The playlist is a list of songs that inspired all of the music that i will release this year. It also give people a look into where i am trying to go with my music. There are also some songs in this playlist that I cover live and will be releasing covers of this year. Take a step into my world of musical influences and inspiration.
I’m a nostalgic person by nature. This time of year brings out all the memory triggers – smells, sights, yearly movies, conversations with family. Thinking back on the gifts I’ve gotten through the years, the most memorable often include music.
As a kid, my cousins and I drew names for gifts. Our family didn’t get together very often since we lived in different parts of the state, so Christmas at my grandmother’s house was a big deal. Christmas when I was eight was huge – the gift from my cousin was The Partridge Family Christmas album! Three of my cousins were slightly older than me, so they talked about songs and bands that were not on my elementary school radar. The Partridge Family, however, was on my TV every Friday night and now I had their album! The songs were Christmas standards, sung by David Cassidy, Shirley Jones and studio musicians. Very pedestrian by grown up standards, but that album meant the world to me. It even had a card attached to the front of the cover that was “signed” by the entire Partridge Family. What did I know about mass produced autographs? I nearly wore that record out playing it well beyond the holidays.
As a teenager, I would often get albums as gifts – Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Don Henley’s Building The Perfect Beast, all the albums by Hall & Oates. Music is so easy to gift and so appreciated. I still have an extensive album collection, even though I have most of the music downloaded, because they bring all the great memories to the fore. Reading liner notes was the best because you would know an entire song and be able to sing along immediately. As I got older, albums gave way to cassettes, then CDs.
Then came concert tickets!
I cannot hear Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” without thinking of the first time I heard him sing it – November, 1984. It was also the first time I had seen Bruce live in concert and that song closed the show. Even though everyone in the crowd should have been spent after the four hour show, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” just re-energized the full house. There was very defined time line – those events before that show, and those events that occurred after that show. Although I had been to live shows before that, all that came after would be compared to Bruce Springsteen live. It’s a high bar, but one that most artists meet in their own way.
Another special show was taking our family friend to see Barry Manilow. Her name was Mary Louise Weaver and she could not have been a bigger Barry fan. She was speechless, teary-eyed, smiling and singing – mostly simultaneously. She knew all of his music and had the best time. I was so happy to witness her happiness.
I am now a grown up with grown children, but I still experience the same excitement when I hear a song from any time in my life. Fortunately, all three of my kids have grown up loving music, so my husband and I did something right. We have a great time listening to different genres and attending different shows. I love to sing at the top of my lungs driving in the car, around the house, or at any concert I am attending. Music is a great unifier and sharing music is a gift that we can all give each other.
Now, it’s time to fire up the turntable for that Partridge Family album.
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What’s your favorite musical memory? Share with us so we can feel that nostalgia too, over on our Facebook page!
I’m always inspired by songs that are filled with strong and seamless vocals. I love listening to stripped down pop songs where you can really hear the artist sing. It feels raw and intimate, almost like a private concert. So here are some of my favorite acoustic style pop tracks with a little R&B flair. You can only listen if it also involves wine, cheese and good company.
Daniel Caesar – Best Part (feat. H.E.R)
Camila Cabello – Real Friends
Kehlani – Honey
Noah Cyrus, MAX – Team
Ella Mai – Naked
Mila J – No Brakes
Elijah Blake – Mama Knows
Tori Kelly – Paper Hearts
Rihanna, Kanye, Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds
Lauv – The Other (Stripped)
Frank Ocean – Ivy
Cody Simpson – Home To Mama
Jorja Smith – Goodbyes
Troye Sivan – My My My! (Acoustic)
Rudimental, James Arthur – Sun Comes Up (Acoustic)
Keep up with Arlene here.
Over the last year my tastes in music have changed pretty dramatically, and with it how I’m moving forward with my writing and creative process. This playlist is a combination of new styles for me that influenced the creation of “We Should Both Be Here” and the rest of my current original set with a genre range from r&b, neo-soul, chill wave, and funk to soul pop.
