Melissa's SustainaBlog

Cozmic Pizza Tonight!!!

2011-11-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

It's November, and that means its GrrrlzRock time again! If you're in Eugene, Oregon, we - Demimonde Slumber Party - would love to see you at Cozmic Pizza tonight! We're playing the GrrrlzRock late shift - 10PM!

More Info

Our First Performance With Our New Local Bassist!

2010-11-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

What's happening? We got a show!
Nov. 13 at 9PM at Oak Street Speakeasy in Eugene!

Playing with our old friends Bajuana Tea, Station Wag and BOOMCHICK!

Come meet our new Eugene bass player Annette!

Emerald City Roller Girls!

Part of the GRRRLZ ROCK 2010 event happening all month long, check it out!

Date: Saturday, November 13th
Time: We play at 9PM!
Location: Oak Street Speakeasy
Street: 915 Oak Street
City/Town: Eugene, OR
Phone Number: (541) 284-4000
FREE ADMISSION • 21+

Click Here For More!

2010-06-03T07:50:00.001-07:00

We got in the Eugene Weekly's shorts! (scroll down to second story):
http://ping.fm/TyzUe

2010-05-23T19:58:00.001-07:00

Come to the record release party for our new CD, "Heart In Outer Space" June 6th, 4PM at CD World in Eugene, OR: http://ping.fm/xzrDJ

2010-04-22T11:12:00.001-07:00

For Earth Day, enjoy some Endangered Species Chocolate - & sing along with our fan song about it - "Help Me!": http://tinyurl.com/36h3b3l

2010-04-16T20:25:00.001-07:00

Our EP will be available for download at the pre-release sale price of $4.44 for one more week! 5 crazy songs, + a hidden track! http://ping.fm/sSGDH

2010-03-31T21:44:00.001-07:00

Here's a better, more direct link to get our new song 'Jolene' for free: http://ping.fm/7qfor

2010-03-30T14:26:00.001-07:00

For the next week you can download our new song 'Jolene' from our reverbnation page - check it out!: http://ping.fm/abNyQ

Wrap-up on Ariel's 'Music Success in Nine Weeks' Book

2010-03-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

Well I've come to the end of Ariel's book. Although I wrote a post on the final chapter, here's a short summary of my overall experiences with the book.

I found the book very helpful, and I'd definitely recommend it to others. And though at times I felt burnt out from some of the more time-consuming ideas, everything she suggests is worth working on.

This book helps lay a foundation, helps create a jumping-off point for the ongoing process of being one's own 'PR' specialist. Working through each of the chapters has given me more practice wearing the 'hat' of doing consistent marketing/business for the band. Although - as I've said before - this doesn't come naturally to me, I have gotten better at it and more comfortable with it.

Thanks Ariel, and I will continue to use your ideas as inspiration in the days ahead!

- Melissa

Chapter 9 of Ariel's Book - and Download our new EP "Heart In Outer Space"!

2010-02-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

Chapter 9 of Ariel's book addresses traditional PR. This includes things like how to write a press release, what to put in a press kit, and what to have online for press to find - such as a hi-res photo of the band. She also stresses several times to make sure to follow up on materials you have sent out.

Her advice is good - and I can say this from experience, because when we released our last CD "Green", we followed many of the same steps - we created a well put together press kit, had hi-res photos easy to find online, and followed up on all the materials we sent out. Because of this, we received a nice two-page article about us in our local newspaper, the Eugene Register-Guard, that included us being contacted by the journalist and interviewed in person. She told us that she contacted us because she was impressed by our well-put-together materials - and even said that she used our press kit as an example of what one should look like!

In addition, we had a write-up in the local Eugene Weekly (search for 'Demimonde' on the page to find it), one in the local community college (Lane Community College) publication, The Torch (to read that review, click here to go to our SonicBids page, then click on 'Press' - it is the last review listed), as well as several appearances and interviews on local radio stations and podcasts.

We also sent our CD to a couple of blogs to be reviewed, and received a nice review on the Collected Sounds blog. We also got another nice review on a blog called MusicDyke - one that we hadn't sent our CD to, but because our info and art was well organized online, the reviewer was easily able to find what they needed for their write-up.

We look forward to applying what we already know - and all the additional tips from Ariel - in the upcoming weeks as Demimonde Slumber Party gears up for the release of our new EP, "Heart in Outer Space".

