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Hey everyone!

Good news – I’ve been awarded two scholarships!! One is a grant from the Adastra Foundation and the other is a University of Auckland scholarship which runs over 3 years. I applied for five different scholarships earlier in the year and it was a lot of work but evidently worth it. This support is going to put me in a far better financial position for this first year of university and the following two. So very exciting!

Finished up the final mix-down of Divine with Shane and sent that up to York Street where it’s currently being mastered. Took a lot of work but really happy with the final product! Got some excellent feedback on it from Mike Chunn, CEO of Play it Strange, so yay!

Also, I’m sitting my Grade 8 ABRSM piano exam on Tuesday 30th October. Not long to go so I have been working very very hard. I was sick over the long weekend which put me on the back foot a little bit but I’m feeling more confident that I can pull it off now so wish me luck! :) It’s been a long 10 months of pretty intense practice and preparation and it’s all come down to this single 30-minute exam, so praying it goes well!

Anyway, will post again after I’ve got through the next couple of busy weeks, with school finishing and numerous performances!

Jess xx

Hey everyone!

Recently received a letter offering me a place in University of Auckland’s Bachelor of Music, Popular Music major, for 2013! So thankful and super happy. It was a long process of pre-auditions and auditions but it was all worth it! I will be doing all sorts of papers ranging from performance, songwriting and music industry studies to arranging, music theory, aural, etc! Can’t believe I will be moving up to Auckland, we have a lot of planning to do now :D

So that’s all very exciting stuff. Dad and I have been working with Ryan Beehre on the final mix of Divine for the Play it Strange compilation CD. Hopefully we’ll get that sent up to Auckland today for mastering at York Street studio. Very happy with how it’s sounding and Ryan is really great to work with!

Good times all around. :)

Jess xx

 

Hey everyone!

Had a really awesome day recording at Soundpit Studio with Shane Clayton! Recorded 4 original songs – Divine, Free, Blind and Into the Light. Did keyboard, strings, lead vocals and backing vocals. My Dad was there getting some behind the scenes footage and giving some moral support. It was a long day and we worked hard but it was worth it, I think we got some pretty great results! My first time ever in a proper recording studio and I really look forward to the next time I get the opportunity.

Dad and I are going to try and do some really good videos for the tracks over the summer and get them up on youtube so that will be super fun!

Anyway as soon as the tracks have been mixed and mastered I’ll be putting them up on my sound cloud page and linking them in the music tab of the website, so stay tuned for that! Really exciting stuff.

Jessie xx

Hey guys!

Recently found out my song ‘Divine’ got into the Top 47 in the Play it Strange songwriting competition! So crazy and exciting, didn’t really expect it when I entered although it has definitely been something I’ve wanted to accomplish! On Sunday 16th September I am recording the song at Soundpit Studio in Wakefield plus a couple of other originals which is super exciting :)

Also just sent up my DVD audition for pop music degree at Auckland University, not sure when I will hear back but I am waiting as patiently as I can. This year’s been awesome for me as a songwriter, I’ve worked hard, progressed a lot and gained a lot of confidence in my songwriting! It’s great to be recognised for that with Play it Strange and fingers crossed that I will be accepted into this degree

Will post again after recording session!

Jess xx

Hey everyone, I recently entered a cover of No Ordinary Thing by Opshop in the Who Loves Who competition for secondary school students run by Play it Strange. I did it spontaneously one night and was quite happy with it. The next day I got some very exciting positive feedback from Mike Chunn and Jason Kerrison himself! Eventually I found out I got into the Top 17 which was really exciting! So happy :) Received a whole bunch of CD’s  with my song on it in the mail which was awesome.

Jess xx