Keep up with Sheridan Reed here.
Los Angeles based pop duo ALKE – comprised of Jameson Flood and Audrey (A.K.) Karrasch – maintain the perfect balance of ethereal vocals and nostalgic, 80’s instrumentals in their art, music that makes you want to get up and make all of your teenage dreams come through. Theirs has been an inspirational journey, and A.K. has shared her insight with Bitch Media and Girl Talk HQ in recent months, highlighting emotional abuse’s place in the music industry. It’s a side of the industry that consumers don’t normally get to see, and it’s a terrifying reality for many.
But then there are the few that rise above. They create organic, intense emotion with their art and they climb to the top with their ability to rise above with a feel good/do good attitude. ALKE is one of the few, and you will feel that way time and time again, whether enjoying one of their refreshing singles or some of the gleaming words of wisdom they provide.
We wanted to dive a little deeper with ALKE. So, we did.
If you were to introduce ALKE to the world in a major way – really go all out, the sky’s the limit – how would you do so?
Jameson: Just to preface this answer I’ll let you know that this is Jameson answering this one (I don’t want my bitterness to be associated with A.k). So, I thought about this question a lot and finally had a moment of realization. I don’t know if anything, fantastical or not could do a sufficient job of introducing our music to anyone. What we want more than anything is for people to appreciate what we create and maybe spend a few moments in our world. We give people our music for free and tell everyone we know about it, and even our closest friends sometimes don’t listen. As opposed to the earlier generations, ours doesn’t seem interested in what you have to say unless you go on Dr. Phil and scream profanities at your mother. So maybe in an alternate universe where people still cared about things like talent or just art in general I would be excited to answer this question, but our universe can “cash me outside.. how bout that.”
The music video for “All Night” is really fun and adorable. (Plus who doesn’t want to run around like crazy and cause a ruckus when they’re stuck in a hospital bed?) How did that concept come about, and what was the creative process like with the video? Any fun anecdotes?
We had a couple of ideas for this video but that all somehow involved a hospital. At first we thought it would be fun for me to actually escape, and roller skate to the nearest skating rink. Then I remembered I am awful at roller skating. We had this idea for a while but we never thought we’d get the opportunity to actually shoot it. Almost a week after we put it out of our minds we were given the opportunity to shoot any video we wanted, but it had to be done within a week’s time. The director, Logan Meis, was in LA working on a project and last minute was able to book a day with us. This was exciting, however I had zero clue about finding a hospital to shoot in. After some solid googling I found a hospital set in Anaheim that just so happened to have a cancellation for the exact day we needed. We wanted the video to show that happiness and joy can be present in even the gloomiest of places. When we’re alone and feeling depleted love is always the force that keeps as moving forward. Longing for someone you haven’t even met allows the imagination to run wild. The possibilities are endless, even in a hospital gown.
All we could think while watching the video was, “This belongs in a John Hughes movie.” It’s the visual representation of how we feel when we hear your synth-laden sound. Is this an intentional thing you go into your work aiming for, or has it kind of come about more organically than intended?
A.K.: Wow. Firstly, that is an amazing compliment and I know I speak for the both of us when I say that. As Jameson stated above we want our music to be an invitation to our world, and we want our world to feel familiar and nostalgic to everyone. We don’t want to create things that aren’t realistic. With so much going on in the world, the pressure we all feel from social media, and just life in general it’s important to keep things real and endearing. We want our music to take people to a place in their brain that’s familiar, comfortable, and reminiscent of a time in life that felt easier and less strenuous. For as much as I wanted to grow up and get out of high school, I cherish those memories the most. We grow up and grow out of our awkwardness but one thing I’ve learned is that insecurities feel just the same at any age, and it’s important to embrace what makes us different, what makes us happy. For us, that’s being forever young & courageous.
