is
a mentoring award, a granting of time and opportunity to assist a music
artist uniquely ready to refine their musical vision, songwriting, and
to record a demo.
Kiana
Kiana's award included mentoring and artistic development. I felt the biggest growth opportunity for Kiana was in the area of her song writing and opportunity to explore her personal musical style. She only had a couple of self-written songs when I met her, but they were pretty impressive considering they were her first songs. With just a little encouragement, and a recording deadline, she got 12 new songs ready. We recorded six of them, allowing her to explore her personal musical style. She is an artist with excellent ideas for recording and this was a chance for her to try things on a scale she hadn't been able to previously. We had many walks and meals together in the process, discussing every aspect of her career, from recording to her 'look', we did a little grassroots video of her..very low-fi and no budget, just for the experience. I had her videotaped hours of interviews, to practice expressing herself on camera, I got her a couple of photo shoots. I continue to be available to her for advice on a monthly basis. Kiana has a unique take on both
pop culture and deep spirituality that she expresses in the lyrics and
emotions of her songs. Its a very personal world that touches broad and
timeless themes in very fun ways. She tackles topics that its hard to
imagine putting in a song, but she manages well. I worked with her to
'tone down' her open dialogue of personal spiritual expression to make
it more broadly accessible to other's lives, but at the same time I
felt it was important to remain true to herself in her creative flow of
what came naturally to her. This helped her gain insight into balancing
her inner and outer worlds. Producer Ralf Illenberger's production
supports this in a wonderful way by giving very appealing grooves to
shift the material from serious to sensual and dynamic. There's a lot
of humor, passion and fire in the combination of writing and producing
on the songs from her Vertigo EP - Metaphysical, Voyage, It Ain't Over,
All That Really Matters, cosmic Queries, Compassion. Be sure to check
out my take on her in the B.I.O. (By Invitation Only) section.(Click on the song titles below to play music.)
Artist Song Notes
Metaphysical - "This remains the only song I have written thus far where the melody came to me while I was walking around Honolulu one day, and after humming it into my cell phone, I went home and the lyrics and music flowed very quickly and naturally, about a love that I had experienced that was beyond the body, yet was grounded in a physical awareness of ecstasy."
All That Really Matters - "This song is about the disillusion that I experienced in trying to connect with people’s perceived ideas on religion, spirituality, and conduct, and how I felt like the essential focal point should really be in highlighting how we treat each other and ourselves in each moment."
It Ain’t Over - "This is my “Mother Earth Anthem,” which I created from a poem that I wrote when I was feeling the pull of hopelessness and disconnect of humanity and the elemental kingdom, but also my desire to create something that could serve as a driving force towards realization and reconciliation with our true divine natures, through our caring for nature."
Cosmic Queries - "This song came to me from the humor that I found in the many conversations I had with people who took their astrological signs and attachments to their identity to a level of silliness, which I also have been known to take part in at times!" Voyage - "This song first came in the form of a poem that I had written about the opposition that I had encountered throughout my life in regards to following my dream, and having unique attributes that most people would often misperceive, but also the comedy of it all."
A New Way - "I wrote this during a really dark grieving and transitional period of mine, where I kept swirling around with the demons in my head, and needed an outlet that could allow me to stretch myself beyond my illusions into a state of being that I somehow knew, or at least was hopeful, was my true self."
Hooked - "I was playing around with a basa-nova style guitar line when the lyrics for this song started flowing through, which was a total joy for me, because I’ve always loved swimming in metaphors, but this melody also allowed me to be accurately playful with the elements of my lyrical content." To Be Loved - "It took me a really long time to be able to play this song without crying through it, because I wrote it about my baby sister and brother who died, and also my grandmother who passed away; and it struck this deeper chord in me of what I truly felt we were all here to experience."
Instrumental
Akashic Tango - "When I “compose” my piano melodies, it’s more of a free-style flow that comes through me, which this song was no exception for. I found a melody line, and let my fingers carry out the story; but this one in particular had a very distinctive pattern to it, which most of my piano songs don’t emphasize as much as this one does." Coming Home - "This is one of my favorite piano pieces, because it was one of my rare attempts to be very gentle on the keys, and really pace myself through the unfolding of the melody as my energy moved through the motions. The title for this came to me because listening back to it, it truly felt like a sad yet happy return to a home I had forgotten."
Celestial Bubbles - "I picked a synthesized sound that really captured me, and had my producer, Pierre, gently create a flow with the bubbly tones of the instrument, and I was very naturally able to create melodies around the pulses and currents. It was a genuine escape into my happy place of swirling harmonies around!"
