Fourth Quarter Collabs

So for about the last quarter of this year I've been collaborating with a very talented singer, Erin Mendoza, and are set to perform in our third show this Saturday, Dec. 15th at the FOX in Pomona, CA. This show we will be doing a set of 8 songs, half covers and half originals. We started off doing only covers, then progressed slowly to writing originals, which are a mix of both her music and mine. So far it's been a great learning experience and great company. We get along very well and I've been really blessed by her presence. And even to this day I'm still amazed that what started as a casual meeting at the local Circle K, coming in and grabbing coffee there where she works and chatting briefly and finding out she also writes and sings, talking of playing some covers someday, finding an open door at a friend's show who owns a gallery nearby and before we knew it we were performing our first show together! The second was at the Drink in the FOX Theatre as well, but this one will be in the lobby of the FOX this time with many other acts. Although this will be the last show of the year, there will be plenty more in the new year to look forward to.

As well as collabing with Erin, I've been trying to stay on top of my own music (Mayson Gray) to try and finish up a possible EP and follow with some gigs with a few other band members in local areas. With a FT job, it's a pretty big feat but nothing a little dedication and discipline won't overcome. I'm not sure where the road will lead with Erin in the new year, although personally I hope we can continue to build on what we have. Who knows if down the road, after refining our style that we come up with something groundbreaking and find success in our collabing, you just never know what's waiting around the corner. Like I said, the way we met and the way the door opened for us came very naturally and I believe was a Godsend. I've already gotten compliments on our ability to work well on-stage so perhaps it's just confirmation that we're on the right track and should continue going forward. So I'm excited to see what happens, and hope she is as well.

Weird thing about the Holidays this year, my mind has been so focused this year on writing/collabing that it doesn't seem the same this year. I'm mindful that's it's around, but not just as 'full' as the past. Perhaps part of it is that finances are just tight this year. I almost thought of just waiting until everyone's birthdays in January (yes, they are all literally in January!). A few bills have unfortunately spoiled part of the fun, but I also blame myself for putting some of them off too long. Hopefully I'll get them paid, done with and move on and get back on track.

Other than that, looking forward to the show this weekend AND to the four day weekends, 2 in a row, coming up in a week! :)

Did God Open A Door?

Something interesting came to mind while I was working today, perhaps some knowledge by the Spirit that didn't occur to me before. It goes like this:

 There is a phrase used often within the body of Christ that refers to God's divine providence in all things, His complete control over all circumstances, which goes something along the lines of "When God opens a door, nobody can close it." It means that when God is moving in a believer's life and 'opens a door' for a specific task or ministry, no person can stop His hand from moving in that person's life. He will accomplish what He set out to do for that person without interference, although the enemy can try to with various obstacles, but ultimately His will will be done.

When a door opens by God for a believer, and is then shut due to circumstances or even a person's involvement, there can only be two conclusions: one, a person or circumstance stopped the will of God, or two, it was never God's will to begin with. But since the believer ultimately believes in God's providence and authority over all circumstances and people, the first conclusion would have to be eliminated, and we're only left with the second, that perhaps what that person thought was God's will, wasn't His will at all. Sometimes what we think of as God's will is really our own will wanting to be accomplishes. Rather than waiting on God and pursuing His will, we want God to bless our own plans and will for our lives. But since God knows better than we do and loves us and wants the best for us, and the way to that path or life is unknown to us because of our own physical limitations, we ultimately trust God and for His will to be accomplished.

Here's a few verses relating to God's providence:


* Genesis 50:20 - "As for you (Joseph's brother's), you meant evil against me (Joseph), but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."

* Job 42:2 - "I (Job) know that you (God) can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted."


Looking at these verses, what seems clear is that, even if something seems to stop the will of God in a person's life, or it seems like an evil thing was done, it was really God's hand moving to accomplish His will, and that will and purpose, as Job states, cannot be thwarted. It will accomplish what He set out to do ultimately, even if we do not understand it. When plans seemed to be stopped by circumstances or people, the tendency is to blame others or a situation, but trust in God's will, trust that He knows exactly what He's doing to accomplish His purposes for your life and others. :)

There, Their, and They're and their rightful uses

It seems like a lot of people have trouble with these three words these days and when to use them in the right context. I see them in the wrong places all the time and honestly, it looks pretty bad. Here's a simple explanation of the three and their usage:

There is often used to explain 'where'. For example, "She's over there", "I will be there soon", "Now, there's a nice quiet place to relax." Just remember...where? There. 

