Here’s a teaser of the event:  Looks AMAZING!

THE VOCAL BOOTH WEEKENDER, 2010

Hope to see you there!

XOXOXO

Just a couple days ago I was at the bank and overheard a woman saying negatively to a teller, “You’ve really changed your format here, the way you do things… everything’s different.”  Without even thinking it might be wrong to do so, I almost shouted out, “Yes, it IS different!  Isn’t that wonderful?  Isn’t everything supposed to be constantly changing all the time?”  Perhaps I should have made my comment to the entire bank and gotten some strange looks, but I kept it in.  At that moment, I really felt the absurdity of trying to hold onto anything and keep it the same.

This, strangely enough, leads me to music.  There are some new tracks coming out now that are completely different to anything I’ve done before.  I didn’t try to make them different, they just appeared in this form and have a very special place in my heart.

Find My Way – Andy Ward  (with remixes by Shane D and Random Soul)

Giving Only – Danny Clark & Jay Benham (with remixes by Atjazz and Marlon D)

Enjoy!  May you be experiencing the most glorious, beautiful change in your life!

xoxoxoxo

Also, some really exciting collaborations ahead!  Two releases in Mid September:

I’m grateful to Lukas Greenberg for letting me take part in his new album released on Plastic City called “Prisoner with a Key”.  To hear to sample tracks, please go to the listen page!

Also, a fantastic production by Atnarko called, “Solid Ground” will be released on Fred Everything’s label, Lazy Days.

Works in progress include tracks with Andy Ward, Danny Clark, Monodeluxe, Random Soul and Rob Pearson.

Wishing much love, success, cool weather and peace to everyone.  Write more soon!

I LOVE this picture.

It comes close to describing the absolute elation I get from the amazing Lithuanian audience.  We’re all friends, hanging out together and having a blast… and yet there’s a magic that we all bring to the music together.

The Ryralio DJs have been around for seven years already and I had the honor of being there to celebrate on this last birthday.  We did 2 shows, one at Gravity Club and one at Ryralio’s very own Pop Star Bar.  I want to thank everyone who came to these events and, of course, Ryralio for making it all possible!  Love you guys!!!!

In another circumstance – in another club – with other people, there might have been utter panic.  But not this time.  Everyone made the best of it.  Even the audience, who found out what had happened and knew why I was lip synching.  It’s not fun to lip synch (That’s the biggest understatement in the world) but we did what the club owner wanted.

I’m desperate to return and give the performance we all were expecting!  For now, I get to sing for Lithuania again on April 4th at the Pop Star Bar in Kaunas.  I’m also making daily sacrifices to ward off the laryngitis Gods… wish me luck.

I’m just now finishing writing the last of the original tunes to be used on the album with producer, Don Mizell. We had a wonderful meeting to discuss many details of sound, look and feel. Don has this glow about him… he lets the visions come in without questioning and knows how to trust what he sees. Before all the business talk, he said we have nothing if we don’t have a damn, good album that’s going to inspire others. There were a couple of times in the meeting that my eyes welled up and that was definitely one of them. We’ll be going into the studio very soon.

I just had a revelation… I should provide you with the links of where to find these tracks just in case you get crazy and want to buy them. I think I’m finally getting the hang of this website thing.

A shout out to the people of Georgia: Ryralio and I were planning a visit, but they had scheduling conflicts and then, of course, the war broke out. We’re sending all the positive energy we have and our thoughts are with you. We’ll visit as soon as we can!

The management contract is ready to be signed. It took longer than I’d expected, but I’m so grateful it was a positive, easy experience. I discovered that the more middle men involved, the more time it sits on other people’s courts and then a month has gone by… just when you’re wondering if someone forgot about it, it comes flying back at you. I’ve never been in this circumstance, and I think what’s really helped me is to not have had any preconceived notions about what’s “supposed to happen”. I have no idea how this compares to anything else… Isn’t it interesting how the brain wants to compare everything to something it already knows, label it and pack it away into some nice little box without really seeing the new, beautiful experience? I didn’t plan on getting all existential on you, but there ya go.

I’m going to be performing at Love Fest in San Francisco again this year – this time with two of my favorite producers and DJs, Cates&dpL. We’ll be on a float in the sea of never ending dancing colors. I’ll post the details when I find out what’s going on.

Until very soon with much love,

Nica

It all started at 3 am Friday morning when the alarm went off 4 hours after the final rehearsal for the show. I met the band at the airport at 5 am (Rithma adorned in rabbit ears) and after a plane, ferry, van and 14 hours, we made it to… I can’t just say “festival”. This was an extraordinary gathering of love in the most beautiful setting imaginable. The time and care put into this event was incredible.

One of my favorite stages (out of 5) was the Renegade stage, built from the large slabs of gorgeous driftwood abundant on Mussel Beach. Dancers could watch the moon rise over the water as they freed themselves in the driving beat.

Soundwave Music Festival: Lights, fires, amazing performances, fireworks, costumes, smiles, love, good food, great humor, great people, camping on the beach, and music, music, music. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I want to give heavy praise to the organizers, especially Topher. Thank you for creating the conscious space we all reveled in. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it. Also, thank yous to Kyo (I hope I’m spelling your name right!) for her careful preparation and boundless hospitality. Thank you to Josh who had to hand start his prop on his Cessna to fly us back to the airport! That was the most beautiful place ride I’ve ever been on.

What an adventure!

Rithma’s next album, Sex Sells (which I performed on, wrote and co-wrote some of the songs), will be released soon through OM Records and the Rithma Road Show is gearing up for tons of promotional performances, webcasts and podcasts. For more info and updates, please visit Rithma’s website or the Rithma Road Show’s myspace.

The Rithma Road Show (Consisting of Rithma, Alex Kalejs, Dan Boissy and myself) is booked for the Soundwave Music Festival (July 18,2008) on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It’s a 5 day camping adventure with performances of all sorts. Come bond and celebrate the beauty of life! It’s going to be amazing!

Also, I want to give a very big thank you to those who have been leaving such supportive and thoughtful comments. It’s such a gift to read them… Thank you, thank you.