Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Marcie Webisode 2: Your Trance Show

I'd like to present the second in my series of Webisodes. This time, I collected questions from fans and answered them onscreen. Thanks to everyone for writing in! If I didn't get to your question in the video, then please read below. I am posting some more questions and answers here in my blog.



Questions in webisode from:

Zahira Kharsany from South Africa
Katerina Tsambis from Canada
Fabian Sunset from France
Little Timmy
&
Birdman


More Questions and Answers:

Ariel-Fors Klein, Detroit, USA:
"How long does it typically take her to write lyrics - & can I stay with you the next time I'm in Boston?"

Some of my lyrics have been written in just a few moments. They appear almost like a flash in my mind. But a full song never really works that way. I usually spend awhile trying to figure out what I'm trying to say, and the truest way to say it. Then I have to spend time making sure the lyrics and melody marry each other. Some of my lyrics come from writing as stream of conscious or journalling. This is a way I can figure out my emotions. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few months to write a lyric I feel is complete.

Let me know next time you're in Boston. We can at least meet up for coffee. Maybe you can do a guest appearance on a future webisode! :)

Wally Ragaey - Egypt
Favorite producer to have worked with and why?

I've worked with a lot of different producers, and each experience has been unique. Some of the work relationships are very serious, and our only communication is solely music related, and sometimes there's a lot more casual conversation involved. Timothy Allan and Damien S are always fun to work with because they both make me laugh so much. Steve Birch is very kind and reliable, David Akermanis is creative and also quite funny.....I could go on and on. Sometimes producers and I don't have that much fun writing a song, but that's just because the work is hard and we're really pushing each other. That is still a great experience. Songwriting can be very hard work. I don't have a favorite, I'm just grateful that I've had so many nice and fun experiences with my collaborators.



Eleni Tramas - Australia
What is your greatest achievement to date and what determines great success?

I think my greatest achievements occur when I feel I am fully living in the moment. This pertains to both day to day life and in my musical life. Any activity or relationship I approach from a distracted mindset is one that is short changed. I don't want to participate in life half heartedly, but it can be quite difficult to live and participate in life without falling prey to soul harming distraction. There's not enough time to do everything, and thus if I don't believe what I'm currently doing is significant, I will feel I'm living a wasted life. I feel successful those times when I find the balance between doing what I want to do, and wanting to do what I have to do.



Ilana Harkavy - Usa
What qualities do you feel make a strong singer/song writer ?

Honesty, a willingness to take risks, loyalty to oneself, openness to experience, the work of others, and to the ideas of collaborators. It's important to keep one's ego in check, and to have a willingness to make mistakes even if they are in public.

Sandy Viola from Alabama:
How did you know you wanted to sing trance music?

Well, a lot of you probably don't know this, but i was born on a little fluffy cloud. After I fell 'out of the sky', i was Lost for awhile. Fortunately I kept going in Forward Motion, and made my way to a city, and I said so, 'this is miami'. There I spent many nights with a man on the run. Somehow these days live on In My memory. No one can Take it All Away.


Naeem Shaboddin - South Africa
If you were to give me a DJ alias , what would it be ?

I have a DJ alias. It's 'Clay DJ Guy'. hehe. He's my clay alter ego. He actually just got back from his victory party. He was awarded the #1 Clay DJ spot this year.




Thanks again to everyone who has been sending questions! Please keep them coming, as I'm happy to keep chatting with you!

You too, Birdman!! ;)

All my best,

Marcie

Friday, December 4, 2009

Want History of House? Talk to MsDD!

I recently had the honor of meeting DJ MsDD, a long time music journalist with a resume that blows my mind. MsDD has been covering House music since its beginnings, and is a walking encyclopedia of the how and why house music is what it is today. Talking to MsDD is a lot of fun! Experts like MsDD are an incredible resource of house music history. I feel up and coming Artists can benefit greatly from a fuller understanding of what has come before us in the dance music scene.



Some points in her resume that stand out most to me:

-MsDD has interviewed many music icons, including Donna Summer, Parliament Funkadelic, and Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire. Her writings have appeared in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, and The Boston Phoenix.
-In 1991, MsDD wrote a GUIDE TO THE 800 BEST DISCO TRACKS, which was published as part of the ALL MUSIC GUIDE...



-MsDD invented the term, "Turntable Jazz". I LOVE this idea! She says she invented it because,

"...turntable improvisation was no different from jazz improvisation on any instrument; nor was the music produced from these improvisations anything but jazz: the real thing. I still think so. I was brought up on jazz when it was every note a dance music, and a jazz-head I still am".

