Keep it at a whisper...

     Oh my!  I have been working at a frantic pace these last few weeks.  It seems as though ever since that snowstorm hit, so did a flurry of work that needs to be done.  Writing, reading, rehearsing, creating, networking, follow up,  ... cleaning...  But it has been good for me (or that's what I tell myself).  I have been gaining new skills, honing ones I didn't even know I had, and stretching the ones that I regularly use to the limit.  The best thing about all of this activity, however, is that it is building up it's own momentum.  Folks are stepping in, and taking on their share as this creation takes on a life of it's own.  If this creative endeavor (RTB) was a baby, you better believe it is now going to take a village to raise this thing right!  Luckily enough, a village is forming.
     As I prepare myself to exit 2010, and enter the new year, I must pause and think on what the last 12 months have provided.  Scobra and I have now been in Seattle for the duration of a year.  While I love and often miss LA and my friends there, I do not regret our choice to head north.  The creative freedom here is abundant.  We have FINALLY been able to join forces with like-minded individuals and feed this lovely beast to the point where it is now larger than either he or I could have imagined.  After 2 years of a duo act, we now have... I loose count... Somewhere in the ballpark of 10 people on our team!!  Very gratifying indeed!
     So as I look ahead to the year to come, I get a jazzed feeling about it.  More dancers, a set designer/art director, projections, drums... Oh! The list could go on!  Plus, we will FINALLY (come hell or high water!) release our full length album.  We will hit the road and tour.  We will have a real damned website.  The live show will be even more spellbinding and cohesive.  We Will Rock You (in an un-rock sort of way)!!!
     We will close out this year with a show on December 23rd at Skylark Cafe.  It is a fund raiser for Northwest Harvest (local food bank) which makes me feel good and helpful.  And it will be the best show yet.  You know why?  Because each show that we do, is better than the last!  That's why!

     So LOOK OUT 2011!  'Cause we're coming in with a bang!  No fear.  No regrets.

     Oh yes!  And as for the title of this post:  I wrote that because when I sat down and started thinking about what I wanted to write here, a million things came to mind that are not yet developed enough to disclose.  These ideas are in their first trimester, so to speak.  We have some VERY EXCITING and radical projects in the works... However... My policy is to not speak on something that I have not yet gotten on it's own two feet.  So, as much as I would like to tell you all these wonderful things, whisper them in your ears to not yet be repeated... I cannot.  But I DID want to whisper to you that there are whispers yet to come.  And when those whispers grow feet, I will no longer whisper, but rather turn it up to 11 ;)

Over and out,

-Dion Vox

P.s. Check out our fly new song (not fully finished, but the glorious ideas are there) called A Little Bit Closer:  http://www.reverbnation.com/ramonatheband

Blizzard!

     Well, by most people's standards, perhaps Seattle did not just experience a full-on blizzard.  But by Seattle standards, I would say that Monday evening was as close to a blizzard as I have ever seen in the pacific northwest.  For most folks, it was probably a hassle.  But for Scobra and myself, it was adventure time (and maybe frozen toes and nose time).  Scobra busted out some epic snow-driving skills in my little Geo Metro (think go-cart car) in a city full of hills.  The worst part of it was the other drivers on the road... Not trying to be mean here, but if every other car on the road seems to want to make it impossible for you to get where you need to go... well then... Do a Scobra!   Pass all 18 cars that were clumped ahead of you up the hill, using every lane, park, and then watch as only 2 more of the 18 actually make it up.
     The other nice thing about this weather, is that it gave us extra studio time.  We recorded two new songs, and have been working on several more.  We had a kick-ass rehearsal on Tuesday night with the whole band, and are getting ready to rock out some brand new songs in our live set!!!
     Oh, and yesterday was turkey day... I was unfortunately under the weather myself.  I made some sourdough stuffing for the family feast.  But by the time I got there, all I could do was sleep on the couch and drink tea.  Kind of pathetic.  But everyone took good care of me, and I am happy to report that 12 hours later, I am on the mend.  I may even get a chance to eat my first bites of stuffing for left-overs lunch.
     What I am buzzing with excitement about right now however, is how wonderfully team RTB is growing by LEAPS AND BOUNDS!  It seems as though all of these people with wonderful taste, personality, and skill, are coming together to CREATE.  Create what they do best and what they love.  And it all comes together into a larger concept.  As I may or may not have mentioned before, I believe we are leaving the information age, and entering the conceptual age.  What a concept, eh?  And I am pleased as can be to have so many people around, full of information and a discerning eye, to create such concepts.  :)
     But now it is time for me to go, and create some more!

