Ok, we all know that is is getting easier and easier to pirate music and movies off the net. I just heard on the news that more and more this is happening to movies that haven't even hit theaters yet. Now, many people have said to me, "Oh, I shouldn't buy music cause it only goes to the record companies anyway and they are total ripoffs to the artists." This totally pisses me off. Do you know how much money it takes to make a really great album? How much time and effort and investment goes into it, not to mention hiring the right musicians, arrangers, producers, mixing, mastering, studio time, research into new technologies, etc and I haven't even gotten into promotion. At least the artists are usually songwriters and they get royalties off of their songs plus they make their money from touring. The reason why now more than ever no money goes to artists from music sales and it all goes to record companies is because people are stealing music. The record companies can't make money anymore cause they can't sell music. Seriously. If you love a band or a movie and want to see them succeed, you should support them, pay a couple of bucks and pay them for their services. You don't deserve to see it or have it for free. Entertainers have to make a living, too. If you want the movie industry to have this happen to it too, keep doing what you're doing. Then we really won't have any industry left in America.

End of rant.

I've started recording again and I'll be posting some new demos soon of my older material that I haven't recorded before as well as a couple of new songs debuting my piano playing. :)
I've been rehearsing my original material with a band so as we develop the songs and the recordings I'll keep updating the tracks on myspace. I'll also regularly be posting videos of live performances on my youtube site: http://www.youtube.com/JasmineMiranda. You can check out some acoustic covers and a couple originals already posted from a small venue I played at the KaHuina art gallery last week. Stay tuned for new stuff!

<3 JMC

Ok. I've collected enough recordings over the past 2-3 years. I've decided to release an EP. Most people don't know what an EP really is. Well, if you're curious look up Flight Of The Conchords and check out their first EP "The Distant Future."
As stated by wikipedia:

'An extended play (EP) is a vinyl record, CD, or music download which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as an LP. Usually, an EP has around 10–28 minutes of music, a single has up to 10 minutes, and an album generally has 30–80 minutes. Mini-LPs generally contain 20–30 minutes of music.'

Realistically I'm probably going to put almost an albums' worth on it and include a couple of acoustic live tracks but the actual presence of the CD will contain the feel of an EP. The cuts will sound more raw, some of them stripped and act as a basic representation of my music as an artist.

These are the tracks I'm considering (in no particular order):
Spider Web
Polarities
More Than Just Friends
The Dancer
Away
Ophelia
Yours Truly
Time Candles
Black Widow (Piano Instrumental)
Gay Guys
Armed With Love
I Wish You Would
Desperate
The Relationship Mirror
Sunshine Stay
Just Another Crush (Live or redone)
Things Change (Live)
Last Lullaby (Live)
Blank Forecast (Live)

See, that's already two albums' worth. 20 tracks and an EP has maybe 8 at the very most if your songs are short. Hmmm...

If any one has any ideas, I'm open. Most of these are recorded already. My goal is to finish this by the end of April before I go to California for a couple weeks. *Crosses fingers*


P.S. I'm looking to release this so that I can pass it out to label execs and at the same time have a product to sell when I play live. I also want to include songs that will be received well on the radio (independent stations) as well as grab attention. Which ones do you like? :)

I realize it's been a while since I've really written a blog about my life. This year is definitely going to be a big change. My grandpa passed away on Tuesday very early in the morning. He was 88 years old and he'd been living with colen cancer for 8 years. My parents have been away a lot of the time. My dad went to Canada for 26 days to visit my grandma who is terminal with lung cancer and my mom spent that time in Kona taking care of my grandfather until he passed. I was lucky enough to say goodbye to him a week before when he was still conscious. It was very special. I knew that would be the last time I would see him and sing for him. He's been in my life since I was a little girl when my family would visit him every month in Kona. He was a creative carpenter who loved making things out of wood with his hands. He built so many things including the back room in my house...even so, I'd never felt so close to him as I did that last day I spent with him.
My brother and sister are coming for the funeral in a week. After that my parents are probably going to be leaving again soon to visit my nieces in New Mexico and Florida and my dad is going back to Canada at some point for my grandma.
Many of my friends and colleagues are leaving - emotionally and physically. There has been a lot of tension between some of my musician friends recently and a lot of weird trips being pulled. It seems the strings that are attaching me to Hawaii are gradually one by one being released one way or another. The economy sucks as we all know and jobs and income are becoming strained. The foundation for us here is being shaken up. We've been talking a lot about the mainland and the possibilities and planning possible trips to conventions and auditions there. I'm not afraid - I'm feeling like what looks dismal now with friends and family and money may be just an easier way to detach from the life I've known and move on so that new doors can open. The right thing will present itself at the right time and I need to be open to see it and available to take advantage of the opportunities. To quote the Grateful Dead, "If your cup is full, may it be again." I'm ready.

