most of the other employees work elsewhere on Monday. The office housed only three male interns, a secretary, a retail/distributor lady, and me. The other interns had no work, so I made them help me with mine.
At Starbucks, I've picked up on everything so fast the other employees keep asking if I've worked at Starbucks before. Nope. I don't know, everything's just simple and really similar to my work at Tropical Smoothie. But I've noticed a huge difference in my work and the work of all the New Yorkers -- I'm not rude to the customers.
Being friendly to customers puts me in a really good mood, but the other employees get so frustrated with them. They yell things like, "C'mon people, pay attention when drinks are being called," or angrily defend their behavior to the customers. Acting like that is just completely foreign to me.
Maybe it's because I'm from *gasp* the South.
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