xoxo
-Dion

Focus

     I admit, it has been a few weeks since my last post.  So much has happened within those few weeks, that I am hardly even sure where to begin!  Scobra and I went on an adventure out to Montana, where we played a short set in a biker bar... HILARIOUS!!! And also a good story - 5 minutes after we pulled into Butte at my friend Emily's house, we were greeted by a stretch Hummer that took us to the Party Palace.  Busted out a song there, and checked out a few other local spots with stages before getting back into the HUGE limo and getting some shut-eye.  That was my first hummer limo experience... but not the first time I've sang in a biker bar...  Montana was a nice breath of fresh air though.  Scobra and I got both some literal fresh air out in the country, and also left a nice path of new friends of RTB along the way.  So look out Big Sky country!  We'll be back with a sweet vengeance.
     I would also like to shout out and show our appreciation to Emily and Mike Mulligan.  They were our kind and generous hosts in Montana, and Emily was, and continues to be, a great resource for booking and promotion.  I feel very lucky to have such kind and helpful friends!
     Other quick and pertinent update:  We have a show coming up this Wednesday at Contour in Seattle.  This will be our second show with Luke on stage with us, thus filling out the sounds of the set along side Brett.   I'm diggin' our ever-growing line up, and I truly enjoy the added energy and company on stage :)  I'm also very excited for everyone who is coming out to the show.  I'm excited to see and hang with folks, and to wrench it up a notch and put on the best show yet!      
     Scobra has also kicked our online interaction with folks up to 5th gear!  He has put soooo much energy into the organization of everything RTB and internet related.  What I can say about that (other than my everlasting gratitude for the painstaking work that he has done) is that now we have the ability to really reach people, have them reach back, share, etc. via the internet in both world-wide, and location specific scopes.  It has been very powerful to realize the... well... POWER, that it is giving us.  Communication is key, and Scobra has really spent some time creating that very key.  So I guess this is both a "thanks" and a "look what we are up to!" paragraph.
     We are continuing our diligent work on putting final puzzle pieces together for our album, and the launch of it as well.  Starting to get together the tour, website, merchandise, and all of those little details that can boggle the mind if you look at them all at once.  However, the boggle is becoming clearer by the day, and we are suddenly finding brilliant friends and cohorts to jump aboard at every turn.  This network is becoming a versatile and diverse dream team.
     Per usual, I suppose, I have close to a zillion things on my plate - all of which are creative.  A more recent, personal creative venture that I have undertaken is free-lance writing.  In fact, I am currently working with a writer on several screenplays, and looking to expand my professional writing prowess even further.  I have been realizing with startling clarity that I can actually create and encourage creativity as my day-job!  Now I also want to be careful about my use of the word "day-job".  When I used this label before, it generally pertained to a work situation that garnered stable pay, but not necessarily dealing in the work that I would like to be doing.... Can anyone say waiting tables... ?  But now I find that my outlook is changing.  I am beginning to believe that I can create my own job that serves me both financially and creatively... that I would do during the day time... So I am reinventing my perception of the phrase 'day-job' into being: What I do during the day to get paid.  I am not big on thinking about money all of the time, and money does not govern what I create.  However, the reality of every independent individual on this planet (that I know of...) includes some form of payment for goods (food, shelter, -the basics-), and I want to create a new way of earning my living on this planet that feeds not only my belly, but my soul!
     As I look up at that last paragraph, I feel a little funny.  It is the longest paragraph in this post, and yet I am not writing directly about RTB.  I would like to add that my ultimate vision for this is to create a platform through RTB and all of our collective creative endeavors that enables creative individuals of all formats to be able to live their lives sustained from their true work.  -True work meaning what they really love doing - something that comes from their soul.  A few weeks ago that would have seemed much more abstract and unknown to me.  As in, a nice idea that I will struggle with for a long time in order to manifest it into being.  But now I am feeling that it is a nice idea that I am engaging with, interacting with, and creating amidst the struggle the very fabric of my dreams.

-Dion Vox

Whirlwind

     So while I had intended to post something weeks ago... My weeks have been chock full, and all over the place.  Quite a whirlwind of activity has been going on in camp RTB, as well as in my mind.  Since I last wrote with that link of the video of our show at the Mix, we have booked several shows coming up (we booked 3 shows in 2 days this week!).  We are also quite the multi-tasking entrepreneurs, and so both Scobra and I have been working on several other projects as well.  With a happy heart, I will proceed to list off a few of the projects that we are now working on.
     We got a 'green light' so to speak on a job doing music supervision to a feature film.  This is not only exciting because I love both film and music (thus making this job a perfect marriage of my pleasures) but because we are working with a long time family friend of mine, Josh Vancil.  I must admit, having lived in NY, LA and Seattle, and with many family members in the film industry, I know what a potential snake nest a film production can be.  Yet, knowing that we will be working with someone as solid and sound-minded as Josh, makes many of my worries fade away.  I can handle the difficulty of creating illusion on a massive scale (something that goes rather unrecognized to those that have never done it), but I do not care to tangle with insanity and massive ego dictating from the leading position.  This is not always the case in film by any means, but rather, almost always the case ($ people etc.).  So I am happy to get the opportunity to work with Josh, as he is true blue.  :)
     Another happy thought, is that this coming new year will be bringing us lots of friends and visitors!  All on the creative front at that!  Our friend, and brilliant producer, David Hauser will be coming up to work with us this January.  The details... well, I can't go too deep into them at present, but it should suffice to say that we will be working on our upcoming album (which has been a long time in the making, but when you hear it, hopefully you will agree that it was well worth the wait) as well as an original musical penned by Mr. Hauser, with yours truly singing the lead.  I don't know if I have ever mentioned this on here before, but I fairly cut my teeth on stage by working in musicals for several years straight.  While I am a staunch skeptic of the genre itself (I can't say that I like the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, even though I have performed in it...) there are some true gems in it as well.  I would also like to add that it was the BEST training ground possible for performing.  To put it simply:  if someone has just payed $50 to see your show, it is a Sunday matinée, and the house is less than full of geriatric patients; you still have to give every single audience member their money's worth and more.  Even if you think that the music, story, lyrics, etc. are ridiculous.  If you can still manifest enough energy to pull off a successful show under those circumstances and to get everyone in the audience jazzed, even a tough audience in a club with your own music seems a lot more enjoyable!  But enough about me, the point of this paragraph is really to tell you all that David's musical is NOT terrible, in fact, I quite like it.  And I quite like the fellow as well.  So look forward to the new year with posts of our happy progress with him-
     In another vein of thought:  I have taken on several jobs as a free-lance writer.  I have discovered the perfect day job!!! (not that it is my only day job...)  And so for these last few weeks, I have been working daily on that.  These jobs have been mainly scripts for screenplays and television shows, which is right up my ally of training and preference.  And through them, I have also come to realize a strength of mine that I hope to develop further into a job skill in the future.  I am good at (and enjoy!) helping creative people get their ideas on to paper in an organized and timely manner.  And then also being able to help them hone their ideas further through feedback and editing.  Basically, while I now have a new part time job, to be added to the plethora of other part/full time jobs that I have (RTB being the fullest of them all) I am excited because I feel that this job could grow into a fuller job as well, thus perhaps cutting a less desirable job out of the picture... Hey, a gal can dream, can't she?  And if it can be dreamed, it can be manifested.
     Lordy!  I could probably wax on further as to all of my exciting new ventures and adventures, but I run the risk of writing a short novella in the process.  But one other VERY EXCITING bit of news that I would like to relay to everyone is the growth of our band.  We now have live saxophone and guitar, amongst other instruments to be shortly added on stage.  These are thanks to Brett and Luke who have joined harmonious forces with us.  And of course, to top it off, we have Heidi and Marcia dancing with us, the little foxes that they are!  Our production side of the show is also growing by leaps and bounds.  Hair and makeup is all done by Marcia Burgess (this is her true art form!! Believe me!), and we have further fashion developments (as in costumes) coming our way thanks to Jennifer Charkow.  We are looking to keep things growing, and to hit the road for some long awaited tours this coming year.
     In short, I'll try and keep this short- so stay tuned for further details and developments!

p.s. Here's a shot from our last show :)

xoxo
-Dion

Underground Carnival

Hot Damn!!!! I'm not sure that I have the capacity to write much more than that at the moment.  I've been grinding harder than a grain mill (I don't even think that qualifies as a nerd joke...) on our live shows and oh... about a million other details pertaining to the RTB outfit.  I will write much more in detail later.  But as it now stands, our show last night at the MIX was wonderful!!!! Live sax by Brett, and foxy moves by Marcia and Heidi.  Good show all around!!!!!!!!

