Day 13 – Wednesday 21st April
Ah today was awesome! So much to pack in before the gig tonight! We get up at the crack of dawn. Over porridge and tea Dan suggests a new song for me to sing (on the day of the gig), and I think why not!! So we rehearse it over breakfast!
Then we head out of town to meet with a band called Criticnue, www.myspace/criticnue.com I met Heath, the lead singer in California over summer of 09. Heaths soothing dynamic voice stopped me in my tracks that summer and now I want to hear more. So I thought I would be cool to catch up with him again and see how he’s getting on.
I interview both Heath and Robbie guitarist/producer in their private studio in the middle of the tall Valley grasses. It was really fun to see them again 
we talk in length about their music, life and views, then they play me some songs. It was AMAZING!!! Heath’s voice touches ones soul with a gentle whisper.
(we will have more about these guys in the doc)
Atascadero 
is such a laid back country town. It is so nice to get away from the buzz of L.A. for a few days and be around poetic soulful people, San Luis and the surrounding areas are full of some of the most talented musicians I’ve ever met. There is a feeling of good vibes rustling in the trees, paving the streets and the bars.
Before we leave I mention to Heath and Robbie about the the gig tonight at the Frog, Robbie said he was down for learning one of my songs to help out!! Wicked!! More backing for the gig!
I return home (buying some honey on the way back, panicking because my voice is sore from picking up Dan’s cold), practice for a few hours on my own, warming my voice up, and then we’re off!!!!! ahhhhhh…..
We get to the frog and Peach, go practice for the first time with Justin and Robbie in the Garden, then a bunch of people arrive to give their support!! I feel so lucky 
this is my first gig in the US!!! Justin and Robbie add their own twist to the songs, I couldn’t stop smiling. They both provided great backing and I wished I could take them everywhere with me!
The gig is a success, I sing “Frog and Peach” “White Flag” “Glass Of Milk” and Dan’s suggestion of “Everybody’s Changing” by Keane- Cool vibe, people are content to watch and listen and they give me a huge howl at the end (true American style).
After the set, we catch up, have a few beers. Justin has a laid back interview with me about his talents, views, music and his album called “Grimes” (it’s pretty cool you should check it out) myspace.com/contactpakes – then we all had a little shake and boogie to some bouncy reggae!!! LOVE IT!!!!
THANKS GUYS AND LADIES XXXX
Day 12 – Tuesday 20th April
Today is catch up day!! Dan was feeling pretty ill so it seemed best to get cracking on emails, blogs and Facebook! Firstly, before work started, I wanted to go for a drive on my own to pick up some chicken soup for Dan and sing as loudly as my lungs would allow me to warm my voice for tomorrow!
Pelting it down the road, I drop by a wine tasting show room as I thought it might be quite nice idea to have a wine tasting evening whilst in wine country, plus music and wine go hand in hand up here, so why not capture it! There is usually music in the park at the weekends, people sit in the sun with their friends and family’s, bouncing to the free flowing music whilst sipping on velvet wine. Yummy!
The lady at the shop was so friendly and helpful and gave me a selection of brochures on where to go to find both music and wine. Unfortunately it all seemed to be at the weekend and I knew I would be in LA by then. Perhaps another time…
So back on the road to find a Trader Joes to buy some home comforts for Dan. After a very overly long convo with the checkout man, I give Marc a call to see if he’s still up for me coming to sing for him in his studio in LA, then back to Helen and Robbie’s to feed the sick.
Ahh the gig that I hoped to have whilst I was in the UK was now only a day away!! I really cannot believe that I’m going to be singing at the Frog, what a funny path this has been for me. SO, right then, I’m a tad nervous about the show, I still haven’t got anyone to play the guitar for me!!!!!
Luckily, I got in touch with Justin; he plays in my boyfriends band SIKO, and lives in San Louis, so i gave him a buzz, he said to swing by after his show in SLO and show him the cord structure. What a great guy!!! I know he’s super busy so I’m feeling a bit guilty for asking him.
Later that evening we head into town in search for him, i get a little lost so i ring my friend Helen and she acts my human satnav….haha…THANKS HELEN!! Her directions quide us to a quirky coffee shop that also sell 100 different types of tea and cake. In the back garden there are the cutest little round tables with bright flowery table cloths, matching my bag. Fairy lights and lanterns, hang from the vines giving plenty of light to shoot with.
