Elizaveta Ephemeris

 

So You Think You Can Dance, Strep, Dragons, Dreamer Kids and Journeys

How is that for a blog entry title?

Anyway, just a few minutes ago I got an email that my song 'Meant' will be featured on tonight's season premiere episode of So You Think You Can Dance. Wow! I will have to watch! Very excited. Over the past year I have received so many emails from people who used 'Dreamer' as their dance song - for recitals, flag routines - you name it. I do like that show a lot. Every time I have watched it I have walked away with a firm decision to take up dancing again. Er....OK, soon.

Unfortunately no celebratory glass of wine for me tonight. I have been sick with strep throat. Let me tell you: don't get it. I don't know how I picked it up, but chances are it was at the elementary school where we did our first Dreamer to Hero Art & Music Workshop a week and a half ago.

The workshop was done as a collaboration with my designer and art partner in crime Missy Washington of i102fly - she did the art portion of the event, while I did - guess? - the musical part of it, obviously. The kids were 8-9 years old and there were about 20 of them.

Halfway through the workshop I recorded the kids singing a part for my new song HERO. Yes, the one with the choir at the end. After that, Missy led them in an arts and crafts endevour.

Let me tell you: who needs high end gadgets or materials? She brought supplies from a Re-Use outlet and we made Superhero Machines from cardboard, discarded plastic, CDs, old packaging and other bits and pieces. The idea was to show them that sometimes even though you don't have the ultimate raw material/situation/resources to work with, you can still come out on top, be creative and come up with something amazing - and that applies to everything in life, in my opinion. The kids made some really incredible things and it was really inspiring to watch them.

We had a brilliant time and I can't wait to do it again. It was also filmed (by my friend Julien Lasseur), so in the next week or so we will post the video summary of the event.

Here is myself, two young Dreamers and Missy of i102fly.

A good time was had by all.

 

Speaking of the Choir for HERO: a huge thank you to all who submitted their recordings and videos. We had plenty recordings and the choir is sounding great! We may still ask fans for more videos, but we may be ok, too, we'll have to cut to song and see what happens. The best part about it is that for the first time I have engaged my fans in something active and something collaborative. It generated so much positive energy - I am definitely doing to do this again.

Later that week we also shot a little video for the acoustic version of a new song called Dragonslayer. The song is in the electronica genre and one of the ones I have been producing myself recently. I am pretty proud of it. The acoustic version works really well, too.  Here is a still from the shoot:

So now there are all sorts of videos in the pipeline.

However it was that weekend that I got very sick. I tried my best to stay off the antibiotics, but it turned out that I had strep throat, and it was rather virulent. It was so bad that I felt a slight sore throat Sunday morning and by Sunday night I had no voice whatsoever.

I did all my natural remedies, as usual and they helped a lot - but after a week in bed I was still in pretty bad shape. As much as I try to avoid medication (due to a very negative experience in the past I may speak about here later sometime) I had to give in and take one because now it's less than two weeks before I leave for Europe - my London show is on the 30th - and then Paris - and then TED Global. There's lots to do and I can't just keep riding this infection out.

Fortunately the antibiotic seems to be doing its job and I am better, except for a nasty cough that comes and goes, so no singing for another few days.

And now back to work.

Here is also a photo from my photoshoot with Belathee Photography a couple of weeks ago. Those girls are so good! And so fun to be around! Can't wait to work with them again.

 

zzzzzzz.... late night hellos

 

Work, work, work, work - play, play, play, play.

I really must stop neglecting this blog. Here, I said it: this is my new resolution. I think, however, this happens because I post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, as well, so sometimes I forget. It is no excuse, however, because in writing longer passages that are not mere impressions or soundbytes, I seem to find a rhythm of a kind and make sense of things that happened over time.

March was a bit of a whirlwind. I performed my first show in Moscow on March 8th, at Oldich, which is a lovely venue. It was sold out and the audience was warm and welcoming. I can't wait to go back and also release my Russian language collection of songs, which I have also been working on. Here is a little video the venue put together:

Elizaveta @ Oldich Dress & Drink from Elizaveta on Vimeo.

 

At the moment I am a bit tired after a rehearsal, so I will fulfill my writing promise tomorrow. I am performing this Wednesday and really looking forward to it. Tomorrow I get to wake up early and keep on working...

But I do have something to share with you first, and below is my Newsletter I just sent out today:

greetings my darlings - this is one packed email, so please read carefully!

                                                         ***

I. I have been hard at work on the new record, which will come to you in two EPs. I have been producing a lot of these songs, which is a brand new thing for me - both nerve-wrecking and incredibly fulfilling.

I need your help! One of the songs is called HERO. It is very special to me in this whole group of new songs and will definitely be a single, maybe even the first one. It also features a large choir at the end, of people who are all singing in unison. Since I can't really afford to record the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and I would love these to be REAL people, not software, here is my idea: why don't YOU sing on it - and be in my video?

Let's do this and make one giant choir!

So here are the details:

1) Email us at team@elizaveta.net with CHOIR in the subject line: we are already compling a list of people who are interested and in about a week will send out the email with all the information you may need.

