GOING BACK TO MY ROOTS!! Part two, the 80's

My last blog was a bit about my history, mainly about my father's influences...I'm carrying on with that today. 

When you grow up in an environment where music is the main focus, you take it for granted. My mum played the piano and listened to music constantly, I would sing Hoagy Carmichael while she played. My dad was a working musician, touring, gigging and composing. When we stayed with granny she would listen to jazz or Eric Satie, or we would put on 'the carnival of the animals' and go through all the parts, how the sounds represented the various species(if you're not familiar, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsD0FDLOKGA this was my favourite). Anyway, you get the picture. After school I would often go to where my dad rehearsed with his bands(it was right next to my school) and hang out, sometimes I would get to play the tambourine or something. Most of my friends had 'arty' parents so it wasn't really until I got older that I started to realise that this was actually quite unusual. I'm so glad for it though. It's easy to gift your children with that, it's free. Of course, piano lessons cost money but it is a discipline that carries you through life. 

I loved the 80's. When I look back, I'm filled with nostalgia. I guess it's the same for everyone, but I'm SURE it was better? One of the first records I bought was 'Karma Chameleon' I made my dad take me to the music video and tape exchange on camden high street(what a shop, now KFC, I rest my case) and buy the vinyl. It was a hot summer's day. We left it in the car while we went to do something and when we came back it had melted. As i'm writing this, I'm thinking 'is this possible?' but that's my memory and I was devastated. Records cost a lot back then and we were pretty poor so that would have been a big deal. 

Boy George, Wham, Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Mel and Kim, Tears for fears, Bangles, Madonna, Maxi Priest, Aswad, Michael Jackson, Prince. These were MY influences, MY favourites, and I guess that's how all kids carve out a bit of independence from their parents, even if their parents are all about music. All my pocket money was spent on records(and sweets of course), and I used to hold my tape recorder up to the tv when top of the pops was on to record a song i liked! Such a far cry from the free downloads of today. I give this a lot of thought at the moment. On the one hand the demise of the label and rise of the internet has given a lot of power to musicians, on the other, it has devalued music in many ways. I think I will save this for another blog!

GOING BACK TO MY ROOTS!! Part one

If you listen to my music, you might be forgiven for thinking that I come from a jazzy/soulful background. Well sort of. 
My Dad is a musician, and bought me up on a diet of Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Beatles, and Classical music,peppered with some world influences(I recall a vinyl of Laysmith Black Mambazo, and going to Gamelan gigs and stuff like that), bits of funk and anything with a black influence. My Dad told me stories of supporting the Wailers in concert(before they got massive), seeing all the greats in concert, Hammersmith Palais, the university cicuit and how wonderful it all sounded! I am so jealous of the time he grew up in. My Father's family settled in North London many generations before my time. I love the thought of growing up in the 50's and 60's. Pea-soupers, post-war freedom, the docks still open, the first Burger bars, the Mods and Rockers, the cusp of mass hedonism, the Victoria line being built. London still full of Londoners, but with the addition of some much needed culture, west indian and subcontinental people coming in large numbers. Wonderful! 
Pop music was still a new phenomenon back then. Rock and roll was the first of it, which as you probably know was considered shocking at the time! If you could imagine artists like Lady Gaga and Rhianna then! The Beatles and Stones were obviously the most widely known British acts, and my parents loved the Beatles especially, but the music that rang out for them, my father in particular, was Motown. Aretha, Marvin, Tammy, the Jacksons, Stevie, etc. What music! The best. These people could really play and sing. My Dad was spellbound. I think that's what made him a musician. 
 My Mum on the other hand, was bought up in rural Essex, a world away. Her tastes were much more 'hippy', Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell,David Bowie, Frank Zappa etc. She made daisy chains while dreaming of escaping her hellish family life and dull backwaters, which thankfully, she did. 
I have everything to thank my parents for. They both instilled a great sense of the importance of music and creativity in me from birth, or even before. My Mum would play the piano while pregnant, I recognised pieces she hadn't played until many years later. I was learning the piano age 4. It was a given that I would be a musician. 

Later....on to my own personal tastes!

RUNNING YOUR OWN LABEL-THE WORK NEVER STOPS!

As some of you will know, I have released my album 'Lately' on my own label 'mamalou'. Named as a tribute to my late mother(who was funnily enough called Lou!), it started a few years back, and I released my album 'Be my guest' on it. At the time, I was probably a bit less concerned with the business side of things, more the symbolism of my creation of something positive through the fog of grief.
A few years later, amidst a very uncertain time dogged with cuts, a lovely recession backdrop and world crises everywhere, I've gotten more businesslike. I don't know if it a reaction to that, but I do believe harsh times sort out the wheat from the chaff.
Or maybe I'm just getting on a bit? :)
Anyway, i'm probably not that businesslike really because no-one buys music any more....or do they? I've sold quite a few albums in the last week or so. I'm sure, that in this world of 7 billion people, there must be quite a number that will be my fans...
I'm just going to have to find them.

