Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Year 12

voiced concerns

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Last night at about 9:10pm I lost my voice. I have yet to locate it this morning.

I’ve learned that discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to rehearsing while under the weather. It happens to everyone, and it can feel good to make some music when you feel run down, but better to have your voice for a performance than blow it showing off at rehearsal.

Except, we were rehearsing “Better.” It’s nowhere near the highest or most-difficult vocal I’ve written for myself, but it has an obscene degree of difficulty for me when fronting the whole band. Lots of words. Lots of quick melodic jumps. And then there are the Bs – I have to hit three of them dead on during each chorus to support our new three part harmony – 12 in total. Due to where that note falls in my range, I tend to both be flat and push too hard. (Contradictory, I know).

Anyhow, last night by 9:10pm I had maybe noticed some chinks in my voice when I had no falsetto to switch to in “Dumbest Thing I Could Do,” but on the whole I thought I had been relatively cautious. Then came the final “Better” of the night. Verse one went fine, but in the chorus the Bs were murder. Verse two was raspy and kindof hot sounding, but the second chorus pushed my voice to the brink. I was barely getting on top of the Bs, and it was a Herculean effort to sustain them and keep them nice and sharp.

Afterwards, in the bridge, my voice was barely there, even with my face pressed right up against the microphone, absorbing tiny electric shocks. By the time we reached the third one I was kindof just emceeing the song. “Cause we were so!” I would bark, and then Gina and Jake would chime in harmoniously, “high!” Then, I would call “and I?” and they would respond like an elite military corps, “tried!”

By the time we crossed the finish line, my voice had completely disappeared. These things have been known to correct themselves overnight, but I awoke this morning with not even the barest squeak in my throat – and it even hurt to do that.

No talking for me today, or really over the weekend as a whole. Hopefully I get some semblance of it back by Tuesday for our spotlight at Studio Luloo.

Even if I do, I think I might stay away from “Better.”

#MusicMonday: “Sorry I’m An Asshole” – Sunshine Superman

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In the past year or so the frequency with which I receive pitch emails has risen.

I’m sure that’s not some sign of my rising status as a blogger (as if), but more the general trend of people realizing blogs can help spread the word about the thing they’ve been toiling to produce.

A lot of the music pitches whiz by unnoticed, because they’re asking me to do something I don’t have time for – read up on some obscure artist, or come to a show with just a few days (or hours) notice.

The pitch I got from reader Lewen on behalf of local band Sunshine Superman was different:

I’m a long time reader/supporter of your blog and thought that you might like to check out a band I work with.

Here’s a video of ours that has been well received and gotten tons of views … I’ll keep this brief as I’m sure you get tons of emails.

Pretty simple: a person who claims to be a steady reader wants me to watch a video. I can do that. You can too – here’s their hyper-catchy, DIY-recorded, track, “Sorry I’m An Asshole.”

I am so freaking in love with this song! It appropriates a Ronnettes handclap rhythm, strips it of the wall of sound, and tops it with a slightly icy sing-song vocal that immediately made me think of Sia (aided by the up-close shots in the video, which are similar to her “Buttons”).

It’s not just the song that’s awesome. Let’s talk about all the awesome in this pitch: [Read more…] about #MusicMonday: “Sorry I’m An Asshole” – Sunshine Superman

A Moment of Krisis

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Watch as I answer one of my friend’s recent Facebook Poll queries: “Is pure altruism real? Do people ever do anything out of concern for others that is completely independent of their own self-interest?”

I know my examples of altruism aren’t exactly the work of Mother Theresa, but my point still stands – I think even when we do the best possible thing for someone else we get something for ourselves, even if it’s just a bit of satisfaction.

Do you agree? Can you think of something altruistic that you do totally free of any psychological reward for yourself?

What are brands to you?

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Let’s conduct an experiment. There are no right or wrong answers.

Below are five consumer brand logos, and I want you to just shout out the first word that comes to mind other than the name of the brand.

(Don’t worry if other people are around, they certainly won’t think you are weird.)

(Well, I guess that depends on what you shout.)

Ready?

Got your words? Don’t forget them.

This is a common exercise to run with focus groups, or in training around brand identities.

The last few times I’ve done it, the majority of people have responded to each consumer logo with a noun. It might be the brand’s most prominent product, sphere of influence, or figurehead. McDonald’s gets “fries, burgers, fast food, toys, grease.” Apple gets “iPhone” but also “music” and “Steve Jobs”.

Still remember your words? Say them again. How many are nouns?

Not all brands get nouns every time. Brands spend significant time aligning itself with a particular adjective or phrase. In my session this week, the word cloud for Mercedes was almost entirely “luxury” or synonyms. No one has said “cars.”

(Also, brands in a crisis will get the word associated with their crisis, even if it’s not brand relevant. Right now Johnson and Johnson’s logo might elicit “cancer;” banks logos might get “occupy” or “1%.”)

Say your words again. How many of your words weren’t nouns?

I have discovered that I never, ever respond with nouns. It’s not like I’m trying to be contrary. Nouns never pop into my head. My words for the logos above were: healthy, unavoidable, wasteful, killer, and cohesive. In effect, my associations with brands are about perception, not products or people.

I suspect some crowds are more predisposed to give perception answers over the product answers. I’m sure there are studies to explain it.

For the moment, I’m only interested in you. What were your words?

Before you leave a comment, I have one final brand for you to shout out a word for:

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