laughternoons, is there such a thing as true originality?, and you being you….

i have this theory that whenever we have an idea it goes out into the cosmos and others either through our divine connection, collective unconscious, or just random occurrence can tap into these ideas…. for example, i had the idea of having ballet dancers en pointe perform to my non-classical music in a beautiful artistic way… i had never seen a pop artist have ballet dancers incorporated in their live show/video/tv performances….and then somewhat later, i notice kanye bringing this idea to the masses…. my “original” idea! damn! lol! also, yesterday i was inspired to have a fun afternoon with my PNC laughing…i thought how wonderful an afternoon of laughing would be and what if we called this celebratory gathering a laughternoon!!!! i was so super excited thinking that i “invented” the word laughternoon!!!!! this word is amazing!!!! i have to put in urban dictionary! only to find out, to my dismay, i’m late, laughternoon already exists within the urban dictionary… it’s kind of beautiful though, how were all connected… but it also makes me feel that perhaps there is no true originality, perhaps even on an unconscious or subconscious level we are influenced… i mean before we had the internet and crazy forms of technology, there were people on opposite sides of the planet coming up with the same ideas (carl jung talks about this with the collective unconscious)…..

is there such a thing as true originality? for example, take fashion, someone might start rocking a style first (though they may have been inspired by that style from another era) and then a few people copy it and some may even call the copiers “original” simply because the “new” style hasn’t become main stream and reached the masses yet…… so because it’s not at your local target or walmart yet-(trust it will be sooner than later, those fuckers always find a way to monetize the trends) then is it still considered original, because it’s not mainstream?? some people think taking other ideas but combining them together in a new and unique way to make them your own? a lot of folks are doing that in music (a little michael jackson with a dash of lauryn hill)… but doesn’t the work of art need to be authentic to be considered original? how is authenticity and originality related???  does true originality exist or are we just regurgitating our influences?? who was mozart influenced by? and where does influence end and originality begin????? maybe bjork is truly original (i don’t know if she sounds like anyone)…

on the spiritual tip, my very wise boyfriend just said he heard that if you channel something divine from your soul it can be original, yet if you are creating from your mind (regurgitated thoughts) then it is not original. i love that!

i used to tell people that i wanted to be like a “Puerto Rican Erykah Badu” or  a “Boricua Jill Scott” …. now i’m understanding so so so clearly that as an artist, writer, and performer how important it is to just be me……. andree belle, the original! that’s when i’m connected, in the zone of elevation! it’s authentic and delicious originality.

LOVE, besos, and dreams coming true for u!

Bella

M.U.S.I.C. album release show! Today’s feature: MATT ROBERTS

For the album release show, I’m featuring each band member during this upcoming show week! It has been so much fun interviewing the M.U.S.I.C. makers and getting deep into their musical heads and hearts! They are all ridiculously talented, intelligent, true artists and I’m honored to make M.U.S.I.C. with them! 

Today’s feature: MATT ROBERTS -guitar

The music world is a small world and I realized this even more so when the guy I always loved listening to between classes at USC, who played possibly the most beautiful music to ever come out of a guitar- Matt Roberts- also, grew up with Dre playing music and is good friend of his… I love how we’re all connected! Matt is a musical philosopher… he’s flawless in his playing… and though he can be virtuosic he still executes with such feeling. Matt loves to play jazz, rock, funk, soul, etc. and he gives each genre what it needs instinctively and effortlessly… Matt has his own group (The Matt Roberts Group) that is mostly jazz inspired and is currently playing for Solange Knowles. Other artists he has recorded and/or performed with the last few years include Lady Gaga, Pat Metheny, Terrence Howard, New West Guitar Quartet, Left Coast Funk Orchestra, etc. Matt played on “Variety Pack” on M.U.S.I.C. I’m looking forward to FINALLY performing with this musician that I’ve admired so much over the years  

-what’s your 1^st musical memory?

Dancing and singing to “Thriller” and “Born in the USA.”

 

-what’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened while you are on stage?

While playing with Solange in DC, some crazy guy got on stage and tried to dance with the back ground dancers…

 

-what’s your ultimate dream in music?

To have my own musical project, to be able to live off of my own music, and still be co-writing and producing for other artists… continuing to grow as an artist…and to sing way better than I do now…

 

-if you weren’t doing music what would you be doing?

Be a councelor/therapist/psychologist or a writer of philosophical books…

 

-songs that changed your life…

“Bohemian Rhapsody” I was 10 yrs old and for Christmas my dad bought me a boom box and and MC Hammer cassette and classic Queen…. “It’s kind of magic” was the 1^st song and I thought how weird… then I heard “Bohemian Rhapsody” and remembered it from Wayne’s World….and loved it!

 

-most influential artists to you and why?

Freddy Mercury was a huge early inspiration. He inspired me to take chances and to be epic. Right now some of my inspirations, Stevie Wonder for obvious reasons…Joe Satriniani when I first started playing guitar, Pat Matheney in my later teen years, and now days I love simple soulful guitar players- like John Mayer- his melodicism.. he cares about every note he plays…now I’m not as focused on what I can do but more focused on what I can give to the moment.

 

-what makes an amazing song?

A song is amazing if it’s true, honest, bold, and well crafted.

 

-what’s your theme song?

I would like it to be “overjoyed” but  this week my theme song is “Rock with you.”

-do you have musical nickname

Names are funny things because our parents assign us titles before we are developed beings… with songs and movies we give the title after the creation… with human beings we get names before we have developed… I don’t know if the name I was given portrays who I am. I’m on a quest for a name that represents more who I am now…. Matt Roberts sounds like a computer programmer…

 

-what song were you most likely conceived to?

