Live Louder

Feeling blessed AF right now for being surrounded by super-talented, inspiring people and being able to be involved in a number of music-related projects. The more heart I put into projects like Kaala , Seattle Super Friends , Substation, bands, and Live Louder, the more connected and supported I feel in return. I just got invited to contribute guest vocals to the FIFTH RELEASE I'll be on this year so far. Like, WHAT?! My 15 year old self would NEVER have believed that. I just. This was always my dream you guys. I started late, but the more I say FUCK YES, the more I get to participate. I'm absolutely overwhelmed to be working with so many of my heroes in the Seattle music scene. Keep making awesome shit! Keep saying yes! <3

In the current zeitgeist, I really wish there were a label/nickname for bands that are reasonably socially conscious - not consciously racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic. When I get invites from bands I've never heard of, I kind of just want to check the "NOT A NAZI OR SERIAL RAPIST" box up front before listening, liking, and potentially sharing something poisonous. Probably though, if this label were created, there would be a huge contingent of totally not shitty bands that hate the idea of being so overtly "PC" and would make themselves look like "the enemy" just for refusing the label, thus creating a totally unnecessary divide. Really though, the interesting reality we're living in - for better and for worse - is that it's SO EASY to discover and share new music. And unfortunately, it takes more than 2 minutes to figure out what a band is about, what they're doing in the world, and what their message is. It's hard to be 100% responsible when you're so eager to support great music, art, and good people.

More on manifesting, because I'm on a roll here. If you want something and are resisting its pursuit, there's a pretty robust science-based path to get there, which might contain a bit of woo, if you like. To manifest something you want in your life, you need to: - Believe you actually have a right to it, which can involve a lot of work around self work - Believe it's possible and that YOU are capable, which may require research or boning up on some new skills - Understand what it takes to do the thing, break that down into chunks, and set goals and deadlines for yourself And common manifestie ways of doing that would be a ton of self hypnosis, neural rewiring, and possibly a dash (or a boatload) of woo: - Write a manifestation statement as if you already have the thing, or make a sigil or create a servitor if you're into magick - Act as if you already have the thing (people call this "raising your vibration". I call it opening to opportunity and living in a way that best serves the possibility of success). - Visualize what it would feel, look, smell, taste, and be like if you HAD the thing. - Tell the universe you want it and see what kinds of crazy woo things happen (this is my 10% - I don't know why, but it literally always produces results I can't effectively explain scientifically, and I work pretty hard to do so). What do you think? Powerful shit or bullshit?

What do people mean when they talk about manifestation? Is it just woo for privileged white women? I mean. YES. It's definitely that. But also super fucking nope. To me, manifestation is just an epic-sounding term for making shit happen, encompassing a variety of different practical AND woo-ish techniques that you can decide the ratio of (for me it's about 90% scientific ant 10% woo). When I say "manifest", I mean bring into existence. I mean create, build, actualize. To assert agency in your life. To pursue something. To grab life by the balls, so to speak. And it's a reasonably multi-step process that, in my opinion, is primarily science-based. To manifest something, you need to identify and dismantle the beliefs that are holding you back, including ones around your own self worth. To manifest something, you need to train your brain to be open to it, to think about it, to not self sabotage, to engage with the world in a way that makes you more attractive to opportunities and possibilities. And of course, you need to do the work of building new habits (new neural pathways) to work through a plan or develop a skill. What "the universe" does in between all that is beyond me, but I have had some WEIRD outcomes of declaring my desires out loud.

If there's something you want but aren't willing to admit it yet, aren't willing to believe you deserve to pursue it, or can't believe you could actually attain it, TODAY IS THE TIME TO START WORKING ON THAT SHIT. Because it can take awhile to manifest what you really want to be, have, and experience in your life, and often by the time we ACTUALLY start pursuing it, we are way past the point of it doing us harm. Brene Brown said, "Unused creativity is not benign." If we continue to ignore the yearning voice inside, and continue to say no to ourselves, we teach our body to expect less, and that we're not on our own side. We can make ourselves sick this way. So. If you have some mindset work to do, START NOW.

