Elizaveta Ephemeris

UK! Paris! Meant! Sinead O'Connor! Elephants! (ok, maybe not those)

Yes I know I have been remiss in my blogging.

But you see, everything has been moving so fast. And not in one straight line, either.

In fact, my new hero of the day is Philippe Petit - whose brilliant talk I caught at the TED Conference (that one deserves a blog entry all its own) this past week. He is a tight rope walker and also a juggler.

February was one such month, where I felt what it may be like to be him. Ah, but you see, he chose that life and that rush of adrenaline. He willingly walked on a wire between the Word Trade Center Towers years ago.

Whereas I - well, I make music. All I want is to make more music. And I like peaceful life. Or so I keep telling myself, but the fact of the matter is: it is not necessarily true. And as much as I bemoan it sometimes when events go definitely south or even off the known map, I did choose this life. I chose a life of last minute opportunities, ups and downs, not-quite-coincidences, half-victories, bright lights, early mornings on the plane-fall-asleep-on-my-feet-is-my-voice-going-yet performances.

So there it is: the truth. I am an adventurer at heart.

And this week I get to perform at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, opening for none other than Sinead O'Connor. It is only now starting to sink in, as I am typing this entry, and I have not even packed yet - while tomorrow I get on the plane. I have to do laundry, do some sound mixing, run errands, pack, and maybe even sleep. 

So for now - and I know it is a cop-out of the highest order - I am posting here my most recent email update I just sent out to the Elizaveta e-mail list. Please bear with me:) I will have plenty time to write on the plane...

Hello my dears,
 

It has been a pretty fast paced few weeks since the release of Beatrix Runs. And looks like it will go on that way for a while! If you are in the UK, I will be performing five concerts in the coming two weeks, opening for the legendary Sinead O'Connor. The links to buy tickets can all be found HERE. 

But it doesn't end there. Come April, I will be on tour of the West Coast in the USA, opening for the amazing band James. We will be starting in Vancouver, and hit Seattle, San Francisco, Portland and others - 10 concerts in all!

We are also prepping for the official music video shoot for 'Meant'. I performed and recorded the exclusiveiTunes acoustic session on Valentine's Day, to be released in April, as well (with string quintet and more!) - and guess what! The physical release is also coming up! I am excited because Missy Washington of i102fly outdid herself in designing the amazing packaging, which will hold clues and a special map for the Beatrix story (as some of you already know, there is a story behind the record, which will be unveiled online in the coming months). 

We are also working on launching the new and much improved interactive Elizaveta.com - also in the weeks coming up.
As always, I am doing covers and posting them for your viewing and downloading pleasure - like this cover of one of my favorite Irving Berlin songs, which we put to footage from the film classic City Lights (I am obsessed with Charlie Chaplin!). We just shot some great footage for Home Sessions, to go up on YouTube in the next two weeks!

Thank you, thank you and thank you for listening, supporting, commenting and spreading the word about Beatrix Runs! Please keep sharing the videos, covers and the songs!
Lots of love,

Elly 

 

Chronicles

So it has been a whirlwind kind of time since June, really.

We are in the process of posting the issues of Chronicles for September and October. So bear with us!

But here is the Very First One, from our trip to Chicago and Lollapalooza - Chronicles Issue #1.

You can click on it and expand it, by the way.

Designed by the inimitable Missy of i1o2fly, of course:)

 

good morning.

I woke up and saw the news over the weekend. And it just keeps getting worse. Earlier in the week I found out that my mom, back in Moscow, had a heart complication and is now in the hospital, undergoing some tests.

And here I am, today, working on some songs, as the record is nearing completion. I will be flying to Moscow soon, right after the mastering day. But I can't shut out reality. And so I sat this morning, and looked at some beautiful Japanese art books, and cried.

In the big picture, what I am doing, my record, my music: do they even matter?