Their implies ownership. For example, "Where's their car?" "Wow, their home is huge!" "I think that's their dog wandering off." Whenever your using it to explain ownership of something, use their.

And finally, They're. They're is actually two words: They are. Examples of this would be: "I think they're over there." "They're a really friendly group of guys." "They're tired from the hike." If you separate the words in each sentence, it makes perfect sense. This word is more associated with a multiple of people and what they are doing. 

I hope this short lesson helps you understand the difference a little more and their rightful usage! :)

Essay Writing Tip for the Night

When writing essays, make sure you stay within the context on the first line of the paragraph and try not to deviate from it too much. It will be more cohesive and you won't lose your audience with all kinds of 'off subject' tangents. Going off on tangents means you deviate away from the main subject. For example:
Good use of paragraph: "Fishing can be a great sport for Father and Son time. It gives them a chance to bond while waiting for that bite, and when that bite comes, gives them a chance to work together to bring in that catch! And you can make a whole day of it or even a weekend trip together."
Bad use of paragraph: "Fishing can be a great sport for Father and Son time. It seems like time flies by way too fast sometimes! Speaking of fast, this year is just flying by. I once saw a plane flying by the other day and it came pretty low to the ground! The ground really does supply us with everything we need to eat."
As you can see, in the first example, the body of the paragraph supports the first line of the paragraph, and doesn't deviate away from it, but explains WHY fishing is a good sport for Father and Son time. In the second example, the body has no support whatsosever of the first line, but deviates away, far away, from the subject even. And it will probably lose the reader as well.
I realize this is a simplified and humorous example, but nevertheless explains, in a simplified way, what the difference is. Hope it might even help! :)

Thursday Ramblings

So I have the place to myself for about a week and a half. Doesn't happen very often so it's nice when it does. Just me and the lovebirds here. Would be kind of nice to have my own 'lovebird' too. lol :) Eh, someday right? Well, this will give me a chance to do more recording now that I have more privacy. Need to keep that alive. Lately I've been practicing new Bossa Nova chords and finger-picking more than writing, although I have been writing in between. My latest work is an untitled song that sounds a little more spanish. I've already laid down a verse and chorus structure and some lyrics. Before that was a song I posted on YouTube called Love is a No Letter Word, which is still in progress. I decided to post some live playing with the actual song at the end, although I probably should have sung to it, too. Oh well, it's done. I also just purchased a new shaker, which sounds great so far for the style I've been writing in lately. I'm planning on investing in more little by little as I can to build on what I have, mostly for recording. A good first step would be to upgrade my DAW software. I'm very limited with what I can do with the basic one I've been using, but it's served me well ever since I got it a few years ago.

Anyhoo, getting tired and probably should turn in. As a side note 'rant' I guess you can call it, I've been feeling a bit, ohh, disappointed is people lately, especially people I feel fond of. It just seems that regardless of the support and interest I show, it seems 'unwanted' or unwelcome. Not in a negative way, just...is. I'm always one for showing support and help and I do it anytime I can, with the resources and talents I possess. I feel certain people are either just too self-absorbed to recognize it and have a 'I can do it all' attitude, or just don't take the time at all to recognize it, or me, for that matter. That's when I have to step back and go "Okay, it's time to just step back or even let go, cause obviously this friendship or relationship is not moving forward and can't unless it's mutual. But don't stop helping, loving and showing support because, that's just who you are." But I always have hope that someday they will recognize that in me. We'll see I guess. I'm fine now, I'm not really one to sulk over it endlessly, especially when I take it to the Lord and just pray over it as well, and for them.

