My Journal
Here I'll be posting news, thoughts, and whatever else I feel like writing. I'll try my hardest to keep it updated!
Nothing in life is free - August 14th, 2008
If you think about it, nothing is free. Nothing. I’ve been thinking tonight, and realized that while I’ve been treating other people in the musical world as professionals, I haven’t been treating myself as one. So therefore, it’s rare that others are treating me as a professional. Everyone who is involved in my album project is being compensated for their time. Yes, many of them are personal friends, but we are PAYING them because they have taken the time to learn and refine their art. So my friends are either being paid upfront, or have agreed upon a certain percententage of the royalities and have signed a legally binding contract. So in other words, we have a working professional relationship.
But do I demand that same kind of respect? The answer is NO. I have been bending to everyone else’s wills and schedules, with no regard to my own personal goals and timelines. I have agreed to almost every single collaboration without a second thought though it pushes other things to the backburner. And so now, here I sit, with so many collaborations and side projects with no mention of any type of compensation, and I’m starting to have a panic attack. My album doesn’t ever seem like it’s really going to get done. Every project is taking time away from my family, my album, and the launch of our own record label. Why can’t I demand the same kind of respect that I give others? What is it about myself that makes me contort to other people’s wills so easily? Yes, I like to be nice and am always willing to compromise. But when is enough enough? When is it time to put the brakes on and make everything come to a screeching halt?
That time is NOW!!! From this moment on. I have a set price for vocals and if an artist wants to collaborate with me, they will either need to pay that or agree to royalty payments from a cd. I have spent YEARS learning my craft and thousands of dollars setting up my studio. Nobody’s time is free, it’s about time that we start learning that. I’m not going to charge all the people I have already agreed to work with. You know who you are. But everyone else? This is the new rule.
I hope I don’t come across as harsh. That’s not my intention at all. This will help me know who’s really serious and everyone will work better together because of it.
I would love to know your thoughts!
Lori:)
Where's you album, Lori??? - July 20, 2008
Ah yes. My album. Great question. You all know how I wanted to have everything done and ready to go be replicated by the end of May? Well, obviously that didn't happen. And here it is the middle of July and things still are not ready! Here's the deal - everyone involved in this project of mine have very busy lives and unfortunately, don't do music and design for a living. I wish! Everyone is juggling life and kids and work and everything else while trying to squeeze in working on the album. That's including me! This summer has been full of kids, popsicles, swimming, breaking up fights, running places, going to playplaces, playing, going to the library, spending time on OurStage.com, and lots of other things. I haven't had much time for music!
With that said, there is still some progress. Cathy and I are wrapping up the cd artwork and text. It's getting really close. I need to figure out the final track listing as well. My track "Solarity" was just mastered by Ken and sounds great, especially with the new drums layed down by Adam Amos! I only have to remix the vocals in "Empty Well".... again.... because I can't seem to get it just right. I think I actually have a pretty good mix now with a couple more tweaks to do. My track "Inside" is looking pretty good as well. I've mixed in the wonderful guitar that my friend Sam Benham recorded and the vocals are sitting pretty nice. The only thing on that track is I've asked Adam to help with the drums on that track as well. We're having a hard time getting it all the mesh right with the tempo, but we think that it might all be figured out. Adam expects to get me the drums within the next couple of days. Once I get those, I'll do the final mix and send it off to Ken to get mastered! From there Ken with do the final mastering of the whole album, making sure it flows and is all cohesive from one track to another.
Once that's all done, it's time to fill out the pages of paperwork to get the cd replicated and then it will be on its way! w00t!
Oh yes, we are still needing to get those darn collaborative agreements sent out, signed and notorized, and sent back. And Strophic Records wants to become an LLC to protect personal assets.
All in all, we're still a little ways of to get this thing out. Possibly a month before it goes to be replicated? So maybe now we're looking at early fall before it's released... But it will be worth it when it's finally here!