After a nice chat, Justin seemed happy enough to play alongside me….BRILLAINT!!! He picks up my songs really quickly, he’s a pro guitar teacher as well, so I trust him- panic over, I have someone to play with tomorrow night! PERFECT!!!!
Day 11 – Monday 19th April
“Frog & Peach” shoot – today we drove to the “Frog & Peach”, I introduced myself to the bartender, Buck, he’s a great guy, he basically said I could shoot in the bar as long as I need to. So me and Dan got to work, we started in the beer garden and worked our way into the bar, it was really fun and i thought it funny that this place was where it all started…like the song says “it started at the Frog & Peach”.
After the shoot we got talking to Buck, he asked me if I would like to play in the Frog on Wednesday night, I figure this is a great opportunity to play a live gig, so I agree to do it, only problem is I don’t have a supporting artist, so I get on the blower to a few friends of my boyfriends. I speak to one cool guy called Justin who agrees to play with me, but we’ll need to rehearse the songs tomorrow night.
After we leave we go via bubblegum alley, an infamous spot in San Luis where the entire walls of the alleyway are covered with… yup, bubblegum, I stock up on supplies and move on, (ill never have to buy bubblegum again).
We drive to Morro bay to film on the beach but Dan notices the camera battery is dead, so we have to head back and find something else to do…haha… Later that night we head to the Park with Robbie, where we try and capture the feeling of a few lines from the song “sit back to back with me and watch as the moon falls by our feet” it’s more of a laugh than a shoot. Robbie tells me, you can get tarantulas and black widows-i decide that clearly all my dreams of moving here are now shattered.
Day 10 – Sunday 18th April
Sunday i go to church with my family friends, afterwards we have a yummy BBQ and a good laugh over soda and root beer…yum yum. We talked about school and our dreams and aspirations, and how they may have changed from when we were young and how we feel now. I feel very blessed to have so many friends here with me.
Dan and i needed to take a day off and take a trip down memory lane. However when we get home we work on the blog and Dan begins to capture some stills from his filming. It was the first time i had seen myself on camera… i’m very happy with how he’s captured me and i was surprised that i didn’t hate my voice on video…i think that’s a very common thing for most people to not like their voice when they hear it on tape, its exciting to finally see some of the footage!!!!!!!!!!!!! yippeeeee!!!!!
Day 9 – Saturday 17th April
Im still buzzing from last nights terrific news! Its a good day, “The sun is shining and the weather is sweet yeah”!!! Dan comes back from the BBQ and we say our goodbyes to my wonderful family friends, they were lovely to put us up for a couple of days at such short notice. Thank you. Today we leave sexy LA for beautiful San Luis Obisbo. We’re heading up north to film the second music promo and to meet with friends. One of my tracks is called the ‘Frog & Peach’, which is the bar where i meet a certain someone… it has sentimental value. Plus, I wanted to come up north to take a chill from the hectic pace of LA, I have family friends up here and I figure this is a good time to write some music and get some practise in before going to sing for Marc.
The drive up was really long, it took us about 5 hours because of heavy traffic. We stop off in this tiny town and do a catch up interview and have a huge American salad that could feed 4 people. I chat with my lovely mummy and daddy…arrr…we haven’t talked since the earth quake a few weeks back whilst i was in San Diego, “the greatest city in the world by the way, it’s a fact. It’s the greatest city in the history of mankind. Discovered by the Germans in 1904. They named it San Diago which of course in German means a whale’s vagina” (according to Ron Burgandy) 
I tell my parents about the demo track, they are very proud of me, Good times. When we arrive in San Luis we do a bit of location scouting, my memory of this place all comes flooding back when I drive down Madonna… this is where it all began… we meet up with my friends Robbie and Helen who have kindly offered to put us up for a few days, I love it here.
Day 8 – Friday 16th April
We awake a bit knackered, perhaps more mentally than anything else, we have a bit of a shaky start. Dan and I go over our plans and work out what we’re doing for the next few days, we’re running low on cash, and we need to interview producers and agents. Dannie, the lady we’re staying with gave me a couple of contacts, firstly, a producer called Marc, he’s worked with loads of rock bands like Slash and Janes Addiction. I call him up and he agrees to meet me later for a quick beer and a chat. In the meantime we have arranged another interview with a producer called Malcolm, he’s a big deal in LA and we’re lucky to get an interview with him at such short notice.
