God I'm Weird...

So, despite previous circumstances, the show last Thursday went pretty well. I was testing out if I could in some way use the PA as my own monitor. That was an epic fail. I don't think I'll have anything to worry about on the 10th, and I might not have much to worry about on the 9th...

Oh yes the 9th! So, I'm playing a show in Urbana IL the night before my release on the 10th of October. Should I really be doing this? Will I jinx myself? I've actually already thought of those two questions, so I'll only be doing another a'capella set and try my hardest to fight the urge to drink and party with the rest of them. Plus I'm thinking this should be a perfect opportunity to sell some disks the night before the release. Get a little bit more exposure. a Light Sleeper hooked me up with this show at the last minute and I'm appreciative, but I only wished that I had shipped some disks out to the north side earlier to get better publicity and promotion.

But back to the show on the 17th. For those that were there, you all knew that I didn't have enough time to program "stage banter" scripts into my loop pedal. So there was unbearable, for me anyway, silence in-between songs. I'm not sure what has happened to me in the last several months...I guess working feverishly in a hermit state has caused me to forget how to be social and work a room or a crowd. I was a little bit more awkwardly weird than usual and I have no effing clue as to why. And for some reason, I'm still afraid to look at my audience while I'm playing. What is up with that? What's happening to me? Where did all this fear come from? It could have been because I was immediately following Daniel Francis Doyle because he's friggin' awesome, but BAH! I've even noticed this quirk during the last stella show. I wasn't working the crowd, just kinda sitting off to myself extremely tired and ready to play so that I could go home and sleep. Yes, I had a lot on my mind about planning this release but geez! This is something I definitely need to work on in the next coming months because I want to give it my all in Chicago. .e and I are going to rock that city, with are ethereal-like qualities.

Anyway, I guess you all need a little bit more poking than usual. Do you guys not want free merchandise? How could you not want free stuff? Well, If You Really Want It, sign up on my mailing list and I'll send you a ticket that you must present to me on the 10th of October at my Listening Party. Give me the ticket, I give you free stuff. It's not that hard peeps!

Once again, in case you forgot: (I'll be posting this every week until the show's happened)



Tell a friend, bring a friend!

...that's all I got...
~Syrhea

The Question I'll Always Hate

Most of you know that this past week I had a little interview with KDHX for the Local Artist Spotlight, and I think overall it went pretty well. I may have gone off in my little tangents and side acting stories a bit much, but hey, that's me. I did, however, encounter a question I'm learning to hate more and more twice this week. The first time was obviously in the interview at the radio station. Just one simple question that I don't think I'll ever be able to answer confidently or with any absolute idea of what I'm talking about.

The question is:

"What does your music sound like?"

Not that this question isn't already hard enough to answer but we all know what that really means. It means, "Who do you sound like" or "What artists that I've heard do you sound similar to?". I'm not sure why we must always compare music with other music. It's true, I do it too, but can't our vocabulary extend beyond this general comparison?

I stumbled over the answer for about 3 minutes before I finally said, "I hate this question...I don't know how to answer it."

The same thing happened this past Saturday at bar. I can totally understand an owner wanting to make sure a disk doesn't sound like shit before he agrees to host a party, but God I hate that question! Just listen to the album! I got you a free copy! I could say that I sound like a female fronted MUSE with drops of Queen's vocals, Trail of Dead's rhythm's, and arrangements touch to the like of John Williams, but I won't. Why, because I'm not that sure that it even sounds like that.

I can say confidently that I don't think my recorded album sounds anything like Imogen Heap. I get that comparison quite often and Imogen has been a huge inspiration to me, but her music sounds more like the music I WANT to make but somehow falls short and in a whole different genre. Maybe the next album I could agree with that common comparison I get.

Anyway, enough about that riff-raff.

I booked, with the help of Nana, (actually SHE booked) a Listening Party at the Royal immediately after the Release of the Cd on the 10th of October. The Party is obviously free, and we'll sit and drink some beers and listen to my album...for free! But this is not the end of this news. For those of you who are already on the mailing list, you will receive a little ticket in your email that you can print off and bring to the Listening Party. In exchange for this ticket, you'll get a free (did you see that...FREE!) grab bag of Syna So Pro merch because, let's face it, you're special. I'm very appreciative of all you who willingly signed up on the list.

So if you want to get a freebie bag of Syna So Pro merchandise, you need to sign up on the mailing list. So easy.




And here's the flier for the CD Release show! Whoopie!

click to enlarge




Plus I'm playing a show at Lemp Arts Center with the awesomely talented Daniel Francis Doyle, and .e this Thursday! Come out if you can. It's a night of loop-de-looping!

...that's all I got...

~Syrhea