On another note, here are some more updates for ya'll. Finally I was struck with some inspiration and am about halfway done with the lyrics for another collaboration with n pa productions. The track is called "Illusion" and it's for his album that is set to be released at the end of September. I have some other collaborations in the works, mostly atmospheric vocals, with a few talented artists that I met over at OurStage.com. And then, Adam Amos and I will be starting to work hard on our joint album project. We going to call the project "Emeria." So be on a lookout for that! Rain-King (on myspace) and I have talked about doing a duet for months now, but just never started it. Adam has also talked to us about it, so it very well could be a three way collab with Rain-King, Adam, and myself. Watch out for that everyone! So I think that with Emeria, the few other collaborations that I'm currently working on, and my solo project, I have enough to keep me busy for a very long time!
So for information sake I'm not going to be taking on any other collaborations for a long time. I really need to focus on what's on my plate. Thanks for understanding!
L:)
Have a great one everyone!
So... what happened at OurStage? July 3, 2008
After being #1 for 90% of the time, Empty Well was knocked out of the top spot during the last 10 minutes. So we finished at #2. Still a great spot to be in, but we were not able to go on to the final round. Oh well, maybe next month! They have moved a few things around and have made Club/Dance it's own channel and have moved Techno to Techno/Ambient. I'm super thrilled about this! It fills a much needed area in the electronic genre.
So go vote!!! LOL
L:)
Empty Well made it into the Semi Finals on OurStage.com! Please go and vote. - June 28th, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! What a great birthday present!
First, I want to say thank you for all the support and everyone who has gone and voted. I really appreciate it. I know I haven't been on here much, so thanks for being patient with me.
Empty Well [Overflow Mix] has made it into the Semi-Finals. Not only has the track made it, but it was 1 for three days straight! Now the fun really begins. All previous votes null and void, and we have to start from scratch.
To explain how it works, I'm repeating some information from my previous blog.
We still need your help even more now! Since Empty Well made into the semi finals, voting still needs to be done! I need as much support as I can get. Go to www.ourstage.com, sign up for an account, and start judging in the Techno channel.
The semi finals go Saturday, June 28th to Sunday, June 29th, 12pm EST. EVERY vote counts and helps me to get closer to winning this category. I need to be the 1 spot to compete in the final round where on Monday, the top song from every channel compete against in each other for the grand prize - which involves a $5,000 cash prize, promotions, mentor sessions with industry guru's, etc.
*If we make it into the finals, I will have available a free download of rare b-sides! I'll see if Adam Amos wants to add some music too. FREE music people, Free!*
What YOU can do, as my friend, to help:
- You will need to vote in the Techno genre.
- The songs from all of the Top 10 artists will randomly pop up to battle each other. You just have to listen to each song for a minimum of 15 seconds each, and then vote. When my song pop up randomly to battle against the other top 10 artists, you just need to vote for me. (thank you, thank you, thank you) But only if you feel like it's better....
- Tip: Once you have already listened to a song, if it pops up again you don't have to re-listen to it. You can just go ahead and keep voting (this saves time). My song will come up multiple times randomly, so don't stop voting after you see me on there just once! The more times you can vote for me - the more it helps my standings! You can vote up to 45 times.
Thank you so much! You guys are the greatest, and I'm so glad to call you friends.
L:)
Thank you and I still need your help! - June 24, 2008
"Empty Well [Overflow Mix]" made it into the quarter finals! Thanks everyone who voted for me and tried to help with the other tracks. "Everytime" finished 28 and my solo instrumental piece, "New Day," finished 27. That's something to be proud of.
We still need your help though! Since Empty Well made into the quarter finals, voting still needs to be done! I need as much support as I can get. Go to www.ourstage.com, sign up for an account, and start judging in the Techno channel.
The quarter finals go until Thursday, June 27th, 12pm EST. EVERY vote counts and helps me to get closer to winning this category. I need to be in the top 10 to go on competing in the semi final round Saturday and Sunday. And then from there on Monday, the top song from every channel compete against in each other in the Final round. That's when they compete against each other for the grand prize - which involves a $5,000 cash prize, promotions, mentor sessions with industry guru's, etc.
