The next artist on the agenda is Jonathan Clay. I found him about two years ago on MySpace and since then, he has continued to go from strength to strength.
1. Would you please introduce yourselves. My name is Jonathan Clay. I'm 23 years old and I'm out of Austin, TX.
2. How did you get into music? When I was 15 I picked up the guitar and I got the bug. Once I started playing it became the only thing I wanted to do. I would bring it to school everyday, and I remember cutting class to hang out in the practice rooms and play. It was the first thing is was ever truly driven to do.
3. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you? It's a little bit of everything. The songwriting is at the forefront of my project and it's driven by strong pop and blues influences.
4. What work at you doing at the moment? Working on writing for a new album.
I recently released an album for free download. You can get a copy from my MySpace Page Thanks alot for thinking to feature me!
'This One's for Me'- Official Video directed by Josh Franer
Official Site To buy 'Back to Good', Jonathan's recent LP click the iTunes link,
Thanks to modern technologies such as MySpace, musicians have been given a new output to show off their talents- most without even having to be signed!
My next planned series on My Two Pennies involves bringing to you highly recommended artists from these sites. These interviews are exclusive and are what the artist wants you to read about them, from where they came from to how they got into music.
First is Rick Seibold, with 7835 friends already on MySpace, he looks set to be riding 2009 to it's full extent.
"Rick Seibold presents songs about love, learning and coming of age with a knack for smart and often catchy melodies... it's sure to make any young female listener swoon." (Alyssa Rashbaum, MTV, SPIN, VIBE)
"Hey I'm Rick, I grew up in Wilmington, NC. Moved to New York City a few years ago and started playing around town in the local clubs. A little over a year ago I decided to make the move to Nashville to start recording a new record which I'm finishing up right now. It will be out this spring, probably in April."
"I started playing guitar when I was 15, and began writing songs as soon as I knew my first few chords. Where I grew up, there was a pretty vibrant film scene. When I was about 10 I played one of Anthony Hopkins's kids in a movie where I had to sing 'Silent Night', so I guess that's when I officially got my start!"
"Growing up at the beach in NC proved to be one of the early major influences on my music. I love the ocean, and have tried to write about my experiences growing up there as much as I can. Moving to New York City, and now to Nashville, has also had a major impact on my writing. Someone once told me if Jason Mraz and Chris Brown had a kid, it might look like Gary Coleman. But if they made an album, it would probably sound a lot like me."
"Look for the new record on iTunes in April."
"Mary" * Rick Seibold & The Rock-afire Explosion!
Rick's first EP, 'That's The Day' is on sale on the iTunes Store and has achieved getting into the Top Three on the Pop Chart!
This week I have had a song going through my head the whole time, since last week's 90210, Katy Perry's new single, 'Hot N Cold' has been on nonstop play on iTunes. My friend had played this song to me a while back when he played the album, 'One of the Boys' but it was not till I listened to the song the whole way through that I realise this could be an even bigger smash than this summer's hit, 'I Kissed A Girl'. So whether it's listening to this at school on my iPod or dancing at a party, this song is fun, fresh and motivational.
After a recent performance of 'I Kissed A Girl' at the MTV Latin Awards, Perry jumped into a giant pink cake and was girl down after all the frosting covering her body had her slipping and falling on stage. 23-year-old Katy was unable to right herself and eventually, the awards show simply cut to commercial when Perry just gave up and decided her best option might just be to remain motionless.
What has Rihanna got up her sleeve this time? It seems the unstoppable Queen of RnB is trying to scare us with her new video, 'Disturbia'. Last week, the video premiered for $1.49 on US iTunes, swiftly followed by the release in the UK. This is the third single to be released from the re-release of 'Good Girl Gone Bad, Reloaded' and this is another sure fire hit, just like most the other songs on the album. The song went straight to the top of the iTunes chart and no wonder, she follows up her Maroon 5 duet of 'If I Never See Your Face Again' with another song that will get your feet tapping, opening up the web to get the lyrics and another catchy chorus. After doing exactly that, I opened the lyrics and found that although they don't mean particularly much, you forgive her after watching the video.