Jameson: I think this is possibly the greatest compliment we have ever received. I consider John Hughes films to be the perfect pop songs in movie form and I absolutely strive to create that same atmosphere and vibe in our music. The way he created such simple settings and still made them into something attainable and desirable was mind blowing to me growing up. I wanted to be in the breakfast club. If that was detention then I would have broken every rule to get in. I mean who didn’t want the charisma of Ferris Bueller?! He took normality and added endless possibility. The way we long for that feeling we had while watching those movies is something I have to insert in all of our music for me to feel like it’s coming across the right way. I want people to be teleported into a different world when they listen, but I want that world to be something familiar and nostalgic as well. So actually to go back to the first question, this is how I’d introduce our music. I’d travel back in time and have John Hughes use our music in all of his films. Then travel back to present day and use all of the money I made from his movies to buy Atlantic Records and fire whoever signed the catch me outside girl.
A.K., with your history in the industry and the obstacles you’ve faced to get your art out there, what do you think has been the most important factor or trait that has changed in your process, or how you go about producing your music now?
It definitely helps having an amazing producer in your band, that’s for sure. From the first time Jameson and I wrote together it just felt so easy and free. He has a way with seeing my vision, bringing it to life, and through his instrumentation he’s able able to pull so much out of me that’s been locked up for years. For so long my perception of writing music and recording was skewed. While logically I knew expression and creativity were the whole point of music, I found it hard to embrace being vulnerable when I was under the wing of bad management. It used to feel like writing with a formula and writing for approval. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is to throw out all the rules. I don’t write music because I want approval or want to be liked. We write because if we don’t, we’d probably just feel numb. If we ever feel like we’re forcing something we just pause.
What is the environment like when you’re recording? Do you find you work better in dark spaces, a designated studio, with drink in hand? Bring us into your BTS production-wise, and give us every detail!
Jameson: So I was going to say that it’s different for every song, but I thought about it a little more and realized that there is definitely a pattern. Almost every time we write something it starts with me just wondering into the home studio as if I didn’t know it was there and sitting down at the keyboard. I’m one hundred percent a guitarist but for some reason I don’t find the guitar as inspiring as the keys when I’m trying to create something new. So I’ll find some progression that I’m usually not sure about and A.K. will quietly walk in and say something like “what’re you doing?”. Once she spends about 30 minutes convincing me that whatever I’m playing is worth writing to, we get settled in. Or actually we run to the store and buy wine and then we settle in. A.K. Is actually a studio engineer as well so she’ll spend a good amount of time recording her vocal ideas by herself. I’ll comp some ideas together and then we get in my car. Car time is a necessity for us. We’ve finished writing a lot of our songs in the car. As far as environment goes, we definitely like the cozy home studio atmosphere. Feeling comfortable and knowing we can come and go as we please opens up our minds to express ourselves without insecurities. Honestly it doesn’t even matter what part of the house we’re in either. We recorded our song Indigo in my kitchen in Nashville. So as long as it’s our space, it’s the right space.
What do you consider in life to be beautiful – perhaps even art – that you hadn’t considered before, or that perhaps the masses don’t consider to be? Substantiate that claim.
Jameson: This might sound like a weak answer but I’d say friendship. Before I met A.K. I had spent years pretty much completely alone. I may have had a few people around that were sort of friends but they were usually met through working on a project together. Since moving to LA multiple people that I grew up with have moved here as well, and through them I’ve met even more people I now call friends. Having them in my life and spending time with them on a weekly basis has drastically changed who I am. I feel happiness on a much more consistent basis which for me is hard to come by due to clinical depression. My life is now manageable and so much more hopeful because of real friendships.
A.K.: I couldn’t agree more with Jameson. It used to bother me when people would say “it’s all about who you know” when trying to give advice about the music industry and how to share your art. That sentence alone doesn’t sit well with me because it implies we have to meet some “gatekeeper” in order to share our art. I like to remind myself that I can’t control what happens, but I can control my reaction, so that sentence has a new meaning for me now. It absolutely is 100% about who we know. We know our friends, our families, and we cherish them. You can’t put a price tag on real relationships and without them inspiration is non-existent.
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Keep up with ALKE here.