What YOU can do, as my friend, to help me:
- You will need to vote in the Techno genre.
- The songs from all of the Top 20 artists will randomly pop up to battle each other. You just have to listen to each song for a minimum of 15 seconds each, and then vote. When my song pop up randomly to battle against the other top 10 artists, you just need to vote for me. (thank you, thank you, thank you) But only if you feel like it's better....
- Tip: Once you have already listened to a song, if it pops up again you don't have to re-listen to it. You can just go ahead and keep voting (this saves time). My song will come up multiple times randomly, so don't stop voting after you see me on there just once! The more times you can vote for me - the more it helps my standings!
I promise that if Adam Amos and I win anything on here, there will be some free give aways!
P.S. - one more thing! There is a group that made it into the quarter finals that have used an obvious sampling of "Relax" by Duran Duran. This is a copyright violation so if you come across this song, please click on the "Flag This" button on the bottom of the page. This is totally not cool and against all copyright laws. The song is called "Tonight" by Tito Deville Band. Thank you.
Thank you so much!!!! You're awesome.
L:)
It's crunch time!!! - June 23, 2008
If you haven't checked out OurStage.com, I suggest you go! It's been so much fun and I've met some really great people.
This is a competition site and one of my songs needs your help! It's one of the songs I did with Adam Amos - Everytime. It's doing very well, but it needs to be bumped up just a couple more spots to make it into the quarter finals that start tonight, 12 pm EST. If you get a chance, please go on there and vote in the World/New Age channel. You'll need to start an account on there, but that doesn't take very long.
I have had some great response to that track, so if you love it, please go vote!!!! TODAY!!!!
Thanks so much and you guys are the greatest!
Lori:)
Slowly but surely... June 16, 2008
Slowly but surely the album is coming closer to completion. The "snag" has been fixed and we're rolling forward. I have one more song to finish mixing (I should be doing that right now) and then it's off to be mastered. My good friend Sam Benham has recorded a guitar part for "Inside" and so I'm seeing if I can get it to work. I've never mixed guitar before! And Adam Amos is being incredibly nice and is taking a look at the drums for "Solarity" and seeing if he can help out with that department. That guy is so GOOD with those beats! Other than that, Cathy and I are working on the album artwork which is looking great. Keep your fingers crossed, but I'm hoping for the release to be late July or early August. And so you know, Strophic Records will have the album in download form here and on their website probably a few weeks before the physical cd is released. And of course it will be on itunes and other download stores.
Thank you for all the support and wonderful emails! Keep 'em coming!
L:)
WE'VE HIT A SNAG - June 2, 2008
For reasons "unseen" (sorry, pun slightly unintended) the album is NOT going to be released in June. I hope it will still come out this summer. I'm sorry to have to do this, but there really isn't another choice. Please be patient with me and know that I'm literally sick to my stomach about it all. I'll make sure to keep up on the updates.
I wanna be myself! - May 17, 2008
After days of deliberation, hours upon hours of frustration, and some wonderful suggestions from many friends, I have decided (oh I hope I like this) to call my music project.... MY NAME! Lori Cunningham. Imagine that!
In a way "No Escape" has always slightly bothered me. I've looked at other female solo artists in the Electronic genre, like Shelley Harland, with a little bit of jealousy because they are know for them, not some made up name. *Of course, little do I know if they actually have made up their name.* Last night I tried to make up some names and they all sounded and felt very weird to me because it wasn't me. It wasn't who I really am. I would love to be known as me - not No Escape. I would have gone with my name in the first place, but Lori-ann Cunningham isn't very marketable. By dropping the "ann," it's still me and more marketable.