Click on the title of the post to see a little footage that a friend in the audience captured.  It's rough, but glorious footage.  No touch ups here ;)

xoxo
-Dion

Goodness!

Oh my Goodness!!! I have been slaving away lately at our live shows!  We played a very memorable show at the Rendezvous on Wednesday night.  Good fun was indeed had by all.  Now this next coming Wednesday we are playing at Oh My Posh! fashion/art charity event.  All of the proceeds go to Art With Heart, which makes MY HEART feel all warm and fuzzy.  It is a very important and truly wonderful organization that reaches out to youth in life-altering and difficult situations, giving them the opportunity to use art and creativity to express their emotions.  Plus, there's a gonna be a live fashion show, art galore, silent auction, drinkies, foodies, and some RTB thrown in the mix for good measure... Mix... Speaking of Mix - We are also playing later this month at the Mix in Georgetown.  Here's where a lot of my preproduction energy is going right now!  We are putting together a full-on underground Carnival act for this event.  As in from 6-9pm, there will be freaks, fire, magic, and music coming atcha.  But in short: for the present, I am swamped!

I am happily swamped - I can't complain.  Although with only 24 hours in a day, it is hard to keep every horse in the race in equal standing.  Some things are falling behind... Like dishes, sleep, life, food, brain...  But I am also meeting and working with some of the best people yet!  And I feel like we are building an ever stronger troupe of performers and artists to collaborate with for our live show.  -But since I am so swamped, I must get back to my swamp-wading.  The point of this post is Oh my goodness!  I'm so damn busy!  But I think that this busyness is leading me to more good-ness! ;)

xo
-Dion

The Pathetique of POP

     So this morning, Scobra and I have decided that it is our duty to listen to the top 40 songs on the charts.  We are at about 20, and I can't tell if I'm enraged, or sick... or laughing hysterically.  Oh my GOD!  Is this a reflection on the market?  On the youth?  On propaganda?  I'm not even sure if I can tell.  None the less, here are my thoughts/criticisms of the current state of pop affairs.
     Men and women all sound the same.  And neither in this context sound like connected males or females.  They sound like one of two things:  wanky lilly-pad singers, or grating whiners.
     There aren't actually any lyrics... I mean, there are words, but half of them... are they actually words?  I swear that there should be intellectual property lawsuits against many of these artists from the likes of the Lifetime channel, Hallmark, Oxygen, and perhaps every other artist that has made an airhead hit in the last 2 years.  It's like the Cat In The Hat challenge that Dr. Seuss accomplished.  Can you write a song with less than 20 different words in the whole song?  Children's stuff!  And I mean UNDER THE AGE OF 7.
     Many of the "love" songs are actually about infidelity.  Umm... I understand that many great works of art have been produced by the concept of being unfaithful.  In fact, I love the book Anna Karenina.  But that EXPLORED A CONCEPT.  None of these songs have even come close to such endeavors.  And so it sounds more to me like they are glorifying the concept of fucking around.  I'm no puritan, but it's embarrassing when the opening lyrics to the "epic love song" by Enrique Iglesias  is about his girlfriend and her boyfriend being out of town, and so they should just sleep with each other because they "feel" something.
     Some of these songs actually just sounded like jokes,  and here I am not joking.  I didn't know what I was listening to for the first few songs, because I was washing the dishes.  I thought that Scobra was listening to a parody for a song or two.
     Here's a shocker:  so far, the best song I have heard was a Justin Beiber song.   GOD DAMMIT!  The funny thing that I am noticing, is that the songs do get slightly better, the further down you go.  None of them are good though.  Also, no one wrote a new song.  Not a one.
     Panting and moaning while forming a word spoken improperly is not an original idea.  Nor is it a good one.  Are they all on cocaine, singing until they run out of breath, and then only recording the worst of it?  Are they describing what sort of actions they had to take (or receive) to get signed?  By the way, that one's not a sarcastic statement.  I'm a witness to what low-class prostitution and exploitation can get you in the entertainment industry: success (if you care to call it that).
     So here's where I am going to make my possibly offensive statement.  And I will be happy to stand by it in debate... If that art form has not been completely lost to the general public as well.  All I hear is a bunch of bitches.  I'm not trying to degrade female dogs, or female humans.  But the connotation of that word is the closest thing that I can think of to describe this filth.  Not empowered, feeble, conniving, contrived, stupid, without brain fuction, poor taste, and overall: silly.  I'm not going to pity it either.  I have no patience for BS.  And here I find my ears crammed full of it!
     So here's statement no. 2:  Popular music needs a full on revolution.  I am perfectly willing to take on said "bitches" in this challenge.  I make music... actually, I don't know exactly why I make music... But one of my favorite aspects of making music is that I can then give it to other people.  If I were to make terrible food, would I want to give it to people to eat?  NO!  It would be embarrassing if nothing else.  So I think that any rational person, when given a choice between something savory and well crafted versus something bland and poorly constructed, will choose the first.  In a show down, I rather doubt that the two could stand very well side by side, and so that would explain the lack altogether of any artisan sounds in the top of the charts.  It would be admittedly an "unfair advantage".  But let's quit playing a fixed game here.  Pop has become pathetic, and until that changes, no sleep for me ;)   !

Eternally sleepless for the present, and Yours Truly,

xo
-Dion


p.s. Here's my challenge:  If you click on the title of this post, it will take you directly to the Top 40 site that I used for this experiment.  Listen to them, and if you find something debatable, then we shall debate it... But I'm warning you: good luck.

