Sexy Beast?

I didn't post the photos from the shoot I did with my chum Mode de la Minx. My bad. Here's one of me:

And one I took of her:

 

She got some amazing shots of me. I say that they're amazing not because I'm in them, but because despite my lack of experience in front of a camera, and inability to personify anything that Tyra Banks has mentioned in America's Top Model, she managed to get some really amazing shots of me. I think she's a pretty dope creative, and she surpassed my own ideas of what I wanted to portray. So I can't wait to get a few retouched images back and pick one to be my EP cover.

Modelling is very hard (duh) especially when you're trying to be yourself/music artist self. No way did I think it was going to be easy, and for some stupid reason I've always thought that I wasn't photogenic. The result of some childhood incident I never recovered from? I dunno. Maybe I've been called ugly a lot. Nope, that's not it. I have a few theories that I'm obviously not going to disclose. The bottom line is that I had to train myself not to predict that my first photo shoot was going to be a disaster. Mantras and shit. I've been doing so since I told myself that photo shoots, interviews and all the non musical activities WILL be part of the trying-to-be-successful-making-music package. 

Anywho, it was a great experience with a great friend who made me feel comfortable the whole time. I learnt that I'm not completely unable to take a good shot. My body language and shapes were fine. 'Twas just my bloody face. Anyone who knows me would probably say that I'm facially expressive. But for some reason I kept giving these dead stares. Even this dude is giving more attitude than I was:

 

I had Tyra's voice in my head saying "SMEYES BITCH, SMEYES!" (Smile + eyes = smeyes = smiling with your eyes.) But I blatantly didn't portray that on film. She told me to pout and I didn't understand why she'd ask me to do such as thing. I figured only people with minute lips had to pout to give the illusion of bigger lips. Man, my lips are anything but small. I can't put on lipstick in two strokes - copious surface area. Ain't no shame in it. She was right though. The aim was to accentuate/frame my jaw, or something like that.  It took just under an hour for me to "warm-up" and smeyes and pout (not like Keira Knightley) effectively. By then we had managed to get a nice shot of me looking away from the camera. Score! Props to her for making the most out of my disability.

Until the next post - xx

Life is....Dandy...I Mean Randy...No, Dandy

When I left my job, I feared that I'd become bored with the amount of free time I was likely to have. I didn't think that there was going to be enough activities that I'd really want to explore. Of course, I was going to spend a stupid amount of time making music, but even with this passion, I thought I wouldn't be capable of writing and producing a lot of material. Contrary to my insecurities I've been doing so many things that my life is a colourful blur:

• Rekindling my love affair with my sewing machine, altering old clothes and changing shirt buttons (I adore buttons):

• Enjoying films. This is a shot of Samuel L. Jackson in Cleaner. (Not the best film, but I like him and this face!):

• Meeting up with estranged friends and attending birthday shindigs:

• Going to a great (but expensive) hairdressers to get my hair treated and pressed, only to go home and put a zillion rollers in it. Here's the outcome - my ode to Annie:

• Paying attention to my health and well-being. No caffeine for me, thanks:

 

• Attending artsy events:

In this beautiful hall - Wilton's Music Hall - I witnessed the captivating Conor O'Brien of Villagers. I kind of entranced by him. His voice filled the room which such control and tenderness; and he can write a bloody good song - so inspiring:

I got to witness this kick-ass dance battle. Sofiabulous and Anna Ninja shattered my understanding of Waacking. I'm a complete amateur, and haven't been trained in any dance style, but I've watched a lot of stuff over the years, and these women are stupidly good. You know when your brain can't process a movement or a sequence? How did they do that? Why is their body making such shapes? How can they whip their hair to the beat without causing whiplash? I asked myself these questions and many more. The last few minutes (from 3:50 onwards) made my night, and the tune is toooo hard:

I'm expecting tomorrow to be an interesting day, as my amazing friend Mode de la Minx will be taking a few test shots of me for my EP cover - EXCITED! All those years of watching America's Next Top Model better pay off. I better remember my angles and smyes (I'm not sure if that's the correct elision of "smile with your eyes".) So, hopefully the next post will detail the day and I might even post a snippet of one of my tracks.


Until the next post - xx