Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes

One of the great guys in the audience
who rocked with me from the beginning
to the end.

Last week I promised that I would share some big news today, but before I get to the point I want to takethe opportunity to thank the absolutely amazing audience for last nights gig.

They rocked with me the whole gig through and gave me such a good vibe I almost jumped through the roof.

To the point. This is going to be one of the longer blog texts so make sure you sit comfortably.

About 2 months ago one of the best things ever happened. Mika Karhumaa contacted me and few weeks later he became my manager. Not only that, but before I even met him he had already got me a distribution deal with AXR Music. A manager like him doesn't grow on trees.

I wanted to share this, already a month ago but needed to get it confirmed on paper before writing about it.

So, last week I went to AXR:s office. Mika had told me many good things about Ilkka Vainio and the team at AXR, and ensured me I would be fine going there without him.

 He was more than right. The first thing that happened when I got through the door was a big hug from Ilkka Vainio. He is such a warm hearted and nice man! The whole team was very friendly and made me feel at home right away.

Three hugs later, I walked out with a big smile, a signed contract in my hand and a bunch of Christmas CD:s Ilkka gave me. I don't have the words to describe how thankful I am.

However, every price has a sacrifice. One of the first thing I was told after I started working with Mika, was that I would have to push the release date and not only that, but also remake a lot of things on my album. My first reaction was a big NO. 

No way I'm going to burn down the house I built for three years to build a new one! Besides, I want to stick to my promises and already pushing the release date once feels bad enough.

I had already met up with a close friend to Mika, Jimmy Westerlund, who is a great songwriter/producer just to "meet and greet". I gotta say, the vibe was great and I was amazed how it sounded, but still the thought of re-making a lot of things felt like a slap in the face.

After a lot of talking, thinking and even arguing I started to see how I was trying to say no to one ofthe best opportunities so far.

I need to go a few steps back in time in order to give you the full picture.

During the last three years I've been working in 4 studios with different producers. I started with 5 song together with Johan Bejerholm in Malmö, 2010. By that time I didn't plan to release a whole album myself and tried to find a record label. I was creating a package of a few songs, pictures, website, a music video etc. and tried to find a 50/50 deal with a record company. When it didn't happen soon enough I decided to release the album no matter what.

I loved working with Johan, but since it was my first studio I still felt I needed to step out and look around. It's a little bit like Silja Lines buffet, the first round you try a bit of everything, and by the second round you know exactly what you want more of.

With Eric Gast and Johnny Lee Michaels

Thanks to Jyrki 69 (who has helped me a lot on the way) , I was lucky to get connected with Johnny Lee Michaels. We decided to give it a shot and he produced one song for the album.

 The style was a bit different, way more rock than the 5 songs I did before. Nothing wrong with that though, Johnny rocks and knows what he is doing.

Around the same time I was in Stockholm for a song writing session with a couple producers and working with them felt good as well even if it was a bit more pop than with Johnny.

A retarded picture of me and the 2 Swedish producers
Joakim Övrenius and Patric Jonsson.

Now we're at 3 different studios with 4 producers.
 I loved working with all of them, but there was one big question ringing in my head. How the hell am I going to get all of them working together for the same goal?

Me and Eric Gast in Sonic Pump studios

I thank kitesurfing for the solution. 

As I was kitesurfing in the Caribbean I met a bartender who knew someone who knew Eric Gast. A wonderful human being and producer who has worked with many big stars in US and the founder of FM-worldcharities which is based on connecting music to charity.

It's something really close to my heart and a chance I didn't want to miss out on. Check out this interview with me and Eric if you want to know more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3QebJg6BFY

I took the risk and went to one of his charity events in New York with out knowing if he would even have the time for a meeting.

 I got very lucky. After a good conversation he listened to all of the songs from the different studios and decided to come to Finland and help me get the album together.  I have to say, that guy is one of the most warm hearted people ever. 

Me , Eric and my snake Squishy

He came with me to all the studios and worked with the producers in order to connect the songs to each other.This is not an easy task, because the more chefs in the kitchen the messier the soup. Even if it was complicated at times I'm happy I made the choice to work with so many people on the same album. It taught me a lot. But I'm not going to make it a habit.

The problem was never that people wouldn't get along, but because they have their own artistic way of doing things, and there's a fine line between giving someone freedom and giving too many directions of how to work.

This was also a reason why the album release got dragged out, trying to fit all these schedules and opinions together, and after all the hard work with all these wonderful people it felt like a slap in the face that I would have to re-do some things on the album.

 But then I realized that during these three years, and thank to all the wonderful people I've been working with, I have grown a lot more than I would have, only sticking with one person.
 What I did three years ago, is different from who I am today. I have more to give from allI've learned. And I realized that after working so hard, it would be wrong towards the audience and myself to release the album if it wasn't up to date with who I am to day.