I'm looking for you.....

I BUY MUSIC

Ok, so we've all done it. We've all downloaded something for free. We've all got a big batch of music of one of our mates. We've all borrowed something from the library, ripped it, and taken it back. I'm not a complete stranger to the odd bit of 'liberation'. But this is getting serious. You see, you like music. You like music of a certain standard. You even like the artists. Some of you, even have feelings for the artist. How do you think we, as artists, can make music if there is no money in it? Are we, by default, expected to suffer for our art? Does that make it more true? You see, we live in what is known as reality. Money doesn't float down from the heavens. Bills aren't paid by some patron. Food doesn't fill our fridges miraculously. So we have to work. And when we work, we're not making the music you like. We're not giving it top priority, because we can't.

I buy music.

Maybe you should?

SIAN, MY HERO

Why, when you type ‘Sian Evans’ into google, does a jewellery designer pop up first?

…Most of you will be thinking, ‘who is Sian Evans?’, even those who are familiar with her music. Sian is the lead singer of Kosheen, drum and bass/dance band extrodinaire, whose career peaked in the early 2000’s, with hits such as ‘Catch’, ‘Hide you’, and ‘Hungry’.  It seems though that Sian prefers to ‘hide’ behind another name, as she is now in a collaboration called ‘Melopark’, which is so totally different from Kosheen yet the thread which I suspect is the most important element of both sounds, is the voice.
 It’s that voice which rings out, so true, so unique, above all other popstrels. You rarely hear distinction like that in the charts, if feels like one insipid rant on to another. But Sian is different. String willed, feisty, I doubt she is a pushover in the studio. She definitely reminds me of myself, especially in this article quote :

“She has talent, humour and life experience on her side and being the female focal point in a male band (with `techie boys' Markee Substance aka Mark Morrison and Darren `Decoder' Beale) she's a musical force to be reckoned with. ``I'd like to think I'm easy to get along with, but I am strong-willed and I don't suffer fools,'' said Sian, who admits to ``taking no sh**.'' “
``Sometimes the only way to get these boys to listen is to give them what they're not expecting. You can reason 'til your head falls off, but I do raise my voice when it's necessary. And, believe me, it is necessary sometimes.''

Being female, musical, hanging round with techie boys, ain’t no picnic, believe me. But you put up a fight, and you get heard, because ultimately you deserve respect. Sometimes you have to go off and do your own thing(Hence my album, ‘Lately’), but it’s great collaborating on drum and bass projects with the boys....love you boys!!!

Sian, would you agree?

She may hide her name, but she definitely doesn’t hide her talents. Sian, I salute you!

BYE BYE G5, HELLO FUTURE!

This week's been a real mix of frustration and satisfaction, and that's just the music! 

Me and Joe(partner, musical partner, extraordinary character, mixologist, drum and bass producer) got our new Mac last week. It's really swish, the mouse and keyboard have no wires, the computer is part of the screen, this is the future. It's fast! But bless Joe, he was in there after work every day making sure all the files from the old G5 were backed up, all the new plug-ins installed, and finally, on wednesday, he put the old G5 to rest. It's made so much music in it's time. It was once Jon's(bredrin, musical colleague, technical genius, all round great guy), he made many a beat on it, then we bought it, and between us we must have made at least 150 tracks.

So bye bye G5. 

We loved you. 

Hello iMac.

We love you even more.







Just look at the sparkle on that!! I'm very excited to get to work..trouble is, I have to get over that first hurdle when you haven't made a tune for a while..you worry you've forgotten how to do it. Also, been tidying up loose ends this week. Boring stuff.

Here's the good shit for the week though:

I've had 564 plays on my soundcloud http://www.soundcloud.com/ellament since I put my album clips up, about 9 days ago. Nice! 
Me and Joe had one of our collabs played by Asides(a drum and bass dj who's quite big according to Joe, and he knows about this shit),
it's the first track of his set, if you wan to have a listen

http://www.mediafire.com/?at68sfhpjsmapp2 

and I got the stems of a couple of my tracks to an old mate who is going to do me a nice remix. That's a secret though, I'll save it for another blog. 

Till next time...

Ells xx 

MY FIRST POST

Well, here it is.
My Blog. Basically it's my diary as I embark on the next phase of my journey. 
I'm a singer, piano player and songwriter, yeah I know you've heard it all before from a million different people.
I think my music's really good though, well I would do, I've spent about a million hours and thousands of pounds on it! 
This picture is my latest album cover. It's the first album I produced in my studio and I'm really proud of it, it's my sound. It's coming soon.