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Mee And The Band – The MIND MATTERS show – live at The Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Riding the Waves of EAT PIEROGI the viral song and music video we released earlier this year 2018 got us loads of attention, including on a London Radio station PRL24/magazine Cooltura with a daily audience of over 80,000. The interview was so fun and I did my best to speak Polish, not understanding everything that the staff there said (see video fo interview on YouTube), but it ended up them inviting us to be a support act for a massive artist in Poland Maryla Rodowicz and a Eurovision competitor called Cleo. Naturally I accepted!

So what do you do when you get asked to play Shepherd’s Bush Empire and most of the audience only knows one of your songs Eat Pierogi?

Well, I chose to imagine that everyone already knows all my songs and comes to my shows regularly expecting to be wowed! So I dusted off my Mee And The Band tour plan doodle pad from 2015, got the glue guns out and started creating some serious magic! This performance was my showcase for the musical content of MIND MATTERS.

And it only took…
4 years of music production
3 weeks, planning & a lot of daydreaming for creative brief creation
42 crew and cast members
10 weeks of rehearsals
3 rehearsal studios
268 whats app messages and videos
324 emails
1000’s of audio files
97 documents
3 Glue guns
1 band saw
2 staple guns
2 sewing machines
2 projectors
5 laptop computers
2 vans
2 workshops
6 batches of homemade soup
100’s of reused plastic bags
1000’s of reused straws
Countless patient and generous family members
And and and…The list goes on and on…

We ended up being a crew of 42 people by the time we were at The Empire! (Much to the surprise of the day’s stage manager and events coordinators). We’d rehearsed our 40 mins show for 2 months and 2 weeks in advance once a week, so after 10 rehearsals we were a slick operation. Although we were supposed to be a support act, it is now clear to everyone that we are not. Right from the beginning I wanted to honour the work it took to create our album MIND MATTERS and that meant pulling out all the stops.

What does it take to put on an epic show? There are so many steps and it often isn’t in order, you can start with a plan or map, but the way art productions unravel is organic, because you are constantly trouble shooting, inventing ways around health and safety, cheats, having to work to other people’s schedules and timing, it’s an ever evolving process. So the first step was to share my idea…

THE CREATIVE BRIEF

To make a live show from the album MIND MATTERS by Mee And The Band. A Mindfully crafted Musical Self Help Map, for the modern day survivor! Presented through 3 chapters that explore the different states of the mind and the collection of songs that lyrically ‘address the stress’ of fast paced modern day life, managing it and tending to our mental health, by offering inspired solutions, that are rooted in Mindfulness, The Law of Attraction and Self Love. The entire album is an emotional journey, from stress to relief, from dark to light etc. So we need to take the audience on a journey through the mind.

CHAPTER 1 – The Unmastered Mind
CHAPTER 2 – Mastering the Mind
CHAPTER 3 – The Mastered Mind

Vision

To create a multi media multi sensory experience that totally immerses the audience, using set design, that changes throughout the chapters, costumes, dancing, lighting, visuals.

Patrons

Mind Matters Show is a collaboration of so many skilled people and artists. It was only possible because of our Patrons and to them I say thank you a million times. As I started to pull all the segments of my vision together, I began to speak to headdress makers, hair artists, make up artists, dancers, set designers, set builders, lighting technicians, projection technicians, community leaders that could provide rehearsal space in support of our act.

HEADDRESSES
We had already developed a reputation for theatrics and headdresses thanks to Mayhem Millinery a friend of mine who’e talents stretch as far as her client’s imaginations, all she needs is her trusty glue gun, and her extremely patient and supportive husband! So we decided to build on that. I actually wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Evie, she is such a fun creative person and through our creations we have come to be very good friends.