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people, then click publish)

1. I pretty much eat the same things every day. I get stuck in a rut and then after a long while I get tired of it and totally change my whole diet and eat those things every day.
2. I work best with a set routine or schedule. I make lists and they help most of the time.
3. I want to be 5' 4" but I'm only 5' 1". I've grown in big spurts every since I was little and then go through periods where I don't grow at all so maybe I'll grow a few more inches by the time I'm 21!
4. I'm a very musical person. I think in terms of music and dream arrangements while I sleep. I write songs (music and lyrics) and the best ones come all at once when I really have a feeling to translate or an emotional experience to describe.
5. I sing, play violin, guitar, and piano. I want to learn some bass and drums, too.
6. I can't listen to music for enjoyment like I used to. Whenever I hear a song on the radio or anything I automatically dissect it or compare it to my own song arrangements and recordings. It can be really frustrating to try not to do that!
7. I grew up thinking I was ugly and fat and always felt like an outcast so whenever I talked to people I was really self-conscious and shy.
8. I am a very spiritual person (not religious.) I know the universe is alive and constantly creating and manifesting through everything.
9. I exercise every day. If I don't, I feel out of sorts. I go to the gym and ride my bike most of the time. I also have to take a shower in the morning otherwise my hair gets greasy throughout the day.
10. I've always related better with people older than me and I'm attracted to mature guys. I hang out comfortably with guys a lot more than girls. I'm not dating anyone and haven't for the past three years because I am focused on my music career.
11. I wear dresses all the time. I used to wear only black because I thought it was slimming but since then I've branched out to various colors. I love dresses because in them I feel feminine and pretty (I used to feel very masculine and bulky) and also they have lots of ventilation whereas pants don't.
12. I was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. My dad is Canadian but he moved here to practice his career in Astronomy on Mauna Kea when he met my mom.
13. I have 3 siblings, 2 of them half-siblings. My brother David is a pilot and is in his early thirties. My sister Heather is almost 30 and is a Veterinary Technician. My full sister Ginger is 21 and is a graphic artist. I am the youngest 18.
14. My middle name is Miranda and my dad chose that name because he is an astronomer. It's the name of a moon of Uranus which I think was named after the Shakespeare character in The Tempest.
15. My chosen career path is in music and the performing arts. I intend to be a recording artist, and act, sing, and dance in films and on broadway. :-) I want to write a musical one day, too.
16. I've discovered I have more contacts in and around the music industry than I even knew about!
17. My favorite music artists are Alanis Morissette and Jewel. I think it's because I relate to their lyrics and style of music.
18. When I was growing up since 1st grade I wanted to be a Veterinarian and a dog breeder entering dog shows. Well, things change. I still love dogs, though.
19. I've known Stacey Reed ever since she was born and we grew up together with each other's families. She's always been my best friend.
20. I love California and New York. <3 California would probably suit me better because I would freeze in New York during the winter.
21. I'm good at drawing and art but don't have the patience for it. I love making websites.
22. When I hear or visualize a song or a sound I see a color in my mind that goes with it.
23. My favorite colors are purple, black, and red.
24. I was a troublemaker in preschool and always got put in time out. When I went to Kindergarten I made a conscious decision to be a good student and an overachiever from then on.
25. I love the outdoors and sitting alone in the grass under a tree.
At the same time I don't like getting dirty and would probably choose not to swim and get wet if given a choice.

You can now buy individual tracks from my Snocap store! :-) More tracks to come soon - if you want to purchase a particular song, let me know what it is and I'll be sure to put it up in the store. Love, Jasmine

- Piano (portable keyboard for gigs)
- Violin performance stand (so I can float back and forth between instruments when I play gigs)
- Electric violin Ned Steinberger shoulder rest
- Balalaika :-) (Russian instrument)
- Alanis Morissette VHI Storytellers - DVD
- New ipod case with clip (160 GB model)
- Spore computer game
- Buxton purse (my current purse is a black hole...)

