My mother always called me "born singer".  She said I started humming tunes as a toddler and wouldn't stop however much she begged me not to keep humming.  But that I soon started babbling children's songs I learned from my older siblings. When I started school, the Mother-General picked on my singing habit and geared me towards music education.  I was a child chorister from primary school till I finished secondary school. I was dubbed "naturally talented singer" by  the different school music teachers and church choirmasters from whose tutelage I benefited. Due to my singing habit, I have since been variously called "Voice"- fellow undergraduates who insisted I should have come into the university to study music instead;  "You should be in the opera." - by fellow parishioners where I sang in the choir.  I have been commended by my parish visiting Bishop for my duet with the choir Tenor.

I wrote my first song in my late teens when I decided to pen my yearnings for my then boyfriend who was away at the war front.  As he owned and played a guitar,  my plan was for us to sing and guitar-play my song on his return. For me , singing is innate.  I have this habit of always belting out songs regardless of where I am, so long the environment is conducive. I don't know what I would do in this life if I am not a habitual singer. It's always there with me through high and low, and just comes off me subconsciously. It transcends me; and I enjoy the fact that I sing.

By 2010, following years of nagging feelings and consistent deliberations about it, I had come to the conviction that I would take my God gifted habit into the music industry. I finished off my autobiography and started writing a song.  Then I was developing the melody.  I booked an appointment with a London veteran Vocal Coach.  On listening to me sing my song, he insisted I did not need a vocal coach, he did me a soundtrack and encouraged me to take the sheet to a Producer .  At the session in December 2010, the Producer repeatedly said to me: "You are an excellent singer". Before I left, he added:" You have what it takes to be in the industry, there's no going back now. Just get on with it and take these to them and get them to have a listen ."  And he handed me my debut score CD.  By the end of December 2011, I released my debut album "Music Trail" . It's available on Amazon.com and Itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/music-trail/id484693771

I have since started pitching the tracks and doing my PR as an unsigned indie. Hard work ; but I'm a workaholic. Two months ago I started applying for gigs. I'm hoping to get a response. In my naivety, as well as much concentration on rehearsals, pitching and PR, I was unaware of the importance of playing at Festivals let alone that they are highly time sensitive. I paid for the London Auditions in February only to be informed, much to my chagrin, that I have missed the 2012 ones.  I am looking to see if I would get one outside London. As a good performer I can't wait to get on the stage.  I also just hope an MIP likes any of my songs enough to take me on for Management, Label and /or  Publishing. 

Curtiz's love for music started as a teen back in his home country of South Africa in a beautiful city called Cape Town. His first very first hardware setup consisted of 2 antiquated cassette players which he would pause and un-pause until he got the beats to match. "Seeing the look on peoples faces when you play that certain track or when that beat drops after a huge build up and raises the hair on the back of your neck, thats why I love music, when a track moves you this much you just know you need to be more involved somehow. Music has so many avenues and has become so much easier for anyone to get started really, thats the beauty of the internet, its cold and hard but it can adore you as well. Take a look at YouTube and how it has changed the music scene for up and comers. Who would of thought that 5 years ago all it was good for was cat video's but now it's where everyone goes to preview that new track that everyone is talking about"

He really found his style once he moved to the States and made friends with some key people in the industry. Mixing soon led to light producing which now takes up most of his time however you will still find him dropping a mix every now and then just to keep those deck skills fresh.

"DJ'ing is not a hobby" says Curtiz "its a profession that you can have one hell of a fun time doing whilst paying the bills. If you do not respect your time, listeners can tell and they will call you out. They can tell if you put the effort into that set, that mix or track and if its not "there" they will give you a hard pass next time around.

A few tips:
1) Hardware (don't buy shit and don't practice on shit) Your bad habits will follow you when you do finally play on good equipment. There is usually a reason why DJ equipment costs more, do your research, Google is your friend.
2) Time - Practice practice practice practice and when you are done, practice some more) Start on your family, friends and get used to being the center of attention. Remember you don't get do-overs when you are live so treat these sessions as if they are the real thing!
3) Connect (websites, web-shows, concerts, friends) Don't wait for the music to come to you, visit your fav artists website as most of the time you will be able to preview what they are working on. Visit online music vendors such as Beatport and SoundCloud and sample their top 10's as they are two of the best music sites out there for discovering whats hot.
4) Experiment with other artists and genres, don't be narrow minded or your style will grow old and stale, thus loosing the attention of your listeners. 

A few very basic tips but ones I still follow to this very day!

Have fun out there!
DJC

This SoundCloud account was created to showcase student compositions using the iPad.  Visit our website to find out more about the performing arts department at Great Neck South High School.