DANCERS
With our songs chosen we decided that we’d split the show into the 3 audio chapters, i’d have a costume and headdress change every chapter. I contacted one of the dancers from the EAT PIEROGI video who rallied a group of 6 dancers that were all excited and willing to commit to weekly rehearsal where we’d co create the choreography, with Laura Sawyer of The Detail Directing. I’ve worked with Laura so much that I felt completely at ease knowing I could leave the movement styling to her. We consulted in-between rehearsals and would tweak with dancers, she and the dancers not only made my mini visions come to life so beautifully but they stunned me

LIGHTING AND VISUAL PROJECTION
After only our 2nd rehearsal with the dancers, although it was going amazingly well, it was clear to us that we needed to have this show lit properly, so I began to research and seek to lighting and visual designers. I found Henrique Ghersi! The angels brought him to Mee. What a completely wonderful human being, so enthusiastic, immediately got the content of the album and what we were trying to do with the chapters. So he came up with a plan to project designed visuals on to stage props and a back screen as well as designing directing and coordinating our light show for the venue, with the in-house light technician. His title is Multi Media Light Director. I adore him. He pulled together a team of 4 people to work the magic from their laptops and cable maps. As you will see form the Chapters on our YouTube channel, the visuals were exquisite, taking the performers and audience to different environments and creating so many beautiful moods that speak volumes, delivering the album’s content in a powerful way. I look forward to working with Henrique and his crew in the future taking this tour on the road!

SET BUILD
We already had become known on social media and at gigs for clouds on sticks which by the way, had all been created from left overs from the music videos and large Colorama rolls, but this time we needed to go bigger, so we made them taller on 9ft poles and custom built bases. Henrique already had 3 triangles about 6 ft high on kick stands that he had projected on to for a smaller show, but we needed to go bigger, so we built more and made them taller and turned some upside down! Staple gunning white black out fabric on to wooden frame works. We also had to make 2 X 9ft trash heap totem poles for the ‘Keep it Simple’ song, which involved salvaging 3 traffic cones form the river Wandle and hedgerow ditches, then skewering random bit of plastic junk we had collected from roadsides and fly tip areas, making giant free standing Kebabs. As if that wasn’t enough the ludicrous idea of a plastic dog popped into someone’s head ( I actually can’t remember who it was) but Gervais and Evie collaborated to make Rufus the plastic dog on wheels!

THE TRASH PRINCESS BALLGOWN for song KEEP IT SIMPLE
This Art piece lives somewhere between Set Build and Costume. The vision was to be a top of a rubbish heap simulating a landfill site and sing about choosing a simpler lifestyle, one that is mindful of waste and the pull of never ending fashion addiction and consumerism of the newest updated models of anything. This song used to be called more stuff, but i chose to focus on what I consider a possible solution, hence Keep it Simple.
After The Saw Doctor had build a frame work to my design and specifications, I collaborated with artist Pippa Ward, as I had no idea how I was going to cover this frame with rubbish. Pippa is somewhat of an artistic plastics specialist and we were able to draw on her resources form previous projects where she had ironed metres and metres of length of plastic bags together for an artistic installation on bodies of water. It is well worth visiting her website.
So we wrapped this creation in layers and layers of plastic bags, she also donated boxes of plastic bottle tops that the well known cosmetics company LUSH had donated to her for her art after she had been commissioned by them to do some large scale pieces. We drilled the bottle tops to make long chain necklaces and we also wired together necklaces of plastic bottles that we had saved form our recycling and truthfully it was an eye opener. What you see on that trash dress is 2 months consumerism from one family of 5! I think you’ll agree the result is a sight to take in and comprehend!
When I climbed up for steps to the dress and the lights came on the stage, I could hear the audience gasp and all the camera phones went up as I towered above people singing, ‘Keep it Simple’.

COSTUMES
The bulk of costume creation for dancers was delivered by Amazon Prime, but Basia Klimas, Director of Orleta our Polish Folk Dance troop, totally stepped in altering 6 X Gospel robes, my yellow jacket from The BreadCrumbs video was turned into a tunic, she stitched magic into the seems of the paper clouds and helped me create plastic outfits for the dancers, for the song ‘Keep it Simple’. This woman is a Legend and her dancers all say so too, there is nothing she can’t do with a needle and thread.