So that's my 'sob' story for tonight. lol At least I feel better tonight and not going to bed with a headache that I've had all day. I think it came on from working out in the sun all day doing a van install, possibly not getting enough water. Gotta watch that more carefully, especially with this blasted heat, now that it's Summer. Blah Can I just transfer to a cooler place until it's Fall? :)

Second Day of Diligence

I've really begun to step things up in my writing and it's really paying off (as if that were some new concept. lol). It's because I'm realizing that if my music is going to go anywhere, it's up to me to be diligent and work hard at this and take it somewhere. So I've begun to treat my music writing as a PT job (aside from my FT job) as much as possible. I come home, eat dinner and watch a a little TV or check email/FB stuff, then get off and work! Then I have a time to take a break, then back to work until I'm basically too tired to work or think anymore. So far after 2 days I'm really making progress on my songs! And I want to keep this momentum going so I can get all these songs to the point where I'm ready for mastering. Most of these songs (about 5 in all that I'm developing and finishing for now) are halfway or more done, I just need to keep working on them and finish them. I find that when I DO sit and decide to work, the ideas come and it flows like usual, thanks to God, who I always pray for inspiration from for my songs, cause I want every part as possible to be moving, and with purpose. I don't want some 8 measures of just waste or 'holding' until the chorus or verse, I want it to be interesting, I want people to listen to it again and again!

I know a few songs from Depeche Mode where the intro alone or the break is the most interesting part to me. That's what I want my songs to do, to move people whether it's the verse, chorus or break. And again, the only way I'll get it out there is by being diligent and disciplined and getting them to that point, of mastering. When I'm ready, I'd like to at least rerecord the vocals and possibly guitar in the studio, since I don't have the luxury of having a quiet place and high quality mics for that. Living in apartments is almost impossible to record quiet tracks. The rest of the instruments should be fine.

So today I 'decided' to work on All Day Long, a song I haven't posted anywhere online and probably won't until it's complete. There's a few songs I'm saving until they're complete. For All Day Long, I needed to re-record it all in time, cause sometimes I just lay it down and go to town with multiple tracks. So earlier I recorded the guitar, main vocals and harmonies (not final by any means), and tonight I'm laying down the piano and strings, which really give it it's character. That's what I'm doing as soon as I'm finished here.

As a side note, I'm really looking forward to this weekend, we're going to the Steve McQueen Car Show on Saturday at the Boy's Republic! It was a great turnout last year, so I'm looking forward to going again and seeing what they have, I'm sure it's grown a bit this year. Then a movie with my son afterwards or go see a friend sing with her band, either way it'll be a nice day.

Okay, off to work for a bit! :)

Open Mic and Thoughts...

Today was just an overall great day musically speaking, starting with service today and some great fellowship. During worship, some insight occurred to me or spoke to me, regarding the Cello. I've been writing a lot of music lately that includes acoustic guitar supported by strings, whether viola or cello and horns as well. I've been admiring the cello especially lately and watching more videos on Cello players. Although I've always admired the string section in general, I never thought of playing it myself. In fact, even though I write music with strings, I'd much rather have someone else with more experience and knowledge play that part. But today, a thought was planted, a thought that said more or less "YOU should learn the Cello." I let it kind of stir for awhile to understand it and process it, and as I looked into the possibility of really learning it, I found out that it really is possible for me to start learning it. What I mean is, it just so happens that a small music store down the street both gives lessons in and rents Cellos for students. And even if I don't take lessons and decide to teach myself, I can still just rent the Cello itself, which is well within my cost. Then it occurred to me, that while I'm learning the Cello and once I have it down fairly well, I can record an actual Cello in my music, since I have one in my possession! YES! And then I could really understand it from my own experience and knowledge, which would help greatly in my writing. But even if I come to a point where I can play the Cello well, I'd still rather have someone else play while I play guitar, but...I guess you never know what can become of all this until you get there or what it might lead to. Who knows if it might lead me in a completely different direction, but we'll see.

The open mic in Claremont went well. I got on the list this time, which was a great start, after waiting in line for a good half-hour in the sun. Blahhh But it was worth the wait of course, and I signed up for the second session. I sat next to a very nice gentleman, who ended up being the featured artist, of all people. He played a few nice tunes from the 20's and 30's. When it was my turn, I went up a little nervous cause it's been awhile since I've played in front of people, but tried to stay calm, played my music and sang, which went well for the most part, and got through it okay. But honestly, it almost felt like some horse race rather than a paced walk, so I felt a little disappointed with that. But I got some good feedback and compliments at the end, so I guess it went better than I thought, although I know I need more practice with this. The good news is, I found out about another open mic from several people, the Fret House in Covina, which has one every month as well. And it's already coming this Saturday evening, when I have Isaiah! So I'm not sure if it's going to work this time but we'll see. If I can take him with me and play, I may do that but I'll have to call and ask if that's going to be okay. Sometimes, you never know what kind of content is going to come from any one singer, so I need to be careful.