Some of you may know that last weekend we released the digital tracks of the EP online (click below to hear and download!):

<a href="http://demimondeslumberparty.bandcamp.com/album/heart-in-outer-space-2">Jolene by Demimonde Slumber Party</a>

If you'd like a to know a little more about the songs on the EP before you listen to them, here's a description:

DSP's new EP "Heart In Outer Space" is an adventurous romp that includes a B-movie broken-heart voyage into outer space, a chocoholic's semi-delusional plan to save the world, and an ode to a girl that really gets your energy up - or is she just an espresso-fueled hallucination? DSP's new EP is full of quirky fun that will bring a smile to your lips and a shake to your hips!

Hope you enjoy the songs!

- Melissa

Endangered Species Chocolate Bar - The Song

2010-02-17T00:22:00.000-08:00

I'd like to sing a little song for you now...

Please sing along. Your part goes: "Yum yum yum yum...."

Valentine's Day 2010 With Demimonde Slumber Party

2010-02-17T00:21:00.000-08:00

2010-02-14T00:17:00.001-08:00

Our New EP is here! Download "Heart In Outer Space" for Valentine's!: http://ping.fm/5OJVM

Creating a 'Funnel' & Online CD Pre-Release is Just Days Away!!!

2010-02-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Chapter 8 of Ariel's book encourages artists to think creatively about what they can offer fans beyond the obvious CDs, merch and gigs. One example - a special subscription fan club with exclusive songs only fan club members would receive. The ideas in the chapter are based on a marketing 'funnel', with less expensive items on one end of the funnel, and more expensive items on the other end.

I'm reminded of a creative and humorous example of this from about a year ago, where Josh Freese, former Nine Inch Nails drummer, had a range of packages you could buy with his new solo album. This ranged from a $7 digital download all the way up to a $75,000 package which included such items as:

- If you don’t live in Southern California (but are a U.S. resident) he’ll come to you and be your personal assistant/cabana boy for 2 weeks

- Take a flying trapeze lesson with Josh and Robin from NIN, go back to Robin's place afterwards and his wife will make you raw lasagna

Check out this link for all the examples...

I also found an interesting follow-up story on this from last April about one fan who bought a $20,000 package - as well as Josh's success with $250 - $5000 packages.

Another example, on a smaller scale, is of a great band we know in San Francisco, True Margrit. If you order their new CD from their website, they have various packages available, some of which include art created by Margrit along with a personal phone call from her.

I'm inspired by examples like those above - I look forward to using humor, thinking outside the box and applying some of these ideas to my band, Demimonde Slumber Party. First, however, we have a couple to-do items to complete in the "basics" category - we're on the verge of having our new CD (and related merch) available, and soon we'll again have local bass players so we're much more available to perform.

But even before that! We're only days away from the online pre-release of our new EP "Heart In Outer Space"! Sign up for our email list here at our webpage to make sure you're in the know!

See you soon!
Melissa

Networking and A Cold - Or "Hot August Phranc" and Why I Decided Maybe I Could be Good at Networking After All

2010-02-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Well, last week was a bit hectic - I had a cold that came complete with brain-fog which kept me from doing anything productive for a couple of days..... But I am finally back with a post on the next chapter of Ariel's book....

Chapter 7 in Ariel's book is all about networking, live in-person networking, as opposed to online/email activities. As I started reading it, I had a sense of stress and dread, because I see myself as someone uncomfortable with self-promotion. I am much more comfortable encouraging others to follow their dreams than vice versa. In fact I've recently said to a few people things like "I am really too much of an introvert, not the right kind of personality to be a musician." But I wasn't really thinking "to be a musician", I was more imagining the self-promotion part of music that I think I'm supposed to be a lot better at. But when I really think about it, I realize I'm imagining the ideal is supposed to be some kind cross between a stereotypical used-car salesman and some big-haired spandex-wearing 80's musician guy that you might find playing electric guitar way too loud at a Guitar Center.

So after reading the chapter, and realizing the attitude I was subconsciously carrying around, I started to feel much differently about this whole topic. For one, the chapter is about networking, not self-promotion. And remembering how she's approached the whole topic of growing a band email list in previous chapters, I realize her suggestions are based on building relationships with people individually, something I do feel comfortable with. She talks about how good networking involves finding out more about the other people you're interacting with, which goes right along with my natural tendency to start interviewing people in social situations. I am starting to feel like I can actually do this - and that the necessary skills are things that really do come naturally to me.

As for the used-car salesman/spandex-wearing 80's musician dude - I am reminded of Seth Godin's writings, where he talks about how people want something authentic, and I know I do - and that imaginary pompous character is the opposite of that. I'm glad I can tell my subconscious I don't need to be more like someone I would find obnoxious in order to get more people on a band email list. Logically, I know no one would like me better if I was like that! Ok, maybe some of you would (now I am getting images of Phranc doing Neil Diamond :-) )

Update on my last post about Ariel's book - I ended by saying I was going to invite our MySpace friends to our email list. I did start on that - it will take me awhile to get through them all, but it feels great to begin! And since the last post, we sent out our short-but-sweet January Newsletter (let me know if you'd like to get a copy!). In doing that, I realized we have some outdated email addresses on our list.