STAGE CREW
If you had visited with me to the above people and been in their workshops you’d know that all this art is messy in creating and when made takes up a lot of room! So of course transporting it all to the venue on show night not only needed coordinating but rehearsing. We had a variety of set changes and we needed it to be seamless during out constant running 40mins sound track, so our Stage Crew Tally, Sammy and Sam regular trained with us and actually became an integral part of our choreography adding elements and co creating with ideas. These guys were all led by one truly brilliant woman. Put a clip board and stop watch in this woman’s hand and there is nothing and no one she can’t organise, AND she does it all with a beautiful smiling face, a rainbow dress, some serious swag and positive attitude! She was my behind the scenes angel, making sure everything was unpacked, stacked, used, put pack, packed up and driven off giving me the free time to be The Diva I so deserved to be. In reality, she deserves to be the Diva, I want her around me everyday of the week to cheerlead and smile at me. (You can catch glimpses of the stage crew during the chapters and also in the Eat Pierogi song at the end when we get everyone join us to dance!

CAMERA PEOPLE AND EDITORS
Together with Henrique we found cameras and camera people to make sure that we captured the show from as many angles as possible! We had 2 still photographers and 5 video cameras and 2 video cam operators. We had 2 editors to splice it altogether it took a whole month after the show to finish working on the footage! 40mins show captured by that many cameras, is a lot of footage to go through and do the show justice. May I say a massive thank you to Sammy for having pulled audio off the sound desk for our performance, with out it we would have had no sound to edit with. He was a Legend and had to problem solve in a theatre full of people absorbed in themselves. You can see the footage and stills on our YouTube Channel MeeMusicVideos and also our social media platforms MeeAndTheBand. Many thanks to Gani Naylor, Scott Rankin, Ellie Jones and Kris Królikowski after which Lucia Aranguren for helping us out with the bulk of the edit.

Music
The MIND MATTERS album was already produced by the time we had to do the show, but if it wasn’t for Ryan Lee Holder, we wouldn’t have had a show! He tailored 40 mins of our album from our 1 hour 10 min long album, sequenced it into one long track, was at every rehearsal for play back and stop starting at the Dance Director Laura’s command. He had the patience of a saint and enthusiasm and love for the project that met my own. Ryan I consider you my musical brother bestie and love your Theremin soooo much! You make the whales speak to me during the music!

Hair and Make up
This is probably the last thing I think about as I usually wear no make up and don’t even brush my hair daily! If it wasn’t for Chloe one of our amazing dancers, coming up with suggestions from previous projects we wouldn’t have found Francesco and his Studio 50 make up school. The graduates and their tutor all volunteered to help Mee and the dancers do our make up for the show and they did such a terrific job! I loved my fake freckles thank you! And thanks to Francesco for doing my make up for London Live! Hair! Well I drove past a studio in my home town and fell in love with the poster hanging in the window. I knew I wanted to work with Theresa Weller and prayed that she wanted to work with me and create me an amazing hair piece! Turns out, we became super connected and wanna be besties on the way to London Live. Theresa is sooo talented and her hair pieces really gave me stage presence! I am so so looking forward to seeing gyou at Pride darling! In the wings, behind the stage. More creations, more I say!

PROPS & COSTUME LIST

For the Song ‘Love My Bed’
1 x Take away Costa Coffee cup
2 X Newspapers with Mee And The Band full page articles
1 X umbrella
1 x Back pack

For The Song ‘Keep it Simple’ our most involved prop heavy number.
Oil Drum with steps attached
2 X 9 ft high trash and rubbish Totem poles
2 washing lines of plastic bags
1 X dog on wheels made entirely of plastic

For The Song ‘Sweet Nothings’
1 X White Owl Kite – (where one of our dancers leaps in as an owl!)

For the song ‘Waves of Plenty’
6 X gold up to the elbow gloves (for the dancers)

For the song ‘Jump for Joy Joy’
1 X Pink Coat for Mee
6 X Heart shape glasses (for tree dancers)

For the song ‘Bliss’
6 X gospel robes (for the dancers)

For the song ‘Eat Pierogi’
1 X Giant Pierogi Costume (with a willing volunteer to get in it, thanks Man Alex and Rafał W)
1 X Shell Suit for my stage husband
1 X Red rolling Pin
1 X feather Bower
1 X Leopard print fluffy jacket

HEADDRESSES Visit Mayhem Millinery on internet to see her full works!
1 X ThunderDome (with custom made box)
1 X Trash Top Hat
6 X Trash headbands for dancers
1 X Feather Pom Pom
1 X Unicorn (For the Lucy from the video)
1 X Clouds on Sticks
1 X Halo (130cm diameter)
4 X White heart Bug heads + 1 Golden Heart bug head (for dancers from our 360 music video)
1 X Wig with curlers (for Mee)
1 X Pierogi Crown (for Ryan)
1 x Vinyl record DJ Headdress (For Ryan)

To The Entire Crew and Cast of MIND MATTERS

Bless each and every one of you, we cocreated a magic show!  I look forward to taking this show on the road in 2019 and sharing it with wider audiences.

