Abtastic August and the 30-Day Diet Challenge

After much consideration, I have decided to get back in shape by installing a 30-day challenge for the month of August. Many factors contribute to this:
1. I have just been asked to be a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding. All of the girls involved in the wedding party will be helping my friend lose weight for her wedding dress by dieting and exercising, so I will, too.
2. I don't think about the things I eat. I think, "Does it taste good? Yes? I will eat it!"
3. My clothes are becoming snug.

The first thing I will be doing is going back on a diet that I tried last year for about a month:
NO BREAD. NO CHEESE. PERIOD.
I LOVE burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, pasta. So, this is going to be hard, but well worth it.

The second thing I am doing is participating in ABTASTIC AUGUST. For 30 days in August, I will be doing ab workouts to lose my tummy. If you would like to participate, here's my schedule for the month of August:
1. 15 situps + 5 crunches + 10 pushups + 10sec plank
2. 19 situps + 6 crunches + 11 pushups + 12sec plank
3. 23 situps + 7 crunches + 12 pushups + 15sec plank
4. SUNDAY REST
5. 27 situps + 10 crunches + 14 pushups + 20sec plank
6. 30 situps + 15 crunches + 16 pushups + 25sec plank
7. 34 situps + 20 crunches + 17 pushups + 28sec plank
8. 36 situps + 29 crunches + 19 pushups + 30sec plank
9. 40 situps + 38 crunches + 20 pushups + 33sec plank
10. 42 situps + 47 crunches + 21 pushups + 35sec plank
11. SUNDAY REST
12. 46 situps + 56 crunches + 22 pushups + 37sec plank
13. 50 situps + 65 crunches + 24 pushups + 40sec plank
14. 54 situps + 74 crunches + 25 pushups + 50sec plank
15. 57 situps + 83 crunches + 27 pushups + 55sec plank
16. 60 situps + 92 crunches + 29 pushups + 60sec plank
17. 64 situps + 101 crunches + 30 pushups + 65sec plank
18. SUNDAY REST
19. 67 situps + 110 crunches + 32 pushups + 70sec plank
20. 71 situps + 119 crunches + 35 pushups + 75sec plank
21. 74 situps + 128 crunches + 38 pushups + 80sec plank
22. 77 situps + 137 crunches + 40 pushups + 85sec plank
23. 80 situps + 146 crunches + 43 pushups + 90sec plank
24. 84 situps + 155 crunches + 46 pushups + 95sec plank
25. SUNDAY REST
26. 86 situps + 164 crunches + 49 pushups + 100sec plank
27. 90 situps + 173 crunches + 52 pushups + 105sec plank
28. 94 situps + 182 crunches + 55 pushups + 110sec plank
29. 96 situps + 191 crunches + 58 pushups + 115sec plank
30. 100 situps + 200 crunches + 60 pushups + 120sec plank

WISH ME LUCK!!

Friendship vs. Network

As a musician and someone involved in the music industry, it's common to run into the issue of having contacts in your phone of people you don't necessarily care for unless it's in the realm of business. I know I'm not the only person guilty of this. There are certain people I have met where I only have their number if I want to use their services for a show, a recording, etc.
However, it's those people who go beyond that that I really like to keep in contact with. There are some people I have met in high school and college through music courses and common interests that I have hung out with outside of school and shows. They are people I will grab a beer or coffee with, invite to my game nights, etc.
Recently, two friends of mine have approached me to be featured in their projects.

The first is my friend, Ryan Scott. I met Ryan in college when we took some studio classes together and learned about audio production. We helped each other with our mixes and projects in college, but when we moved on from the program, we lost contact. Recently, we reconnected and he is now working with A.M. Rogers on a podcast called The Radio Adventure Club. These guys review albums and shows, geek out over music, and feature artists on their shows. I was lucky enough to spend a morning doing an interview with them talking about some of my favorite music, my old music projects, and my musical background and future. ENJOY.

The second is my friend, Aziz Hussein. I met Aziz through Instagram, who (I think) found me through Emby Alexander's Instagram. He started following me and liking some of my photos. One day, I promoted a show on Instagram and said "Text me for ticket info and I will meet up and sell one to you." So, he did. I met him at Sparky's Ice Cream Shop on Mill Ave to sell him a ticket, and he came to our show. Aziz must have been one of Emby Alexander's biggest fans. He came to all the shows, sang all the words, danced to all the songs, and took so many pictures. He just recently started a website that features the coolest spots in Downtown Phoenix, called First and Washington. He asked to feature me in a video for his website, so I agreed. One Saturday night, we met at Mill Ave to grab some pizza at Slices, play video games at Gringo Star Street Bar, geek out over music at Zia Records, and sing in front of the indie movie theatre. ENJOY.


