Jessie Leov Music

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HOME!

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Hey everyone!

Hope life is going swell for you all. I’M HOME! Semester 1 is officially over and I am back in Nelson for 3 weeks. It was a really intense last few weeks of assessments and exams but I got through it pretty good. I did keys/backing vocals for 10 people at final performances! It was exhausting but just so ridiculously fun. My mind is constantly blown at how talented and amazing everyone is. Really inspiring! Check out my youtube channel for videos of my songs and a couple of my classmates: www.youtube.com/jessieleov. Here are the two songs that I performed (the first is a studio demo and the second is live):

Still waiting for heaps of my results from tests/exams from last semester! Oh the suspense. The only papers I’ve got them all back for are 184: Music Theory and 182: Instrumental (piano lessons) for which I got A+ overall for both. Yay :D

So far this break has consisted of me being lazy and spending a lot of time snuggling with my cat. Oh and practicing songs too of course :P So happy to be home. Even though it’s absolutely freezing. But I also am going to enjoy seeing all my uni friends again in a few weeks and getting back into classes! Blessed to be doing what I love with some really awesome people.

To say goodbye until next time, here’s an original I recorded for my end of semester creative portfolio:

Love you all, thanks for your love and support of my music!

Jessie x

PS. Song of the day: Little by Little by Radiohead from their 2011 album King of Limbs. Just can’t get over it. Obsessed (with all of their albums…. XD)

Radiohead - Little By Little

 

 

 

 

University life…

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Hey everyone!

First of all, here’s a video I recently watched which I thoroughly enjoyed. Radiohead singer Thom Yorke has a project called Atoms for Peace and this is a stripped down version of their song Ingenue. Really love it.

Thom Yorke - Ingenue (Live Jonathan Ross Show)

So it’s nearly Week 10 of first semester already! Pretty crazy stuff. Time has been flying along. I am loving my course and learning so much! I can already hear my music evolving and some different sounds coming out in my songs. I’m having heaps of fun with my music friends and my friends who I live with (7th floor for the win). It still blows my mind how incredibly talented my classmates are and it’s so cool I get to jam with them all the time.

Here is one of my latest tracks written for my songwriting class. Hope you enjoying listening x

As much as I love Auckland, I can’t wait to go home to Nelson. HOME. Seriously nowhere is better than home. Holidays here we come! That is after many tests, performances and exams…. :D But overall everything is going amazingly, it’s everything I hoped for and more. Love you guys! Thanks so much for supporting me and my music x

Jessie

Life in Auckland has begun!

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The majestic castle in which I have my music lectures.... 15 min walk from where I live :)
The majestic castle in which I have my music lectures…. 15 min walk from where I live :)

 

So I’ve now been up here in Auckland for nearly five weeks now! Four weeks into the course and it’s going awesomely. There’s 20 of us I think in the class and I have to say, they’re a great bunch! Everyone’s super nice and hugely talented. It’s been full on from the word go though, with assignments and performances due all over the place already, so let’s just say I’m keeping busy :P I’m learning so much new stuff about music, being challenged with my songwriting, as well as performance, arrangement, group work, improv, pretty much everything to do with music theory and performance! I get individual piano lessons each week as part of one of my papers which is so good too.

Life in University Hall is pretty great. I’m on 7th floor and what can I say, it’s the best floor :D I’ve made so many new friends and experienced all sorts of crazy things so far. The first morning at the hall we were woken at 5:30am and sent to the gym…. Good times.

I’m back in Nelson over the Easter break. Yay! Very exciting to go home. Never really experienced real homesickness until moving up here. So I cannot wait to see my family and my home again!  It took a few weeks in Auckland before I remembered to spend some time relaxing and taking a breather. Uni life is hectic.

So anyway I’m posting a new song on soundcloud and it is! It was part of the first module of MUS 180, our songwriting class. One had to be a narrative song in AAA form (only verses, no chorus). It was quite challenging! The other had to be about someone we admire (and had other specific criteria like time signature, tempo, etc). So yeah!

Hope you like it!

Jess x

Auckland in a week!

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Hey everyone!

In a week I will be in Auckland, living at University Hall (home to over 400 students) and orientation week will be in full swing! I’ve been gradually sorting and packing my things up but the final packup will take place this Friday and Saturday! We’re taking two suitcases plus my keyboard and my guitar. Yikes.

Over the last wee while I’ve had a couple of great gigs – one in town for the Summer Street Beat series run by the council and just last week I played at the restaurant Hangar 58 on Valentines Day! I got a lil photo in the paper for the Street Beat gig which you may have seen. Now my PA system is all packed away in my wardrobe and it probably won’t come out until next summer as I’ll be busy studying up in Auckland! In case anyone’s interested I’ll list the papers I’ll be doing.

Semester 1:

Mus 119: Introduction to Music Technology

Mus 180: Creative Practice in Pop Music 1

Mus 182: Pop Music Performance Skills 1

Mus 184: Pop Music Theory and Aural 1

Semester 2:

Theology 101G: The Bible in Popular Culture (We have to choose two general education papers over the course of the degree, and this one fitted into my timetable and I was interested in it!)

Mus 181: Creative Practice in Pop Music 2

Mus 183: Pop Music Performance Skills 2

Mus 185: Pop Music Theory and Aural 2

So yeah exciting times ahead. :D Will probably do another post after classes have started in early March!

Jess x

 

 

Beehive concert!

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I was recently invited to perform 2 original songs at the annual Play it Strange concert at the Beehive, along with 5 other young songwriters, after being placed in the top for their songwriting and cover competitions this year. Mum and I flew over and, despite the turbulent flights, we had a great time! There were some technical difficulties leading up to the concert but it all ended up going smoothly and I was really happy with my performance. Hoping to get a copy of the audio recording that was done of the show. Everyone who performed was so talented and amazing! Met some really cool people. Such a privilege to be able to perform there.

Got two private functions left to play at, a piano recital on Sunday and then a bit of a holiday from gigs for a while. I’m getting my new guitar soon though and hoping to do lots of busking! Also I’m playing in the Street Beat series in town outside ANZ on 24th January from 12:30-1:30pm so that will be great.

Mum booked our tickets to fly up to Auckland on 24th February to move me into my hall of residence. So crazy. We’re taking 4 checked ‘bags’ which will probably be two huge suitcases and my keyboard and my guitar. That should definitely be enough stuff to last me 5 weeks until I come down for Easter break, then I can bring some more stuff up. SO looking forward to studying music full time!

Anyway, hope you all have a marvellous Christmas and New Years! I will post again next year :D

Jess xx