2) FAQ: you don't have to be an amazing singer. You don't have to be in my area: you could be in Russia, Siberia or France. You DO have to record yourself with your  computer or smartphone singing the short & simple melody (that we will provide to you) and email it to us. You can sing by yourself or with your child, aunt, friends - the more the merrier! Even better: videotape yourselves singing and upload it to YouTube, send me a link, and you will get a cameo in the HERO crowdsourced video. 

3) What will happen: We will take all these recordings, mix them together and: hooray! We have a huge choir for my song:) IMPORTANT: I can't pay you for your time or effort. But I will thank you personally on camera, add your names to the album liner notes, and host a special Google + chat for the participants only + send you a handwritten card.

II. I am performing next Wednesday, April 10 here, in LA, at the Witzend.We will be filming it for my live EPK and will need your lovely faces there! I will perform HERO for the first time, have the audience join in on the song and record it, too! So in a way, if you are at my show this coming Wednesday, you are ALREADY in my choir - how amazing is that?:)

Also, I will be joined by the amazing Michael Valerio on bass, Jimmy Paxson (who featured in my Capitol Sessions) on drums/percussion and Ben Cassorla on guitar. My new Flower Alchemist guitar (made by James Trussart, in the photo above) will be making an appearance, as well.

You are advised to purchase tickets now because it will sell out, so do it HERE. It is all ages & $10 to get in. There will be some kids there, so don't hesitate to bring yours!

However: If you are elsewhere and can't attend, join us in a Google+ Hangout! Make sure you sign up/add me on Google+ HERE or show up at the link in real time. We will launch a public Google+ Hangout just before the show starts, I will say hi and then you can catch some of the music! This is the first of many Google+Hangouts to follow, so make sure you are in my Circle;)

 III. Finally: I wanted to share with you that I have parted ways with my record label Universal Republic. I am utterly and forever grateful to them for making Beatrix Runs happen and the last two years were amazing. But - I believe that the future belongs to a different model, and I am already half-way there. I have many, many songs to share with you in the coming weeks and months, and being an independent artist is the right thing for me at this time. 

Thank you for sharing this road with me. I love you.

PS: my new Flower Alchemist guitar, made by James Trussart

 

 

new concerts and video in the works.

I have scheduled another residency at the Witzend here, in L.A. October 11, 18 & 25.

I am looking forward to it, because it will give me a chance to experiment some more with new songs, instruments and also present a couple of special guests, like I did back in June.

It was sold out in June, so if you are reading this, it's best to pre-purchase tickets in advance HERE.

Other than that, in the works is also another music video and it's for the Goodbye Song!

Taking the long view. 

On the roof of Capitol Records building in Hollywood. Photo by Piper Ferguson.

 

 

Victory

From the iTunes Live Session. I am very fond of this acoustic version of Victory.

 

 

Armies of Your Heart - iTunes Live Session

Armies of Your Heart: iTunes Live Session at Capitol Studios from Elizaveta on Vimeo.

 

Rolling Stone - New Song, Video & Lyrics

So here it is:

 

Full interview version for when it premiered on Glamour.com can be read HERE.

 

Looked me in the eye

Made me feel so small

But you're the only one

who can see me at all

Is it who we are?

what am I to you?

Have we gone too far -

am I passing through?

 

I'm a rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling stone

Always moving, traveling, running all alone

I'm a rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling stone

 

Maybe I was born with a gypsy's soul

but I am not your girl, oh no

I don't play that role

I'm no mother, I'm no sister, I'm no lover

I am not your friend

I have built a home

but it's made of sand

 

I'm a rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling stone

Always moving, traveling, running all alone

I'm a rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling stone

 

Looked me in the eye

Made me feel so small

But you're the only one

who can see me at all...

NYC

I am in NYC, and after riding bikes in Central Park and getting a near heatstroke (try climbing a hill on a bike in humid 100 degrees!), I went to my rehearsal and found myself racing down the street through a thunderstorm. As we rehearsed in a cubby hole underground, the roof started leaking. So, all in all a day of brilliant adventure, which also included great food, which is not at all unusual in New York.

In other news, my iTunes Session Release has climbed the charts and here I am at #13:

We also re-mastered & re-released my older EP Breakfast with Chopin - you can now find it on iTunes and it deserves a whole separate blog entry for itself, but for now, here is the new video we just made for the title track. We enjoyed doing this and I am glad Breakfast with Chopin now has a video all its own.

 

 

Tomorrow I am doing some press, rehearsing some more and Friday is the show. I'll be happy to celebrate this release in NYC, the city where I was born. It doesn't ever make it easy for me, but I love it very much. Who wants easy anyway? Not me. Ok, sometimes. But tonight I am here, I can feel and hear the buzz of the Big Apple and I am looking forward to the next two days.

iTunes Live!

July 17, 2012

My iTunes Live Session is out today!

That includes videos of the songs, as well as audio: stream the videos for free courtesy of iTunes HERE.

Thank you to iTunes, Mike Valerio (music director), Sonus Quartet and everyone who made it possible, including Piper Ferguson for taking such great photos.

Here is a little Q&A Mike and I did about the session/EP:

 

 

"BEATRIX RUNS" physical digipac, with a hand-illustrated poster, is now available on AMAZON.COM! Click HERE to purchase.

Please leave a review and pass the link on to your friends!