For anyone reading and interested in any of my contacts, please get in touch and I can connect you with them.

The album MIND MATTERS is available to buy from our website on the music page as a download link that you can have on your device, but we are releasing it in the new year once the album artwork is finished, so it will be available for all to hear and stream!

Magic Moments,

From Mee x

K-Mag article about our EAT PIEROGI song and video

Google Translation of article for English speakers!


Songs can be singing about everything. The creators are limited only by their own imagination, and yet most often (though not always) they circulate around topics referring to love, separation, departure, meeting ... etc. However, a British music group decided to go against the schemes and created a song about something that is sometimes called the Polish national treasure.

The band "Mee & The Band" wrote a song that cherishes our old, good ... dumplings. And many say it is a hit material. The song was created on the occasion of the Polish Lebara Days festival held in London, and its title is "Eat Pierogi". It did not happen by accident, because team members along with their families - a total of over 30 people! - every year they meet on Christmas Eve and celebrate holidays in accordance with Polish traditions (the mother of the vocalist is Polish). There are 13 dishes on the table and although not everyone tastes to everyone, the dumplings have won the hearts of everyone without exception. In the music video, the singer without a punishment deals with anyone who tries to get even closer to her treasure: the rollers are going to move, the pans and the little finesse kicks.

There is no denying that when it comes to culinary topics, the British are rather less sophisticated. Fish & chips, sausages, bacon, and at every step we come across Chinese and Turkish restaurants. It is not surprising that our most popular export commodity quickly became a hit. When we ask the Englishman for some Polish dish, 99% will shout "Pierogi!". Maybe it's time to promote our next domestic dish in the Islands? A song about bigosie or pork chop sounds appetizing.

Any Polish child can tell you that the cure to everything is Pierogi!

World Peace = PierogiFamine = PierogiDepression = Pierogi

You name a malady and Pierogi are the remedy!

So it’s no wonder that Mee And The Band have written a passionate song about getting ‘Keep Your Hands Off My Pierogi!” These homemade little dumplings are created with great love and a lot of skill, every family fights over the last one, just in case it really is the last one ever!Which is ludicrous, because a world with no Pierogi is like the atmosphere without air, non of us could exist on this planet without Pierogi.We might as well have called it Planet Pierog not Earth!

Any way, this song was written as a a christmas time joke gift for ‘Mee And The Band’s’ family, where 32 of them convene under one roof to celebrate christmas Polish style. Traditions include, waiting for the 1st star to appear in the sky before beginning a meal that consists of, 13 courses!  And although not all of the courses are to everyone’s taste, all family members agree on one thing and that is that the highlight of the evening is…..you guessed it PIEROGI.

Mee And The Band, a dual heritage Pop Star ,celebrates her ethnicity through the love of Pierogi and through her poetic license lyricism combining both the Polish and English language, a hybrid mix she dons as Ponglish!  In the song, the character she portrays is a possessive obsessive wife prepared to beat her own husband to protect the Pierogi “Mama sent for Mee.” The cast of the video are all trying to steel them from her – it’s all a little bit, well, ‘bonkers’!

#eatpierogi

This is the 1st of many catchy songs to be released by Mee And The Band. She is releasing her album MIND MATTERS, where the collection of songs lyrically ‘address the stress’ that fast paced modern day life can bring and songs lyrically explore inspired solutions, that are rooted in Mindfulness, The Law of Attraction and Self Love.