I also have a lot of people I didn't invite to our email list before because they lived outside the areas we were gigging. But now that we are doing so much more online, it doesn't matter where people live, so it's perfect timing to start inviting them!

So in addition to embarking on being a better networker, I am very glad to be working on updating and expanding our email list from the contacts we already have. I can't do it all at once, so I will set aside time regularly every week.

Thanks Ariel for all your helpful ideas!
Until next time,
Melissa

p.s. - Don't forget that if you buy our CD "Green" before February 7th from CD Baby, $1 per CD will go to Haiti relief efforts:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/demimondesp

2010-01-25T12:39:00.001-08:00

Buy our CD today from CdBaby and $1 will be donated to Haiti relief efforts: http://ping.fm/XyJQm

Endangered Species Chocolate Bar

2010-01-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember a post a while ago where I mention a new song having to do with endangered species. Well, this song is about a chocolate bar made by a company I've been a fan of years - the Endangered Species Chocolate Company. They donate "10% of net profits to help support species, habitat and humanity". That's very inspiring to me - what could be better than a delicious chocolate bar that helps make the world a better place?

Last weekend, the band was working on a video for this song (coming soon! - both the video and the song, which will be on our new CD), and it gave me the occasion to enjoy one of their relatively new flavors, Organic Dark Chocolate with Goji Berry, Pecans and Maca - yummy!!!

I look forward to our record release when I can share this song with all of you! But in the meantime, if you can, check out their chocolate!!!

- Melissa

Growing the Band's Email list - And What To Do With It!

2010-01-21T00:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Wow, what a great weekend Demimonde Slumber Party had! Our out-of-town bassist Tim Romain was here, and we worked on some video in preparation for our upcoming record release! More on that very soon!

This week, I'm going to address two chapters of Ariel's book, Chapters 5 and 6. They are both related, and involve a band's email list. Chapter 5 has suggestions for how to use this list. One of these is surveying your fans as to what they might want from you (such as playing a house concert or selling them official Demimonde Slumber Party pajamas for their next slumber party). She suggests waiting until your list has 1000 members to begin surveying them. Well, since our list is not quite 1000 strong yet, I was eager to also read through the next chapter, which is about growing your email list.

Another topic she addresses in Chapter 5 is the band newsletter. She stresses the importance of staying connected with your fans, and mind you, she isn't suggesting emailing people very often, just once or twice a month. We haven't been emailing our fans very frequently, so starting now, we will begin sending out a newsletter once a month!

And why haven't we been emailing our fans very often? Partly because we haven't been gigging in awhile. And that is because, after our last local bassist moved away, we decided to record a new CD before looking for local bassists again. Luckily for us, we still have our out-of-town bassist, and so we recorded our new CD with him.

Now that the CD is finished, and soon to be released, it is time for the band to rouse completely from its 'Slumber' and start being active again - getting some new local bassists (yeah, I won't settle for less than two this time :-)), gigging, and communicating more consistently with our email list!

As for her suggestions for growing our email list... One that I've been meaning to get to anyway is personally inviting each of our MySpace friends to join our list. That will be my next task here - wish me luck!

- Melissa

p.s. - How can you join our awesome list? Go to our website - or the right hand column of this blog - and click on the big green button that says "free downloads"! And you'll get free songs for joining our list!!!

Chapter 4 of Ariel's Book – or – Bogged Down By Blogs.....

2010-01-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

Wow, Chapter 4 of Ariel's book has a lot going on! It takes on the enormous topic of a band's presence in the 2.0 web. There are a lot of great suggestions - however, I did get a bit overwhelmed at a certain point (but not that easily! I have been plugging away at this pretty steadily!), but I am proud to say I just started a 'blogroll' for the blog here (look a ways down the page in the right-hand column).

The part of the chapter I had some difficulty with is a large assignment to find 50 blogs you'd like your music to be reviewed on. She suggests adding them to a blogroll on your blog, as well as reading / commenting on / interacting with them. Well. I got a bit bogged down and boggled looking around the internet at blogs, and realized it will take quite a while to find 50 that might be a good match for my quirky little band. So in the spirit of trying to keep my life in better balance (it's a struggle for me to have time to play music & get enough sleep let alone work and exercise!), I decided to begin with a modest blogroll, and expand it as time goes on.