I would definitely do more work with these guys. I love any kind of exposure for my music, but I also love helping out my friends with their projects. I'd be more than happy to help you out with yours, too. But first: let's grab some coffee.

The Adventures of Matt & Mandi: Our Second Month

We did it, we survived another month! If there's anything this month has taught me, it's that life isn't always fabulous, but it can be if you have the right person by your side. Not only did I experience some bumps in the road of my life, but so did Matt. But, we were able to help each other through them, and it made it so much more easy.

We have also become a couple that, while we still love going on adventures, sometimes it's okay to do the ordinary. We enjoy going to Trivia Nights at Crescent Ballroom every Sunday night, breakfast together every Saturday morning, drinks at our favorite bars, going to shows, and coming home at the end of the day to listen to some music together.

I won't go into detail about every moment I spent with Matt this last month, because we spent quite a lot of time together. But, I will highlight some of my favorite days, some monumental days in our relationship, and some of the days where we truly felt like we were on a crazy and wild adventure.

THE ADVENTURES OF OUR SECOND MONTH:

6/18 – We celebrated our first month together by embarking on our first date! He brought me flowers (my favorite flowers!) and even dressed up all spiffy. We went to dinner at Cibo in Downtown Phoenix and then went to the She & Him concert at Comerica Theatre.  There is one song of theirs that I put on his mix CD called “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me”. When they played the song, he and I swayed back and forth, and then he grabbed both my hands and we started dancing. It was beautiful! After the show, we went to SideBar and grabbed some cocktails and relaxed. Our first date was definitely my favorite date I’ve ever been on. And I am excited to go on more dates with this wonderful man. 

6/19 – We attended Open Mic Night at the Little Woody. We started our set with Radiohead’s “Nude”. I think this song is one of those songs that I would call “ours”. After that song, we covered “Fever”, which, I’m not gonna lie, totally brought the house down! I think we sound very good together.

 

6/20 – We went to the Duce for some karaoke, shared a milkshake, I hula-hooped for the entirety of Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T.”, and we witnessed some hilarious performances. After karaoke, we hopped into Matt’s car and went to the Crescent Ballroom to grab a drink. After hanging out at Crescent for about an hour, we decided to head home. Matt drove me back to my car at the Duce only to find out that after closing hours, they lock their parking lot shut with a huge gate. My car was trapped! He was kind enough to drive me home, even if that meant that he had an even longer drive home.

 

6/21 – Our adventure for this evening: Meeting his family. I had already met his dad and brother, but this evening I was meeting his mother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew (both of his siblings are married). His mom had prepared a delicious build-your-own taco bar with pork, beef, and bison meats, veggies, and salsas. After dinner, we ate cupcakes that his sister had baked. She made a chocolate cupcake with Nutella in the middle that was to die for! After some of his family, we played a dice-game called Farkle with the rest of the family, in which I am still not very good. I enjoyed meeting his family. They were so loving and accepting and making sure I was welcome and comfortable. And they raised a wonderful man. I look forward to seeing them again.

6/28 – Matt's car broke down at Crescent Ballroom, so I had to go pick him up and we went to a housewarming my friends, Jon and Nick, were hosting. Matt and Jon played “Quarters” and shuffleboard and we went swimming.

6/29 – WHAT A DAY.

We got brunch at NCOUNTER in Tempe before we headed over to Crescent to attempt to fix his car. After trying to start his car and failing, we drive around South Phoenix trying to find the tools and a car battery. Driving through town in the heat made me feel sick and my stomach started to hurt. I ended up throwing up in the parking lot while Matt was purchasing a car battery. I had to go to work, so I dropped him off at his car and left. When I got home, I threw up again. My boss told me to stay home and not come into work. After Matt spent about an hour in the heat, walking to the nearest hotel to use their tools, and finally fixed his car, he came over to take care of me. He brought over a strawberry banana smoothie, the movie HighFidelity for us to watch, and the Blood Bank vinyl from Bon Iver. SWOON! We watched High Fidelity (definitely one of my favorite movies now) as well as Pirate Radio (he had never seen it!).  After watching two movies and starting to feel better, we went into my room and played my new vinyl. After listening to Blood Bank (it’s a short album), we listened to Courtney Marie Andrews’ For One I Knew on vinyl, as well as some Crystal Gayle. It was the first time I had really used my record player, and I’m glad he bought me that vinyl. I think I will start collecting vinyl now.