Artists like Mee And The Band are truly a unique breed, in that they steer away from vanity and self importance, so that they can better deliver us serious messages in a light hearted way, through tongue and cheek / slap stick humour.  God only knows the world needs to laugh and smile more!  May EAT PIEROGI be the first of many catalysts!

#iLoveMee

You can follow this unique and comedic musical artist on YouTube, FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, you can also buy her songs on itunes, amazon, google play, spotify to name a few outlets and if you love Mee And The Band’s world and want to support this artist financially to continue uplifting the cosmos with her Kooky world, then you can become a Patron on www.Patreon.com/MeeAndTheBand

 TRANSLATED TO POLISH

Każde polskie dziecko może ci powiedzieć, że lekarstwem na wszystko jest 
Pierogi!  Światowy Pokój = Pierogi / Famine = Pierogi / Depresja = Pierogi
Wymieniasz chorobę, a Pierogi są lekarstwem!

Nic więc dziwnego, że Mee And The Band napisała namiętną piosenkę o
"Keep Your Hands Off My Pierogi!" Te domowe małe kluski są tworzone 
z wielką miłością i dużą ilością umiejętności, każda rodzina walczy o 
ostatnią, właśnie w Jeśli świat bez Pierogi jest jak atmosfera bez powietrza,
 nikt z nas nie mógłby istnieć na tej planecie bez Pierogi. Równie dobrze 
moglibyśmy nazwać to Planet Pierog, a nie Ziemią!

W każdym razie ta piosenka została napisana jako prezent w stylu 
bożonarodzeniowego dowcipu dla rodziny "Mee And The Band", 
gdzie 32 z nich zebrało się pod jednym dachem, aby świętować świąteczny 
polski styl. Zawierają się w nim postacie, czekające, aż pierwsza gwiazda 
pojawi się na niebie przed początek posiłku składającego się z 13 dań! I 
choć nie wszystkie kursy są do gustu wszystkich, wszyscy członkowie rodziny 
zgadzają się co do jednej rzeczy i że najważniejszym wydarzeniem wieczoru 
jest ... .. odgadliście to PIEROGI.

Mee And The Band, dwukrotne dziedzictwo Pop Star, celebruje swoją 
pochodzenie etniczne poprzez miłość do Pierogi i poprzez jej poetycki 
liryzm licencyjny łączący zarówno język polski, jak i angielski, mieszankę 
hybrydową, którą nazywa Ponglish! W utworze postać, którą portretuje 
dzierżawcza obsesyjna żona przygotowała się do pobicia własnego męża, aby 
chronić Pierogi "Mama wysłana do Mee". Aktorka tego filmu próbuje je od niej 
odkurzyć - to wszystko trochę, no cóż, "wariactwo"!

#eatpierogi

To pierwsza z wielu chwytliwych piosenek, które zostaną wydane przez 
Mee And The Band. Wydaje album MIND MATTERS, w którym kolekcja piosenek 
lirycznie "radzi sobie ze stresem", który może przyśpieszyć współczesne 
życie, a piosenki lirycznie eksplorują inspirowane rozwiązania, które są 
zakorzenione w Mindfulness, The Law of Attraction i Self Love.

Artyści tacy jak Mee And The Band są naprawdę wyjątkową rasą, ponieważ 
odwracają się od próżności i poczucia własnej ważności, dzięki czemu mogą 
lepiej przekazać nam poważne wiadomości w lekki sposób, poprzez język i 
policzek / kij packa. Bóg jeden wie, że świat musi się śmiać i uśmiechać 
więcej! Niech EAT PIEROGI będzie pierwszym z wielu katalizatorów!

#iLoveMee

Możesz śledzić tego wyjątkowego i komediowego artystę muzycznego na 
YouTubie, FaceBooku, Instagramie, Twitterze, możesz także kupić jej 
piosenki na iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, spotify, żeby wymienić kilka 
sklepów i jeśli kochasz świat Mee And The Band i chcesz wesprzyj finansowo 
tego artystę, aby nadal podnosił kosmos ze swoim światem Kooky, a następnie 
możesz zostać Patronem na www.Patreon.com/MeeAndTheBand

CAREERING INTO 40!

MY MUM’S A POP STAR.