After a couple of days of thinking it became more and more clear that this is what I want to do. Having a strong team behind me now, that wants to build up a proper strategy and giving me the chance to make things better than before, I would be a fool not to go for it.

Therefore I'm going to Los Angeles in the beginning of January to spend three weeks with Jimmy Westerlund to make some new songs and work on the old material and make sure it's the best I can give.

The album will be released in April 2013. There is still one big surprise that I can't reveal before it's confirmed, that is also one of the biggest reasons for the new release date.

Stay with me and I will share the good news in the next blog text.

Big hugs to all the supportive fans and friends.

- Jessica Wolff

One big Pesodent smile

Hi everyone,

The winter has come, my snake just shaded skin and my music scene just turned upside down.
Don't get me wrong it's definitely not a bad thing.
I wanted to update my blog much earlier but first I wanted to be sure about some things before sharing.

About a month ago when I was meditating it became very clear to me how much I need a manger. I known it for a long time but now it really came up to the surface.
The further I get with my music the harder it is for me to keep track of the business part: promotion, planning releases, layouts, marketing, website, getting deals, organize gigs etc, not let alone the most important of all, being an artist.

I thought about what kind of a manager would be good for me. Someone who knows the business well, who's outgoing, energetic, see me for who I am and dedicated.
A few weeks later I got a phone call from a manager being interested.
First I didn't want to get my hopes up, but a week later we had a meeting and before I knew it he became my manager.

It's the best thing that has happened in a long time.

Three years ago I jumped out of acting school to focus full time on music. I decided to give myself at least 6 years, before I would "allow" myself to consider doing it as a hobby if it nothing happens (hopefully I can go on for many more years).

I set up my own company in order to control as much as possible, especially in the beginning since the music business was so new to me.
I started applying to fonds, finding investors, found a team of a promoter, booking agent, business consultant etc.
I got the band together, the websites running, recorded songs and wrote new ones, went to stage coaching, took promo pictures, and eventually made music videos, singles etc. The list goes on.
So far it's been an amazing trip, that's been developing me as a person/artist but also teaching me a lot of valuable things about the music business.

The only problem that caused me stress many times the further I went, was that I started to feel I needed 10 more hands, twice as many hours a day and 5 more personalities in order to get everything done the right way.
People around me had very different opinions on what to do and how to act, and the only thing I could do was to follow my intuition and use my common sense.
I was constantly thinking: What is the next step? What can I do tomorrow to get closer to my goal, and what is the to-do list for 1 months, a half year and a year from now?

As soon as the management deal was confirmed, it felt like a big rock lifted from my chest. The Pepsodent smile is still wide on my face.

There will still be as much work as before, but this time I can focus more on the music and feel relaxed knowing that I have a smart guy behind me who knows how things work and who can help me to focus on the right things. It feels like the best Christmas gift of all times!

A lot of awesome things have already started to happen that I would love to write about, but I still have some things to work on before sharing. All I can say is that feel very happy and thankful.

Life rocks rights now!!!

Cheers,
Jessica

Ps. Check out my blog the end of next week

What A Coincidence

Hi everyone,

About a week ago I got a very interesting phone call from a great songwriter/producer called Jimmy Westerlund. He had heard about me through a friend who suggested that we work together.

We quickly met up for a coffee and right away got along really well. We decided to write a song together and a few days later he knocked on my door, ready to start a songwriting session I won't forget in the first place.
We had a great laugh about the fact are we're not only sharing the same initials JW but we're also born on the same day. Not let alone the fact that guy he had written the song idea with, happened to be my keyboard player Jani Hölli. Quite a coincidence.

First we were both quite sleepy. Him after driving for 5 hours and me having a heavy flu, but after a quick meal and some coffee we were fit for writing.

We didn't have a studio to go to, but my parents weren't at home so we set up a small studio in their living room.
I was so surprised how easy everything was.  It didn't take long before we got the text and melody for the first verse.
 I usually rehearse a lot before I go to the studio and sing at least 50 takes to get the best possible result. Sometimes it requires a few takes before I get into it, but not this time.

I'm not sure if it was the chilled atmosphere or the good mood, but I didn't have to sing more than a couple of times every line, before we were pleased with the result.
We kept on working until 5 am when we could barely keep our eyes open anymore.
It was one great experience and I was surprised how well the sound turned out coming from a quickly home made studio.

Rock on!

Sometimes a chilled atmosphere with great conversations and a little
bit of white wine is all you need.

Jessica

Broken Wings

HI there,

I just finished the music video shootings for the up-coming single "Broken Wings". It took us 4 days in total.
The first day was everything from awesome to a nightmare. We started 8 am with make-up and I didn't get home until 5 in the morning. I thought it was going to be challenge to film with small kids but with some Angry Birds candy it went smoothly. The kids were very patient and so sweet.