Quickie

Hey, so this is gonna be a quickie -  both random and poignant :)
I have spent the last few days canning and making pickles.  I'm a bit of a nerd, but very proud of my pretty jars full of food that I will enjoy this winter... But because of that, I haven't touched a computer for a few days...
What I am really excited about though, is our upcoming show on September 22nd at the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater.  We will be playing with Naresh Michaels, and A Cedar Suede, both foxy accordion-tastic bands.  It's going to be a proper carnival in there!  And since I'm always trying to up the ante for our live show, I am now working madly on making this show even better than the last.  Thus, this is short and sweet, because I've got to keep on it!
Also, to follow up on the Ben Pitching bit from the last few posts, I guess that he pitched on Thursday, so I missed out... But I do believe that we will be playing some shows with him in the coming months!  Which to me, is much more exciting than a baseball game.

Also, here's a cool new picture that I found today from our Founders Day Festival show :)

XOXO

Dion Vox

'Till Next Time...

Well, as a follow up to my last post:  Ben's first pitch has been rescheduled to THIS friday.  Stay tuned for that! So instead of going to the game last Friday, I went and got coffee with him instead.  It was then that I had the pleasure of hearing some of the mixes of his album Ivan Strega.  DANG!  That's all I can say that would be radio-friendly.  It sounds great.  It sounds different, cohesive, completely his own flavor and sound.  It is going to be a great album :)  We also talked about playing some shows together in the future, which I will naturally keep everyone updated on when we do.
But to begin a new post: I read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde last night, all in one sitting.  Great book.  And I was indeed taken by the concept of human duality.  Only it made me think that I am more of the trinity type.  Home, creativity, and performance.  Those are my three.  And while they all feed and nurture each other, they also fight terribly.  There is only so much time in a day, and only so many days in my life... It can be quite a struggle for me to feel fulfilled and at peace when I am being tugged in so many directions.  This has always been the case for me, I have always been juggling a sort of trinity in myself.  The domestic, the magician, and the mime... And then there are such things as distractions, both worthy and unworthy of my attention that I must tend to as well...  What I am trying to say, is that I struggle constantly to make peace and harmony out of these three.  And through it all, I struggle even harder to lift everyone else above me to their own peace.  I suppose that you could say that transcendence is my goal.   More for others than for myself.  But I also frown on talkers who don't walk their own talk.  So the only option left for me is to hope that I can find transcendence in myself and that others will follow suite.  It is a mad, sad, and sick world out there right now.  And the hardest thing for me to do is to help myself, when all I really want is for others to get the help that they need.  But I suppose truth has never been an easy pursuit, nor is it easy to  find it through art.  And so I will leave you with the fact that I am trying, and hopefully someday I will find what it is that I am looking for, so I can clue everyone else in.  But until next time, wish me luck in my madcap ways, as I promise that they are intended to be fruitful.

xo
-Dion

Network the network / Opening Pitch

Wow!  These last few days in particular Scobra and I have been slaving away on the internet trying (and I am now starting to believe that we are succeeding) to link up all of the peeps and loose threads.  18 hour days of it at that!  On one hand, it is exhausting and tedious work... On the other hand, well, we are bringing all 5 fingers together to form a... Fist?  You get the idea!  But through all of it, I must say that I am meeting lots of new people and artists, and that makes me feel exhilarated and happy overall.
I have also been confronting one of my fears: booking shows.  Not just booking RTB, but booking the whole night, and finding other bands to play with.  This is an admittedly silly fear.  But I am the kind of person that takes responsibility very seriously (and I am also secretly very shy...).  And so I have been nervous to take on the responsibility of making the venue and other bands happy by creating a successful event.  I have also been out of the Seattle music scene for a little while, so I really had to just search out new acts that I had never heard of before.  But since taking the plunge, I am just now starting to feel like I may pull it all off!  Lots of really great artists are getting involved, and some of my favorite venues are down for the count!  So while nothing is set in stone yet, and most of the work has still yet to be done, I'm also starting to get pretty jazzed about the whole process.  I'm still sweating, mind you... But now the sweat is more be-be (bb????) sized, and less bullet.
In any event, my brain is partially fried from all of this!  So forgive any awkwardness that comes across in this post.  This evening will give me a moment of fun and rest though.  Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden, Ivan Strega) is (shhh! it's a secret...) throwing the opening pitch for the Seattle Mariners game.  Scobra and I went out last Friday to celebrate the mixing of his album.  And he invited us to come see the more sporty side of him.  Having known Ben for a long time, I can say with absolute confidence that the catcher will not be disappointed by his throw.  He's a dang accurate 90 mph sorta pitcher...  So wish me a good beer and some peanuts at the Ol' Ballgame!

xoxo
-Dion

Money Money Money

When I was 16, I was in a production of Cabaret.  Oddly enough, throughout high school I was never cast in any school plays, so I went and worked in professional theatre instead.  And so (even though I was a tad under age...) I was Rosie, a Kit Kat girl.  In the show, one of my favorite pieces to perform was the song "Money".  It started out with all of us Kit Kat girls being lead on stage in black slips with our wrists all tied together on one long rope.  The MC and two dominatrix hench-women lead us all in our dance of desparation as we writhed together below them.  The finale was when paper money was grabbed from the bosoms of the dominatrix and thrown over our heads as we all fought and scrambled for it.  Money money money... Paper paper paper...
I still wonder about it... money.  It is a piece of paper (which hasn't been backed by any tangible assets for over 30 years).  And yet we die for it, kill for it, cry for it.  It is dirty, literally filthy.  Covered in shit, dirt, and coke.  But we still pray for it, and live our lives in it's name.
Today, I read in the news that California just opened up the country's most expensive school ever built.  Never mind Cali's non-existent budget, the drop out rates, or the infrastructure.  Why they have a shiny new object!
I also read that it will now cost $300 in the Phili to acquire a "Bloggers License"... which may be required...
I am also, personally, disappointed and disgusted at the concept of having to pay money to submit my music to booking agents.  It seems to be a new revenue model of sorts - 'Would you like to play this show?  Submit your EPK to our famous establishment for only $45 and you could be chosen to play!"  Mind you, you will not be paid for your gig, you will PAY FOR YOUR GIG.  Sound like the lottery?  Only more expensive?  And yes, folks do win the lottery.  And yes, I suppose if you invite submissions from all over the world, you will have a lot more work going through all of them.  And yet - I believe a booking agent, or just yourself acting on your own behalf (along with some cozy connections...) is probably far more effective than paying money for what will most likely be nothing.
If money really made the world go around, we'd all be somewhere else right now.  As in: not on a world that is rotating on it's axis.  Money comes, money goes.  Sometimes money is a shell, sometimes it's a coin, or paper, or a number in a computer... But none of it holds any tangible value.  Food is real.  A home is real.  Commerce with a community is real.  And ART is real to every person on this earth.  But 'that clinking clanking sound' of money is a passing thing.  So I do my best to not walk to the rhythm of it, but rather to the rhythm of everything else that is real.
p.s. click on the title of this post to see/hear the song of which I write :)