I started the blog roll with a few music/marketing type blogs I already had on my Google Reader (such as the always great Derek Sivers' blog - and Ariel's blog of course :-)). Then I added a couple of blogs that reviewed our previous CD, 'green' - Collected Sounds and musicdyke. Beyond that, I added a variety of music blogs in a few different categories, from online music sources I've enjoyed (somafm, KEXP), to west coast-based blogs located in areas that I want my band to play or play again soon (Portland Mercury and KZSC Santa Cruz for example) as well as a few others that looked interesting. Please check out the list and feel free to suggest more!

Here are two other things I did that Ariel suggests in the chapter:

- Joined the Podsafe Music Network. This is apparently now called “music alley” from mevio, and I added our song Velveteen.

- Create a Flickr Photostream for the band. I had started a Picasa one a little while ago, but hadn't gotten very far... So, I went ahead and created a Flickr one that has a more pictures, and also joined a few groups there that Ariel suggested.

She also suggests using twitter, which we have already had started doing (Follow us!! :-) ).

Whew! This has all been great, but ok, I'm tired now. Better go play some music, as that is what this is all about in the first place! And - also work on our record release which is coming up very soon!!! Yay!!!

- Melissa

p.s. - My back has been feeling quite a bit better this week, thanks for asking. ;-)

Back Pain and Ch. 3 of Ariel Hyatt's book – Optimizing Your Website

2010-01-05T22:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Chapter 3 in Ariel's book involves optimizing a band website. Many of the things she recommends are consistent with the current version of our band's site. For example, she recommends having a quickly-loading site with no flash intro. Some of the things she suggests we added this summer, inspired by an online presentation by Carla Lynne Hall and Kavit Haria.

Their presentation also influenced our decision to have a very simple site for now, as a transition before we release our new EP. The current site replaced one which was designed to match our last CD's art (both the site and the CD were beautifully designed by the band's drummer Kim Lindquist). Here's a look at the home page of the old site:

Once Kim is finished with the art for the new EP, our band web site will be updated to match it (as well as other places our band is online, as much as they're customizable), which goes along with Ariel's suggestions to have a consistent look and feel.

Ariel also recommends having our elevator story/pitch (see the previous blog post) on our web site. We already had it there (as well as on our facebook, ReverbNation & twitter pages), but there were several other DSP pages online where I added it: cdbaby, myspace (do many people use myspace anymore?), our 'Electronic Press Kit', Garage Band, our Portland Mercury band page, and also this blog! I did not manage, however, to update our Veganica page yet, as I still haven't received an email response for my 'forgotten password'....

And what pitch did we use (those of you who've read the previous blog post may ask)? For now we are sticking with the original pitch:

“Demimonde Slumber Party sounds like a 60's surf musical starring David Bowie, Sleater-Kinney, & the B-52s’ Fred Schneider as the crazy uncle...”

This alternate one is currently in second place:

“Demimonde Slumber Party sounds like a remake of “A Hard Day's Night” created by the B-52s & starring Sleater-Kinney.”

But it may be good to decide whether or not to change our pitch – and what to change it to – until after our new EP comes out - & see if people compare our sound to completely different artists...

We also made a few changes to our web site to make it more obvious that we are giving away free song downloads if you join our email list!

And oh yeah, one more thing – if you've gotten this far, you may be wondering why the title of this post starts with 'Back Pain'... Well, I've got it. Pretty bad right now. It is definitely something that is fairly incompatible with playing a heavy electric guitar and moving guitar amps. Or even sitting and typing at a computer. Well, luckily the pain meds are working right now!

See you next time,
Melissa

Creating the “Perfect Pitch” - Chapter 2 of Ariel Hyatt's book, “Music Success in Nine Weeks”

2009-12-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

“Demimonde Slumber Party sounds like a 60's surf musical starring David Bowie, Sleater-Kinney, & the B-52s’ Fred Schneider as the crazy uncle...”

This is the 'pitch' / 'elevator story' that we created earlier this year for a “Twitter Pitch” contest that Ariel Hyatt ran. Creating a pitch is basically coming up with a short, evocative description that will give people an idea of the unique entity that is your band – and hopefully compel them to check your music out. Creating a pitch is also the topic of Chapter 2 of Ariel's book, "Music Success in Nine Weeks".

The concept of creating a unique 'elevator story' is something I first became familiar with from Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby. It is also something that has been a challenge for us - how do we describe our sound? One reason for our difficulty was the range of songs on our last CD, 'green' - some are more towards pop-punk, while others are very mellow and melodic (you can check out clips of the songs on itunes or cd baby). In fact, one of the reviews of 'green' said:

“Demimonde Slumber Party has proven that it's easy to pack upward of four genres into a nine-track album.”

