SHOWTIME!!!!!

So yesterday I played guitar in a glam rock show for an artist named Kenyon Phillips. His shows are always over the top with the costumes, makeup, and guest performers, but this show, was by far the craziest! for hair, I had crimped teased giant 80's hair and dark cat eye makeup with bright lips! The costume was a black blingy corset top with blingy rhinestones and a ballerina tutu with high heels! So basically, I was a punk rock glam ballerina guitar shredder! :) I absolutely loved being dressed over the top and rocking out with my poofy hair on stage!! Even though it's not my show, I still get my fair share of guitar solos which I absolutely LOVE and so did the audience! The back up singer in the show was Cheryl Freeman who is PHENOMENAL and played The Acid Queen in Tommy on Broadway!! My manager knew her first and I had met her through him before she was reffered to sing with Kenyon. It was so much fun actually performing with her! While Kenyon had a costume change, we did an improvised number with her full out singing and me shredding along! It was simply amazing and I actually danced a little...or at least attempted to! (Cheryl Freeman is the only person so far who makes me willingly want to dance haha)

My awesome punk glam show look!

Oh..I'm just shredding

The makeup station!

Pre Show love with Kenyon

Cheryl Freeman and I, I LOVE HER!!! 

Speaking of attempted dancing in public, I start dance classes next week! Although most people only consider me a musician, I know I'm a performer. I like to sing, shred, act, and mainly, PUT ON A SHOW! I figure some dance moves can only help me create an epic stage show! I was a competitive gymnast before I discovered music so I can do backflips and any other sort of twisty flippy craziness but dancing has NEVER been a strong point for me! So lets just say...These next few weeks will be...interesting to say the least!!! But like I did for music, I'll work until I get it ;)

XOX Ariel

Jazz, Fairs, Trains, and Annoying Questions

So this week for the first time since high school, I had to learn some Jazz songs for a show! I figured I would have remembered how to play jazz well from when I was in my school's jazz band but as it turned out, I forgot most of it since I don't normally play it! This week was all reviewing, google searching, and transposing Jazz songs to prepare! Once I mastered the song I needed, I went to rehearsal and it turns out the guest artist singing on the song decided to give us a completely different version which had an entirely different structure and key! Aw well, I like a challenge and I've got it now! :)

Jazzzzzzzzzzz

Originally I was planning on going home to Connecticut for the day on Friday but a last minute change of plans resulted in me grabbing a stick of eyeliner, running out the door, and jumping on the last train from Grand Central to New Haven all on Thursday night instead. I don't think I have ever gotten anywhere this fast before! I only had 45 minutes to get to grand central, buy my ticket, and get on the train. I did it in 20. (And yes I was still in my pajamas.) Friday morning I had an early meeting then it was time to go to the Big Eastern States fair!!!!!!! Yay!!!!! It's been a family tradition to go there and I don't think I've missed one for the past 20 years! Hunter Hayes was playing that night so it was great seeing all the little girls walking around in their cowboy hats and I love Hunter t-shirts. I think my favorite part of the fair (besides the blueberry pie and ice cream,) was the pig race. I know what you're thinking, and yes. It actually does exist. 4 pigs were in little stables and once the bar was lifted up they raced to the end of the track to eat oreo cookies. I had no idea that pigs liked oreo cookies but hey, ya learn something new everyday. There was a big exhibit from The Hard Rock Cafe in one of the buildings and they had displays of famous rock n' roll legend's stage clothes and guitars! It was pretty epic I must say. The best part of the big E (besides for the petting zoo which I'm still obsessed with) is that they have a giant xfinity arena for big concerts. Being from New England originally, I'm hoping to play there soon! 

Petting Zoo!

Giant Slide

We're Sexy and We Know It. 

Fair Ground 

Pete Townshend's Guitar

Jimi Hendrix's Show clothes

     

Elton John's Show Clothes

Breakfast of Champions

On an entirely different note, one of the things I've noticed about being a female guitar player is that no matter where you're going and how much equipement you're carrying with you, if guys see you with your guitar they always ask these 4 questions in this exact order: 

1. Is that a guitar?

2. Is that YOUR guitar?

3. Do you play guitar?

4. Are you good?

The only problem is that the last question is a trick question. If you say yes, they assume you're full of yourself and you're not good anyway and if you say "I try" like I always do, they assume you know 2 chords. I've been asked those questions so many times and at this point, I've decided they'll find out the answer to #4 on their own one day but for now, I'll let them think whatever they want ;)

Lights, Camera, Action!!

So recently I've been getting into acting and TV which is new since I'm normally just doing music all day everyday. I got my first casting call last month to be a student in the background on the Carrie Diaries! (The Carrie Diaries is the prequel TV series to Sex and the City.) It was like nothing I had ever experienced! The fitting was a few days prior to filming and I had to travel to Brooklyn for a 9am call. The fitting was at Steiner studios which is a giant lot filled with large buildings with giant stages, movie, and TV sets located in the Brooklyn Navy yard. I had to go to stage 3 for the fitting, I was literally expecting a big stage but when I went in, its a huge building with winding hallways and so many doors! When I got called for my fitting they had me wear white jeans, white converse, a t-shirt with blingy lips on it, bulky orange earrings, and an over sized denim jean jacket since we're supposed to be high school students in the 80's. I had assumed that we would be shooting the episode at one of the Steiner Studios Sets but it turned out we were shooting at a fancy prep school in Bay Ridge Brooklyn.          