Nowadays you can get MsDD's musings a few different ways. She has a Music & Discussion Webcast, titled "THE TRANNY-SPHERE," hosted at www.thephoenix.com. She also has a "Gods of House" series where she is posting classic clips of historically important House DJ performances:

For example, check what she says about this video:

"Anybody who doubts that house has deep jazz roots should find enlightenment in this excellent 6 minute vid of legendary North Jersey DJ TONY HUMPHRIES spinnin' the swing, the changes, the rhythm, the quick-cuts, and the pizzazz at a club in Italy."



Find MsDD online at
http://www.myspace.com/djmsdd
http://www.facebook.com/DJ.MsDD

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

We have a choice....


Today sees the release of a track I wrote nearly a year ago. It's called "Choice". I wrote it at a time when I was walking around with a dark cloud over my head. I was angry with people. I was angry with life. I felt poisoned by resentments I was carrying around inside of me.

Writing and listening to music is often therapeutic for people. Writing this track helped me to realize I had a choice about my feelings. I couldn't change what had happened that made me angry, but I could change how I felt about it, and how my feelings affected me. That much was theoretically under my control. But I still needed help. I didn't want to walk around angry anymore, but my pain was real, life is often not fair, and I couldn't just imagine that away instantaneously.



It's not easy to change our attitudes. Choosing to change our feelings means taking on a huge challenge. Even if the long term goal is to feel better, going through a change can still feel more painful than staying the same. I admire anyone who has the strength to do this. I don't always have the strength for this task, and I know it's hard to do it alone.

This is where I often turn to music. I think music can help our moods because it gets under our skin, and re-programs our subconscious. Trance Music can be meditational, and meditating can change our habitual way of functioning. I found singing this track to be soothing...I chose to use a soft tone and I kept repeating the line 'we have a choice'. When I started the song, I had an idea that seemed hard to believe in, but one that I thought I could trust in after some time and convincing. I focused on the ideal, and found a way to convince myself to put faith in it.

Repetition leads to convincing. Singing the line over and over helped me to trust it, and when I was done writing the track, I felt I was on the mend. It wasn't a cure-all. I still get sad and angry. I don't live in a bubble of non-stop happiness. But when I'm upset, I feel like I have more coping strategies than I used to. I still repeat the words of this song to myself when I feel life is bringing me down, or that a bitterness is 'stealing my smile'.

I hope you will like the track. There are three gorgeous arrangements by very talented producers, and each interprets the words differently.

If you are feeling hurt or angry, I hope it will help you find some inner peace again.

CHOICE:

If it's bringing you down

Sometimes we hold on too long
Sometimes we cling to things that really are hurtful
Sometimes we don't see what's obvious
Sometimes we don't know we have a choice
oh, we have a choice
we have a choice

sometimes a bitterness will steal our smiles
and sometimes life just isn't fair
and though we might want to hurt the ones who are hurting us
it's true regret is hard to bear
we have a choice

Sunday, November 8, 2009

#1 DJ Victory Party: (Photo Story)

I had the honor this weekend to attend the victory party for the world's #1 greatest DJ.



Clay DJ Guy, that is....




CONGRATS TO CLAY DJ GUY!!! HE'S #1!!! (Thanks for your votes!)



I was really excited to read this exclusive interview! Read it bigger here:





Here are some of the other cool partygoers I saw!

The Opening Band:




In the alley outside the club after Clay DJ Guy's set:



They claimed they were on the guest list:



Check out Clay DJ on Beatport!


Sunday, October 25, 2009


Autumn is my favorite time of year in Boston. New England is beautiful when the leaves are changing colors. I love to go outside and stand under a brightly colored tree, lean way back, and look up through the tree branches. Especially at night, when the street light is illuminating the leaves. These are some trees in my neighborhood:



I went Apple Picking this weekend. It's a traditional New England Autumn activity. The orchards around Boston are full of all sorts of apples. They sell empty bags at a fixed price, and then you wander the orchards, and fill up the bag with apples to take home. You can taste test a bit too while walking around. My friend and I had fun comparing all the different types of apples. Some are sweet and juicy, some are tart, and some are mild with a grainy texture.

A lot of the apples had already fallen off the trees, and were piled up on the ground all over the orchard. Many had rolled down a hill into a pond, and I took a cool photo of apples floating amongst lily pads. I'd never seen that before:


So now I have a bag of apples to eat my way through. Tonight I made an apple pie. The crust was the hardest part to make properly, but it came out delicious. It's a traditional New England Autumn food. If you are interested in trying to bake one, there is a good recipe here: http://www.myhomecooking.net/apple-pie/


But in the meantime, I'll happily share a piece with you right here! Enjoy! :)

Monday, October 19, 2009



Behind The Lyrics of my track with Damien.S called, "Love Letters":

An Idea is Born:

I had the idea for "Love Letters" when I read about a devastating forest fire that started when a woman burned a love letter in a small fire pit. I didn't know more details about the story, and I wondered why the woman would have burned that letter.