xoxo
-Dion

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Dang

Wow... Belltown's first annual Founder's Day Festival was a hit!  And to be honest, our set brought the house down and stole the night!  It was wonderful, dreamy even.  And I have to thank everyone that was involved from the bottom of my heart.   I spent many of my own hours building a set, rehearsing, and working with a growing team of folks that were also part of the show.  And what a team!  Stone Crow Designs (headed by the amazing Jennifer Charkow) put a whole line together from design to construction and runway in a matter of weeks!  Marcia Burgess and her crew of assistants did out of this world hair/makeup.  Mandie Liscious made my costume, gloves, and headpiece in less than a month flat.  We had Avataria of Philli fly all the way out to the west coast to DJ and sing backup vocals with us... Ahh, and the list could go on.  Stage management by Joshua and Charlie, merch by miz Ginny, Dance piece by Erin and Sam.  More foxy moves from Stella Rose... Goodness, we had a serious team of folks pulling this show-mobile forward.  I also have to thank my pops for running the whole outfit and helping get our set built and put on stage.... Is the outro music playing already?  So many people to say "THANK YOU!" to.
But again, WOW.  Scobra mixed the show, and I have to say, we sounded like a million bucks, our tracks bouncing off of the walls of all the buildings downtown.  Crisp, clean, and clear.
And now, we have even more shows in the works.  Bookings from folks that saw our throw-down, so you can expect an even bigger show next time!
Putting this show together was an exciting first step for me (and perhaps everyone else... but I haven't asked them specifically yet...).  I feel like it is a hot 'square one' for our future shows, and I am now looking forward to 'square two'.  More fashion, more dance, throw in some aerial work and pyro, and I think you are looking at 'square three'.  We're getting there... all contacts in order... just need the venue.  But I am rambling, babbling out of happiness.  I am happy.  Simply put.  I am happy and thrilled that this show and everyone involved came together and gave something fresh and new to the audience.  Really entertained them.  And everyone involved is down for the next one!  What could be better than that?
Okay, I'll go now, otherwise I may overflow with all of this gooey happiness and ruin my computer ;)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
-Dion

AHHHH!

I barely have time to even type this!  But the Founder's Day Festival show is coming together!  We are playing this Sunday, and now have about 20 people in our show.  Fashion runway, dancers, trannys, freaks, lushes, we've got all that is oddly aesthetic.  Plus, I built a beautiful backdrop and set for the show (hard work!!!).  It's going to be a show to remember :)

But now I have to go to the dress/tech rehearsal....

I'll fill in more after the show.... honestly, it's that madcap right now.

xoxoxoxox

-Dion

Busy Bee

Ha ha, so this may be a bit of a silly post.  But I just realized that the title is also the name of the funky corner store across the street from where I am living.  Back when I first moved to this neighborhood as a teenager, this hood was still solidly 'hood'.  The busy bee was missing a whole section of their wall, so they used to keep these two really agro dobermans chained outside of the missing section.  At full-vicious extension of their chains, they would get just out of biting-reach of you as you walked through the aisle past the ice cream... Since then, they have put a wall back up... classing up the joint as it were...
But now to what I really meant to write about:  I have been a busy bee myself these last few days.  Working my butt off on the album, and all things related.  More wonderful guest artists are joining the ranks.  Tim McGovern of The Motels is hopping on board.  I am very excited to have yet another brilliant and hard working artist be a part of this project!
I have also been doing a lot of work on our upcoming show at Seattle's Founder's Day Festival.  We're talking fashion runways, troupes of dancers, people flying in from all over the country to see us... It's going to be proper pandemonium.  My only hope is that it is also harmonious.  And as it is all starting to come together, I am feeling more and more confident that it will be.
Today I am also having my first fitting for my costume that is being designed by the lovely Mandie.  I can't wait to see and feel the rough draft on me.  Last week we went and picked out the fabric (black, silver lace, and royal purple), and now I get to see the beginnings of life in this outfit.  :)
-Work, work, work.  I've got more to do, and so I must go.  Such is the life of a busy bee.

p.s. If you click on the title of this post, it will link you to the new mixes of a few of the songs that are going on the album.  Sneak a peek if you wish :)

Live from the Struggle

     To follow up on my last post, another one has bit the dust.  I have lost another family member, and I miss her.  It is quite the trek through this valley, I must say!  But I try to chalk it up as another log in the fire that is burning under my... tushy ;)  It reminds me of when Scobra was working on the Pat's Justice album, Live From The Struggle.  We used to say it all the time while it was being recorded, 'Live from the struggle, that's why I gotta hustle' as he said.  We lost 5 people in the making of that album, some of which are even recorded on it.  The single on that album, "Scream and Shout" was a labor of love written and recorded in their honor.  And yet what a beautiful mark to leave behind, a song, a word, an action recording a singular moment in time.
    So I am still striving to do my part, and leave my mark - as mortality is all too real to me at the moment.  But even as this chapter (or album one might say...) is coming to a sonic-sensual close, another one is already a few paragraphs in.  Scobra and I are not only getting very excited about the next album (and believe me, there are songs written and recorded for it already) but we are doing some work on the soundtracks for a few feature films that are in production as well.  It is wonderful to be working with LA again (not that we ever really stopped) and also to be working with such wonderful people in an industry that has so few of them.  Sorry, but that's just the truth.  -If you think music has megalomaniacs, go make a film!  But happily, the folks that we are working with are dear friends, with sound minds and hearts... and ears that like the sound of RTB!              
     All in all, I'm still slogging along... dancing too though!  I'll admit, I'm vacillating between the two right now.  But the dance of life is returning to me, and I'm happy to be taking part :)