But yes. I think it is on a day like today that I turn to one of my most favorite teachers: Joseph Campbell:

• We're in a freefall into future. We don't know where we're going. Things are changing so fast, and always when you're going through a long tunnel, anxiety comes along. And all you have to do to transform your hell into a paradise is to turn your fall into a voluntary act. It's a very interesting shift of perspective and that's all it is... joyful participation in the sorrows and everything changes.

                                                                                                            (Sukhavati)

It's a wonderful, wonderful opera, except that it hurts.

So I will drink some coffee, donate some money to Red Cross and their Japan effort, meditate and go on. It is a beautiful day outside - the flowers need watering and the songs want finishing, I can hear them.

And if you are reading this - I am so very proud of the music I have prepared for you. And I love you very much.

 

Nadia - song lyrics in progress

I watched something online the other week which touched me deeply. 

It was a story about a young freshman girl who committed suicide. In the process, she was encouraged by a very sick and twisted man, who had trolled message boards and forums for deeply depressed teenagers, and would befriend them, in order to push them over the edge, while pretending to be another depressed person.. by encouraging them to enter suicide pacts with him. 

Anyway, you can watch the story HERE, : it is a jaw-dropping one, and it even includes a Miss Marple-ish British old lady, who has been key in bringing the criminal to justice. I wrote a song.. and I called it Nadia.. because that was her name.

Nadia

Excuse me while I try to breathe

The water's dark and deep beneath my soul

so I let go

I feel a churning in my chest

like wheels that never come to rest below

till I let go

So if you stay and hold my hand

at least I'll know I had a friend

it's not your fault I'm so alone

I hope you're happy when I'm gone

But if you leave and let me drown

then will they say I dragged you down

beneath the weight of my despair

because I needed you to care

that I let go..

The current's strong

it pulls me in

and carries me away from all I know

till I let go

I'm tired of fighting to hold on

I tell myself I'm going with the flow

when I let go

So if you stay and hold my hand

at least I'll know I had a friend

it's not your fault I'm so alone

I hope you're happy when I'm gone

But if you leave and let me drown

then will they say I dragged you down

beneath the weight of my despair

because I needed you to care

that I let go..

I'd never thought that breathing in and out

can be so hard to do

I'd never thought I would give up

and I can't make it up to you

but this is something I can't fight:

this bleak and hopeless tidal wave

it picks me up, it pulls me down

into the dark, until I drown..

Chorus

(eik 2010, all rights reserved)

 

inspiration

When I get overwhelmed, I go to the NASA website and look at the photos. It helps me put things in perspective. The interesting thing is that if you do it side by side with National Geographic pictures, there are some that work very well together. So the two sites are my go-to places in the cyber-world. They ground me, but also inspire me to fly..

Andromeda Galaxy

Galaxy M33 (couldn't they have come up with a better name?)

Milky Way (Jim Thompson)   

Please think rain. I need your help.

I am continually bombarded by images of fires and Moscow and Russia.. the arid air, the smoke, forests burning down. My mom is virtually confined to her apartment, taking a cold bath every hour, and the authorities are encouraging people to wear surgical masks when venturing outside.

I have close to 3,000 people on my facebook I am connected to. If you took even 100 of those and had them share this with 50 of their friends, you get 5,000 people.

There is not a lot I can do right now to help the situation, except praying and working out a way to get my mom out of Moscow for a few days or so, to get some fresh air, somewhere.

But I am a believer in power of thought. If you are reading this, please take a minute and imagine rain. Rain over Moscow and the woods. Water falling from the sky to stop this madness, which has decimated the crops and countless ecological preserves. And please share this with your friends, and have them do the same. If intention and thought are all we can do right now, at least let's do it on the grand scale, since we can - thanks to the power of social networking.

Listen to the song below I found on YouTube. Say a prayer for all the beauty lost. And hopefully more beauty to be saved. And think rain. Rain. Rain. Please.

 

  
 

 
 

 
 

Yes, yes.

Floods in Pakistan. Israeli and the Lebanese killing each other over a tree. A good friend's friend killed himself, leaving two little girls behind. Russia choking in sweltering heat. The oil in the Gulf. The new patch of garbage in the Indian Ocean.