This title is actually intended to become a novel, for the time being, let me start with the first transparent blog of my Pop Star career.  It’s not recommended or advised to promote being a mother / career woman until you are financially successful enough, but being a mum has been part of my journey and highlighted my childhood, my dreams and my gratitude it has given me the gumption to live life on my own terms and lead by example to my children whom I preach to all the time, you can do and be anything you want to and change your mind at any time, no rules!  Just follow your heart is what I tell them.

As a parent, I witness schools leading children to believe academia is a launching pad for our careers and I guess school did that for me indirectly with reverse psychology, because even though I hated education and any academic system as a child, I was also a naturally happy person and worked hard at being so in my adult life, especially in the tough times and it is tough when school labels you an under achiever and assumes you will amount to nothing, even though you are working and trying your butt off!  This naturally develops a low self esteem, depression and isolation, that most adults find it hard to shake!  Therefore, I believe that a combination of my miserable school years, being told I can’t and my innate ability to return to my natural happy state and prove that I can, allowed me to follow my passions, and do what brings me joy, this is what delivered my career, rather than me delivering it.

Being a mum of 3, my eldest 2 have been asked what they want to do for a career already at the age of 13! 13 people!  13 years on the planet and you are expected to make massive choices about your future, which is daunting enough, with out the narrow career choices we are presented with at school. In her TED talks Emilie Wapnick, beautifully expresses that the reason why we might not be able to choose just one goal is that many of us are “multipotentials” meaning that we might don many hats and master them or indeed invent new ones along the way.

Emilie certainly describes my childhood school days to a T, but more than that, most schools including mine and my children’s only celebrate the A star achievers and only focus your education at school.  If like me you you were blessed to have a rich and lusciously creative home life, provided by your parents, it could make you feel, as it did me, that the majority of my learning of life, through observing and being taught  by my parents and joining them in their passions and learning their skills, was ignored by school.  So much so, that I clearly remember my music teacher’s school report, stating – “Alexandra, can ‘barely’ clap along to a rhythm in keeping with the tempo and she just about manages to sing along to a melody with the rest of the class!” (Little did she know that I was grade 7 in piano and had passed grade 5 theory, sung and performed in choral harmonies with my mother’s Polish folk dance groups and in my father’s choirs since I had been born.

This sort of negative and blinded attention gave me a grave dislike of school, it seemed false and full of BS.  I made A level choices to try to find “one career path” and continue with further education, but I was so disillusioned with the academic world and felt I had so much more to explore of life before I committed to any choices, that I dropped out in my second year.  I moved out of home, found work, went travelling, made my own money while I travelled, allowed my creative impulses to take charge.  This meant that I designed and created costumes.  I made connections with people that had creative skills and could help make my visions a reality and through this I  effortlessly became a project manager.

When,  my social circle who had similar experiences all declared that they would return back to college and uni to complete their education, I was mortified!  Mainly because, I was afraid of being abandoned and couldn’t remotely fathom returning with them!  I had this sense that they all felt the calling to, ‘Grow up’ and I just didn’t want to.  My soul searching also acknowledged the fear of losing my creative play friends. I decided that the only thing left for me to do that would enable me to ‘grow up’ was to have children of my own.  After all, I had had the best training I could ever have by observing my own mother and as I was her play friend, my children could be mine.

So, one by one the children arrived and I was and am a very doting, applied and if I say so myself amazing mother! Now society might not consider mothering to be a career, which to me is outrageous, because ‘career women’ who are also mothers, employ other women to be live in nannies and house keepers.  Combined, these 2 job titles pull in an average salary of £75,000!  Which is nowhere close to what I as a ‘stay at home’ mother got from child maintenance.  Which only magnifies the miracles I have achieved in raising 3 up standing citizens.  However, with all this magnificent achievement, I still didn’t feel the sense of having ‘grown up’.

I hadn’t ever managed to pick just one career to specialise in and my pet hate was to be asked at parties, “So, what do you do?” I’ve had so many jobs, built and sold my own successful business, studied to be a teaching assistant, permaculture specialist, I’ve created and led a choir, I am a Director and secretary of a film industry firm and I perform all these duties while still managing to write, record, perform and grow my own business. So how do I answer the “what do I do” question?