The little "fan club"

I was also met by a small "fan club"of school kids, when we got to the second shooting location. Except for pulling my hair and jumping up and down in front of the camera, they were very cute 

and helpful.

The "nightmare part" started at around 7pm on a random playground in the middle of nowhere. Not only was it raining but it was very cold outside and the power kept on going off. 

I almost started to regret I had decided that my character shouldn't wear any shoes or jacket. After an hour I started shaking so badly I couldn't keep my body still or control my breathing. 

On top of that we had fire effects that were supposed to go off on a certain time in the song. It took a while to prepare them before each take and I knew I couldn't afford to mess it up because I was freezing.

It's gonna be interesting to see how it turned out. If you can't fight it you gotta turn it into your advantage, so I did my best to use the coldness as a tool to get the emotion needed for the chorus. 

After this day the rest of the days felt like a piece of cake. We were also very lucky, since two actors jumped out right before the shootings and both times we managed to find new ones half a day before the next shootings. So big thanks to Josefin Silen & Irina Tundra. You girls rocked!

 I also had the honor to get the wrestler/singer, "Starbuck", to play one of the main characters in the video. He did an absolutely amazing job.
Big thanks!

-Jessica

Starbuck & my freezing self

Brain cell damaging activity

Cold to the bone after spending some wonderful time in the water at the photo shoot

Hi there,

I think I must have lost half of my brain cells, spending 4 hours on the train, staring at myself on the laptop screen trying to pick out 10 out of 2245 promo pictures for the album. Maybe not the best way to get that energy boost before a gig. 

The internet connection was really bad and it took ages for the pictures to show.  However, with a good mood, patience and a lot of coffee I managed to go through about 700 pictures.

 The deadline for the up coming single and music video (Broken Wings), is coming up very quickly and there is a lot to do. It feels exciting, stressful, awesome and a tiny bit scary.

I have about two weeks time to master the single, pick out one picture for the single cover, find a grafic designer, register the song, get the needed codes and texts for the layout and finally send them to printing.

When it comes to the music video the story hit me as I was recording the song.  After a bunch of meetings later with the director we had the script in our hands. The song is about the pressure of the society and it's effect on people. It's something I wanted to write about for a long time and it has woken up a lot of thoughts and feelings on the way.

It's always exciting following the journey from the beginning of an idea to the final result. It also gives you a better chance to express yourself on a deeper level.

 That's also the little scary part, to take something so personal and expose it in public. I guess it would be like standing naked on the stage. It doesn't get more honest than that. People like or they don't, but usually they react.

Rock on!

Jessica

Rocking on an lung infection

HI there,

A lung infection is one of the last thing you want before a gig, especially if you have two in the same day. After being sick for 2 weeks I was still hopeful of getting well before my shows last weekend.
But the same morning I my throat was still dry, my nose was stuffed and I couldn't stop coughing.

After freaking out about it for a bit I pulled my up and decided I'm not going to let that ruin my day. There's not much to do about the situation but getting nervous and worry defenitely won't make it better.

 I decided to do the best out of the situation, stay relaxed and only focus on the message I want to deliver. Before I've also been focusing on moving around, the sound of my voice, the instruments etc. Completely ignoring those thoughts made me feel more free than ever.
My voice broke every ones in a while but luckily people didn't seem to notice.

In the end I had a lot of fun and it felt so great being up on the stage. It turned out to be a very valuable experience for me and it was another proof for me how much of the performance is based on mind power.









Rock on!

Jessica

Writers Block

Practiced a Kung-Fu kick called "Butterfly". I later realized it looked more like an attempt to stage dive in the park.

Hi there,

I've been trying to come up with a good interesting subject to write about for a week now. I've been at home in a heavy flu, which should be a good mode for blog writing. I thought the subject would just naturally pop up in my head sooner or later. Well it still hasn't, so I guess I'll have to write about writers-block.

It happens to me every once in a while, especially when I'm dealing with "office stuff" and tricky contracts. Business stuff and song writing simply don't go hand in hand.
Since I've released everything myself It basically makes me my own record label. Which also makes me responsible of everything else besides the actual singing. It's good and bad to be your own boss. You need more than a lot of discipline to make it work, which can be exhausting sometimes. But on the other hand you have all the control and can choose which direction you want to go. It was scary in the beginning since I'm so new (3 years) to the business side of music.
 I've made a lot of mistakes on the way but that's the way to learn, and I don't think I would learn the same things on a school bench.

You often hear people talking about artists as "products". It's really sad, but it's also the raw truth.
It felt like a slap in the face when my consultant told me 3 years ago that I better start seeing it that way and get used to the thought.

That's where it gets weird. I'm responsible of selling a product which happens to be myself. That's quite mind twisting sometimes. So, I've come to the conclusion that it's better to just "be", keep your feet on the ground and do what feels right and keep focused.
If I'll think too much about that stuff I will most likely get a writers block. ;)

Rock on!

Jessica Wolff