-Dion

Down in the valley

     It has been a little while since I wrote last.  In most regards, the news picks up where it left off - only further ahead...  Not to let the cat out of the bag, but you will soon be hearing our tracks coming from the silver screen. Yep, you got it, we have some really amazing film placements coming up.  BUT that has also meant that before finishing off all 14 of these tracks, we had to take a hard look at them AGAIN.  Think of it this way, if you had your song playing through Dolby Surround Sound, wouldn't you want it to sound perfect?  Because you know that if there is any little monster hiding in that mix, it is going to become crystal clear in that setting.... SO... we are almost finished remixing everything to the K-20 (cinematic) standard.  And our album is still set to be mastered by none other than the wonderful Bob Katz (the K in K-20 is for Katz, the man wrote the book and the programs for mastering!!!!).  So we are still, excitedly plugging away at this labor of love, and I think that it's nearly done.  -Almost time to push our little fledglings out of the nest and to see them take flight!
     But on a more personal note, it has been, and continues to be a very difficult journey.  I have lost a lot of family members in these last few years, and last month I lost my great grandmother, and my uncle.  This month I will be losing my aunt.  This snowball effect has been taking a bit of a toll on me.  On one hand, it makes me work that much harder at my art and life, because I know now that there is no pulling the wool over my family's eyes when they are no longer chained to their bodies.  I want to make them proud of how I am living my life.  And I feel that I am.  But I also have moments of feeling like I am stuck in a blizzard, trying to find my way back to camp.  Maybe I'm holding a rope that leads back to camp, maybe the rope just leads to a cliff, or a dead body, or more snow... I feel like I am straining to catch a glimpse of any familiar markers so as to get my bearings.  But it's too hard to say what is delusion, illusion, and reality, and how do I separate them?
     I do not mean to frighten people by this.  I am not entirely lost, I am not drowned or immobilized by grief, I am only trying to be truthful in how I live and feel.  As an artist, this is my duty.  And as an excavator of the human condition, I must leave no stone unturned.  As I feel this world around me changing by the moment, I have to stop and remember from time to time that TIME itself is an illusion.  And even that is a struggle for me.  There is so much that I want to give, so much that I want to love, and so much that I want to create, that  at moments like this in my life, I fear that there is not enough time.  But I shake these delusions off as best I can, and as a warrior of peace and love, which I believe takes more strength than destruction ever will, I set to task again and again.  -Hoping to create something boundless, timeless, for everyone to love and feel loved by.  So even in the valley, perhaps the valley of death, perhaps the valley that I live in, I strive not to hang my head low, but to keep it straight ahead and to walk without fear.  To walk with the knowledge of infinite love and life as it truly is.  That is my art, and that is my challenge.

-Dion Vox

Fundage

Well, at the expense of my title sounding like a Polly Shore word, I am excited to announce that we are getting ready to launch a big ol' fundraiser to put our album out.  We just lined up a world-class mastering engineer to master the album.  I just saw the sketch of the album cover (gorgeous!), and we have a studio lined up to drop all of our mixes to two inch tape before they are mastered.  Everything is coming together in a really wonderful way.  And the things that we are learning about sound in the process are mind blowing.  Even though this album has been more work than I think Scobra and I ever dreamed it would be, through all of it, this project has taken on a life of it's own.  Odd as it may sound, I feel like this album is much bigger than just something that I have been working on.  So many amazing talents have lent themselves and their energy to this.  Countless people have supported us along the way, and with all of that energy thrown in the pot... well... we've created a mind blowing monster.  :)

But back to the point!  I spent all day yesterday working out the details of our fundraiser that will be launching in the next few weeks on kickstarter.com.  If you've never checked that site out, I suggest you do.  I have been going there for the last year purely out of interest.  You can find the coolest people working on the coolest projects on that site (and of course you can support them as well).  I have even made some friends through the different projects that I have supported.  But in short - we have some great gifts that we are getting together for the supporters of our upcoming kickstarter campaign.  Not to let too much of the cat out of the bag, but we're talking handwritten lyrics, signed and numbered copies of our EP (which is a limited pressing), posters, t-shirts, even videos and performances dedicated to our future supporters.  So not only am I excited to finish up and launch this album, but I am excited to get a chance to give some soul-made goods to the good folks that support us.  I'm excited to interact with everyone, and for the chance for us all to come together to built the last bits of this magnificent castle in the clouds.  And once that castle is finished, there will be no mote, no drawbridge, and everyone is invited to every party!

I'm being silly, I know.  But I have been chipping away at this mountain with my teaspoon for a while now.  And my little pile of gravel is growing quite nicely.  But I can't wait for this opportunity for everyone to lend a hand (and a teaspoon) for just one day.  Because I know after that, the mountain will start to shift of its own accord.

Hopeful and happily working very very hard,
-Dion Vox

The Heat

     Yesterday was a whopping 94 degrees.  One would think that I would be used to this, having moved back up to Seattle from Los Angeles, but humidity here is a different game.  None the less, aside from some more sweat being added to the making of Footnotes (did I mention that that is the name of our album?) it was a productive day.  We worked on Empty Promises, which has an entirely new verse being added to it.  Actually, the verse was written when I wrote the song, but for whatever reason, it never got recorded.  So we re-recorded it and worked on it yesterday.  I also had the chance to hang with our drummer Andrew McInnis later that evening.  What a great guy, and an invaluable addition to RTB!  We have all had our nose to the grindstone very heavily for the last month, and so it was a delight to be able to just sit for a moment and catch up.
     I am also very excited to announce that we are doing a lot of work right now for our show at Seattle's first annual Founder's Day Festival.  There is going to be an interactive fashion show with several designers that is being lined up right now.  And one of them is custom designing a costume for me!!! :)  So I spoke with her yesterday, and we will be buying the fabric for it this coming Monday.  Think futuristic pin-up with some steam-punk thrown into the mix.
     So all in all, we're truckin' along, even in this new (and rather oppressive) heat.  It probably does the sound good though, a little salt to season it just right.

xo
-Dion Vox

Fingers Crossed

     Still 'singing the same song' as it were - still finishing the album.  We have completed several songs now (as in, ready for mastering) and as of last night, Too Late was added to that list.  So we're making headway... track by track, day by day.  I have also been busting my patooty trying to raise funds to cover all that needs doing before we can release it.  I applied to some small grants on Tuesday... haven't heard back yet of course.  What I really think I'm a gonna do is have a little fund-raiser... Because to be honest, I just don't know how to come up with the $2,000 that we need to actually make this album something legally protected, and in tangible form.  So far, Scobra and I have payed for everything, and it has cost us pretty much everything we had.  So now - to be blunt - we don't even have cream for our coffee, and in about 2 days, I think that the coffee will be gone too...  Not that you will find either of us complaining or retreating.  But I'll just leave it at, "you may want to stay in tune for the upcoming fund-raising extravaganza!"