I figured maybe it was a letter from an ex lover, and if so, she probably just intended it to vanish into the flames, so she could symbolize that she had moved on from her heartache. But then the fire rapidly moved through an entire forest and became international news.

I imagined that the smoke in the fire was a sign of the intensity of that love she was trying to burn away; like a smoke signal she was sending out to the world.

There's much power in the written word, and people put so much emotion into letters and emails. We're always trying to figure out ways to communicate with each other, and figure out what our own hearts are telling us. In this particular case, the forest fire was an extremely unfortunate, but fantastical symbol of a love that burns out of control, consuming everything in its path.

****************
Time and Place:

I wrote "Love Letters" on a trip to Athens Greece. I was visiting in January, which isn't peak tourist season, and the streets were pretty empty. Without a lot of people around me wearing modern clothes to place me in modern times, I could let my imagination run away, and feel as if I might possibly be walking around in ancient Greece.

I imagine that people have always had the same longings, fears, and needs for attachment over the eons. I bet, for example, that even in Ancient Greece, women found themselves wanting someone that they knew they shouldn't, and suffering the consequences for it.

******************
Line by Line:

The lyrics in "Love Letters" feel quite dense to me. Every line is full of layers of feeling, and I'm sure the song speaks differently to each listener. I don't want to break it down line by line because I want to leave the song to the listener's imagination, but I will speak a bit about a few of the lines.

"Sleeping alone in separate rooms, praying for courage to crawl back to you"

Who hasn't had a fight with their lover where both people decide to sleep separately, and then lay awake wishing they could mend the damage caused by the argument?

"Lost in the fog of the oracles breath, a whispered prediction of time I have left"

I like to imagine my future being prophesized in the foggy breath of an oracle. Is that prediction valid or is it as flimsy as a whisp of smoke that goes where the wind blows it? Or is it strong enough of a breath to blow out a fire?

"Starved for attention, a lover's affection, just a passing glance"

I think everyone is hungry for love and acceptance, and we fill our need for that in many ways. Sometimes we do crazy things for attention.

Lastly, I'll give you the definition of 'Effigy':
1. a representation or image, esp. sculptured, as on a monument.
2. a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule.


***************************

Damien.S feat Marcie Joy- Love Letters
(Infrasonic Recordings):

The crystal balls spinning in the card house tonight
Love letters burn smoke signals take flight
We’re sleeping alone in separate rooms
I’m praying for courage to crawl back to you

I’m lost in the fog of the oracle’s breath
A whispered prediction of time I have left
Our egos are dancing around the flame
Wild eyed effigies passing the blame

We’re speaking in code and we’re walking the line
And we are forever falling behind
Starved for attention, a lovers affection
Just a passing glance

Your honesty’s too much, to digest in all one night
So please excuse me while I wash it down with a glass of cheap wine
See, I’m in love with shadows, cast upon a void
And I’m indebted to a wanted man who set out to destroy

********************

Thank you!

Marcie

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Honkfest

This weekend I took a break from EDM, and attended a street festival called, "Honkfest. At first, when my friend invited me to go, I was sure he said we were going to 'Punkfest'. So I was surprised to show up and find a festival of radical and activist marching bands! There was also a hoop troupe, puppeteers, visual artists, and organizations that promote transportation alternatives and environmental and social justice, such as Bikes Not Bombs.

My favorite group at the festival was the "What Cheer Brigade", (www.whatcheerbrigade.com). They mixed up fun, danceable party music with a hardcore edgy appearance. I don't condone smoking, but I had to laugh when I saw that the trombone player was actually smoking a cigarette in between playing his horn!

"


It was a great community event, with people of all ages dancing in the streets to a music style we don't get to hear live very often. As an Artist, who spends much of my time listening to music produced electronically, it was refreshing to hear music made without any electricity at all.

It was nice also to see people of all ages sharing a joint outdoor music festival. The weather was gorgeous, and the smell of autumn was in the air.

In any case, Honk Bands aren't my favorite music style, but I enjoyed seeing talented people make music in a way I've not seen before. I don't think the music would have come across as well without the visual of seeing the instruments played live. It was the musicians visual enthusiasm that really made an impact on me. Sometimes I forget how important music has always been to fostering community spirit and connectivity.

I wish I had seen bands like that when I was growing up. As a kid, I never realized the tuba could be played while wearing a silly costume, and dancing around the streets! Maybe I would have been inspired to play a horn instrument as well as singing!