I suddenly realised that my 40th was rapidly approaching and I asked myself in the manner of a school headmistress, “what have you achieved, Alexandra.” This is a summary of what I came up with:

1. I have proven 16 years of commitment to my career as a mother and passed with honours!
2. I have always been and still am a committed and loving daughter and sister.
3. I have committed to always learning and growing from all relationships.
4. I am a devoted and loving wife.
5. I have explored my interest in permaculture and know i will pick it up in retirement.
6. I have always followed my passion of writing and singing songs.
7. I have indulged my visions of costume making and project managed their creations.
8. I have explored making different genres of music with a variety of people.
9. I have pursued my learning about the vastly transforming music industry, legally, and creatively.
10. I have not allowed my fear of getting older stop me from living my dream.
11. I am a self made pop star.
12. I have always and still do work very hard at loving me.  #iLoveMee

And as I career through my 40’s and live the dream life of a modern day pop star, I encourage other people to follow their passions and work hard at loving the self, especially on the days when you’ve burned the dinner, you wake up wishing you had a different life, you’re bored of the sound of your own voice, “you know where you’re going but don’t know the way” (Mee And The Band – BreadCrumbs lyrics) …

Keep exploring life, because that is the real education that fulfils and inspires us with enthusiasm, that’s what made teachers wanna teach in the first place before they lost the will to love teaching.  Being an adult has got nothing to do with age, but it has everything to do with acknowledging your fear and “hearing your heart sing, do not fear the joy I bring!” (Mee And The Band – I know I am Worth it)– then doing what excites you even if it terrifies you.  Don’t judge yourself by your financial success, rather measure yourself by looking at what you’ve learned and adoring the courage it took to learn it.

Let’s make sure that at the end of our lives we all have some good stories to show and tell.

Oh and can you help a mother out?   Support Mee in my career transition follow, me on Twitter and instagram, like my FaceBook Page and subscribe to my youtube channel MeeMusicVideos

Magic Moments,

Mee And The Band

(AKA Alexandra)

x

Meena Kaye – “Keep It Simple” Featuring Mee And The Band – Single Review

This new single from Meena Kaye…has…SO MUCH working in its favor it’s tough to envision a path she’d end up on from this point forward that wouldn’t lead her to the success she’s looking for in music.  “Keep It Simple” is a multi-layered example of a giant melting-pot of ideas that keep everything we hear full of hooks from moment to moment – though I’d be the first to admit…they’re the kind of hooks that add such a fresh perspective you’ll latch onto one firmly before discovering the next.  Let me explain…

What might catch your attention first on your initial playing of “Keep It Simple” could certainly be the playful electro-vibe and the immediate attachment you form to the inviting, well-mixed and smartly produced sound of the smoothness in the music as it flows.  Expertly assembled, played & performed – “Keep It Simple” is a track that contains zero flaws; the energy in the music moves perfectly, allowing this collaboration between Meena Kaye and Mee And The Band to flourish not just in the music-department, but in all areas.  Like a reliable friend at the end of a rough Friday night – the music of “Keep It Simple” is ready to drive and keep the wheel steady to take this one home safely.

And for myself personally, that’s how it went…I noticed the vibrant sound and depth in the mix of the music immediately…but in those first moments you also have audible competition of equal caliber and quality that begins right away with the vocals as well.  As I’d mentioned earlier on, each moment of this song really does pack-in its own set of dynamics and hooks – the vocals are certainly included in that assessment.  The verse immediately kicks-in a seriously cool attitude and cadence to the tone that has an interesting mix of what I’d almost call more classic pop/rock style infused into the modern-day electro-style.  Something about this song has a real distinct influence in the writing that sounds like it contains real respect for where music has already come from – but more importantly, where it’s going next.  Through the inspired and insightful performance on the vocals in the chorus – you get that additional push straight into the modern-day entirely with an immaculately sung hook that wraps right around your mind with its incredibly memorable sound.  Nailed 100% – those vocals…are SO GOOD, brilliantly unique in their sound…and truly they are throughout the entire song whether it’s verse, chorus or in between; bottom-line is Meena Kaye along with Mee And The Band have established multiple access points for the masses with what they’ve put into their music and vocals on “Keep It Simple.”  The beautiful tones, the stylistic delivery, the confident & controlled performance that incorporates clever choices and bold courage to go where the music will take them – not a complaint to be made about the vocals on this tune, they’re gorgeous and wonderfully unique to listen to; background or lead – I love what I’m hearing  on “Keep It Simple.”