"Your mind is in disturbia It's like the darkness is the light Disturbia Am I scaring you tonight Your mind is in disturbia Ain't used to what you like"
Whatever you make of the lyrics let it be because after watching the appropriately shiny yet horrifying video, I just kept wanting to listen to the song. Mainly a variety of guises for Rihanna including SpiderGirl, Zombie Rihanna and S&M Rihanna, it leaves us wondering was she trying a new style of video or she is practising for a man's fantasy? But after watching the video for a second time, I realised it's exactly what I would have wanted to watch, despite the whole male connotations. This video is surreal, it's weird and it's different, exactly what we wanted from the artists who are starting to sound generic. What appeals to me is that this video reminds me of a mix between a horror film and a David Lynch movie, what is real and what is surreal. I am sure that after watching the video several times, none of us will be any wiser but if the demand is there, then the product is produced. Well done to Rihanna, who is still, a year on from 'Umbrella' proving she has more tricks ready for us. Look out for any of her new singles, is it going to be 'Disturbia' or 'Rehab'? More sources have found that after those, she is set to release 'Breakin Dishes'. Here is the video-
Next on the agenda is to plug one of those cover singers on YouTube. Occasionally I browse through in the hope that I will stumble across a really singer who covers some of my favourite songs and instead I found an amazing singer. Her name is Alyssa Brianne and this from her page, "I am 18 years old and I lovee to sing! I just finished my last year in high school and will attend college in the fall. I am still recording in Houston whenever I get the chance." The page ranges from Katy Perry's 'I Kissed a Girl' to Natasha Bedingfield's 'Unwritten'. If you look close enough, there is amazing similarities between her and Vanessa Hudgens from High School Musical. Her pages is here
Hey! Here are my top five tunes for this month... more writing come soon...
1. Remy Zero- Save Me Having been sitting through the WGA strike over the past couple months I have been introduced to some television shows that I have not watched before, new and old... One of those has been Smallville, the story of Superman as a teenager, starring Tom Welling. Anyway, this is the theme tune and after watching one episode, I was straight onto iTunes! I can't really point my finger on what they sound like because they sound different to most other generic sounds and after the calm introduction to the rockier ending, the song takes you through the motions with some great lyrics.
2. MGMT- Kids After being lent their album on recommendation and already loving the single, "Time to Pretend" MGMT have spent some time getting to the top and although they are not everyone's taste, their tunes are consistently catchy and memorable. Kids, one of the songs on the album, Oracular Spectacular, happens to my favourite. Starting with the layered rhythms all the way till the end this shows some real talent. " Picking insects off of plants, No time to think of consequences" Some really meaningful lyrics and certainly a highlight from the album, look forward to hear more from them in the future.
3. Justin Timberlake- What Comes Around/ Goes Around (Interlude) The 7 1/2 minute version of this song from the album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, has put the faith back into this guy for me. I am the first to say that of recent, the music from Timberlake sounds like a sell out, his first album, Justified had a variety of stuff and sounded really good but on the sophomore release, I was not surprised to hear the constant reminder of the bland music that people like these days... But this song, has certainly surprised me, almost a sequel to single, 'Cry Me A River', this song is accompanied by a great video starring Scarlett Johansson and contains lots of twists and turns along the way. I particularly like the album version with the added two minutes including Timberland's extra... The story behind the story is also great, but I'll let you get that.
4. Thomas Newman- Six Feet Under Theme Tune I know officially not a song but all the same, a great piece of music showing some amazing talent. Another of the shows I started watching, Six Feet Under, about the dysfunction American family who own the funeral home had this amazing theme tune. With the added bonus watching the beautiful video with it... This is a real gem, when the bass comes in you feel really relaxed and I could listen to this 1 1/2min tune for such a long time.
5. The Devlins- The World Outside I heard this song on an HBO advert advertising various shows from years ago (thanks to YouTube). This rock song starts with the beautiful piano part and then the guitars come in followed by the drums and then lead singer, Colin Devlin adds to the mix, this Irish quartet show that sometimes Indie music can really be touching as they don't just stick to the mediocre conventions attached to this music. Seen with REM a while ago- certainly a song to listen to.
Don't worry, I will be back with some stuff for you to read soon, revision has been mental recently- exams are too close, but I will be back!
I have a secret, Do you want to know? It’s bursting inside of me, And I’m not meant to tell, But if I don’t tell someone, I’m going to burst!
My secret is that baby brother, Tom, DREW ON THE WALL WITH HIS CRAYONS! But mummy does not know because I cleaned it, Except mummy knows when something has happened, You can see it on her face, But she does not know yet.
I’ve another secret, Something to tell, It’s special and sacred and surprising as well, This secret is bigger and bolder, It may upset some people, Promise not to cry?
My secret is that I forgot to do my homework, My teacher knows… But my parents don’t, I took the letter and feed it to the bin, How will they find out except mum always knows when something is wrong? She is staring over now, What must she be thinking?