I HATE SPAMMY, ENTITLED BULLSHIT. No one likes to feel used. When I started inviting friends to like my Live Louder pages, at first I thought, "I'll just invite the people I know like me enough and know enough about this to not mind the cold invite without a personal note." As I scrolled down the list, by people I was to afraid to invite because I assumed I didn't have anything valuable to offer them or felt too afraid of losing their respect, I realized that if I'm not creating and sharing with the intention of being relevant to the people I look up to, the what the fuck am I doing?? So I invited people I hope will keep me in check! So that when I write about something weighing on my heart, something I think the world needs to hear, I'm keeping my bar HIGH and trying to be valuable to people I deeply respect. Because without you, this project is nothing. Without your input, I'll just continue taking up space at some tech startup, and I'm tired of that life - I'm ready to make real change. #

Two days ago, I took a leap and told ze internets that I'm now taking on coaching clients who are ready to stop hesitating and start transforming the hell out of their lives. And holy shit, the imposter syndrome is REAL, y'all. It can be uncomfortable AF to declare yourself, especially if money is involved. For me, it brought up all kinds of unresolved shadow crap: - Can I actually help people? - What if life coaches just PRETENDING this works? - Do I really have the right to charge for this? - I'm selling out and this is so not punk! - What if everyone thinks I'm a gigantic, entitled asshat? At the same time, I can already sense things shifting - because I was willing to start before I felt ready, I'm already learning, my sense of my own capacity is growing, seeds of opportunity have been planted, and people are reaching out. And the universe, in that quirky woo woo way, seems to be throwing signs at me that I'm on the right path - I've had literally 5 conversations in the last two days where someone has spontaneously told me about how they're learning how to "JUST. START". I know this work is going to bring me to where I need to go, no matter what happens. So what are you holding back on? What's the big pink elephant in your room? Where can you stop planning, fussing, fearing, and JUST START, even if you don't feel ready?

Let's talk about music appreciation! Music has the power to energize, inspire, educate, heal, catalyze, comfort, ignite, and transform, and being a musician can be a thankless imposter syndrome fest far too often. Who matters to you, and what have they done specifically to inspire you? Take 5 minutes today to send someone a personal message, tag someone or their band in an appreciation post, or share this post to encourage others to do the same! Keep the tag below going too, I'd love to see if this actually gets around!

“What we are, what we can be, does not come ready made. We have, perpetually and never-endingly, to be making ourselves. That is what life is, what history is, and what it means to be human.” - Tim Ingold, What Is A Human Being? And very much what it is to be an artist. And the more we push, pick, stab, pry, and paw at our potential, the broader and more expansive it becomes. You may feel like you aren't making any progress, but EVERY step, even a step that feels backwards, is progress on a conscious journey. Stay awake to yourself, and you'll never be spinning your wheels.

I'm SO in love with how this site is coming together. I needed a place to kind of explain who I am and what I do for my coaching clients. But I'm wary of making it too much about me. Of making ME the brand. ⭐ I'm torn between emulating @galadarling , who has tonnnnsss of gorgeous eye candy photos of herself, and my mentor coach @wildwomancoaching for whom the goal is to lift up and center her clients and other women. ⭐ I have little interest in being the center of attention when the goal of coaching is to, like reiki, be a vessel for the desires and wisdom of others. But I do LOVE these photos by local genius @ssschanzzz and I love that rad pics of me getting weird can give OTHERS permission to fully express themselves. ⭐ I think the photos can also help demystify perceptions of success or fame, cause they make me look like a rockstar, and I'm really just some weirdo. When I was young though, I would have been sucked into the fantasy. ⭐ #livelouder #branding #personalbranding #lifecoach #lifecoaching #squarespace #coachingformusicians #identity #selfworth #seattlecoaches #musiciancoach #bandlife https://www.instagram.com/p/BtgdHbalqoa/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sis8p513j40l

