Little Angelina….and Updates

Helloooooo! I have been a little preoccupied lately. Many collaborations in the works and I’m still working on some of my solo songs at the same time. There is also the possibility of me collaborating with a few rappers from various parts of the world on a song for an album that they are going to be putting out soon. It is going to be used as a tool to motivate, educate, and encourage youth. I am really excited about this as it something I have always been supportive of. I will be sure to post updates on that project on here and on my Facebook page once the ball gets rolling. And…next Friday’s featured artists is going to be one of the rappers involved in that project…..so be sure to check in!

This week, I just wanted to share my newest song. It is called Little Angelina and is a collaboration with a guy named Masoud Tehran who is from Iran. He sent me a track and I loved it (I’m hoping he will be ok with me using it for a female collaboration album with other SoundCloud female users that I am going to be working on with my fellow SC Heroes….details to follow). I immediately began seeing images of a little ballerina in a jewelry box. I imagined that the little ballerina was real and began coming up with her story. So, the song begins with her as a little girl — innocent, full of dreams. Then, the rest of the song is about what happens to her and her dreams as she gets older. I don’t want to go too much into detail, but I will say that I think this might be one of my favorite songs yet. There is something about the track….that little, gentle twinkle sound ( I think it is a glock) in the back that moved me so much. It reminded me of someone I knew, someone I used to take care of a long time ago. She had so much talent, so much potential. I don’t know where she is now, but I hope that wherever she is, she is happy, healthy, and has found her way back to her dreams.

Here is the new song (and below that are the lyrics):

http://soundcloud.com/monicadockery/little-angelina-2

Little Angelina

tiny footsteps down the hall

pink clouds, moonbeams on the wall

little Angelina, perfect ballerina

now you dance in shadows

with men cold and shallow

little angelina

broken ballerina

she didn’t really mean for it to be this way

but she didn’t know how to ease the pain

she didn’t really mean for it to be this way

but now she is dancing in the rain

little Angelina, perfect ballerina

you think she has left you

but she could never let you

push her so far away

that you couldn’t find her today

oh Angelina, oh Angelina

you can find your way

it doesn’t really have to be this way

there’s a way to ease the pain

it doesn’t really have to be this way, no

you don’t have to keep dancin’ in the rain

little Angelina

you’re a ballerina

little Angelina

New song: Collaboration with Tokyo’s EleWara

Hellooooooo!  Short post this week.  Wanted to just share the latest collaboration with you guys.  This time it is with EleWara.  Despite the fact that there was a slight language barrier, we were able to come together and make a beautiful song.  His track and production, my lyrics and vocals (you can read them below).  My lyrics are short and to the point and were really meant to just provide more of a backdrop, a little extra to the track.

I am really in love with all of EW’s tracks, there is so much character and detail, and the sound is so Tokyo.  Very electronic, mechanical, but also very organic.  Love.  Anyway, here’s the link.  Check it out….check out his page and comment if you dig it:)

http://soundcloud.com/monicadockery/elewaras-waiting-room-feat

here are the lyrics:

Just take a breath and hold it in

It always feels just like this

Before something, something big

Comes into view, don’t miss it, don’t miss it

Oooooooooooh, hold on, hold on

Can you hear it coming to you, can you hear it coming to you

Oooooooooooh

(exhale)

Get involved! August’s Soundcloud Heroes Collaborative Project

Hellooo! Hi guys! Just wanted to give a quick update and some info. As you may have read in my last post, I am the new Soundcloud (SC) Hero for Anaheim, CA. As part of being a hero, I am going to be involved in monthly collaborative projects on SC with other clouders and this month’s theme is “Road Trip”.

What does a road trip sound like? What kinds of sounds would you hear getting to your destination or when you arrive? Think people, atmosphere, nature, city sounds, animals…sky is the limit. So, the way it works is we all collect sounds, songs, make tracks, spoken word recordings, etc. and share them by following the steps outlined here on the SC blog page. Then, when we’ve all collected the sounds, we put them together and share our various creations! The works are posted on the SC community and SC heroes pages as well as on the various other Internet network sites that SC is on. This is a great way to get your creative juices flowing, to start collaborating, make connections, get your work/name out there, and….to just have some fun!