 

7/4 – Happy Independence Day! Why was this day one of my most favorite days? Let me count the ways:

   1. Matt and I BOTH had the entire day off from work, which is really rare.

   2. We enjoyed a free breakfast at Liberty Market.

   3. We each got a new pair of sunglasses.

   4. We shared music with each other.

   5. We sang along to In Rainbows.

   6. We survived our first grocery shopping trip together.

   7. We went to a party with some friends and had a killer time.

   8. I did pretty damn good at Flip Cup.

I spent the whole day with him. We didn't have to share with work, family, band, nothing. I enjoyed every moment I spent with him.

 

 

7/8 - We went to FilmBar to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I LOVE this film, and Matt had only seen it in theatres. It was fun to geek out with him.

 

7/14 - Matt and I experienced our first trip to IKEA together. He bough his mom a birthday present, I bought a desk. After trivia at Crescent, we came back to my house where assembled the desk, I did some laundry, and we played some vinyl.

 

 

7/15 - Today was Matt's mom's birthday, so we went over to his folks' house where he prepared a dinner for the whole family. It had been a few weeks since I had seen them, so it was all still kinda new to me. But I felt more comfortable this time. Matt's dinner was delicious, his mom received some pretty cool gifts, and I even met his grandmother from Alberta via Skype (who says she reads my blog!) So, Esther Klassen, if you're reading this: It was so nice to meet you. Maybe one day I will see you in person.

7/17 - OUR SECOND MONTH ANNIVERSARY. We spent the evening together by enjoying a delicious meal from The Vig (new favorite restaurant...so good!) and then performing some songs at the Open Mic Night at the Little Woody. We covered Al Green's "Let's Stay Together", ZZ Ward's "Lil' Darlin", The Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down", and we arranged a blues-version of Tears for Fears' "Mad World".

Here are some pictures from the last month.

Stay tuned for month three and more adventures!

I Was Born to Be on Stage

Let me tell you the story of how music has changed my life.

When I was a child, I would watch Disney movies. I would sing all the songs. By four years old, I knew all the words to The Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World". I was constantly singing.
When I was five years old, my dad started a cover band with some of his friends. They called themselves "Tonedef?" and the children were "A Lil' Tonedef?" They played covers of Bob Seger, The Eagles, Tom Petty, and, most importantly, The Beatles. That's where my love for The Beatles started. I would sit and listen to them practice. I would go to their gigs at Famous Sam's on Thursday evenings, even though it was a school night. I learned the lyrics to "Dear Prudence". I learned the lyrics to "Stand By Me".
My first performance that I can remember was one Thursday night at Famous Sam's, my dad's band invited me onstage to sing with them. My dad, the bass player, started playing "Stand By Me". I sang the whole song, word for word. Everyone in the bar cheered for me, maybe because I was so young, but I would hope it was because I sounded good.
When I was six years old, I got my first solo in the church kids' choir for a Christmas Eve service. After that performance, I started getting solos in church, with my dad's band backing me up. Eventually, I remember asking my mom if I could sing "better" songs. The songs the church was assigning for me to sing all contained lyrics like "Thank you Jesus for the sun. Thank you Jesus for the birds, etc." and I wanted more "grownup" songs (as a six-year-old, go figure...) The church not only responded with a no, but also a "if you don't appreciate the songs we give you, you won't sing" kind of thing. So, we left.

I tried doing the kids' choir in school, but really what I was looking for were solos. When I was ten years old, my grandmother had found a community children's choir through the Gilbert Fine Arts Association. I was a part of this choir for three years, singing solos in Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, and various community concerts around Gilbert. However, during my last year I noticed a trend: I stopped getting solos. I would work so hard to memorize melodies and lyrics and sing the best I could in auditions, and the solo would go to a child whose parent donated more money in the choir. Also, one big issue I learned at this young age that would haunt me until I graduated high school: I was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ for Latter-Day Saints. Being a Mormon meant more solos, more respect as a musician, and more acceptance in my community. After being rejected for my religious beliefs instead of my talent, I left the group.

This experience scarred me from choir for a while. In junior high, I chose to pursue acting instead of singing. I was a member of Advanced Drama, learned the basics of improvisation, was a lead cast member in the school play, and acted on the weekly announcements. I fell in love with the stage in a new way. I was sure that my calling was to be an actress. Then, when eighth grade came, we had to pick a second elective. I chose Advanced Drama and Art as my two electives. Instead of art, they gave me chorus. I was scared to do choir again, since my last encounter. But, I walked in the classroom and sang my heart out. I struggled to learn to read music, but eventually I got it. I learned solfege, breathing technique, proper posture, and how to control my voice. And I did all of this without earning a single friend in that classroom. I mean, I had some girls in that class who were very nice to me. But outside of class, I was not invited to birthday parties. I was not invited to hangout after school. I was not one of them. And I never would be.