Ok, here’s the deal, Another secret to tell, As long as no one else finds out? I missed school today, And yesterday, I went out with my new friends, They think I’m cool, And we are not going to school tomorrow.
My exams are coming up, And I’m starting to worry, Maybe, I should have gone to school, Mum can see something is wrong, But she does not comment, Still.
A secret that’s inside, Makes me wonder if I should tell, It’s substantially bigger than before, I’m guessing it’s good to talk, I get this feeling that is great, Whenever I see Simon, But I can no longer tell if it’s Simon or the needle that makes me happy, Because Simon is my friend, At least that’s what he says.
My mum does not know, Nor does Katie, Or, God! I went to Simon and we kissed, (I kissed a boy), We did more than kiss.
Today, I am going to the doctors, Because there may be a problem, I am having bad nights, I’m finding it hard to breath, My head hurts, My eyes are bad, The doctor takes a look, Am I sexually active?
Here’s another secret, It’s important that you know, Except other MUST not know, They will stare, They will point, I am ill, I have an illness, They don’t look hopeful, It’s called AIDS.
One last secret for me to tell, Then you will know me better than anyone else, I have gone away, And I am not coming back, This is my requiem, My song, My warning, Don’t dabble in depraved, immoral, shameless, Imperfect, unscrupulous desire, Stay clean because my mum’s face now tells a different tale, She can tell something is wrong, And she still won’t talk.
Anyway, an explanation about why the new poems... now... Last year, I entered a poetry competition called The Foyle Young Poets of the Year where I sent loads of poems in after it being advertised at school and recently I was sent a letter with the book of winners from last year and a letter to say that entries for this years competition are now being accepted and so here starts the new writings due in for July 31st. The McGillian came out last week and it was great! People actually read it and I have heard from different people that they liked it and are looking forward to the next issue- the beginning of my initiative to get people reading and writing and finally using their imaginations! In just a few weeks, is the beginning of the road to the next issue. Oh! The wonders of online shopping, is it an addiction, seriously! I opened up an HMV account the other week and since... well, let's say that the HMV server could be in overload. It's not that I keep buying... well, I am but it's that I keep looking around at different things, looking at the prices and sales :D Well there you are... Amazon, HMV... could I get the clothes.... uh.... no.... I have to try the shows on before! Been watching quite a lot of Friends recently... I finished season 9 & 10... and again pushed myself to the last episode :( So good, funny and yet really upsetting because it's the last one!!!! Oh! What to do! Well, I have started again, back to season 1 and every time I watch it, the funnier it gets and the more I understand, certainly the earlier seasons were gr8! What other TV has been entertaining? CSI, Torchwood, Ashes to Ashes, Damages, Skins, Dexter, The Big Bang Theory, Echo Beach, Moving Wallpaper & Hotel Babylon are all really entertaining me... Sure there will be some reviews soon/// this week the new series of HolbyBlue, House, Dirty Sexy Money & The Friday Night Project starts! Shows which I have already seen that are coming, Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives, Kyle XY & Grey's Anatomy... this is amongst other shows that I have been recording which are yet to watch, Mad Men, The Last Enemy, Lark Rise to Candle Ford and Reaper... of course back to the life of Ollie! What can I rant about? iTunes overcharged me!!!! I have decided that illegal downloading is not the way to go and iTunes Store got my details over night... I have been getting their free single of week... which in the last months have actually been pretty good... and then came to the fact that I am going to buy songs... pay money to the artists who have put SO much work into their artfrom and perhapes get their song into the download chart! So far, I am looking at artists that are not major in the UK and are able to buy from iTunes.... which so far has been good but they overcharged me! £0.79 and instead they charged £1.58... why do that.... they could not do anything... then the money was put back and taken again... this happened again this evening... let's just see what happens in the account over the next week! Hmmm... finished Media CW which is looking great.... we had to do a crime tease... the bit before the credits at the beginning. We planned (for ages!), recorded and then edited (for even longer!).... music done, it's in black and white, there is no rubbish in there and there is loads of other stuff... it is looking good and now done! I got a clipboard on my wall... it's made of cork and looks great! There is pictures and messages and letters on there... awww... how cute! And on a final note, my new heroes... Mark Ronson (musician) & Josh Schwartz (creator of The O.C & Gossip Girl)... What do you want me to say about them... they both do the greatest things which entertain me the most and I must say, Version, the Ronson album is great!!!! Here is the new Ronson song, Radiohead cover, Just, with the lead singer of Phantom Planet (the band who created The O.C theme)!
The next artist on the agenda is Jonathan Clay. I found him about two years ago on MySpace and since then, he has continued to go from strength to strength.