He comes over to the house at midday and we have a really nice chat about the industry by the pool, he’s full of insight and advice. He admires what I’m doing, but reminds me to be realistic! His view is that I need a bigger fan base, to gig more back in the UK, to get a good agent, a good lawyer and generally make a bigger name for myself. We talk about online hits and how numbers of website clicks doesn’t necessarily equate to success, and it’s not about giving away music for free. I’m left a little tired, it’s really interesting to hear an experts opinion, but I think for the first time the gravity of what I’ve set up for myself is hitting home, you don’t just come to LA with no money or manager/connections… or do you?
Later in the evening I met with Marc, in this celeb bar, he takes me there as he thinks it might help me with my documentary. He’s a really cool guy, funny, talented, successful… anyway we get chatting; I tell him about the project, he loves the idea of the documentary. He had listened to my voice before we met and says he thinks my voice is great woohoo! which touches me deeply. We have a long chat about LA, NYC, songs, song writing, production of songs and how to make it in America or in the music industry…we really hit it off. By the end of the meeting he offers me a chance to go into the studio and sing for him next week…wow!! Its an amazing opportunity and a great ending to the day.
Day 7 – Thursday 15th April
Today we finished shooting pick-up shots for the ‘White Flag’ video, this mainly involved me running around L.A. posing with a huge Gramophone. I don’t want to go into too much detail about the gramophone, I’ll leave the meaning behind it a secret for now, you’ll have to wait until the ‘White Flag’ video comes out, besides, I’m tired from explaining it Dan 100 times… After 3 or 4 dress changes on the side of the road and running in zigzags trying to dodge people, Dan gets the perfect visuals and we’re wrapped on the first promo.
We rush back to the house, today we have to move out of the actors place and go to my friends house in West Hollywood, so we pack up all our stuff, and get our clothes ready for the actors showcase that we’ve been invited to this evening. We pack the car with everything we own and take all the props back to the warehouse. Plus I rehurse a few songs to sing in my meeting.
I talk to John on the phone about getting further contacts and meeting with Kateri, I have a confirmed meeting with her in an hour so we have to get there sharpish. I arrive at Kateri house on time, she’s lovely, we have tea and biscuits and chat about people in the music industry. She’s happy to do what she can for me and talks to me about her time in Paris and Manchester, and her husband, who was a big part of the New Wave music scene in L.A. during the 1970s, she gives me valuable insight into how things work here, who to speak to, how to protect myself.
I give her a hug and dash off, we’re running late for the showcase and we still need to move our stuff into the new place and get changed. We arrive, say hello, do a 20min dress change and dash off again! After a bit of a stress we arrive ‘fashionably late’ to the showcase, we’re greeted by our gorgeous actor friends and have a great time watching them perform, I personally feel so proud of their skills as we watched them rehearse and develop over the few days we lived with them, they are great!
Later we mingle, swap business cards with producers and actors, talk with the casting director for the show ‘Lost’ and hang with a few other celebs, then we all head to the after party at a very swish rooftop bar in downtown L.A. Its about as glamorous as you can get, and my first real experience of Hollywood glitz, the beers are $10 … i wished my boyfriend was there. We have a dance and say our goodbyes, we’re sad to leave our new friends, but we have work to do, tomorrow is a busy new day, and we have to sleep.
Day 6 – Wednesday 14th April
This morning we woke early and drove north to meet with a friend of a friend. One of the actors we met along the way knows a guy called James who is an ex Harvard graduate who came to L.A. to become a script writer. Dan thought his story paralleled with mine a little and thought it would be interesting to hear his opinion on ‘chasing the dream’ and ‘making it in LA’. James is a very interesting guy, a true intellectual, he offers some really interesting insight into the whole L.A. way of life, the apparent lure of Hollywood. Despite working in a different medium, there are similarities between his and my aspiration.