As a side note, I did some finger-picking exercises tonight. Not sure where that all came from, possibly my own conviction that I could use some more practice in that arena. :)

Laziest Saturday

Today was probably one of the most laziest Saturdays in awhile for me. I slept in as usual 'til like 11am, got up and had coffee and eggos, then ended up lying on the couch and falling in and out of sleep for another few hours! I usually don't do that but I guess the last week really took a toll on my body cause we were so darn busy, I probably needed it. When I finally got up and showered, I went for a nice hike closeby at Grand Ave Park. It's a park on one side of the street, then nice hiking trails on the other side. One trail goes down into the trees, the other higher into the hills. I took the latter this time and actually reached the top, praying I wouldn't see any lions or what not up there! lol That alone was refreshing, both the exercise and getting some sun, plus it wasn't too hot today. Then I hung out at Barnes & Noble and read a book I've been reading about networking strategies for musicians, a really good read! I started reading it not too long ago but figured I'd pick it up again and resume so I can learn a thing or two.

If I'm going to pursue music seriously, I figure it's good to have knowledge of what I'm doing and not try to wing it and struggle, which I'm assuming most DIY musicians do, since the author mentioned that most people who need this book probably won't take the time to read it. Most musicians would rather just write their music and get paid, and yes, that would be awesome, but we need to know how to get paid and network and get it out there! Most deals have been made because of a connection to someone in the music business, hardly outside of it. Sure, you can send your CD to a publisher or a station hoping they'll listen to it and play it, but they're so flooded with CD submissions that usually, the only CD they play is through a reliable source or a CD they are expecting to receive already, made through a connection.

So getting more and more connected with other musicians and publishers and what not is becoming very important, whether online or at venues or gigs or wherever the music is at. Even tomorrow, when I go play at the open mic (yep, I'm still going to do it!), I plan to stick around and connect with others. You never know who has the power to connect you with someone higher up! :)

Face The Day progress

I actually made some progress on the song Face The Day this evening. What started as some misguided notes on the cello track actually turned into the entry into the break. I found the right chord on guitar and laid down the track with some simple chords. Then I sat back and figured out the melody and lyrics together and formed a nice break melody. Once I was fairly pleased with it, I recorded those as well, a simple harmony line and some 'oohs' and 'ahhh' in the background, which I'm pleased with. I didn't get a chance to continue the cello track, which I need to continue tomorrow or this week. What I REALLY need to do is at least have a good foundation for the whole song, which I'm performing this Sunday at an Open Mic at Folk Music Center! If I have that much I'm good to go. If not I'll have to choose another song, which is fine. And by the way, while at Ontario Mills finishing an install today, after I was done, I walked over to Sam Ash to check out some guitars, and lo and behold, they were having an open mic session going on! I found out that they do this twice a month and it's a pretty decent setup and turnout too. And it's more public than the one previous stated. The one at Folk Music has more musicians than 'watchers', but we cheer each other on, which is nice. In the meantime, time for bed. Nite. :)

Night of Restringing

So I decided to buy new Martin acoustic strings for my guitar tonight and restring it after realizing that this simple thing will help improve the sound alone. I've been wanting to actually invest in a new 'upgraded' acoustic/electric guitar, just waiting for the right moment. For the time being, however, this will work fine, and just in time for the upcoming open mic at Folk Music Center in Claremont. I've decided to play at least one song there, possibly one of my newer songs. I missed out on last months cause I got there too late. They said people start lining up almost an hour early to sign up! So gotta get there early this time. This will be the debut for Mayson Gray, so to speak. These new strings will definitely help in recording as well. I was also able to buy some new ear buds as well so I can listen to music on my phone, especially my own music when I'm out so I can continue to write and put down ideas. My old Altec ones got a short or something in the wires and don't work well, which is a bummer cause I paid some good money for them and they sounded great! :( But these will do for now. I admit, as much as I wish I didn't have to work and had all the time I wanted for writing and being creative, having a job IS nice cause it pays for nice stuff. lol AND the bills. Guess I'm off to bed. I wish I didn't have to sleep, I actually hate having to go to bed. :P

