My New Album: Why I Need $2,800

So as many of you know, I have been working my tail off on making my first-full length album sound as awesome as possible. Everyone involved in the project has now decided on a Fall release, giving us enough time to make this album sparkle. However, no matter how great this record sounds, we still need YOUR help! Watch this video for further explanation. You may realize I'm surprisingly camera-shy ;)

So just to recap - I'm raising funds to cover the costs of mixing and mastering (the technical tasks that make an album sound professional and radio-ready), photography for my new album and upcoming official website, and CD replication (all those pretty CDs I schlep around with me do come from somewhere...). 

Once again, IF I DO NOT RAISE A GRAND TOTAL OF $2,800 BY JULY 20TH, I DO NOT GET ANY OF THE MONEY PLEDGED. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! So scary. I must admit that the combination of excitement and terror has been making it difficult to sleep for the past 3 weeks. 

To help me out, follow the link below and make a pledge. Keep in mind that your credit card will not be charged unless I reach $2,800 by 7PM on July 20th.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/leilasfirstalbum/leilas-first-full-length-album

To make your pledge count, tell everyone you know! Your friends, your mom, your hairdresser, your priest. EVERYONE. Believe me, I need all the help I can get.

With love from a very excited/nervous/optimistic/hopeful/all of the above singer-songwriter,

Leila

PS: The sooner we raise $2,800 the sooner I can start sleeping normally again! Food for thought :P

Why I am Delaying My Album Release

Hello all,

Today I bring you good and bad news. I have decided, with help of Dan Berry (lovely producer/engineer/guitar player on my album) to delay my album release by a month.

To be completely honest, it broke my heart to do it. But I need to do what's right for this album.

Musicians face scary deadlines all the time, and constantly face the possibility of not finishing their albums on time. More often than not, they have to settle for what their albums sound like, rather than allowing more time for the music to really come into its own.

The beauty of not being on a label is that I get to decide when my album comes out. As excited as I was for my August 31 release date (come on, how perfect does that sound), it did not give me enough time to make each song on the album really shine. I realized that I still had so many ideas, and the album might not live its full potential if I did not investigate these ideas. Needless to say, I refused to let my album not live up to its full potential.

I will write again with the new official release date, though I already pretty much know what that is. You guys will know when I'm 100% positive. I promise. ;)

I'm sorry, guys. But I am looking at this positively. I want to give you an album that we can all be proud of.

With love,
Leila

Album Update! And Other Jazz...

Hello there!

Sorry I've been a bit of a stranger lately. Finishing up your last semester of college is no easy task, and I've been trying my best to balance everything.

So how have I been spending my time?

Well, I've been recording my full-length album piece by piece, and I must admit, I'm really excited based on what we've done so far. I'm hoping to finish all the major tracking by May, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can stay on schedule. Without giving too much away, let me just say that this album is going to be VOCALS GALORE. I recorded some scratch back-up vocals for "Mirror, Mirror" just the other day, and I am so freaking happy with how they turned out. I can already see that this album is going to be so much more me.

Other lovely news: I wrote a new song recently that I'm really fond of. It's called "Lily" and it's about a little girl who wants to become a famous singer (hmm I wonder where I got that from). She eventually grows up to meet a guy who forces her to give it all up. Of course he doesn't do this in a completely obvious way - most manipulation is after all, unconscious. I'm not sure where I got the darker half of my story from, but I figure my own determination to avoid this fate has something to do with it.

Here's a pic from the venue where I debuted "Lily" for the first time! Taken at Vaudeville Park in Brooklyn, 2/28/12

One more important thing you should know: I am currently involved in a rock musical written by a colleague and friend of mine, Kelly Izzo.

What?!

Yes, it's true. I'm in a musical. Who woulda thunk?

The musical is called "Alice Unraveled" and it's the story of a girl who gets sexually assaulted and slips into Wonderland to cope with her trauma. My character is Alice's mother/The Red Queen, and I must admit I'm having a blast. The show is going up this Friday, and I think it's really a great chance for me to get up from behind the piano and get more comfortable with working the stage. Click here to check out the event if you'd be interested in seeing me portray an evil queen. Truth be told, I'm having way too much fun with that...

So why am I killing myself trying to balance all these incredibly time-consuming things on top of finishing college?

As a singer-songwriter, the most important thing is to step outside of your comfort zone and live life. Otherwise, I'd have nothing to write about! So that's exactly what I'm doing. Living.

I hope you guys are doing a little of that too. It's a hectic world out there.

Wishing you all some inner peace (and fun too!)

-Leila

MY FULL-LENGTH ALBUM: COMING IN SUMMER 2012

Here's the scoop.

I am really excited. A little more than a year ago, I released my debut EP ("Black and White"), and now I'm ready to take on a much bigger project.