Ready for a story? Are you sitting down? Okay. So my real, legal name is Lori Cunningham. I have no middle name. I have an older brother named Cory. Can you imagine the confusion growing up in a home when two kids names sounded very similar? So my mom and grandma sat down and decided to add the "ann" part to my name when I was, oh geez, I can't remember how old I was. I must have been pretty young though. They never legally changed it. My grandma's name is Laurine, so they thought it would be really neat to somewhat name me after my grandma. I can honestly say I can't think of a better person to be named after! They also wanted to make the name unique - so Lori-ann was "born." *Note - hyphen, small "a." All very important!* Ever since I can remember, I have somewhat fought people and reminded them that my name is not Lori! It's Lori-ann. But people still call me Lori, I answer to it, and it doesn't bug me as much as it used to. So what's the point of this story? Well... it's somewhat ironic that after all this time insisting that my name is Lori-ann, now I'm choosing to be called Lori!
This is going to be weird for me. Give me a chance to get used to it. My real, real name will always be Lori-ann. Please don't stop calling me that.
And please help spread the word. The change will be slow on MySpace and on my website. If you have a "No Escape" banner on your page, if you could replace it with a new "Lori Cunningham" banner as soon as I get some, that would be fabulous! Blog about it, I don't know! Be creative.
L:)
I've been signed! - May 17, 2008
With everything that's been going on with my name change, I totally forgot to blog about being signed to a record label! I'm pleased to annouce that I've been to signed to the new record label, Strophic Records! This is great news and I'm terribly excited for this new adventure. They opened a myspace page yesterday, so please go to their page and show them some love by requesting to be their friend! www.myspace.com/strophicrecordsusa. I'll have more news on this later when things start to progress. This might delay "Unseen" just a little bit, but it shouldn't by much.
Lori-ann:)
I'm going to be changing my name! :( - May 15, 2008
I'm sad to say that there is very high possibility that I'm going to be changing the name of my music project. Here are my reasons:
1. There are way too many "No Escapes" out there.
2. There is a "No Escape Records" and a band "No Escape" based in Canada, and it looks like one of them was using the name before I was. The law states that whoever was using the name first, and has a date stamp stating the use of the name in a recording or even just setting up a myspace page, then they have full rights to use the name. If they push the issue, then all other people using that name will have to change to something else.
3. I want to have a very unique name that is not connected to anyone else.
If I'm going to do this, now is the time before my cd comes out. I will keep everyone updated. If I change my name, can I please ask that you spread the word? I have a fan based established and it's a bit scary changing my name this late in the game.
I'm opening up the floor to some possible name suggestions. You, as my friends and listeners and *fans* (even though I don't like to use that word) know my music and what it says to you. Try to express that in a name that suits the music.
Good luck and Thank You! Who can be the most creative? (But I would like some serious ideas too.)
So what does that mean for this website? Well, I'm going to be keeping the domain name "noescapemusic.com" for the rest of the time I paid for it. Then I won't pay for another year. I will also by a new domain name with whatever name I end up choosing. There will be some changes on the site as well, but overall it will look the same. My myspace page will make the change slowly too.
Lori-ann:)
There's progress - May 10, 2008
Slowly but surely the songs are becoming album ready. Ken is doing a FABULOUS job with the mastering and they are sounding more beautiful than I ever imagined. I am so lucky to be surounded by such good and caring friends. Jennifer Thomas is giving me all sorts of pointers on promotion and knowledge from her end. I have now been signed to Strophic Records which is pretty exciting! This is all such a learning experience. Hopefully we'll know what we're doing before long! I can't wait to get the album done and for the summer to start! I wanna play with my kids!!!
Ourstage.com - May 6, 2008
I've joined this really neat site called Ourstage.com where artists can upload music to be judged and fans can sign up TO judge. There are a ton of prizes, including the grand prize once a month of $5,000! So get on there and vote away! Right now I have songs in these different channels - Electronic, New Age/World, Techno/Club/Dance, Instrumental, Singer/Songwriter (female), and Solo Instrumental. Artists can only enter one track per channel. It would be terrific if everyone would join and spend just a little bit of time judging. If you have any questions, contact me! My profile can be found HERE.
And okay, fine, so I'm going to be changing the homepage song a lot. It's no longer "Inside," but "Empty Well." That way eveyone can preview the songs for my album over time. I'll have the clip of "Inside" on the music page.