I submitted my protest songs "Armed With Love" and the more subtle "Polarities" to Neil Young's Living With War Today website not too long ago and now they're finally on the list! By clicking on the link to listen to my songs on the site, the more hits, the higher up they climb on the list. :-)

Click here to check it out!

Support the message - Aloha,
Jas

The Taxi convention was amazing. So many things happened and so many connections were made, I don't even know where to begin. Everything lined up so serendipitously, and I don't believe in coincidences - I'm so glad I got to go!!! Anyone who is a musician or songwriter - if you want to get your music to the right people, Taxi is the place to do it!
I'll start from the top. I flew over with Ron on standby (my brother is a pilot for Delta so we got a discount with buddy passes) and Chen took another plane to meet us in LA. The flights were painless, but I stayed up until 5:30 AM the previous evening scrambling to get everything ready and packed to go (it was not my idea to wait until the last minute but there was so much to do in so little time.) I had to print enough CD's, some for the panels, get a press kit ready for any promo and info I might've needed, do photos, graphics, edit and mix the recordings, burn CD's, etc, etc, and then I had to do all of that for Chen, too. But somehow everything got done, I got an hour's worth of sleep before my dad showed up at 6:30 AM to say goodbye and then we got picked up at 7 by Mike to catch our flight to Honolulu. Amazingly, Ron and I got two first class seats on the flight to LA! The food sure was good, especially the key lime pie. Mmmmm... :P
We flew into LA around 9 PM and the city looked so beautiful from the air at night! It looked like a huge lit-up computer chip.
We slept at the La Quinta Inn for the night which happened to literally be a block from the Westin hotel where the convention was to be held. Sleep deprived I konked out like a baby.
In the morning we walked over to the Westin and checked in, The hotel was fabulous, of course. I called Tony to touch bases and asked if I should call the lawyer he had talked about the week before. When I called the lawyer I had such a comfortable time relating to him. He's an old-timer in the industry who has represented many famous female singers. What it came down to was that if I ever needed a deal negotiated (i.e. a record deal) that he would be my legal representation! It was a very nice chat and very positive, and I was so stoked that Tony would recommend me to someone so experienced in the industry that he trusts. :-D
By the time Ron and I had walked down to Subway and come back to the hotel, Chen showed up saying everyone was already lining up to register! It was only 3:30 and registration was supposed to be at 5:30! We waited in line for a couple of hours but while we did we met a whole bunch of really cool musicians. I even ran into John M from my previous trip to LA last June (the guy with the beautiful studio.)
That night was an open-mic night and who would've guessed it, but Chen got picked second to perform. I went up to sing his song "So Far From Love" (since Chen can't sing I had to perform it while he played the guitar) but when I got picked later on in the night to do one of my songs, the MC's said I should wait til the next day's open-mic so that I didn't go on twice in one night. So many people came out to share their music. My favorite was a violinist from Romania who calls himself "The Violin Guy." His smile beamed the whole time he was performing, and he played so passionately an exhilarating tango piece!
The next day was the day the convention really started. Michael Laskow who is in charge of Taxi did a live interview with Lamont Dozier! It was so inspiring to be in the same room with him and listen to him talk about his experiences and love for music.
There were all kinds of "Panels" where experienced people in the industry from famous record producers, A&R executives, Taxi screeners, and famous artists and songwriters critique and comment on members songs' for different purposes such as pitches for film and tv, or for producers looking for hits, etc. There were also many different seminars going on at the same time from music software instruction, to classes on how to make money in the industry today, songwriting classes, production classes, the list goes on and on...
Each member also had the chance to select a "mentor" to sit down with them and critique their songs one-on-one. (Mentors by the way were anybody from record label executives, Taxi screeners, producers, engineers, song placers for film and tv shows, etc)
When I went to see my mentor he listened to my songs "Spider Web" and "Polarities." He told me that he wanted to take a copy of my songs with him to see if someone he knew wanted to use it for one of the movies she was making!!! He also told me that my music was excellent and to keep doing it no matter what!
I also went to the seminar where the Vice President of ASCAP and his twin brother who is the Vice President of Chrysalis Music Group were giving their talk on making money in the music business. I have their book and got it signed by them while I was there! It's a great book, I've been enjoying it and it's a very informative read if you want to be prepared going into the business.