(Read reviews of 'green' here by clicking on 'Press' at the top of the page: http://www.sonicbids.com/DemimondeSlumberParty)

Partly because of this type of feedback, we'll strive to have our upcoming recordings be a little more cohesive. For example, our soon-to-be-released EP is a collection of higher energy songs. Also, a future EP will showcase the “softer side” of Demimonde Slumber Party.

But back to creating a pitch – doing Ariel's “Twitter Pitch” contest was great for us – we had fun coming up with our current pitch and felt it was a great improvement over previous attempts to describe our band. We also realized that a good pitch can give a fun sense of the band without having to specifically describe the range of styles covered in our songs.

However, this week, while reading Ariel's perfect pitch chapter, I felt it was a good time to review our current pitch. And, although we really like our current pitch, there are a couple of areas where we think it could be improved:

1) Although we have Bowie influences, we don't sound like him (though people love the Bowie covers we play - you can check out our Bowie Medley here by clicking on 'Audio' at the top of the page: http://www.sonicbids.com/DemimondeSlumberParty),

2) The current pitch lacks a 1-2-punch – it isn't something that easily flows off the tongue

We know we want to keep certain elements in our pitch – our 60's influence (garage rock, psychedelic rock, British Invasion, etc.), riot-grrrl/punk influence, and very important, a sense of humor.

Where do surf and the B-52s come in? Because of the humor in some of our songs, and the female lead vocals and mixed-gender backing vocals, several of the songs on our last CD reminded people of the B-52s. Well, the main one that did is also the most popular song on the CD, 'Santa Barbara'.
That song also has a surf theme – so there we have the surf element. And, we are from California, after all.

So while we play around with some ideas for changing our pitch, we'd like your feedback. Below is the current pitch, followed by a few alternative ideas we've come up with so far. Let us know which one you like best – or if you have a different idea you'd like to suggest!

Our current pitch:

Demimonde Slumber Party sounds like a 60's surf musical starring David Bowie, Sleater-Kinney, & the B-52s’ Fred Schneider as the crazy uncle...

Some alternative pitch ideas:

1. Demimonde Slumber Party sounds like a 60's surf musical starring Sleater-Kinney & the B-52s.

2a. Demimonde Slumber Party's music is what you'd get if Sleater-Kinney had to make an album with the cast of Laugh-in....

2b. Demimonde Slumber Party's music is what you'd get if Sleater-Kinney was the house band on Laugh-in....

(And we seriously want to know how many people know what both Sleater-Kinney and Laugh-in are...)

3. Demimonde Slumber Party's music is what you'd get if the B-52's created a remake of “A Hard Day's Night” starring Sleater-Kinney.

Ariel Hyatt's Music Success in Nine Weeks – Chapter One

2009-12-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

As we plan our new EP's release and think about what we want for the band in 2010, we also will be going through Ariel Hyatt's book, “Music Success in Nine Weeks”. She has worked with a lot of indie bands, and hopefully the insights she shares in her book will help us to 'work smarter'.

The first chapter is about setting goals, and important guidelines to follow in this process, such as writing them down, specifying when they will be accomplished, and making them achievable. That last point – making them achievable – will be good for me to keep in mind. I can have a tendency to feel like I am never accomplishing enough, and that can cause me to feel overwhelmed, which can lead to feeling burnt out and wanting to take a loooong break.....

Some of you may have seen earlier posts where I refer to myself as “Easily Overwhelmed Girl (EOG)”. So - I am going to really focus on NOT overwhelming myself....

After writing a list of goals, she suggests going back and putting a deadline on each one. A lot of my goals are ongoing processes with many, many small deadlines, so this forced me to identify what the next step was for each goal (something I got from the very helpful “Getting Things Done” book by David Allen). Then, I created a deadline for that next step - and also got the benefit of knowing that the smaller step is achievable. Once the step is completed, I can make a new deadline for the step after that. Very helpful in combating my typical feeling of overwhelmedness as well!

She also addresses the importance of recognizing one's successes, and notes the tendency of musicians to be super-hyper-self-critical – yes, I can have this tendency, no surprise there... She suggests writing down 5 successes a day – at least one or two of them about music. This is already increasing my motivation to work on the steps that will lead to completing my goals - so I can write them on my success list, and feel good that I am moving forward.

Some of the goals were hard for me to break into next steps. Eventually I realized that this was because those goals address areas where I need to ask others for help (difficult for me to realize, since I tend to think I need to do everything myself). So the first steps in these cases will be identifying others who may be able to help me work towards those goals.