My brother got married last week - Yea! - and now it's back to the grind with getting this album done. It's falling together very nicely. You should expect the album to be done sometime in June - just like I promised!
A change and food for thought - April 29, 2008
I changed the homepage song that plays from "Into Absolution" to "Inside." You can now hear the whole thing without going to my MySpace page! Also, I added the FULL track of the Empty Well remix by Adam Amos on the Music Page. Go down to the bottom of the player - you'll be able to hear it there.
Things have been pretty busy over here; finishing up the music, deciding what pictures and design to use for the album, sending all the .wav files to get mastered, choosing a replication company and what package to use, and promoting and advertising. Not to mention all the normal, everyday stuff. I LOVE it!!!
Food for thought - On a later date, I'm going to have a forum available to chat with everyone. What do you guys think? I like it!!!
This summer I am going to be releasing a digital download EP of more relaxing, ambient type of instrumental music. Keep an eye out for that.
Love ya!
Lori-ann:)
Yet another new song called "Inside!" April 24, 2008
Really fast because I don't have a lot of time, I finished another song this morning. It's called "Inside" and it's up on my MySpace page in full. Please listen to it! This coming week I'll update this site with clips of the newest songs to go on "Unseen!"
Until then!
Solarity April 18, 2008
A subtle soundscape, another world, light vocals, sweeping pads, driving bass ~ Welcome to Solarity, the newest and perfect addition to my debut album, "Unseen." Please sit back, close your eyes, and let the waves rush over you. (A clip will be up shortly. Until then, the full version is up on my MySpace page.)
And, I've decided that the piece, "Last Goodbye," doesn't really fit the album. Soooo.... I still need to write two more tracks. The music is really flowing right now, so I think that I should still be able to reach my deadline. The last tracks for the album I want to be upbeat and heavy on the vocals. :) I'm excited!!!
Everytime - New collaboration with Adam Amos. April 1, 2008
The song is done! Only three more to go and then the album will be complete. There's a clip of it on this site, or you can listen to the full version on my myspace page.
Here's an excerpt from my blog on myspace. "Ah, another collaboration with the very talented Adam Amos! I just love working with this man. He continually amazes me, not to mention that he makes me sound pretty good! He tries things that I would never think of, pushes the boundries, tries to improve with each track. And puts up with how picky I can be too! People, you have no idea.
Adam and I have thrown out the idea of doing a joint album project too. We’ll talk more seriously about it once my album is done. I think it’s a very good possiblity."
I hope you guys enjoy the track. It really was neat to work on.
Love,
Lori-ann:)
Happy Spring! March 20, 2008
Today is the first day of spring. I LOVE spring! Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. I let the kids play in the backyard while I was out there with them for a couple of hours. I was working on lyrics and a melody for my next song with Adam Amos, which will be on the album. Being outside in the sunshine inspired me - the lyrics are done!
Now today is all stormy and cold. Yesterday felt like spring, today feels like winter. What's up with that, lol!
I hope to record the vocals to the new song this afternoon. I haven't figured out a title for the song yet, but I'm sure that will come together. It always does.
So how close is "Unseen" to being completed? Well, there are nine finished tracks right now, and I'm working on two collaborations with Adam Amos. So that will be eleven tracks. Another collaboration with Soulwire is in the beginning stages. If that comes into fruition, then hopefully that track will be on the album. If not, then I will write another song or two. I really want at least thirteen tracks on the album. My goal is to have all the music done before the end of May - that's when school is out. With all of my kids home, recording goes out the window. Plus, I want to have a fun summer with my kids, not worrying about writing any music. I will just be promoting the crud out of my album!
That's the news this first day of spring! I hope you all are having a great day!
Lori-ann:)
Welcome to my website! March 17, 2008
This is it! This is the official "No Escape" website. What do you guys think? It's been a lot of work, and I would like to give a great big thanks to Cathy Sulskis who helped me out with the design and navigation. She's a great friend!
So take a look around and please don't hesitate to tell me if something could be easier, if there's a spelling error, or whatever! Feedback is always welcome!
Love ya!
Lori-ann:)