As IF you needed another major reason to check this song out – Meena Kaye & Mee And The Band have ensured victory here by keeping the focus sharp in every possible way…and that means lyrically as well.  I’d be the first to admit that as a music-reviewer, over the years I’ve certainly noticed that lyrics are generally the part of music in all-genres that require that additional strength to really hear the message, theme, or even just the amazing lines written by artists out there that fly-by as quickly as they do when you’re listening to music all the time like I end up doing.  Obviously clarity helps…the words of “Keep It Simple” are boldly put right out front in the mix, just enough to be a complete complement to the music and vice-versa…but that clarity allows us to absorb every beautifully sung word.  So while you might tune-in for the music, or for the vocals at first…believe me, eventually by that third or fourth listen you’ll also realize that every word is not just crystal-clear in delivery, style and mix – but also in its message.  Honestly some of the best words and most focused writing I’ve heard from point-A to point-B in a song throughout the past couple years for certain.  The opening hook that begins the song is absolutely brilliantly written…the subtle change in the wordplay there makes such a MASSIVE difference once you’ve gone on to absorb the entirety of the song and all the words have to offer.  “Keep It Simple” follows its own model and theme both in its words and music, but in all the right ways; you could examine the clarity of the expression here as ‘keeping it simple’ and straightforward so that it can’t possibly be missed…you could look at it as that they haven’t overcomplicated or stuffed this one too-full in any way, shape or form to misunderstand what this song is all about.  The social commentary that runs through the lyrics of “Keep It Simple” is truly astounding and stunning, all while keeping it coming from a personally-introspective perspective that I’ve no doubt, many people will relate to.  Not only are the words of “Keep It Simple” brilliantly focused and expressed – they’re important…in my opinion, there’s just about half of what you need to know in LIFE here in the lyrics of this song, if not more than half.  An anthem for the new generation…or at the very least, I’d hope so.

With a versatile rhythm somewhere in the midst of the sounds of artists like Lorde, Lily Allen, M.I.A. and Poe all blended together to create something atmospheric, hypnotic and amazingly satisfying – “Keep It Simple” absolutely works from the first moments to its very end…easily one of the most impressive, focused and entirely complete songs I’ve heard so far this year, without question.

Meena Kaye – “Keep It Simple” Featuring Mee And The Band

CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO BE TAKEN TO THE RECORDING!

Bang!

Starting 2017 off with a blast of creativity,

making not just 1 but 4 music videos!

WhaaaaaT?!

Be prepared venues and promoters…

by end of February we’ll have 2 live performance videos

for us to nail all our bookings with!

We are also creating super exciting visuals

for the track BreadCrumbs off of our EP Mind Matters.

Expect, tricycles, unicorns and flowers and nothing less!

Super Power is the other track,

we will be pulling out all the special effects from our box of tricks,

to make this video the funnest revolution music video ever!

Keep a look out on our social media, instagram and FB

for behind the scenes shots and vids as we go!

Thanks to Laura at The Detail

Mee Music was asked to provide a soundtrack to a fashion film that was used for a press day to show case the jewellry designer Lily Gabriella’s new collection ‘Damali’.

Not only was it an honour to be asked, we were also very grateful to be able to use one of David Ward’s productions off of the track called ‘Magnificence’ which we collaborated on.  A work which was created in 2014 and archived to be used at a later date…

This track is part of a new album being worked on for release in 2017 called ‘LOVE & LUST’

If you would like to view Lily Gabriella’s amazing new collection for yourself, click on this link…

Lily Gabriella – Damali

To watch the 60 second fashion clip featuring some of the images from Lily’s trip that inspired the collection and to listen to our track, click here Instagram Lily Gabriella

Once again thank you to Laura of The Detail, Phoebe at Facets PR and Lily Gabriella, Mee Music was proud to contribute to such deluxe artistry.

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