Whew! I am sensing a bit of overwhelmedness threatening to creep in – hmmm... I think it might be a good idea to work on a list of 'next steps' to take when I start to feel overwhelmed - as soon as I write down the successes from today - like finishing this blog post!
:-)

One last thing - Happy Solstice Everyone!

Until next time,
Melissa
Demimonde Slumber Party

2009-12-14T22:59:00.001-08:00

Free Bowie cover: http://ping.fm/xTm6h
Want more free songs? Signup for our email list:
http://ping.fm/KM66y

2009-12-07T00:04:00.001-08:00

We have 3 free songs we'd like to give you today! Two are from our first S.F. EP - plus our Bowie Medley! Go to http://www.dspband.com/

2009-11-29T23:42:00.001-08:00

Check out our YouTube channel - now with more videos of our band from our SF days!: http://ping.fm/N1PyJ

2009-10-28T13:08:00.001-07:00

Hey! Check out Demimonde Slumber Party's website's 'Big Bossy' look for Fall! Let us know what you think! It's boss! http://www.dspband.com/

2009-10-19T17:24:00.001-07:00

Found more lost footage of us playing in SF! Soon we'll add more songs to our YouTube channel! Stay tooned! ;-) http://ping.fm/MgCJS

2009-10-17T23:17:00.001-07:00

The songs for our new EP are - finally! - so close to being ready to get mastered! Just a couple of EQ tweaks left....

Looking for a Few Good Guest Bassists

2009-07-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

Demimonde Slumber Party and the Long-Distance Bassist

We have a bassist we love dearly. There’s just one problem - currently he lives in Seattle, and we live in Eugene, Oregon. What this means is that we need one or more Guest Bassists! This could be you!!

As a Demimonde Slumber Pary Guest Bassist, you would play shows with us from time to time, practicing with us in the period before a show as necessary. If you also play keyboards or another instrument, it may work to play all our shows as a fourth band member.

You can hear samples of our music at our website:

http://www.dspband.com/

More samples are on iTunes and CD Baby.

If you or someone you know is interested, send us an email at dsp@dspband.com!

Hooray for Number 2!

2009-07-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Guest Post from Kim, Demimonde Slumber Party drummer!:

For the past two weeks we gave our fans a choice of two different mixes of our David Bowie medley and asked those who were inclined to do so to vote for their favorite. Well, the masses have spoken and version #2 is the clear favorite! So from now on new email subscribers will not be offered the clearly inferior David Bowie #1 mix. Enjoy your number two!:

http://www.dspband.com/

If you haven't yet, check it out. It's not stinky!

Demimonde Slumber Party YouTube Channel

2009-07-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Finally we've started a YouTube Channel for Demimonde Slumber Party (DSP)!:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DemimondeSP

So far we just have a couple of songs from a gig in 2006 - but we'll keep adding to the channel, including creating some new videos soon!

The two songs are "Up To Me", one of the first DSP songs. The other song "Playground" is on our previous CD 'green' available on iTunes and CDBaby:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/demimondesp

Hope you like it - the stage lighting had Tim (the bassist) in shadows most of the time, but fortunately you can see him part of the time in these songs!

Free Songs and More!

2009-06-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I am so excited to finally be back here writing to you. My band, Demimonde Slumber Party, is almost ready to release our new EP - more about that soon! - but right now we're giving away some fun MP3s!

Sign-up here to download two versions of our David Bowie medley - let me know which one you like best!:

http://www.dspband.com/

Check out our previous CD 'green' here:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/demimondesp

Long Time Gone...

2009-02-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been beyond overwhelmed - and not been back here at this blog for some time... I decided to try twittering, and you can see these short updates here - they may be more current than the blog posts for awhile.....

Grrrlz Rock, Comedy, & Easily Overwhelmed Girl Getting Her Voice?

2007-11-10T13:20:00.001-08:00

This month, my band Demimonde Slumber Party (DSP), is one of many performing in the Grrrlz Rock concert series. I plan to play a new song in which Easily Overwhelmed Girl (EOG) confesses her coping response to the increasing number of endangered species...

Giving a voice to the EOG inside me requires that I keep in touch with my sense of humor. It is not too hard for me to be comedically inspired after attending a great Grrrlz Rock event last week - The Oregon Women’s Comedy Festival. (For more info, here are a couple of stories about the festival from The Register-Guard: the 2007 festival ; the 2006 festival.)

Endangered species and humor? How does that work? Come see DSP play next Saturday at Cozmic Pizza and find out! It is an all-ages show, plus it is an early show, so that makes it easy for all of you with early bedtimes! Starts at 7 pm, with us slated to play second, with Beth Willis, Soulicious, and Complicated.