A Weekend of Creativity

So last weekend, starting Friday night actually, I unexpectedly found myself working on 2 new songs, as if they were handed to me to create and complete like a project. Sometimes songs come to me like that, very quickly and take shape. Some take more time and work. These came pretty easily and took shape quickly. With all that was going on that weekend, from the Artwalk in Pomona to Mother's Day and getting out with mom, I still found some time to build on both of these songs. It's slowed down a bit only because I work FT and it's harder to lay down tracks during the evening here, but I'm still writing and completing tracks such as the strings, piano and such. I started off by working on more of the lyrics to Face The Day on my lunch today (posted below for your hearing pleasure :). I'm going to try doing more tomorrow because I have a chance to lay down more vocals right after work. I may or may not include these new songs on the EP I'm working on, which I'm hoping to finish and get mastered by the Fall. That may be the perfect time to present this type of music, although I plan on playing live at different venues starting this month at the monthly open mic they have in Claremont, where it will be my official appearance as Mayson Gray, where there's a pretty decent amount of both listeners and musicians present. I have 2 weeks to prepare one of my songs, and I was thinking of possibly creating either handout CD's of the same song or just small fliers or cards to help spread the word.

Some things have occurred to me while writing as Mayson Gray, which has been for the last year or so now. One, I think I finally found a style that I love to write in and am comfortable with. It feels like 'me', rather than pretending to present music that's not really 'me'. Two, that if I'm serious about getting this out, in whatever form that takes, then I need to take this seriously and treat it as a PT job or side business that NEEDS to be worked on, or else it will never get anywhere just fidgeting with it. It will simply be a hobby or side project, which in itself isn't a bad thing, but I myself want it to become more than that, which means I need goals to build on it. Third, that it would be to my advantage to gain knowledge of music in general, like writing, form, theory, and simply listening to other songs and seeing the structure. I was reading a magazine recently (that all too soon disappeared) and there's some great insight to be seen about structure and writing songs. Then lastly and recently, I came to realize (or maybe the Spirit may have revealed to me) that it's great that I'm working while doing this so I can invest in it, and also it's even more vital to work harder on this presently so that IF I cease to work for whatever reason, I'll be prepared by having completed, mastered tracks that I can work with and promote and hopefully, sell. And THAT, ironically, will be my fallback, at least for the time-being, unless Lord willing it becomes bigger than I expected. That would be a true blessing. :)

Hope you enjoy this nostalgic, acoustic track and if you like, please spread the word, I would be very thankful! :)

The creation of 'I'll Send' by FOTLM

After work on a Friday night (Friday the 13th to be exact, which must be 'good luck' for me!) I spent the majority of the afternoon and evening creating what has become 'I'll Send' and very close to it's completion. It's not completely unheard of but it's rare for me to have a complete song finished within a few days, but that's what I'm planning on working on and hoping to complete this weekend, and one that I'm very happy with!

It basically started with me having the idea of wanting to put some very deep and subtle piano sounds to a drum beat. At first I set the beat to a much slower pace, about 80bpm or so. I decided to use some very expansive relay on the piano, something I've done with another song and I loved the outcome. Then I just started writing and as always, it kind of took over and wrote itself, if you will. Before I knew it, I had both a verse and chorus part to work with. Next were some simple vocals which I wrote down and went from that. That's what I need to work on today and refine. Those 3 tracks however were the foundation that made the song. The bass, strings and few other instruments are the supporting tracks that hold it together. And yes, eventually I decided to increase the speed and make it more of a dance song, which I'm happier with.

