Gettin' Down To Business(sexy business that is)

Today I spent most of my time at my interior design day job applying for a FACTOR grant. For those of you who don't know what FACTOR is, it's The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings. The Canadian talent in question is me! Yup, I'm Canadian, talented and in dire need of assistance, financially speaking.  Anyway, I digress as usual, but the point is that things are really moving forward with getting Lapdance Romance to being a commercially released single. Hooray!

As far as the studio sessions go, I'm having a blast recording with Ryan. We're both equally as depraved which is great when the song your working on is super sexually charged. We did guitars last time and the goal was to convey an orgasm using guitar in a part of the song. Needless to say, we succeeded and this song is going to be sexy as hell and give many a listener an eargasm. I know it gets my blood boiling. Well, that's enough about what a pervert I am, but I've always been a firm believer that art has to originate from an honest place.

Also, I'm pleased to announce that the Borg Queen store is open for business, so now all of you art fans out there can purchase giclee prints of the art for Sex, Drugs & Shiny Brass Poles. So, if you wanna support me as an artist and help me cover the costs of making the album, you can go to the store and buy some art now and feel all warm and fuzzy inside for being such a gosh darn nice person and helping an independent artist launch their career. I'd also like to note that as an extra added incentive for you hipsters out there that buying my art right now will only make you that much cooler, because it proves that you were a fan of Borg Queen WAY before everybody else.

So to sum it all up  in a neat little package(heh heh I said package)I couldn't be more please with how things are moving along and this is the most vital I've felt in a long time.

p.s. Buy some art!

I Was Wrong! Alan And Ryan Are Totally Rad

As it turns out, I do work well with others, very well in fact! Who knew? Anyway, I met with Alan Wong-Moon and Ryan "Tweak" Clark last week and needless to say I instantly clicked with Ryan and we've been in the studio for a couple sessions now working on Lapdance Romance.

I must say that I've been injected with new life and it's wonderful working with someone that really, truly "gets" me. This is really key though to the whole production process for me, because my biggest fear was that these guys were going to push my music in a direction that would ensure commercial success, but me as an artist would get lost in the uber polished production. Thank God this isn't the case!

The track is sounding so amazing and I can't wait for it to be done. We're planning to release it as a single along with a music video which will be shot by Ribbit Ribbit here in the next few months. As with any art form this is all a huge process, but instead of being freaked out that I'm not getting any younger I'm enjoying every moment of creation. Thanks Ryan. You rock!

Does Not Work Well With Others

That would sum me up in a nutshell when it comes to my art. I have a very clear and precise vision of what I want my product to be and it's the number one reason I don't have a band. I am a perfectionist control freak, and I can admit it. However I am about to embark on a new journey which involve collaborating with an engineer and producer so I can polish my tracks to get them to sound "professional."

It's a difficult thing for me to admit, but I just can't do everything myself. I need other people and their services and expertise to improve my art and it KILLS me to admit it! That being said, I'm going on the recommendation of my good friend and the director of my upcoming music video for Lapdance Romance Arcelia Ocana that working with engineer Alan Wong-Moon and producer
Ryan "Tweak" Clark will only serve to enhance my chances of success. At first, I was a little hesitant with the idea. My art is like my child. In fact, as horrible a parent as this makes me sound, I am more comfortable trusting other people with my kids than with my art. However after checking out their work I do feel a lot more confident about what they can do to enhance my music.

I was very impressed with Ryan Clark's work and the fact that he has a few really well done NIN remixes in his repertoire has me sold on his musical taste, and I think we'll probably get along pretty good. His personal work as Pur Pale is really great too. So great, that I'm actually going to recommend that you listen to my favourite song of his Someone Like You. Yup, I liked it so much that I'm actually promoting another artists work on my blog that is supposed to be about my work, Borg Queen.

So I get to meet with these guys tomorrow to see what they can do for me, and I must say that I'm pretty damn excited(and scared shit less).




I've always been a bit of a  lone wolf, but I guess that's about to change



Am I Crazy?!?!

I ask myself this every day. Am I crazy at my age and with all of my other responsibilities to still try to make a career for myself as an entertainer? The answer is yes, I am crazy, but I think all artists are to varying degrees.

I don't want to do anything else with my life, but sometimes it can get discouraging and I feel lost. Today is one of those days. I'm attempting to write a business plan so that I can get financing to finish my album Sex, Drugs & Shiny Brass Poles, but right now I'm feeling like I've gotten in way over my head.

I have written a business plan before for when I had a mural painting company and I did a great job writing it, but writing a plan for being a musician/performer is an entirely different beast. Thankfully, with the magic of the Internet I did manage to find a template for business plans for musicians, and also a sample plan of an actual band. However, this is going to take some time to complete and right now I just need money to finish the damn album!