Hope to see you there!

Ecopsychology – is Mother Earth in your Family of Origin?

2007-10-24T23:50:00.000-07:00

I learned about the concept of ecopsychology at the first Bioneers Conference I attended (see post about Bioneers), and I found it to be very compelling.

Ecopsychology addresses ideas such as: a person's overall health and well-being is related to the health of the environment beyond just their physical health and well-being (i.e. polluted air, water, or food makes you physically sick). In other words, the destruction of the environment would affect a person's mental/emotional health as well. Conversely, living in a healthy ecosystem would increase a person's mental/emotional health as well as their physical health.

This line of thinking leads to considering that say, restoring a wilderness area would not only be 'healing' for the environment, but therapeutic for people as well. Another example could be children's overall well-being could be increased by participating in an urban garden, thinking of it as beyond just a learning experience or a chance to perhaps grow some healthy food.

This may all sound obvious, but such a ingrained part of 'Western civilization' includes ideas about 'taming the wilderness' and controlling nature, that this kind of thinking really goes against the way much of how society is structured. And that includes everything from city planning to the medical system - as well as psychology.

To me all these are connected, and make me think of such things as the 'study' that showed that mothers who lived in housing projects with green areas hit their children less than mothers in housing projects with no green areas, or that hospital patients with a view of trees healed faster than those with a view of a brick wall.

What I think is how healing it can be for both humans and the environment to heal the relationship between humans and nature. Indeed, our survival as a species (as well as the survival of many other species) depends on it.

Here is a wiki page on ecopsychology that has more info plus links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecopsychology

Chocolate - and Eating Local

2007-10-16T22:18:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I like chocolate. I didn't have it for a very many years, because I get so addicted to it. But for now, I am having it again. I try to have as much of my food as possible come from local sources, so chocolate is an exception...

Speaking of local food sources, it is great that the idea of "Eating local" has become more widespread, for example, check out "The 100-Mile Diet".

Here are the two kinds of chocolate treats I currently am enjoying (well not right at this minute!). I chose them because they are organic, don't have animal products or much sugar, and don't have soy (Why not? see related post on soy):

1. Coconut Bliss

Dark Chocolate flavor of course! Delicious and only four ingredients! (organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup, organic fair trade cocoa, and organic vanilla extract) And as a bonus, it's a local company!

2. Vivani Organic Dark Chocolate – 85% cocoa

This is also delicious and only three ingredients! (organic cocoa mass, organic cocoa butter, and organic raw cane sugar.) It was hard to find a chocolate bar that didn't have soy lecithin. [I did find one other, Green & Black's Organic Mint Bar, it is very good, but also a bit sweeter than my 85% very dark chocolate] It is not a local company however - this chocolate comes from Germany!

I admit, when I first started having chocolate again, I nervously thought of the scene in the movie Chocolat where this guy eats a lot of chocolate in a chocolate shop window and then passes out... Hasn't happened yet, but you never know!

Baby Elephants...

2007-10-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

This is a small entry about a category of topics that are overwhelming for me - biodiversity/endangered species/the 6th extinction.... Making a difference in the preservation of the amazing diversity of life on this planet can seem so overwhelming...

So here's one thing. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is an amazing organization that works to help preserve African wildlife including orphaned baby elephants (and rhinos). Supporting their work by fostering an orphan (or supporting their desnaring project or other work) is one way to make a small difference! And you can give fostering as a gift to an animal lover in your life!

Here is a link to the Orphan's Project part of their website:
http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphans.asp

Here's a link about a feature on them that was on 60 Minutes.

The story of this project is truly remarkable to read about, including the first agonizing years when Daphne Sheldrick was trying to develop a formula that would allow the orphaned babies to survive, and the dedication and devotion that these babies need - the keepers are with them round the clock.

If nothing else, just looking at the pictures of these playful and mischievous baby elephants will be sure to make you smile!

The China Study

2007-10-10T23:40:00.000-07:00

I am reading a book I would highly recommend to others. It is called The China Study, and it is reminding me of all the reasons to eat plenty of organic veggies, fruits, and grains (some reasons I already knew about, plus a lot of new reasons!).

Although I have been vegetarian or vegan for almost all of my adult life, when I get in busy/stressed mode, I sometimes need reminders that things like humus on toast, although quick to prepare, and not too unhealthy, do not fulfill all the requirements of a healthy diet...