I hope to collaborate with you, keep checking in for more updates on our monthly collaborations and other projects. And, if you any questions on how to get involved, please feel free to contact me through commenting here on my blog or at my solo SCFacebook page or SC account! or my collaboration SC account!

Hope you have a great day and to hear from you!!

-Monica

The Good News…..and Feature Friday!

Helloooooo! Happy Friday to you all. Well, a few posts ago I made an announcement that I had announcement to make this week…and here it is. I have been selected to be one of the new members of the SoundCloud Heroes program! A few weeks ago I was contacted by one of the leaders of the program and she encouraged me to apply. I had actually never heard of the program until then. I looked into it and found that it happened to be a program centered on collaborating and promoting collaboration amongst other people in the soundcloud community. Since I have been involved in several collaborations already and have had such a great experience with it, I decided that being a part of the program might just be right up my alley. So, I applied and now….. I am the SoundCloud Hero representative for the Orange County area! (and more specifically, for Anaheim). What this means is that I have the task of organizing events around the city aimed at bringing the soundcloud community in my area together and creating as well as leading various collaborative projects on soundcloud with other soundclouders from all over the world. I am very excited about this opportunity and looking forward to seeing what the other, incredibly talented, SoundCloud Hero group members and I can create and accomplish together. I may even be taking part in a showcase and a show aimed at benefitting a charity organization called WomenforWomen (a link can be found on my “Charities to Check” section near my blogroll as well). To find out a little more about the program and the other members, you can visit the SoundCloud Heroes blog or on the SoundCloud Heroes soundcloud page. Also, here is a little mini-description of the program.

So, there is the good news. Today is also a Feature Friday and I have decided to feature one of my fellow members in the SoundCloud Heroes program……Ben Z. He is a rapper based out of Madison, Wisconsin and has just finished an album titled ” Liquid Reflections ” that he collaborated on with another soundclouder named Dejection from Germany.

They used SoundCloud to connect with each other and send tracks to one another and when all was said and done….an album was born. Here is a brief overview, in his own words, of that album……

http://soundcloud.com/benzmusic-1/ben-z-madison-sc-hero

Ben Z also just did an interview for the SoundCloud Heroes program and in it shared a little more about himself. Here is his interview….originally created and posted on the SoundCloud Heroes blog by Jane Shin.

—- excerpt —————————————————————————————————

Quick Facts:
Name: Ben Zastrow, Ben-Z
SoundCloud: Ben Z Music
Location: Madison, WI

What do you do?
I am an artist, sound engineer, and change agent. I use my passion for dope lyrics combined with my love of all things audio to create a better world. For years I did after school hip hop workshops with youth of all ages to promote critical and creative thinking as well as help them find positive and creative outlets. This desire to create a better community and world shows itself in my personal music and extensive collaborations as well. My craft is my passion and also my access to the world as an ambassador of hope, peace, truth, and solid lyricism.

How do you use SoundCloud in your life?
Like a fiend! SoundCloud is a portal that takes me all around the world!

I have collaborated with hundreds of people on SoundCloud in the last 2 years. Some of these have been massive projects that have required hundred of “private” tracks and sets to be shared among all collaborators until the project is complete. I’ve also done simple collaborations by posting tons of hip hop acapellas up for free download. It seems like I get 2-3 collaborations sent to me every week by people who have scooped up some of my ‘pellas here on SoundCloud.

Other ways I have used SoundCloud include: organizing a national youth mixtape, posting my professional music, helping artists that have hired me as an engineer set up pages for their tracks, and even more!

What is the collaboration idea that you would like to accomplish with the SoundCloud community?

Overcome poverty, war, disease…but more practically I’d love to see people in and around Madison connect with each other across genres, styles, and skill levels to create collaborative works. To do this, I will plan local meetups. Hopefully local connections will foster a stronger Madison SoundCloud community. With this local foundation, I would then hope to connect Madison ‘Clouders with global users on collaborative works as well. If enough material is generated, I’d love to compile it into a free downloadable album.

