First Tailor-made dispatch song.... indie-rock

[jpenner]

Ok, this is my second post and it's still a strangely new thing!!I've been a TAXI member since last December, and in that time I've had 45/62 submissions forwarded... but no bites. Actually, I was feeling kind of discouraged and hadn't submitted anything since June until this last Monday. Last week I got a dispatch listing for a kid's version of "groundhog day" that needed an indie-rock song. I wrote and recorded this song last weekend and hand-delivered it to TAXI at the deadline (luckily I only live 30 min away)! Anyways, I am interested to see what kind of response I'm going to get and would love to know what ya'll think of it. My initial thoughts are:1. Would have liked to spend more time on the vocals2. Maybe not "indie" enough... and I guess that means maybe it should be quirkier.**overall I think it's a pretty fun song and I'm hoping I can do more made-to order stuff in the future, it's a good challenge."I woke up in yesterday" for TAXI # D061016OKhttp://www.myspace.com/jennericks

[aubreyz]

Quote:Ok, this is my second post and it's still a strangely new thing!!I've been a TAXI member since last December, and in that time I've had 45/62 submissions forwarded... but no bites. Actually, I was feeling kind of discouraged and hadn't submitted anything since June until this last Monday. Last week I got a dispatch listing for a kid's version of "groundhog day" that needed an indie-rock song. I wrote and recorded this song last weekend and hand-delivered it to TAXI at the deadline (luckily I only live 30 min away)! Anyways, I am interested to see what kind of response I'm going to get and would love to know what ya'll think of it. My initial thoughts are:1. Would have liked to spend more time on the vocals2. Maybe not "indie" enough... and I guess that means maybe it should be quirkier.**overall I think it's a pretty fun song and I'm hoping I can do more made-to order stuff in the future, it's a good challenge."I woke up in yesterday" for TAXI # D061016OKhttp://www.myspace.com/jennericks The thing I like about it the least is that it may knock my submission out Overall I think it is a strong song. Good feel. Great use of the record allegory. Clever lyrics. The only thing that bugged me was the "yesterday" vocal in the chorus. It seems at the top of your range and almost a falsetto thing -- might need a little grit there.I would bring the guitars in the chorus up in the mix, but I'm listening on a laptop right now, not at the studio --- so it's hard to really comment on the mix.I think this is very on target for this listing. I have 3 kids in the age bracket (and 3 more outside the listing demographic) -- and this sounds like stuff in the Disney movies they watch.Great job. Nice voice--- where ya' been? Would love to hear more of your stuff.Aub

[jpenner]

Yeah, I've never been good at the yell-sing thing. My roomie has "the zen of screaming" dvd, I think I'll watch it sometime soon... I've always been more of a "sweet" singer, I'd love to work on that and get more aggressive vocally.Normally I submit songs from my band "chandelle", but we're kind of a hard sell because (like ever other band will say) it is hard to "genre-nize" our music. You can check it out on myspace as well.http://www.myspace.com/chandellethebandThanks for your input!-Jessica

[jpenner]

It's not about chaning my voice at all, it's just about being better!! We can always improve and I'd love to be more versatile... that's all.Thank you for the compliment!-Jessica

[horacejesse]

JP, my computer only plays your song with many annoying halts along the way. It seems to be good but I cannot comment much. I like your voice too, If we were neighbors I would certainly try to hire you for some of my female uptempos. Good luck to you.

[andreh]

Jessica-I love your song and your voice! I'd very much like to use you on some of my future submissions if you're open to it.Have you found out whether or not you got forwarded? I think you have a strong chance of making it, and like Aubrey I'm pretty sure your song would be chosen over mine (which did get forwarded today). It's possible, as you point out, that your song might not be "quirky" enough, but it's hard to say without knowing the context in which they plan to use it...but the words are a perfect match for the movie's theme for sure.Keep on writin'!Warmly,André

[davewalton]

Quote:The thing I like about it the least is that it may knock my submission out That's pretty funny. Whoever said "Where have you been?", I agree. Great voice. Post more songs as they come up.

[jpenner]

YAY!! We got forwarded! I guess that makes my odds 46/63.... still no bites!Ok, here's the back round. I'm 26, been a "professional" for 11 years (first record deal at 15, playing guitar for a christian rock-band), and released 6 records (4 on indie records, 2 independently). Moved from Hawaii to LA with my drummer hubby and 5 year old son two years ago and built a home studio in our garage (we recorded our last two "chandelle" records ourselves). We were playing out live in LA often, pushing ourselves as a band until this summer when we ousted our bass player and spent almost 2 months traveling.My husbands primary job is running our home studio and recording/mixing bands, and we have a pretty sweet little studio so we have no excuse not to go for it when it comes to submissions. I think we have an advantage in that sense because we're decent musicians and can track all the live instruments we need ourselves... instead of needing to sample stuff.Anywhoo, I just want to get my foot in the door for licensing. I have a ton if material, I just want it to get used!!Thank you guys for all the support!-Jessica

[kevinmathie]

jpenner,Just wanted to say, nicely done! Like the song; like the vocals!

[thenonoboys]

Your stuff sounds really good! I live on Oahu and just missed one of your performances at Hard Rock Cafe a few years back as Chandelle. You have a nice voice and your songs are really well crafted. That's awesome that you can do all the recording yourself and have it come out that well! Do you send it some place to get mastered?Anyway.. good luck with your submissions!-DerrickThe No-No Boys