A symphonic blend of haunting melodies and orchestration which combines instrumental textures and amazing vocals.

Tri State Killing Spree
PXC (Windraven Records)
Review By: Sonya Brown (Inmusicwetrust)

My first introduction to Tri State Killing Spree was in the form of their stage show, which prompted me to pick up a copy of their EP. Since that time, I have followed this band closely, as I was very impressed with not only their stage presence, but their sensual sound as well. I was extremely pleased to receive one of the first copies of their just-released CD, which also contains re-mixes of 3 of the tracks from the EP.
Tri-State Killing Spree hails from Seattle, and consists of Sean Sonnet, Vocals, Bass & Keys; Jyri Glynn, Violin, Baritone Violin; Matt Bayne, Guitars, Bass; and their newest member, Thomas Atwell IV, Guitars. This CD also contains absolutely wonderful graphics which were created by David Kadzielewski (who is also responsible for the incredible design of the website which is located at www.tristatekillingspree.com).

This CD is actually titled "Happy, Death, Heaven", but don't expect to find the title printed on the CD jacket. Instead, the title is illustrated in runic symbols. Three Symbols appear on the cover (P, X & C). Each rune symbolizes basically the three words: P= Happiness, Comfort, etc.; X = Death, and C = afterlife. Jyri explains that the goal was in capturing the rustic mysticism of feeling.

As with most of Tri-State's material, each track seems to tell a story of sorrow and beauty, splendidly wrapped within dark melodies. The first track on this CD is "Chance", which is a song with respect to the current hypocracy of organized religion.

The second track is actually an instrumental prelude to "Time After Time", which is numbered as a separate track, though not named as such on the CD. "Time After Time" was previously released on their EP as "Second Hand of Time". This caused some confusion, as I did not realize that this was the same track until I listened to them both back to back. Jyri explained the instrumental prelude, and why it is numbered as a separate track. "Track #2 is technically the prelude into Time after Time", says Jyri, "it was put on the album as two different tracks so that it would continue to be radio-playable," "radio stations will not play a song with a two minute intro."

The poetry within this CD comes from the mind of Sean Sonnet, the vocalist, and his words are compelling and thought provoking. I found the title of this cd recurring in the track "My Socrates", where Sean writes "so we shimmer in the shame of gods ethereal rain, canting happy death heaven errie blissful and vain". I was delighted that the band included the printed lyrics with this CD, and I asked Sean about some of the meanings behind his words.

One of my favorite tracks is "Toy Matinee", which I'm told was actually a last minute addition to this CD. Sean was 5 years old when his aunt gave him a marionette from Tijuana. He explains, "the thing was eloquently evil, it sat with its strings in the air on top of an old chair contemplating dinner. When I got older, I grew the courage to bury his ass in my grandfathers back yard. Evil thing!" This song brings to mind all of those creepy things that lurk in your closet and under your bed, and I for one have ALWAYS loathed clowns! Perhaps that is why I picked this track as my personal favorite, but I also loved the violin work in this song.

Sean explains that "Sometimes Silver" is a song of a girl that had been missing. She was found dead, hidden in leaves, under the rain. Sean heard the news on the radio, and heard the girls mother in total despair. She uttered something about the rain, it was her childs silvery hands, she felt comfort in the rain. "Sometimes Silver" brings forth very powerful emotions of pain and loss.

The last track on PXC is "Antartica". Sean feels that Antartica is "an orchestral omen," "a song about desolation, empty wishes, empty hands." "Antartica is a place inside us that keeps us from feeling alive, it becomes our darkest secrets and stores our pain".

As I write this review, "Happy, Death, Heaven" is playing softly in the background. This CD brings a calming presence, and an overture to immersed thoughts and feelings, drawing from the darkest pools of the soul..... a place we all need to visit from time to time.


Be accountable. Another word for accountable is responsible. Be in charge of your results and your destiny. If you can't trust yourself to do this, then you need to have a trusted friend or hire a coach. This is the part where the rubber meets the road. If you aren't taking your steps, why? When we tell others our goals, we almost always follow through. It's key to not try this on your own. I recommend getting a notebook for you to track your actions and the results. If you say you are going to drink 6 glasses of water a day (remember to be specific), how do you know that you did it? Write it down; record it in a log sheet. Keep yourself on target with useful tools like logs, plus they make it fun to report to your accountability partner.

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Can read a spray chart and a balance sheet. 1 part Executive, 1 part entrepreneur, 2 parts
geek and 3 parts baseball coach. Too many parts?

Can read a spray chart and a balance sheet. 1 part Executve, 
1 part entrepreneur, 2 parts geek and 3 parts baseball coach.
Too many parts?

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