                   (This place was huge!! So many movie sets!!)

(I had my fitting here!)

(Steiner Studios Layout!)

     
             



       
       
       
                       


On shooting day call time to the school was 5am, and I went straight to hair and makeup. It turns out my natural morning frizz hair was already 80's looking so they just hair sprayed it like there was no tomorrow. (I still can taste the hair spray weeks later.) During the scene I had to walk around and pretend to gossip with other students and was put right next to AnnaSophia Robb (the lead actress) so hopefully they'll keep that scene! It turns out that AnnaSophia and I are exactly the same height, have exactly the same hair color, and both had the same hairstyle with the same length. Everyone kept telling me "Oh wow I totally thought you were her!" One girl even took her picture next to me, and posted it on Facebook saying she met AnnaSophia haha good times! Can't wait to see the Episode!

(Here's me in my hott Jean jacket haha)                                           (Here's AnnaSophia, we kinda do look a like!)

Last Tuesday, I got my second casting call! It was a rush call to be a classy restaurant goer in the background for the show Psychotics that day filmed at The Chelsea Manor in Manhattan. As soon as I got the call, I had to take off my hello kitty pajamas as quickly as possible, put on real people clothes, run out the door, and do makeup in a cab. (I'm surprised I didn't end up looking like a clown from all the sharp turns the driver did.) When I got to the set, they liked my look and told me I get to be one of the 2 bartenders on the show instead! AND!!!!! I GOT A SPEAKING LINE!!!!! SCOREEEEE! While I was waiting for the scene to start, I got a call asking me to be a party club girl for Law SVU the next day!!!!! DOUBLE SCORE!!!! When it was time for the scene I pretended I knew what I was doing behind the bar, poured some pretty colored liquids, spilled it, hoped nobody noticed, and continued "bar tending." (Luckily my spill wasn't on camera!) The scene was pretty quick and I was so excited the entire time! I've also learned that my life calling is not to be a bar tender. I will spill your drink every time guaranteed or your money back. 

(This is where I "Bar tended")

I couldn't wait to be on Law and Order SVU since everyone's heard of that show!! I played a party club girl and got to wear a tight little black dress, my sparkly spiked Steve Madden shoes, a matching spiked necklace, and night time going out makeup. The scene was filmed outside of a club in lower Manhattan. I was right in front of the camera first in line waiting to get into the club! The scene involved a girl getting arrested and taken away in a cop car and people walking by actually thought it was real and were legitimately scared! During some of the takes random people wandered into the shots and begged some of the actors for money or asked why the police were there. It was quite amusing hearing the actors say "Uhhhhh yeah...this isn't real. Not even close." 

(I wore these to the shoot!)

(Downtown where the scene took place)

(My party dress!)

 

Birthdays, Shows, and Music videos

Last week was probably the most fun week of the year! Between turning 20, Celebrating at the zoo, and having a New York City performance and filming a music video, it was the best!

Besides for being a solo artist, sometimes I play guitar for other artists too. Kenyon Phillips is one of them and last week was his big music video shoot! The theme was vintage black and white hollywood glam and we nailed it! The video was shot at Dune Studios in Manhattan against a giant white screen with a projector in the background! In front of the camera there was a giant fan that the make up artist put glitter in and had it shoot at us while we were performing. I can't wait to see the final video and maybe by the time it comes out, I'll have successfully scrapped all the glitter off me! :)

                                          (Vintage Hollywood Glam music video look!)

A few days after the music video shoot was my 20th Birthday!!!!!! IT WAS THE BEST! My manager Danny took me to the zoo and honestly, I'm not sure of which of us had more fun. We've decided next time we go, we're totally getting our faces painted, I call the alligator face paint.
 
          (Me and my boyfriend)                     (Danny and the Rhino)                         (I was riding the caterpillar...)

The day after my birthday was my Birthday Show at The Shrine in NYC with my band! Isaac Davidson did my hair and it came out great! This was also first time I had a makeup artist for a live performance show and Yuui the artist did a fantastic job!!! I was so excited to see so many people there to celebrate my birthday and rock out with me! Even some of my friends back in Connecticut that I went to school with came! It was by far the best performance yet! The audience loved the guitar solos and the songs and I had the best time on stage. After the show, my amazingly wonderful manager surprised me with a birthday cake!!!! Instead of candles it had sparklers, I guess now that I'm 20 I'm too old for regular candles haha :) I've also learned that you can't blow out sparklers, believe me, I tried!

    (Rocking out)                                             (got down on my knees for an ear splitting guitar solo)

                                         

(Attempting to blow out sparklers)                          (Danny Madden and me :D )

xox Ariel