SongHubs 2017

SONGHUBS2017 WAS EVERYTHING I COULD HAVE HOPED FOR ✔️

To be completely honest with you, I didn’t know what to expect, this being my first year attending SongHubs. After four days (I attended three), listening to songwriters speak about their personal experiences and how their careers came to be, I left feeling truly inspired.

Tuesday 28th February 2017
SONGWRITER: MIKE ELIZONDO
(pictured far left)

Microphone in hand and ready to start speaking to a full room of eager listeners, Mike Elizondo struck me as a happy man.

Mike spoke on the importance of collaboration, of trusting your gut when making decisions, and the lessons he had learned over time, working alongside Dr. Dre.

Among many other things, Mike discussed the inner workings of what a songwriting session looks like in his circle, shedding light on how he works his writing splits in a collaborative writing situation.

Side note: Least stressed looking man I have ever seen.

Wednesday 1st March 2017
SONGWRITER: Emily Warren
(pictured 2nd from left)

The words ‘talented’ ‘funny’ and ’empowered’ come to mind when listening to Emily Warren speak at SongHubs. Only 24, she has achieved so much already. The perfect example being the Grammy she took home for her work with Chainsmokers on their catchy tune ‘Don’t Let Me Down’.

Emily spoke about staying true to oneself musically and about her experience as a woman in a largely male dominated industry. Emily also spoke on her early days as a songwriter and how she came to work with well known producer Dr. Luke.

Side note: Awesome listening to Emily share some of her many experiences, a truly lovely human being.

Thursday 2nd March 2017
SONGWRITER: James Newman
(pictured thrid from left)

Quality sense of humour, loud shirt and an English accent – it was a pleasure meeting James Newman at SongHubs 2017.

Not only because I think the song he wrote with Rudimental titled ‘Waiting All Night ft. Ella Eyre’ is 100% epic or because he has worked with two of my favourite artists alive (Ed Sheeran and John Newman – who happens to be his brother), but because of how genuine James was when I was speaking to him after his presentation.

During his session James spoke about how he came to work with Rudimental, his earlier, less positive experiences with the business side of the music industry compared to the mostly positive today, and why he likes to collaborate with other artists. He also gave us an insight into what colloaboration looks like for him.

James also spoke about how he’d had a dream to work in the music industry and how, despite working for years in a restauraunt, he never gave up.

Side note: Good dude.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Great to have taken part and grateful to those that made it possible. Inspired by some of the information that was covered during SongHubs 2017, my personal goals seem that much more achievable. I’m looking at collaboration with fresh eyes (which is exciting) and wanting to connect with more musicians and creatives in the music industry. They are great company!

Facilitator of the event, Victoria Kelly of APRA AMCOS New Zealand – Thank you for asking the questions that I wish I had thought to ask. We loved hearing the responses. You made made the guests feel at ease and by the end of the last session you had a fresh, and fabulously original, tattoo with a great back story!

Thank you for all of your hard work.

And thank you to everyone involved in making this event possible, you guys rock.

“SongHubs is an APRA AMCOS initiative, supported by the Federal Government of Australia. In addition to APRA AMCOS, SongHubs Auckland has been made possible with the support of NZ On Air, Auckland Council, Recorded Music NZ and the New Zealand Music Commission.”

Much Love
Abz x

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L O S T / F O U N D ➕ ALBUM RELEASE & STAYING SANE

13729093_596094520552299_7378445041925343563_nWelcome to my latest musically motivated Blog Post.
I am proud to share the release of my latest collection of music titled
L O S T / F O U N D ?

Currently available on iTunes for download, Spotify for streaming, Google Play, Bandcamp and Pandora.

Click Here for easy access to these links!

It is amazing how you can put so much of yourself into something you love, in the hope that at the end of it you come away with something you are proud of.

I am a perfectionist that is always learning, so I kid you not when I say creating music for me is a colourful process that I somehow survive each time & for the most part, with my sanity intact.

I started working on this album a fair way back now, 12months plus.
Some of the songs had been in my head for a while, with others freshly written for this project.

The first release off the album, titled ‘Million’ was a collaboration between myself and William Henderson of Woodcut Studios in Auckland. I learnt so much in the process of creating this song, a different approach to songwriting and the power of working with another.

If you have followed my music for a while, you’ll know that the style and overall sound of ‘Million’ was a definite change of pace for me compared to my EP ‘Only Human’ released in 2014.
I tend to seek out music that has soul, with this record my main focus was to write songs that meant something to me, that were true to who I am as an artist and pushed me creatively.
I feel that the song ‘Ships’ (number #4 on the album) has it’s share of soul and is something new from me.
The lyrics for ‘Ships’ and music came together really nicely to create a little bit of emotional magic.

I am proud of what we achieved with L O S T / F O U N D and cannot wait to get back in the studio and work on some of the song monsters buying and selling houses in my head, that wake me at 4:00am in the morning and compel me to reach for my pen and paper at my bedside table.

Click here to listen to L O S T / F O U N D on itunes ?

COMING UP THIS MONTH…
Singing at The Portland Public House, 14th August 2016 – Click here for further info.

A huge thank you to the teams at Woodcut Studios in Auckland, Waatea Music and Hustle Management – I totally notice your awesomeness.

If you have any thoughts or questions/comments, please leave me a message and I will get back to you. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post.

You / legend.

Abz x

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