I first came across the book on a the blog (that I would recommend also) of a musician named Christine Kane:
http://christinekane.com/blog/on-giving-up-dairy/

I also recommend Steve Pavlina's site which has an interesting article relating to this book:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/09/the-china-study/

Here's a couple links for the book:
The China Study (Has an excerpt you can download)
Amazon.com

Green Social Networking

2007-10-08T23:53:00.000-07:00

The other day I googled "Green Social Networking" and came up with this:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/green_social_ne.php

Which had a list of five examples. I 'applied' to Zaadz (http://www.zaadz.com/), the one that jumped out at me first, and this evening was 'accepted'. I am hoping this will be a good source of connections & inspirations - I'll keep you posted!

Healthy Food – Soy Bien?

2007-10-07T23:57:00.001-07:00

One of the central things to maintaining my personal sustainability is eating healthy foods. This can be difficult, especially during busy or stressful times, or while traveling. So it is particularly frustrating when I think I am eating something healthy, and then a whole bunch of articles come out warning of its dangers.... Obviously these kinds of articles usually have to be treated with some amount of skepticism, since studies are often funded by food product companies with an interest in their food being touted as an essential part of a healthy diet...

So, when I was recently unable to avoid articles about the dangers of one 'health' food I definitely have eaten a lot of – and enjoyed - soy (just google 'soy dangers' and you'll get more info than you want), I decided to be a bit cautious and minimize soy products. Until I read more, I want to avoid potentially harmful hormonal and chemical effects - and I also want to avoid genetically modified soy.

I want to learn more about how soy has been used traditionally to get a perspective on a reasonable approach to soy's place in a healthy diet. I haven't had much time to research this yet, but here's one article where a physician suggests using soy similarly to the way it was eaten in the Japan in the late '50s. The main thing I would add to his suggestions is to use organic or at least non-genetically modified soy products:
http://www.johnleemd.com/store/soy.html

There is one soy product that I have not given up, and am still enjoying very much - organic tempeh. Tempeh, being fermented, is not supposed to have the potentially harmful qualities attributed to soy in these articles. The other day I caught myself saying to someone “They can't take my organic tempeh away!!!”, so I guess this whole evils-of-soy thing has been a bit traumatic for me... Sigh...

Bioneers – Positive Solutions & Inspiration

2007-10-05T23:54:00.001-07:00

One organization that helps me remember to focus on the positive is the Bioneers (www.bioneers.org), because they gather information - and have incredibly inspiring annual conferences - about the many solutions that already exist to environmental (as well as other) problems. From their mission statement: “Bioneers is a nonprofit organization that promotes practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring the Earth and communities.” (www.bioneers.org/about/mission)

Their annual conference is this month, October 19-21, 2007 in San Rafael, CA, but there are satellite conferences in the following locations (unfortunately none in Oregon this year):

beaming.bioneers.org/2007

I look forward to seeing the film The 11th Hour, which features some of the visionaries that speak at Bioneer conferences - it is sure to be inspiring (www.bioneers.org/11thhour).

A Greener Musician

2007-10-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

One thing that I will be exploring is: how can I be a more eco-friendly musician? Examples of areas I will be researching and striving toward the greenest choices I can afford:

1. Travel - Renting an eco-friendly vehicle for out-of-town gigs and touring

2. Paper/Plastic - For our next recording, and future printed promo materials, use recycled and eco-friendly products

3. Instruments – Here's an even higher-level expense – it would be great to know that one's guitar or other instruments were made of wood (and other products) grown sustainability....

At this point I think this is enough to concentrate on – as we know from the last post (where I called myself EOG = Easily Overwhelmed Girl), I could go on as follows until I have overwhelmed myself into deciding it is all just too much (imagine the air around my head cluttered with thought balloons):

It would be best to be a “no-impact” band – let's see – using a solar generator for any electric instruments and other amplification, only playing local gigs, and getting there with bicycles pulling trailers...

... do all band promotion and communication online, to save paper, but then we have other whole categories of eco-trouble – the manufacture of computers, the power generated to use the computers – oh, right, we'll have those solar generators....

So! I will be concentrating on numbers 1 & 2 above for now! Of course, I wouldn't turn down a guitar that fit the #3 category!....

Easily Overwhelmed Girl (EOG)'s Efforts to Get Greener – an Introduction

2007-10-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning of a journey to answer the basic question:

How can I work towards greater sustainability?

For me this means striving towards a healthier balance in my life as well as making a difference in the world around me. When I am out of balance, I get uselessly stressed out and have no personal sustainability, much less ability to make a difference around me – so to me the ideas of internal and external sustainability are inseparable. So, since I am very easily overwhelmed around these kinds of things, a big challenge for me will be trying to keep it simple, remembering to focus on the positive, and somehow keep my of sense of humor – at least about myself....

Alright, here I go!!! Wish EOG luck!