Later on we meet with Katie and her team for our interview. I have been looking forward to this for weeks!! Katie and I hit it off straight away!!! she’s so fun and she makes me feel totally at ease despite this being my first interview. We set up in the back-yard and her camera team are super professional, they use reflector boards to give our skin a Hollywood shine! haha Great!! we spend 4 hours!! Firstly I interview Katie, she talks to me about how she got into the music industry and her passion for music. I find strong similarities between her story and mine. Please have a look at her link
http://www.myspace.com/kateswickedradmusic
Once her interview was finished we begin the formal interview for www.SongwritersVantage.com , my first official interview!!! – I’m a little nervous, but Katie gets me going, very soon they can’t shut me up
Day 5 – Tuesday 13th April
‘White Flag’ shoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This has to be one of the most exciting days of my life!!!! I’ve been dreaming of this day for years….but i never thought it would happen, to be in L.A. walking down Hollywood Blvd chatting on camera about this very moment. Wow!!!! this is a short clip from the walk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn3XBdVWT90
We begin by working through our list of locations and abstract shots that we planned over the last few days. We choose our environments based on colours and atmosphere, red brickwork, emerald trees and deep blue sky’s. These ‘artistic’ shots will act as the filler footage for the video.
We want to get some shots of Sunset Blvd and the famous stars on the walk of fame, so we park up and shoot it gorilla style. I bump into a street performer I know through a friend at the house, he’s dresses up as Heath Ledgers joker, we chat for a bit and decide to put his scary face in the video. While we’re talking to him other musicians and street performers appear around us, so we start doing impromptu interviews with rappers and Zorro impersonators. I pose with some of the street performers, holding my guitar in various poses amidst the bustling crowds, strumming along and pretending to sing!
Then we have a date at the flower shop…it’s crucial we get this shot done in a matter of seconds, if we get caught by the manager I’ll have to pay a fine! A few days ago I chatted to the shop assistant, she told me if we shot it quickly she’d help us out. I walk into the shop and see her there, I give her a wink and she brings me the flowers, I ask if the boss is around, she smiles and say “yes he is over to your left”. I ask her to wrap the flowers up in raffia, then I turn and make my way for the door, breezing past Dan with the camera, he gets the shot and we jump in the car and drive off!!! We got it!!!
We then move down Santa Monica Blv towards the beach to film the scene with the White Flag. Being the only driver on this trip, I drive through the chaotic roads whist reapplying make-up and singing into the camera with my Ipod on my lap. Haha… ladies, multi tasking is definitely one of our gifts!!
A bit later I chat with Katie on the phone in the car-park and we work out a time to meet for our interview, she says that her producer wants to interview me too!!! So I am over the moon with that, this will give me some useful publicity.
Dan captures the last sequence of shots of me playing in the sea with my dress. We then go to ‘Bubber Shrimp’ and film the sunset. What a day…
Day – 4 Monday 12th April
Prop hunting!!!!!! Yippeeeee!!!! We decide today is the day we must produce ‘White Flag’ (my first music promo). This requires finding locations, getting props and planning the schedule for the shoot. We have a very limited budget and I have no experience in this area, so we must be smart. One of the items on the list is a Gramophone, something I truly feel I need. Dan and I have a long discussion about it, he tries to talk me out of spending 120 bucks on it, but I talk him into going to a prop house in West Hollywood to at least check it out. My heart is set on this; I must have this crazy prop!
The prop house is amazing…more than amazing!!!! Dan and I meet a really nice guy called Sage who happily shows us around the building. It has every kind of prop you can imagine, catering for major studio films like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, Dreams girls etc, providing props for Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Slash, No Doubt, Christine Aguirela, the list goes on….. it’s huge. I run around like a kid in a sweet shop. Sage is the dude!! He has so many contacts for us!! Brilliant!
Eventually I find a great Gramophone, and Sage gives us a good price, so I pay 85 bucks for it. Dan admitted this was a good deal seeing as though we could go back anytime to film other stuff, I see this as a small victory! I am feeling a little worried though, I have to put a deposit down, and if we break the Gramophone I’ll have to pay $2000, so I’m terrified to take it out of its box. Haha….
Also on the list is the white flag, which I blag for cheap from an Italian man in a cool fabric shop. I also need flowers, and I find a great shop in off Fair Fax West Hollywood that sells every type of flower you can imagine, they too give me a good deal after I explain what I am doing.
By the end of the day I have all the props, although simple, I feel that they will give a big impact. We make a list of all the shots we need, Dan pitches an idea that requires his mate to be bound half-naked in the boot of my car, (I did not see eye to eye) after a long discussion we decide not to go for it. Phew. The video must reflect my pure meanings behind it and a guy in the boot was a bit too much of a dark twist. Dan and I will start the shoot tomorrow, in the hustle and bustle of the central crazyville of Hollywood! Go go go!!