I grew up in a very small town in Upstate New York. In fact, once Wikipedia was born, it referred to my town as a hamlet (smaller than a town AND smaller than a villiage). ⭐ There really wasn't any local music until we had a coffee shop, and even then it was primarily poetry and acoustic covers. There was no "scene". I had no idea what that was like. ⭐ In college, I began experiencing local, live music through my partner of the time, who was an incredible vocalist, guitarist and bassist. I hung bang and watched the Boys' Club of bandlife for years until I was finally in a place to explore it as a performer. ⭐ What I didnt know all those years of yearning for mirror selfies in punk clubs is that its not about ego, or being the best, or being cool enough. Its about community. Its about catharsis. And its about love. Self love. Love for others. The love we BECOME when a song gives us chills, makes us cry, or calls us to the mosh pit. ⭐ I feel so lucky to be a part of this world now, withought all the bs baggage of my youth. ⭐⭐⭐ #livelouder #lifecoach #lifecoaching #musiciancoach #coacheswithadhd #coacheswithanxiety #nonbinarycoach #nbmusician #nbvocalist #musicianswithadhd #musicianswithanxiety #musicscene #localmusic #livemusic #localmusicscene #seattlemusicscene #bandlife #giglife #punkvenues https://www.instagram.com/p/Btge_hylMH4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hzroazkwq0oq

“Deliberate practice requires a mind-set of never, ever, being satisfied with your current ability. It requires a constant self-critique, a pathological restlessness, a passion to aim consistently just beyond one’s capability so that daily disappointment and failure is actually desired, and a never-ending resolve to dust oneself off and try again and again and again.” - David Shenk, The Genius In All Of Us This has like, never been me, for the record. But I thought it might offer some inspiration to the rest of you. ;)

And the alchemy of cross-collaboration wins on @summonedbygiants new album art! I was recently asked to help some buddies of mine with album art based on a quick sketch by their drummer who is also a talented illustrator (img 3). 🖌🖌🖌 Being a designer, my instinct was to simplify it as though it were a logo, which was totally not the direction she had wanted to go in (img 2), but it did tighten up the layout nicely. 🖌🖌🖌 They managed to find the perfect illustrator to fill out the design concept that I had tweaked with a much more textural vibe, even in color (img 1). 🖌🖌🖌 Lessons of note: 🔎 If you're going to hand an idea off to an artist, be specific about what you do and do not want changed. Give examples of style or layout. 🔎 If you're accepting a request from some band friends, paid or pro bono, get clarity on what they want! And of course, if you are asking for payment, make sure to be very clear up front and consider a contract. 🔎 Even a messy collab can go super well, like in this case! Remaining open to other energies and ideas is a part of the creative process for most bands and can totally extend to art and branding. 🤟🤟🤟 #bandlife #adviceformusicians #musicadvice #musicmarketing #collaboration #supportyourlocalscene https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs6cdfSFrEF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=19v4z8bwskug8

Hey musical witches, warlocks and nonbinary practitioners! Happy full moon and super blood wolf lunar eclipse thing! Do you have any magical musical rituals? I've been wanting to create one for myself, specifically a vocal ritual involving exploration as fear facing and warmup. Or a song spell/sigil I could sing regularly. Hit me up with any ideas! 🌗🌑🌒 #nadabrahma #theworldisvibration #soundwitch #musicmagic #magicmusic #musicwitch #chaosmagic #naturalmagic #soundmagic https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs6ZoqtFMP0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=m2snwmx4j43i

"You are a piece of the puzzle of someone else's life. You may never know where you fit, but others will fill the holes of their life with pieces of you." - Bonnie Arbor This struck me as being so relevant for musicians. I think so many of us see our work as unimportant, that we ourselves feel unseen, small, irrelevant. But if you're putting your heart into it and putting it into the world, there's always someone, often many someones, for whom you are a missing piece. People for whom you are giving permission, offering inspiration, giving context, helping someone grieve, or even just giving someone the catharsis of singing, screaming, or dancing their brains out. THANK YOU to each and every one of you who has ever shared a piece of yourself that fit a part of me perfectly, in every phase of my life.

“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more – it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.” - Oliver Sacks The impact of music on the brain is totally wild, from the primal urge we get to bob our head to a beat, to how the parts of our brain that light up when we dance also light up when we WATCH someone dance, to all kinds of crazy stories about people coming back from comas after listening to a particular song. This is why we do what we do.

"I think that self-confrontation is a good thing, whether you do it by yourself in solitude or whether you do it in the presence of another person." - Joni Mitchell I don't know what Joni was actually going for here as I haven't read her book, but this speaks so much to me about what so many of us do on stage. To get up there, slice yourself open and release your insides to an audience is an act of confrontation, both with the crowd and with the self. Here I am. This is what I've got. And I have no idea what you'll do with it.