What can you say to those things? How do you process?..

Joseph Campbell says: we are the consciousness of the Earth. If you go by that theory, the anger.. and the fear.. and the anger.. that vicious circle creates a chain reaction all across the world.

And so today I made a decision.

 I will sing - everywhere - and to everyone - and keep following my bliss. 

I will work hard and get better every day. I will seek to help and inspire and be of service. 

I won't be afraid of anything anymore.

I will smile and laugh as much as possible every single day.

I will share my love for life, music and the world with as many people as I can.

..and I will cultivate joy. And make it contagious, because music is that, too. As evidenced by the Phoenix song below:)

In your brain are special cells that read the minds of others. Dubbed mirror neurons, these cells fire in response to the “reflection” of another person. Whether you smile or watch another smile, the neurons in your brain respond exactly the same. That is, your brain perfectly mirrors the emotion and experience of others (energetically, holographically and chemically-speaking) as if you are having the emotion or experience yourself — first-hand. Neuroscientists believe mirror neurons are what allows us to feel empathy and compassion for others, as our brains use “mirroring” to translate what we see so that we can relate to each other and the world.

“Mirror neurons may well become this century’s equivalent of the mid-20th century discovery of DNA,” writes Robert Sylwester, emeritus professor of education at the University of Oregon.

“New brain imaging from UCLA demonstrates that specialized brain cells, known as mirror neurons, activate both when we observe the actions of others and when we simply read sentences describing the same action.When we read a book, these specialized cells respond as if we are actually doing what the book character is doing.” 

Mirror neurons may be a key to enhancing our evolutionary process. Knowing that personal and group realities are largely created from the inside-out, we can carefully select optimal sensory data streams that reflect wholeness, unity, profound harmony and inspiration. Humankind’s creations and relationships in the outer world ... mirror what we are seeing, feeling and creating in our collective inner worlds.

solstice dance

So I got to go to Joshua Tree this past weekend. Desert and I have a relationship of mutual cautious respect, however. Well, I can say so for myself, I am sure the desert doesn't give a fig about me. I overheat quite easily for some reason. Maybe it's because I don't really sweat a lot. It was beautiful, though, and eerie: the giant boulders; the forests of cacti. We stayed at the Harmony Motel, where U2 had stayed at. Very cozy place. I would like to go back and camp, but not until it is a little cooler. All things considered, I prefer mountains.

Last night I had a dream I was having a very intense make-out session with W.A. Mozart. No, don't ask. He looked a bit like Amadeus in that movie. But I knew he was Mozart. There was not much conversation going on (well, none at all), however, and no music insights whatsoever. I think it may be the summer solstice messing with my subconscious.

Today I had my first modern dance class. There was a lot of improvisation, which I liked. I seem to be a bit dyslexic when it comes to memorizing routines. I will get over it eventually, I am sure, but it's nice to make stuff up. I am best at making stuff up, it seems, rather than doing something already put together. It could be that I am just lazy. Or it could be that my mind works that way. But it seems to go for many things.

I am actually kind of sore after it, so it will be interesting to see how I feel after four days of it in a row. I am excited, however: it will be really good for me.

As I woke up today, I kept thinking about the oil spill. So many things seem so trivial in comparison. I don't watch TV, so I can't tell. But it seems that the US public is mostly going on about business as usual. I mean, it's not even trending on Twitter. I almost feel like I should be out there, cleaning the water. I wonder if I should. You know: clean the oil with a bucket, or wash the birds, while singing. Sigh. Something. I feel like an apathetic and complacent jerk, a bit, as I go about my days, creating routines and making plans, making music and whatnot. I did donate something towards a bird-rescue fund. But it feels so small and stupid and insignificant. I went boogie-boarding at the beach the other day - the water is actually quite warm. And felt guilty afterwards.

I am starting to sing a lot again. It's exciting. My voice is back to normal now, thankfully. I have to be careful and make sure I don't overdo it, because I have this tendency to just go-go-go-go. And vocal cords do not appreciate that kind of approach.

I am performing this Thursday.