Ten Years in lala Land...

Ten years ago I came to LA with half a band, 3 cats, a bird, a truckload of dreams, full of excitement and ambition. We rented a house in Van Nuys and converted the garage into a recording/rehearsal studio. It was badass, there was a lot of magic in that studio, The Becoming and ANKOH were written there, we had a Blast throwing several parties at the house....riding our bicycles all over the valley, up and down the hills at 2am....I rebuild the band a bunch of times, rocked sunset strip, packed the places, sold tickets, released 2 EP's and a full length, than core members changed, my long time partner left and I had to learn to do it all on my own...with Jim's support; we kept it going....got several film/tv placements, toured the US twice...got signed to an indie label that folded.....it's been a roller coaster for sure. It's been a lot of tears and frustration but also a ton of fun, laughter, adventure and something everyone should experience. In the process of all that, I've met some amazing people here in LA as well as all over the states.

Fast forward...

Private life....different guy, different place, two of my lovely cats and the bird have left this earth...R.I.P. Freeway and Zoe & Snow....I found my black cat Johnny the first year we were here, my little princes Heidi is still here and a dog named BOLT found us! ;)

Music!!! Nothing is what I thought it would be. The band is on hiatus until the new album is out, I now compose music for film/tv, get to collaborate with some amazingly talented people who are also my friends and I'm finally working on my own project....a solo project that I've been wanting to do for years..... Ten years is a long time and when I look back and ask myself what I would do differently...hmmm.....lot's of things. But I don't want to waste my time feeling regret. It's time to focus on what I have control over. I have failed miserably at many things I've pursued over the years. But all those things have led to better, bigger things. In the big picture, I have to admit that I miss the shit out of NYC,  I left a comfortable life to follow my dreams. I gave up many things for my true love. And many times the thought of leaving it all behind, the thought of quitting has crossed my mind. But I've learned that things don't always turn out exactly as you expected, however, if you keep your eye on the road and enjoy the little detours...you will create your own luck. While I'm still miles from where I want to be, I'm trusting that I am on the right path....another thing I recently learned is that quitting is not a bad thing, quite the opposite. More on that later ;)

Cheers to ten years in Holywoodz!
xoxo
JVBeast

PASSION

There are days when I think it's time to quit. Than I play a show, look at the pictures and my heart starts to smile again. The stage is my home.

And of course having such amazingly talented friends like John King helps. He's one of my photographer friends. Great person with an I 4 The Unique! <3 xoxo JVB

Queen Of The Dragonfly

Playing our first show in Hollywood was slightly disappointing yet affirming to me that it's time to move on. Do something different. Step it up. Performing the new song felt great and so appropriate. It is time for a new chapter. Time to explore and move out of this box I've outgrown.

One thing I'm grateful for are the friends that came out. It means the world to me.

I did a few costume changes which was fun, definitely want to bring the theatrics back to life, mix music with performance art. I'm curious and excited to see where I'm heading as an artist/performer. ;)

We stayed till the end of the night, it was freezing cold out, we went to Toi, (a cool thai place on sunset that's open till 4am) with a handful of great people having fun conversations and yes, we closed that place as well.

Priceless!

Living The Dream

About to finish up lyrics for our brand new track "MY TIME". I'm very excited about that one, the music kinda fell out of the sky and the message will be extremely empowering. ;) Can't wait to share!

What I can share right now is some footage from the studio. ;)


PS: Been watching LOST every night, that's kinda my treat for the hard work, hahaha and I must say I'm loving it. Great concept and writing. Really makes me think what if I was stranded on an island, had time to reflect on all the things I've done and experienced. What if I had a chance to create a new life.

Truth is, every day is a chance to create a new life, a new path and new habit! Cheers to that! Cheers to Living The Dream!

xoxo
JVBeast

A little more truth a little less bs

Happy 2010. Better late than never. hahahaha, are you fully back in your old routine? I hope not.

It's a new Decade, let's rock it! My year started off great with a cool NYE party with some of my best friends followed by an 80's Birthday Bash Party and NAMM.


We played the Friday Schecter Party, introduced a new song and I won a plug-in that I've had on my wish list for a while UAD2 Duo; plus a set of headphones from Monster. wohooooooooooo
Not to mention I met and talked to my favorite guitar player Robyn Fink at Saturday's Party. I had so much fun during NAMM. I'm still amazed how I got through the show, I had such a hang-over. Not smart to party the day before the show, but c'mon, sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do and with such amazing company how could I turn down an Asbach Uralt or a glas of Merlow. hahahaha (Well, I paid the price friday morning)


So here I am, I've been meaning to blog, even wanted to blog the entire NAMM show but I tend to be an extreme person with extreme ADD.

So many books too read, songs to finish, band stuff...blah blah blah...don't get me wrong, I love what I do; well....you get the idea. While I'm really striving for consistancy in regards to my online presence I have to admit that I'm either on or off all the way; which means a ton of posts or nothing at all.

I decided not to make any New Years Resolutions for 2010 since I never quite stick with them anyway, so instead I will do my best to commit to a daily blog, even if it's just a line to check in.

In all honestly I'm selfishly making myself feel more accountable if I have to write about my day (says who?...hahahaha...I do) And maybe I'll even promote this and get more followers, hee hee


Since I've been back from NAMM I've been kinda sick and haven't been in the mood to write music or I should say, energy. Instead I've been dealing with some business stuff I have been avoiding for some time. For some reason, it's always a drag to do the business crap, filling out a ton of forms, dealing with legalities. But it has to be done, so I've actually taken some time to get control over the situation and a clear picture of what is in place and what needs to be put in place.


Today I made a show flyer (out of two kinda crappy photo's I took of myself). hahahaha. Spend some time on facebook, myspace and reverbnation. Funny, the minute I sit down and do nothing, I feel like I haven't done a damn thing all day. While when at the end of the day when I write out my main accomplishments; I'm always amazed how much I got done; (talking about being to hard on myself).


Well, enough said, my theraflu is kicking in and I've got to finish reading "Mixerman" so I can move on with my life, hahahaha. True story or all bullshit, I'm digging it. And you know what?; it's all bullshit anyway but that's for another blog;)

Truly Yours,
JVBullshitter