Well once again there’s the song I’d like to be conceived to… and then there’s the song I was mostly likely conceived to… being that my mom was the music person, mostly likely an Al Green song or an Allman Brothers song…

 

-first concert you ever went to?

Joe Satriani

 

-first album u ever bought

Pearl Jam’s Ten

 

-how can we revolutionize music? 

There’s revolutionizing music and there’s revolutionizing the business of music. With the art form itself just the concept of writing a good song… not just creating something that is “marketable” or just something that will “sell.” There’s a balance between doing things the way you think they should be done and being open to listening to others ideas/perceptions. (I think it’s good to) always take others perceptions into consideration regardless if you take heed to their advice… It would be interesting if music stopped for a year… no one in the world would hear/play/create any music for a whole year- and then we write… and see what comes out… if we could step away from what we’re doing and go to the beach and meditate and listen to the ocean and fall in love and then write music again…. Also, revolutionizing radio, having radio that is more connected to the people – where people could give suggestions of indie bands that they love and the radio station could filter what is hip and new and play those songs…

 

-indie or major (what’s the way to go?)

a good deal is a good deal a bad deal is a bad deal…

 

-what inspires you musically?

Love, nature, sex, food, different surroundings…

 

-what can an artist do (that you’re backing) to make your job easy and fun?

Listening to the bands ideas, to be willing to take criticism, sometimes major artists can feel that they are above the band… the artist needs to trust their band… and if you make it “big” don’t take extra luxuries (better hotel room, better bus)… live on the same level as the band. Creates respect… obviously the band isn’t getting paid the same as the artist and if they see luxury is going on around them it’s not a good thing. Be humble. Be strong, lead them but be humble.

 

-what’s your favorite song from the album?

“come a little closer”

 

-advice for up and coming guitarists”

Study as many genres as possible, as you discover your strengths harness them…

 

-what do you hope for the show?

I hope that everyone comes out and that we will begin the revolution of music in the world!  

Check out M.U.S.I.C. at http://www.andreebelle.com or http://www.myspace.com/andreebelle!!!!

http://www.myspace.com/mattrobertsguitarist and http://www.myspace.com/mattrobertsgroup

Matt rocking out on the Tonight Show! 

M.U.S.I.C. album release show! Today’s feature: LEO COSTA

For the album release show, I’m featuring each band member during this upcoming show week! It has been so much fun interviewing the M.U.S.I.C. makers and getting deep into their musical heads and hearts! They are all ridiculously talented, intelligent, true artists and I’m honored to make M.U.S.I.C. with them! 

Today’s feature: Leo Costa – drums

Leo is amazing at mixing modern drumming with old school concepts. He’s a sensitive player- he intuitively feels what energy, essence, and foundation a song needs.  From Rio, Brazil, Leo attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music and graduated with a Professional Music Degree, he studied performance, arranging, and music synthesis which also lead him to production and programming. With dexterity ranging from funky, gritty grooves to the complex feel of samba, jazz, and literally everything in between, Leo Costa plays with an authentic, inspired, and soulful intelligence. Leo added his incredible musical feel on Moments, Abuela, When You’re Away, and Rabo de Galo on M.U.S.I.C. Get to know my favorite batera

-what’s your 1^st musical memory?

Listening to my dad’s Stevie Wonder and Jimmy Cliff records and my mom’s Beatles records.

 

-what’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened while you are on stage?

At a gig one time some dude kept asking if my cajon was electric! Then he starts trying to play it while I’m playing it- in the middle of the set. I had to use one hand to push him away while continuing to play the cajon with the other hand! Another time during a jazz gig, during the middle of a beautiful ballad, the singer fell HARD from the stool and from the floor she tells the band to keep playing (as if nothing had happened)…

 

-what’s your ultimate dream in music?

I don’t have an ultimate dream… I just want to keep evolving in music, keep developing…

 

-if you weren’t doing music what would you be doing?

There is nothing else.

-most influential artists to you and why?

Bob Marley, to me is the spokesperson of the 3^rd world… he changed my perception on music, politics, life… ‘War,’ ‘Get Up Stand Up,’ ‘Could you be Love’ are some of my favorite songs…. Michael Jackson is a genius in complex simplicity (note: this interview was done 2 days before Michael’s death)…and Billy Cobham, a drummer from Panama, made me realize that this is what I wanted to do at 12 or 13…Also, Djavan for his songwriting, the rhythms in his music, his technique playing and singing…He’s the only artist I’ve been star struck by (other than Prince).

 

-what makes an amazing song?

What makes a good song to me is constantly changing… lyrics, the artist portraying feeling and a message to the listener, a song that makes people move, makes people feel… especially with my instrument I want to do that (make them feel)…

 

-what’s your theme song?

My theme song is the same song in different modes.

 

-do you have musical nickname?

Batera, slang for drummer in Brasil.

 

-what song were you most likely conceived to?

Probably some bossa nova song.

 

-first concert you ever went to?

Beastie Boys.

 

-first album u ever bought?

Faith No More’s Epic

 

-how can we revolutionize music? 

Start by bringing LIVE instruments back and also revolutionizing radio- putting real songs on the radio- not catch phrases.

 

-indie or major (what’s the way to go?)

Indie with major distribution.

 

-what inspires you musically?

When people speak through their music passionately and honestly.

 

-what can an artist do (that you’re backing) to make your job easy and fun?

Give love and respect to their musician’s time and craft… you get what you give with your band (and with your audience)…

 

-what’s your favorite song from the album?

“Discombobulator” and “Te Necesito”

 

-advice for up and coming drummers?

Practice hard and run your race.

 

-what do you hope for the show?

For us to kill it, that everyone digs it… I hope it’s a party and that everyone has fun.

Listen to M.U.S.I.C. at http://www.myspace.com/andreebelle or http://www.andreebelle.com

http://www.myspace.com/leocostamusic