I'm getting frustrated and impatient with myself. I tell myself "Jenny, it will all happen when it's supposed to happen and how it's supposed to happen. You just gotta have faith and keep on working step by step toward your goals." The problem is that my goals are always so damn lofty, and most people wouldn't even attempt to do what I'm doing. So the real question is "Am I crazy or just really brave?" I think I'm going to go with 95% Brave and 5% Crazy(just to keep myself interesting).

MONEY! The cause of and solution to all my problems.

Artists are slaves to their art, but money makes slaves of us all.

Ah money. How I loathe thee, but if I only had more my life would be so much easier. I learned a long time ago that money does not make me happy, but it sure as hell would make my artistic career aspirations come to fruition a LOT sooner and with greater ease. I find myself faced with the same old dilemma that most artists, whether they be actors, musicians or really any self employed creative individual is faced with. How do I get the money that I need to launch my career and support myself, and still have enough time to work on my career while balancing my stupid(and often low paying) regular Joe job and working on the career that I really love and want to do?

Starting out in any business is not easy, and the music business is no exception. I need money to finish my album and produce my show based on the album I'm writing, and let me tell ya, my regular jack-off job as an interior designer ain't cuttin' it. Yes, I have enough money to live and put food on the table, but there's barely any extra to throw into my music. It also doesn't help that I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world where the cost of living is ridiculous! Don't get me wrong, I love Vancouver and I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere else in Canada given a choice, and where else am I going to find the resources, people, and market to launch an arts and entertainment career in Canada? Toronto, maybe, but who the hell wants to live there? Angry people who like the Toronto Maple Leafs, acid rain and cold winters, that's who, but that's not me, so here I am struggling to make a living in beautiful, temperate, laid-back Vancouver while trying to scrape together enough cash to make a go of it with my music and art.

So what do I do? Do I turn to the oldest profession and whore myself to upscale clientele at $500/hr(yes, I'm that good)? Hopefully not. My plan A is to determine how much money I need to finish the album and produce the show, and then try to get a business loan from the bank. Of course, this plan presents it's own set of challenges. First, I need to write up a business plan in order to be taken seriously by any financial institution. Thankfully, I have done this before and know what to do. So next, on my ever growing list of things to do is write up a business plan for Borg Queen and present it to the bank, and pray to God that they think I'm as awesome as I think I am and lend me the money I need to continue to follow my dreams. Wish me luck because I'm going to need it.

A Night Out With Fellow Artist Carol Cox

So last night I braved a 1.5 hour ride on public transit in heels while 8 months pregnant to go check out the music video premiere of fellow artist and friend Carol Cox. Was it worth it? Hell yes! Not only was it great to get out after several months of being a pregnant shut in, but it's always a great feeling to share a pivotal moment in another artist's career.

Now, my interest in nightclubs has definitely taken a nose dive since I decided to sober up a few years ago, but Carol's energy and lust for life is so bloody infectious that I found myself jumping on the dance floor and shaking my ass(or what's left of it) until I forced myself to stop because I started to get contractions!

As the video premiered I found myself being quite impressed by the genuine emotional depth of the lyrics of what is essentially a pop song. As a general rule I'm not a huge fan of pop, but I find that Carol's work is distinctive because she actually writes her own songs and her song "Wasted" retained it's own unique soul in what is generally an over-produced, vapid, and soulless genre of music. The video was sexy, beautiful, energetic and shot entirely with green screen! All in all I had a great night.

Lapdance Romance - Explained

This song and painting based on my first meeting with my partner now of 5 years. I'm usually not one to divulge the full stories behind my creations whether it's art or music, but this one does tell a very specific story and all of the imagery and lyrics are directly related to it.

The opening line of the song is "So you're my next victim?" which was precisely the first thing that came out of my mouth when we first met in an Edmonton strip club that I was working at. The first think that struck me about him was his eyes. They were the color of absinthe and much like the drink made me feel giddy and completely out of control. Not a great place to be when you're about to give someone a VIP show. The entire time I was dancing for him I was resisting my attraction in order to remain cool, confident, in control and professional. Strippers are not supposed to fall for their clients, and here I was not only finding myself incredibly attracted to this guy, but it turns out that he was really sweet, charming, funny, intelligent and respectful too. On a whim I decided to accept his invitation sit down and have a club soda with him. I invited him back the next day so we could go out for a coffee after I was done work. Well, coffee turned into what I honestly thought was going to be a one night stand, which turned into a 1 and a half year long distance realtionship and eventually a permanent partnership.

Who says you can't find love in a strip club?