The Black and White EP: my first release ever! Photography by Lizzy Sullivan, artwork by Daniel Nanni

For the next several months, I will be recording my first-ever full-length album. Of course this sounds like the next obvious step, but I really am sooo pumped.


As much as I love my EP, I know that this new album will be a greater testament to who I am as an artist. The truth is, when I first began recording my EP, I wasn't really sure what I wanted the end result to sound like. I used the songs that I felt would resonate the most, and had experienced session players come in to overdub parts over piano/vocal recordings. All in all, I would say it was a great learning experience for me, and I wouldn't take it back for anything. Most importantly, I had a great mentor and producer help me through the kinks of the project, handle all the logistics, and calm me down when I was being my usual high-strung, perfectionist self. Thank you, Joe Ferry - I really don't think I could have done it without you.

After learning so much from the whole process, I now have an even better idea of what I want to accomplish with this new album. Without giving too much away, I am treating this album almost like a novel - each individual song will in many ways, be like a small chapter. In other words, if you didn't get to know me based on my EP, you're gonna know me now!

The last and most awesome detail that I will divulge to you all, is that my new album will feature my live band. These guys have been working tirelessly with me for over a year, and it's time to give them some shine. I know you all will be able to hear the camaraderie that we've built up over the time we've been playing together, and I assure you that the album sound very different because of it.


So stay tuned! There's a lot happening over the next year ;)

With love and excitement,

Leila

News from a Sniffling Singer-Songwriter

Hey beauties,

Just thought I'd update you all - my show at S.O.B.'s went splendidly well! Not only was the crowd awesome (if you were there, thank you), but there was just such a great vibe in the room. I really haven't had that much fun playing in a while. There were so many new faces, and I met so many great people who were really just there to enjoy all the fresh, undiscovered talent that's out there. It's wonderful to know that people are interested in music beyond what's on the Top 40. After all, those artists had to start somewhere too!

Allen Stone (the artist I opened for) KILLED it. If you haven't seen or heard of this guy, check out this little clip of the show that night. I was even more impressed by his music when I saw him live, which is saying a lot. The guy really puts on a great show. I had so much fun, both performing and listening to all the other great acts.

Since the show I've been really trying to focus on my songwriting. I wrote two new songs, both of which are babies in need of some nurturing. For now I'm giving them time to grow into whatever they are supposed to be. Sometimes I wait a really long time before playing new songs for people - let's face it, newborns don't just start walking right away. ;)

I'll keep you guys posted! For now, I'm sniffling, drinking a lot of tea (and EmergenC), and trying to get over this cold before my recording session tomorrow.

Have a great week, everyone!
Leila

Opening for Allen Stone Tomorrow!!!

 Tomorrow is a big day for me! At 9pm tomorrow night, my band and I will be opening for Allen Stone, an awesome up and coming artist from Washington who has been creating a lot of buzz in the soul music scene. The show is at the legendary S.O.B.'s, a famous Brazilian restaurant/nightclub/venue that has produced many successful artists. Some of their past acts include Celia Cruz, John Legend, Erykah Badu, Tito Puente, and Marc Anthony, just to name a few. As you can see, this is kind of a big deal!

Needless to say, I would greatly appreciate your support. It would be wonderful to see all of you there, and I'm really looking forward to this gig. S.O.B.'s is a great venue and I'm so thankful that I was given the opportunity to play there.

This is going to be a load of fun, and I hope you guys will join me. Check out the  Facebook Event  for more details, or go to the  S.O.B.'s website  for more information about the venue.

I'll leave you with a video of Allen Stone, who I am truly looking forward to seeing tomorrow night.

                     Impressed? Come out to the show tomorrow night and show your support!!


See you there ;)
Leila

BIG SHOW TOMORROW!!

So I have a confession to make...

I'm a twin. I don't talk about it often, especially where music is concerned - but here's why I decided to bring it up now.

Tomorrow, we will both be headlining at the Bitter End, in NYC. Yes, she's a singer-songwriter too. Click here to check out Omnia's blog, and see what she's all about.

If you come to our show tomorrow, you will see that although we are both musicians, our music is completely different. Sure, our voices may share some similar qualities, but the songwriting styles are like day and night. I also must admit that in an attempt to separate myself musically from my sister, I was very reluctant to play the same show with her. Although we've played a few local shows together in the past,  I decided after my EP was released that it was time to separate myself from Omnia as an artist. When two musicians look as much alike as we do, it is very easy for people to get a little confused. Some may also ask why we're not in a band together, and the answer is that our music is too different. As my sister has referenced in her own blog post about the show, we are two different people with varying opinions, experiences, and things to say.

We hope to see you there!
 Leila


Check out the Facebook event for more details.