Hi everyone and hope you had a good Easter with lots of chocolates :)
Here's what's been happening with my latest single 'Single Glance'.
REVIEW My latest single 'Single Glance' was featured and reviewed on the Music Dish site: "A lyrically and musically solid mid tempo love song that is so catchy, it's almost contagious. A fun song, "Single Glance" was produced by UK producer, Stuart Epps who has worked with renowned artists including Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac. It's pop with a definite country twist to it, and great hooks and breaks. The harmonies are well done, and it's a very well-produced track that has driving guitars and rhythms, layered with melodic keyboards." (click link above for full review)
FEATURE 'Single Glance' was also featured on the front page of the Music Industry News Network site:
SIMILAR ARTISTS I decided to do a little experiment to see what other bands my sound for this song was most similar too. You'd think Fleetwood Mac would be the most similar because they were my inspiration for this song and I also had the good fortune to work with a producer who had worked with Mick Fleetwood. He really nailed the male/female backup harmonies on my song I thought it has a very Fleetwood Mac-ish sound :)
Anyway, this is what came up using the Jango site. What do you think - pretty good timeless musicians here that it's an honour to be compared to them? :)
NEW COLLABORATION WITH STUART EPPS I liked Stuart Epps' work so much that I worked on remixing another song with him doing the mixing and mastering. I'm not giving all the secrets away, but I can say that the original song is by one of the artists in the graph above. Maybe you can find some clues on MySpace site if you look carefully...
I managed to pass the mp3 of the song semi-directly to a friend of the band via iPhone and got a thanks from the band a few hours later (please don't ask for their mobile number as I don't have it) :)
I also managed to give the song on a USB key to their keyboardist and producer in person in NYC. I've given hints to some listeners (fans of the band) and they're besides themselves with excitement. We'll just have to wait for now as someone is currently making a fan video for the song (will be released on YouTube).
Have a fantastic month and live your dreams! :) (I almost sounded like Anthony Robbins there) ;)
Best wishes, Catherine ____________________________________________________________________ Visions and Dreams album available now at Amazon, iTunes, CDBaby and other stores. For a full list of stores, visit: www.CatherineDuc.com
We're almost at the end of Summer in Australia, but it's only now that the temperature has been heating up - around 90-100F for 2 weeks in a row! I've been keeping cool by going to shows and movies - I've seen Keith Urban at Rod Laver Arena, Samsara and The Hobbit movies and just last night, Warhorse (an amazing dramatic play with fantastic lifesize horse moving models). I was in the 5th row which was fantastic as I always like sitting near the front to see the performers' expressions and their interactions with each other. Has anyone ever had a front row seat at a major concert before?
On the music front:
ALBUM REVIEW New review of my last album in The Music Feed ezine (click link for full review) "Australian composer Catherine Duc manages to convey a sense of accomplished artistry even before listening to her music. She's compared to brilliant artists like Royksopp, and Phillip Glass. Catherine swallows you whole with a fully realized music landscape. It's art of the highest order."
INTERVIEW New interview in Crimson Moon ezine about how I got started in music and my influences
COMPILATION CD My latest pop song 'Single Glance' was included on the Sounds Like Cafe Vol. 37 compilation CD (distributed to over 1,000 cafes in Australia) and reached #5 on the SLC charts as voted by cafe owners. Australian singer/songwriters, Sarah Blasko and Paul Kelly were also on this CD. If you're from Australia and happen to hear my song playing in your favourite cafe, please let me know :)
COMPETITION FINALS - 'Single Glance' was shortlisted in the PAVI Talent Search competition. - My voiceover demo in the Hisense international advertisement competition made it to the finals (Top 25 or 2% of over 1,600 entries).
Have a wonderful month ahead :)
Best wishes, Catherine ____________________________________________________________________ Visions and Dreams album available now at Amazon, iTunes, CDBaby and other stores. For a full list of stores, visit: www.CatherineDuc.com
Hi everyone and hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
I've actually been working during Christmas to compose a jingle for the electronics company Hisense. If you could have a listen to it and vote for me, I'd be really grateful :) You can vote up to 10 times a day.
It's hard to believe we're on the 'home stretch' of 2012... I know I haven't blogged in a while - I've been so busy and part of the reason is that I was running around the USA.
ROCK AROUND THE USA 11 flights in 2 and a half weeks! That was my 3rd trip to the USA in a year, so I figure I should just move over there?! ;) USA feels like my second home and I found the people I met to be really friendly and helpful - it's really easy to start conversations with Americans, although some people thought I was from Boston or the UK instead of Australia :)
I had such a wonderful time - I went to New York, Cape Cod, Las Vegas (not for gambling - I had a conference!), San Francisco and Marina del Rey in California. I met some fantastic people including musicians, computer game developers, music producers, celebrities (more to come on that - but I did tell you I saw Lindsay Lohan across the street on my last visit didn't I?) :) I took over a thousand photos and should start to upload them here.
I absolutely loved New York - what a wonderful town! Hope all my New York friends are safe.
CAROL OF THE BELLS My composition 'The Bells of Birrarung' has been playing live at The Federation Bells carollons at Birrarung Marr near Federation Square in Melbourne. It was quite challenging but fun to compose for the bells because there are 39 brass bells that don't play all the notes of a scale and many of the bells play different notes/overtones at the same time.
You can listen to the MP3 here which was digitally recorded in my studio using the bells' samples, so the sound is cleaner: www.CatherineDuc.com
To find out more about the bells, this is the official website of the Federation bells: www.federationbells.com.au
ON THE DIGITAL SCREEN My music was used in the Australian sitcom web series 'In Transit'. It kind of reminds me of an Australian version of 'Friends'. You can watch it here: In Transit
INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS I was interviewed by Vents magazine about how I got started in music and my influences: www.ventsmagazine.com/catherine-duc
I also received a very nice comment from New York based songwriter/producer, Alex Forbes who has written songs for artists ranging from Cyndi Lauper to Hayley Westenra: 'You have a very pretty voice, with a nice texture and an emotional connection to what you're singing. Nice atmosphere, skillful songwriting and good musicianship.'
Have a great November!
Best wishes, Catherine ____________________________________________________________________ Visions and Dreams album available now at Amazon, iTunes, CDBaby and other stores. For a full list of stores, visit: www.catherineduc.com