     I still feel confident in saying, however, that this work of art is something that I am proud to have helped create.  Patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet.

xoxo
-Dion Vox

Dream Chords

     Well, to update y'all on yesterday's progress, aside from a lot of mixing.  Scobra and I went over and visited with Russ Meltzer of the Black Cat Orchestra, who has agreed to lay down some guitar tracks on our undercover hit that we are working on (the last song on the album).  When I heard some of his basic sketches, and just the sound of his guitar alone; I damn near melted.  It was beautiful.  And I also feel confident in saying that I watched and listened to Russ play his guitar, it was like no one else I have ever witnessed.  Such complete control and grasp of his instrument!
     So now the anticipation to be able to share this track when it is finished is even higher!

     Today, we will be doing A TON more mixing, and then this evening I am going to do a little solo performance of Dirty Trick at a friend's coffee shop.  Hopefully it will be a duo though, and I can convince Scobra to play along on bass.  He wrote an absolutely smokin' base line to that song!

Over and out,
-Dion Vox

Bang Bang

     Yesterday during the rather explosive holiday of July the 4th, instead of any BBQ, we sunk our teeth even deeper into the album.  I am happy to report that after a long and lovely evening, we have finalized the track order of our upcoming album.  It was an amazing experience when it was finished, to just hit 'play' and to listen to the whole thing from beginning to end.  Up until that point, I had been having a rather difficult time really visualizing or understanding the collection as a whole.  To get the flavor not only from course to course, but of the meal as well.  So the experience that I had when I was finally able to just close my eyes, and hear it from top to bottom had a profound effect on me.  I felt that in the beginning, the first track was like tumbling down Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole, tumbling into a different world.  Then the second track was Wonderland in all it's high-energy craziness and glory.  From there the music found it's fingers around my heart, and lead me to quiet my mind and sink even deeper into the experience.  Once fully immersed in this world, I felt my soul being stretched, strained, played with, and soothed by the songs as they lead me through their beautiful maze.  I felt joy and fun in the contrast between the energies and the sounds, as one track felt like it would take me deep into the underground, and the next would have me feel that I was dancing on the rooftop of a high-rise.  Back and forth, from the moles to the sparrows it took me until there came a point where the contrast was sharp.  It almost caught me for a moment as I sat there listening.  I wasn't sure how I felt about this.  But as I listened further, I had my heart drawn in so fiercely, that I felt that this song was like a salve upon my heart and soul, and that I had needed it very much.  Then, as that song had ended, it felt as though the sun were setting at the end of a warm summer's day, and suddenly there was revelry and mayhem was being build and stoked like a great bonfire.  A party in my imagination erupted that would have made Bacchus proud.  From such fierce longing, soothing, and then ultimate release, the next song lead me to feel waltzed from such an intense catharsis, and to be deposited into a sort of surreal bliss.  Delicate, vulnerable, just a drop of melancholy, and then for a moment - a plea.  From the tenderest parts of my heart and soul - this song finally lead me to the final chapter.  Our last song, I can say with some confidence, is GOLD.  It is a song that has never been played, or released to the public.  It is our little hidden jackpot that I can't wait to break out of captivity!!  But truly, nothing could have finished off the album, or the journey that I experienced while listening to it, as completely, elegantly, and undeniably as that last song did.
     So there you have it:  all in one paragraph, and in all of it's abstract glory.  I can't wait to be able to share this whole album with everyone!  But first, I must finish it... So you can guess what I will CONTINUE to do all day today, and probably tomorrow as well :)

Happily exhausted, and yours truly,

-Dion Vox

The Beauty of Doing

     So, since I feel like I opened up a whole new can of worms in my last post: I feel inspired to follow it up with further explanations and explorations. For instance, at this very moment, Scobra is in the home studio laying down AMAZING live bass tracks on our song Dirty Trick. See, that's one of the really exciting things about finishing the album right now! You may think that you know what certain songs sound like (at least, that's what I thought). But once you open them up, and start playing with the fabric, laying down or adding to it, cutting some away, seeing what sort of form it takes... Well, some of our songs that I thought already had their classic sound to them - are now even more superlative.

     For the record {not the one we are finishing, but for documentation ;) }, I never thought that I would make music of my own in this life. Even though I did it during all of my childhood. And then studied the craft of doing other people's work, I stopped doing my own, and didn't even care that I had lost that ability. To be perfectly frank, I was also lucky enough to be surrounded by several musical geniuses, professionals, icons, and utter failures ( all different categories of people, not necessarily all the same person... although whose to say a few aren't in a few as well...) and so to put myself out there in that arena was something that I never figured myself to be even creatively capable of. So in embarking upon music once again since then, I have had an amazingly fun and free time getting to be a part of so many more musical aspects of it than just the vocals. Everyone is having fun at trying out any and/or everything! Some of what has come from it is pure GOLD! And it's a blast!

     Perhaps I am blissful, but delirious. I cannot deceive you that this has been or is a simple or painless process. And we have been regularly pulling 16-18 hour days at this for the last 5 weeks now. It's been pretty non-stop. But sometimes I find, in any art form, that when you quit thinking about what you're trying to do, and just jump in and do it - the end product is much less pretentious, and much more beautiful.  