When it came time to sign up for classes in high school, we had to choose three electives. I decided to get my P.E. credit done early, so I chose yoga (yes, my school offered yoga for P.E.). I also decided to get my foreign language credit out of the way, so I chose American Sign Language, since I already knew it. Then, I needed to chose my third and final elective: Chorale or Beginning Drama. I struggled back and forth between the two options. Eventually, I chose Chorale. Why? Because the high school choir teacher came to my junior high and touched my life in such a way, that I wanted to learn more. She was intimidating, challenging, and very strict...but passionate. I saw that if anyone was going to believe in my voice, it was going to be her.

My freshmen year of high school was pretty rough. I spent eighteen weeks in Chorale, a mixed male-and-female choir for beginners, mostly freshmen. Mostly Mormon, too. Because I didn't make hardly any friends, I spent my free time studying the music we were singing. I learned to read the music quickly. I stayed after school and practiced. I worked hard to push my voice in different directions. After the Christmas break, my choir teacher called me and another student into her office. She told us that she loved our enthusiasm and determination for music. She wanted to upgrade us to the sophomore girls' choir, Advanced Women's Choir. I was so excited! I asked my mom if I could change my schedule, and she approved. My counselor switched around some classes, and I spent my second semester of freshmen year in a sophomore-level class. Upon joining this class, I was excited. However, after leaving class on the first day, I hated it. The other freshmen girl who joined me made friends instantly. She was pretty, bubbly, and a Mormon girl like most of the girls in the choir. I was not. I had girls verbally tease me and give me dirty looks. Anytime I spoke up to give an answer in class, I felt like the whole class was putting my down in their minds. It was brutal.

After Advanced Women's Choir, the next class up is Concert Choir, the mother of all choirs at Highland High School. This choir was primarily juniors and mostly seniors. You had to audition to be in this choir, but the boys from Chorale would move up to there and the girls from Advanced Women's Choir would move there too. My teacher told both me and the other girl that if there was room for us and if we passed the audition, she would allow us to be members of Concert Choir as sophomores. I studied my music intensely, and I auditioned to be in this choir. Not only did I earn a spot in the choir the next year, but then I found out that the Concert Choir would be performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City that next year.
Basically, I would be performing at Carnegie Hall as a sophomore in a choir only reserved for juniors and seniors. I would be singing at a place so many superstars had performed. At 16 years old. WHOA.

As the only sophomore girl in Concert Choir, no one, and I mean it, NO ONE liked me. Eventually, I made a few friends, but by the end of the year, they hated me (boy drama, that's another story). In order to prepare for Carnegie Hall, I had to raise money to afford plane tickets and hotels and all that tourist-y stuff. I also had to learn Latin out the yin-yang to sing the entire 6-movement Poulenc song, and the forever-long 3-movement Stravinsky piece. it was brutal. BUT, so worth it! My experience at Carnegie Hall was life-changing. I will always remember stepping onto that golden stage, closing my eyes and letting the music take over. It was magical.

My senior year was an exciting time for my choir career. Not only was this my third year in Concert Choir, but it was my second year in Advanced Vocale Ensemble (which specialized in jazz). Senior year Mandi was on fire! I was Alto Section Leader in Cocnert Choir, a member of the All-State Jazz choir, a member of the Central Regional choir, an aide for Chorale, and earned many solos in jazz choir. One of the solos, I will never forget.
March 2009, we performed a jazz-gospel version of "Amazing Grace". This song had three solos: one for a girl in the second verse, one for a boy in the third verse, and one for an improviser at the end. I prided myself in studying jazz improvisation, so I did whatever I could to land that last solo as mine. My teacher assigned it to me and I couldn't have been more ecstatic. This performance was my all-time favorite performance in my jazz choir career. I made my mom and grandparents cry, I made the audience stand to their feet, and I made my decision that that day, and for the rest of my life, I couldn't stop singing.

After high school, my singing career has been kind of non-existent. I sang in an acoustic duo for a couple of years called Painted Faces, but that group is no longer alive. After Painted Faces, I performed in the local Phoenix band called Emby Alexander for about a year before resigning my position a few months ago. My best performance to date was when I covered "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" with Emby Alexander.

I want to get back on stage. I have a voice that needs to be heard, and I can't do it alone. My passion for singing lies in jazz and blues, but I can sing almost anything. My influences include Adele, Grace Potter, ZZ Ward, Kimbra, Zooey Deschanel, and Black Carl (local Phoenix band). I am looking for a jazz pianist, guitarists, drummer, upright bass player, and possibly some brass and/or saxophone player.




Please help me find musicians to perform with. As much as I want to, I can't perform alone. I need passionate musicians who share the love of jazz and blues as much as I do. I have a message, and I will use my singing voice to reach people. But I need your help.