One of my favorite parts of the convention was the mentor lunches. You have to buy tickets ahead of time to attend, but it's well worth it. Around 8 members sit at one table and eat lunch while mentors rotate around the room and sit at each table for 20 minutes at a time so you can network with them and give them your material to listen to and take with them. The food was great, too, I think I ate too much cake on this trip. :P
Friday night was another open-mic. I went on second again and performed "The Dancer." On the way to the room at the elevators, Ron and I ended up talking to a man with a small indie record label in Arizona and a sweet couple that had been at the open-mic. We had so much fun talking about music with each other and our personal experiences that we talked for over an hour just standing there! We all exchanged music and business cards and retired for the night.
Saturday was another day full of panels and meeting people and learning. The guys at West L.A. music were upstairs working and selling merchandise and I finally got to meet Rick and Christina! They've been talking to Ron over the phone for years getting him great deals on equipment! They talked us into buying another guitar (this one's a black Ovation) with a new gadget built inside it called "The Idea." You can record your songwriting ideas - both the guitar track and your vocal track right through your guitar! Plus it has a built-in metronome, tuner, and you can import audio files and also practice your lead guitar licks to a jam track.
In the evening, Chen, Ron, and I all took a cab to Chen's cousin's house in Hollywood Hills. His cousin works for Showtime and when he listened to our music he said he'd give it to the people he works with and see if they want to use our songs for film or TV placements! Dinner was fabulous - we ate a delicious chicken tomato pasta and had chocolate cake and apple crisp for dessert. Their house is beautiful and they had their neighbors over who were just delightful people who had plenty of great stories.
Sunday was the last day of the convention, but also the most eventful. Ron and I went to a Masterwriter seminar in the morning (a program for songwriters that is absolutely amazing! We're getting one shipped in a couple of weeks.) Then Ron called Tony and found out he was upstairs with the guys at West L.A. Music. (Ron finally got to meet Tony in person!!!) We went downstairs for lunch at the hotel restaurant buffet and Tony told a bunch of his wonderful music and industry stories. Chen came downstairs to meet us for lunch and we all talked for another hour. When Chen got up to go get his guitar fixed by Rick, in the elevator he ran into a producer that happened to be friends with the same musician Chen had produced for years. Chen called me to tell me to be in the lobby and I got to meet the producer! He told me to sing for him, so I sang Chen's song "So Far From Love." He took my CD and gave Chen his number and told us to keep in touch.
Afterwards we all went to the last panel of the day and Tony introduced me to his friend who was one of the producers critiquing on the panel. I went up to one of the other producers on the panel (who produced two of my favorite artists' albums) and told him how big of a fan I was of his! (I used to listen to those albums when I was nine and roller-blading around my garage. I loved those albums!)
We ate dinner at the buffet again, and Tony brought a friend he met that day named Patrina. She does lyrics for gospel, R&B music and children's songs, a very lovely sweet lady. After dinner in the lobby the same producer that I had met at the panel (the one who had produced a couple of my favorite albums) happened to be sitting on a couch chatting with a bunch of members. Patrina wanted to give him one of her CD's, but was a little shy to. When she came back she said that he'd asked her to sing for him but she said she wasn't a performer, just a writer. I told her I wished I could've sang for him, so she told me to give him a CD and go do it. I told her I already had, but she said to give him another one. It just so happened I'd brought three different demo CD's with me, each with 3 different songs per CD. I'd wanted to give him the more pop/rock one so I went up to him and explained it was different than the other one I gave him earlier. He told me to sing so I did "The Oops Girl" from the Drowsy Chaperone musical in front of everyone. Haha! I can't believe I did that!
We said our goodbyes to Tony and Patrina and went to our room for the night. The next morning Chen left to catch his early flight and Ron and I checked out to catch ours a few hours later. My mom met us at LAX (she flew in after being in New Mexico visiting my sister, and ended up meeting us at the same gate we were going to catch together to Kona.) While we all waited for our flight we ate some breakfast and exchanged stories. When we flew into Kona, my dad met us and we drove back to Hilo. *Sigh*
What a trip! Christina called yesterday and reminded Ron and me to sign-up for the ASCAP Music Expo next April. We've already registered for it and booked the hotel so looks like we already have our next trip to LA planned! Who knows what could happen...

Love,
The Violin Girl

So I've been working with Chen in the studio a lot over these past few days and will for the next couple of weeks 'cause we're hustling to get some good solid demos of our "best" songs for the Taxi Convention. It's only three weeks away! :D
I'll post them on my page as they're ready. The songs "Something Ain't Right" and "So Far From Love" are Vincenzo's that we worked on together.

Peace ^^
Love, Jazz