-Dion Vox

The End and Explanation of our Journey

 These last few months have been a time of serious incubation.  We have been working on our album, and have come across many... shall we say pleasantly difficult surprises along the road.  Ramona The Band suffers from having too many songs to choose from.  Every time we get around to saying, 'we should just pick the songs, finish them, and release the album' we start picking the songs.  Then we start finding several songs in "the vault" that we had completely forgotten about.  We wrote, and recorded them on the spot, and then saved a copy somewhere strange, and subsequently we would never have listened to them since recording them.  So then we get all excited about this great new material, and so of course it should be on the album.  But often our songs start out as a scratch track with a very skeletal instrumental track of sometimes nothing more than a drum beat, and perhaps a base line and a few piano notes here and there.  That is what I will write words to, and then melodies, harmonies, etc. and record on.  So when we find these hidden gems, it is truly only a potential diamond in the rough; and A LOT of work then has to go into flushing out the basics of what we have into a nice, plump, full-fledged song.  Well, that process alone on a song or two can suck us in for a months at a time.  And also, during that time, we may just write and record a few more gems that will creep up to the surface in another six months.  So it's quite the lovely, but crazy-creative cycle that we exist in. 
      

     Thus, I hope that you can understand why it has taken us a good while to get this album "finished".  But because of all of the wonderful time that we have had, every one of the 14 tracks that we have chosen are the true cream of the crop.  In a really wonderful way, they each remind me of some monumental moment in our 2 and a half years as a band, and also, in my rather wild journey through life.  We have starved for these tracks, we have lost blood for these tracks, lost sleep, money, freedom, tears...  But we have also gained so much by committing ourselves fearlessly in the pursuit of creative truth to humanity. 
    

      Therefore, and am very excited to see how my creative truth resonates with those that it comes in contact with.  Because for me, in all of the art forms that I have studied, the ideal goal is to translate the truth of a character, feeling, or idea, to everyone that comes in contact with it.   I can't claim to know yet how my shot at musical truth will go over yet.  But I look forward to finding out, regardless of the outcome.  So thanks to all of you that have listened, seen, and even shared with us.  Because, at risk of sounding cliche, without everyone of you guys that are reading this right now, and even a good number that aren't; absolutely none of this would be possible.
 
My warmest, and happiest regards,
 
-Dion Vox

ALBUM

     Okay, okay, I know that I went on a righteous rant about how I was going to be posting more regularly.  And clearly I've have an idealistic streak in me that won't quiet down.  But the truth of the matter is that I don't really have a computer of my own with internet access at the moment... So  the whole 'regular post' thing has turned out to be more difficult than I thought.
     But as a quick update - we are in the final stages of finishing our first full-length album!!!!!!  This Thursday will be the final day of mixing, and then this puppy will be mastered!!!!  No exact date for the release yet... but stay tuned as we have several surprises coming your way.  I'm talkin' songs you've never heard, sounds you've never heard, voices... and an even bigger mind-blower of an announcement comin' your way.  We have so many amazing artists collaborating with us on this project, and as soon as the album is wrapped up, I will be able to give you a proper list, so that you can check out their other awesome work.  But to the as-of-yet-unnamed:  THANK YOU!
     All in all, June has been a wild month.  I have had family celebrations, gatherings, deaths, and an album to finish throughout all of it.  Mostly though, it has made me to feel grateful for everyone that I know, and everything that I have, as well as everything that I hope to do.  I swear, if you guys could get in my mind, and know everything that I hope to be able to give you... Well then I suppose it wouldn't be much of a surprise, but you would know of the extent of my love that I have for the art of creation, in all of the forms that it takes.

Much love to all,
-Dion Vox

keepin' on

     Well, the road to hell may be paved with good intentions... but I would like to think that so is the road to heaven.  The Blog and I... an unlikely pair, and yet meant for each other.  I actually think that once I get into the habit of blogging, there will be no stopping me.  But habits take some acquiring, and that has been my modus  operandi  as of late:  trying to acquire new habits.
     I have lived my whole life pushing myself to my limits.  Lovely growth has occurred in such an environment, but also some monumental crashes and failures.  It all goes hand in hand I suppose.  However, for the first time in my tender young life, I can feel myself aging.  Rather, I'm not sure that I could do some of the things that I used to.  Where the hell did I get that energy?  I still pride myself in my current work ethic... until I look at my old work ethics that I have had in the past.  There was A LOT more energy wasted, or misplaced, or exhausted.  But it was still there.  Now I would like to think that I am a little more discerning with my energy, but it is starting to appear more finite to me (or perhaps time really is just speeding up, as I also suspect!).
     So in recognition this limitation that I have discovered, I am trying to get my behind back in gear.  New habits, new health, and then hopefully - new energy.  In short:  forgive my while I stumble and bumble about a bit as I try to get this train rolling at top speed.  I have never done it on purpose before.  And things are always harder when they are meant to be.

-Dion Vox

WOW

Well, life has changed, and my ability to have unfettered computer and/or internet access was on the fritz for a good... almost year??? So some 'splainin' is due:

Scobra and I moved from LA up to Seattle in order to finish our LP and have the space and time to build up the live show to new levels of WOW. To move to a new city is never particularly easy, but thus far, it has been an enlivening and enriching move. I am also happy to report that we now have two new members of RTB for our live shows. Erin Boyt is dancing, or should I say, moving so beautifully and creatively that she is breathing art unto herself. And then we have Andrew McInnis, who is our drummer, and general savant of all things creative and cool. So the new blood is of good stock, and is enriching the whole band and vision.

For myself, this has been a pretty crazy transition mostly due to the fact that I myself grew up in Seattle. This is where much of my family is, as well as much of my history. There are the obvious pros and cons that I have discovered about returning to such things. But all in all, I actually believe that it is strengthening me, forging me in some pretty hot coals, but i'm growing sharper by the day.

I've got to be honest, on one hand, I feel like I am gaining great clarity in what I value. But by the same token, I am also realizing that I have no idea where I am going. I know where I would like to go, but I have started to realize that living in the future or the past is a waste of the present. And so I try to be tactical and concise with my current actions, so that they may feed what I hope to be future actions. But like I said, I don't know where I'll be in 6 months, let alone a year. And when I think about how crazy and sped up the past has been, I'm not sure that I could rightly say where I'll be two weeks from now. But I'm also getting better at not worrying...

I am also working on becoming more disciplined with myself again. I am a rather cyclical creature, this I know, and this I must respect. But I think that it is time for me to become a hard-ass with myself again, and I suppose that one of the tests of this will be if I can actually maintain regular posts on this blog for once... Which I have threatened to do before... But now will be a second or third round of reckoning as far as that goes.

All in all, if I write any more, I will be rambling - so in theory you will hear more soon.

x0 - Dion