So for your enjoyment, here is the 'unofficial' song which I'll be refining today, mixing down and getting ready for mastering at a studio, specifically at Inside Out Recording. I know the owner (who I went to school AND church with for awhile) and plan on using him to get the most out of this song! :)

I'll Send - (unofficial)

Macros in Heritage Park

While fishing with my son last weekend at Heritage Park, I got some great shots of the surroundings, which included some birds, flowers and these curling bark macros. The tree itself is full of 'curling bark' like this and I'm sure I could have gotten enough to actually create some type of interesting font! Now that would be a project in itself for sure! But I've taken a great deal of interest lately in photography again and in particular the macro shots, which I've always admired in other photographer's work. My subjects seem to be in the category of nature for the most part, shooting trees, animals, creatures, sealife, and nice thick cloud patterns when they arrive. And my schooling and experience in graphic design has helped tremendously in both my composition and in color correcting and effects of various kinds, although I keep my 'effects' to a minimum in my photos unless I'm doing some digital art or commercial photography, which, for the time being is really only portfolio or personal work. But I'm working on building that more to open up more opportunities for myself to see where it might lead.

My current project is creating an AD for a fishing lure made by Blue Fox. I got the idea when I started snapping macro shots of the lure on my own fishing pole, which came out great, considering the wind factor at the time, but I got a great shot with the lake and hills behind and got the effect I was going for! Now it just needs a few clean shots of the lures themselves and the logo and text placed in and voilà! A great fishing lure AD for the portfolio! That's next time. :)

Painting of Watson (commission)

Just finished my last commission piece of a pointer dog named Watson. I was able to finish this one within a week, my quickest one to date. Here is the final piece plus a few pics of the progress. This one was a bit more challenging than the others since it was smaller, so there was more detail to focus on in the face. As you can see from the pics, the background in the painting is different from the photo because they requested that the weeds be removed so the dog can show better, so I had to come up with something different but still interesting. So I kept the purple hue showing through and painted in some grass. I showed a little sky in the upper left to give it some interest, then put in the sun rays to spotlight Watson. All in all the customer was very happy with the final piece! It's always a good feeling when they're pleased, especially when I change things up like the background, which is usually the one thing that will need to be changed.

All in all I was also happy how this turned out. I did come to a point where the background was becoming troublesome, wondering how to tie the top area with the bottom. It stumped me for a night, but the next day I just worked through it and got it done and was happy with the outcome! :)

***Next up: Melissa & her cat, Lil' Girl! Will be working on it this week and will aim to finish it in a week as well!***

Sketch of the Night - Rained Out

My nightly sketch tonight called Rained Out. Came out pretty decent but not as full as I wanted it, got a late start with it tonight. I actually used a reference of my little cousin all dressed up in a Minnie Mouse outfit but changed it up a bit, of course, to emphasize a little girl's discouragement of having to miss Disneyland on account of rain, which I'm sure to a little child is everything in the world! It's amazing to see what matters to children and the trials and drama they face, which to an adult is hardly anything at all. But to a child sometimes it seems like the end of the world! lol So here you go. :)

Sketch of the Night - girl#2

My little sketch of the night of another girl's face, more similar to that of Mark Ryder this time, which has more of a feel of 'storybook' character than Ana Bagayan I would say. After I get the feel for these kinds of characters I will probably start painting them as well, either the same night or the following night. Right now I'm just getting a feel for these style of drawings so I can incorporate them into my own style later down the line. :)

Sketch of the Evening - Girl #1

So tonight was the start of many sketches I plan on doing in the coming weeks and months ahead in drawing and studying more of the styles of artists like Ana Bagayan and Mark Ryden and similar artists of this style, which is almost more like a storybook style of painting, albeit a surrealistic and sometimes darker style. I myself love drawing more from nature, such as animals, insects, trees and dark clouds and monsters if you will, in some form, as seen in previous posts here. I would like to incorporate this style as a supplement to my own and learn from these talented artists! :]~

There is Still Hope - Phase 3 (revamp)

So I decided to start putting new life into this painting after it sat for a few months and try to finish it alongside Temple of the Cat. Hate to see it sit there and do nothing (AND take up space of which I have NONE! lol) Might as well get it prepared for a future showing as well! :)

Temple of the Cat painting

So after some commission and personal paintings behind me, I'm venturing on towards preparing some gallery pieces starting with this piece, unofficially called Temple of the Cat. What you see here is, for the most part, blocking in value colors and the start of some detail in the flowers. There is still work to do this weekend and in the end it will be full of paint and hopefully pretty decent looking, especially after framing. More updates to come! :)