What is your favorite place in the city and why?
The east side/Isthmus is where it’s at! I love the lakes, the miles and miles of bike paths and bike lanes, the local and independent everything! (Beer, coffee, food, businesses, music), I also love the fact that the Isthmus’ vibe rests at an equilibrium between busy and placid. There is always something going on, but it’s never overwhelming.

What is your favorite sound and why?
Anything constant and calming. One of my first memories of life is falling asleep to the sound of an oscillating fan in my room on hot summer nights when I was 3. The sound of a steady wind in the trees, a refrigerator’s compressor, or the synchronized ticking of multiple clocks all around an empty house will all take me back to my earliest memories.

Where else can we find you on the web?
http://benzmusic.com
http://facebook.com/benzmusic
https://twitter.com/benZMusic1
http://liquid-reflections.com/

——————————————————————————————————————————

I have sampled tracks from the album myself and what I love about them is the quality of the sounds. His vocals are crisp, the tracks are clean. Also, he has a great tone and his enthusiasm and passion for his craft is evident in his delivery. I think the theme that comes across loud and clear throughout the album is positivity….and that is something I love. You can hear it in all the tracks, but my favorite one is the “Chasing Sunsets” that features another SoundClouder called One Hello World. One of the lines in that song is….”the beautiful things in life, they go quick”…and he is so right about that. We have to soak it all up, as much as we can. Thanks for another reminder of that Ben Z….congratulations on your new album and I wish you the very best in life and in this new endeavor!

Make sure you guys check the album out. You can purchase it on I-Tunes, remember it is called “Liquid Reflections”. Also, you can sample his sounds on his soundcloud page.

Ok, that is all for today! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you guys have a great weekend…remember to soak it all up!

This week’s new song……I Won’t Go

Note…this is not the announcement that I wrote about yesterday, it’s only this week’s song.  I will share that announcement with you soon though.

This week’s song is called “I Won’t Go” and I think it can be interpreted in different ways, so I don’t really want to add to it here.  I just wanted to share that I wrote it about three days ago.  I was sitting in a quiet spot, thinking.  It was late at night…and the words came.  For me it is one of those deep soul songs.  All of my songs come from my heart, but there are a few that come from a much deeper, hard to reach and hard to describe place.  That is where this came from, I think.  I was going to post it without music….just a cappella…but, today I had a little time to try and work out the tune a bit.  It still needs some tweaking as far a timing goes and I really kept hearing the piano in my head instead of the guitar.  So, if I can get someone to do this on the piano for me, I think I might go with that.  But, for now, it’s just me and Layla (my guitar).  I hope you enjoy it…hope it touches or sparks something in you.  If you’d like, come visit me on facebook or soundcloud too.  Here are the links to the song and down below are the lyrics.  Have a good night all!

http://soundcloud.com/monicadockery/i-wont-go-work-in-progress

You think you know me, but you don’t
you think you own me, but I say no
you want to pull me down, down, down, down
but I won’t go

About to bust open all of these doors
you have no idea what is in store
you haven’t seen me this way before
all of this time, I have been blind, and deaf, and mute
all of my senses gone away
but I can touch, and I can hear, and I can see
that I will finally have my say

(chorus)

Thought I was a child for all of this time
thought I wasn’t worth a nickel, penny, or a dime
but I didn’t know it was all a lie
Just because you said, it doesn’t make it true
I wish I had known before
but, now I know, and now I’ll go, and now I’ll throw
all the tattered-torn lies away

I was right there where you wanted me
alone, without hope
I was right there where you wanted me
you think you know, but …you don’t

(chorus)

Exciting News!

Helloooo! Just wanted to put a quick announcement on here that I have an announcement to make…BUT…I can’t make it yet:)…did that confuse you enough? Let me just say that it is an exciting opportunity related to music. I hope to make a REAL announcement soon, so keep checking in! Also, tomorrow I am posting a new song and it is a Capella. I am currently trying to find help with the music, but I wanted to give a sneak peak. Take care…and remember, stay tuned:)! Good weekend to you all.