Every year at this time, I grow pensive about the past year and the year to come. New Year's Eve has always been my favorite holiday, because I love the idea of a fresh start and new beginnings. I learnt a long time ago that New Year's is originally the holiday of the Roman God Janus, a God with two faces, one looking back and one looking forward. Naturally that is what many people do around this time- reflect on the events past and look to the future with anticipation.
When I was younger I kept journals (I wanted to remember every single detail of my life so I wrote nearly every day! Now I'm not as interested in my own life, haha). Around New Year's I'd write summaries of the year month by month. I did this also at the end of 2013 in my old blog. So here's what my 2015 looked like:
January: Adjusting to living in Munich again and my first-ever visit to the ER, working a lot and even visiting the memorial site of the former concentration camp Dachau again. This is also the month I became interested in veganism.
February: The month of firsts! I met a guy I started hanging around with a lot, met a lot of new people, and partied a loooooot.
March: On and off-again in my relationship, I recorded new songs and visited the Therme Erding (thermal spa north of Munich) which was goooooorgeous. Visited Bolzano, South Tyrol.
April: Spent a lot of time in Austria, trying even more new things, and went to Frühlingsfest (spring beer festival)!
May: PARTY. Basically this month was just a lot of working and a lot of going out. haha
June: My birthday! I was unfortunately sick at this time but I did eventually have a birthday dinner with my mom. Flew to Tenerife (Canary Islands) at the end of the month, which was lovely.
July: More parties, and a lot of time outdoors. Barbecues and rafting on the river Isar :) This is the month I "discovered" Amy Winehouse and began to take an interest in her.
August: I attended a christening for the first time ever! I'm not religious but it was a really neat event, and everyone was dressed up in their Bavarian traditional dress. I also travelled to southeast Austria to a region known as South Styria, right on the border of Slovenia. Delicious wine and amazing, cheap food! I loved it there. Finally, after this, I cut ties with my ex-partner. In this same month I also saw the documentary 'Amy' twice.
September: I think the obvious summary to this month is OKTOBERFEST!!!!! ;) This year was definitely my best Oktoberfest yet and one I'll remember for years to come! So much fun! I also met my band this month, that was undoubtedly a big positive point of the month.
October: More Oktoberfest! Hahaha. But notably this month I also travelled to London, which I really loved and adored. For sure one of my favorite cities in Europe. Finally I also started singing at an open mic night in Munich at a place called Cord Club. It was a huge success and so much fun!
November: Ah, November. A month of slip-ups and drama. But I wrote two or three new songs in this month so it was all worth it ;)
And finally, December: Hard Work! And miracles. I would say December might actually be my favorite month from last year, because so much has happened in just that month: I wrote more music, and of course it's also the point in the year where I felt most actualized, happy, and successful.
All in all, I would definitely view 2015 as a successful year. I really cannot believe it's already over though. It seems so unreal that the year is behind us already. Amongst other things, last year I learned to manage my finances in a much more organized, sensible way- dividing my money into various accounts for spending, saving, investing, and emergencies. Last year I also learned about a certain approach to "reading" people through traditional chinese medicine. It involves looking at someone's birthday and also looking at the features of their face to determine their personality traits, values, and even their path in life. It might all sound very kooky but I find it to be stunningly accurate (and specific! Unlike these weird horoscopes that are like, you have Mars in the 2nd house this week which means you're going to have stress with something. It's like, oh okay thanks for the heads-up) and the thing I like most about dealing with the birthday readings is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the stars, and rather with the natural cycle of the earth. I never liked the traditional zodiac anyway.
2015 was also a year of firsts. I travelled to many new places, tried a lot of new things, and even for the first time in my life have made a major shift to veganism! When I was younger I thought vegans were crazy. I was always like- but what about butter and CHEESE?!!!! Now I understand it much more, and since trying months at a time of being vegan, I realized it really isn't all as difficult as I thought, and really is much more a thing of mind over matter. And I've discovered I love eating plant-based! Eating mostly vegan I feel healthier than I ever have, and when I gave up dairy I lost excess weight- four pounds in one week!!! Plus a few more after that. Everyone I know is the first to tell me I don't need to lose weight- well I know, and that wasn't my goal with going vegan. But I did have a bit of excess fat around the waist area, and if it happened to go away on its own without me having to lift a finger, well I'll take it! Plus I'm a perfectionist- I'm happy with my body, but if I know I can do better, then that's what I want because I know it's do-able, and I like being in the best possible shape I can be.
Earlier, I would always come up with one solid resolution for the year. But I, like virtually everyone out there, can't stick to a new year's resolution and I think it's kind of dumb to just have like one goal for the whole year. So this year instead of a resolution I came up with a list of things I want to accomplish!
Which includes:
-get a tattoo (I don't have any! Yet) ;-)
-finish my material for the album
-give up dairy completely (I slip up from time to time. It's hard in Bavaria, Germany's dairyland!)
-I am considering bleaching my hair again to the color I had it when I was 18, but I'm not sure yet
-travel to a new continent (so far I've only been to North America and Europe, time to see something new! Probably South America, but I am also dying to visit Hong Kong. Why not both?!)
-climb at least one mountain bottom to top (for starters, but maybe more as well!)
-visit the States- I'll be turning 21 this year. And I just feel like America is the place to celebrate your 21st birthday. So I'll do this either in Las Vegas (I just feel that's the place if anywhere to do the 21st), or I'll head homebound to NYC!
-expand my financial education. This year I read some books that have changed my financial mindset and approach completely. I'm extremely interested in finance and definitely want to improve my skills in it.
There are a few other things on the list but they are not as interesting (buy a blender, for example).
So that was my 2015, and there are my hopes for this new year! How about you? I hope all of you had a great year and look to 2016 with as much hope and optimism as I do. I know I am very excited about the developments and changes ahead- I feel that 2016 will lay the groundwork and be a year full of change, preparing for 2017, which I believe will be an even more exciting year. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves.
Happy New Year! (again) and cheers to 2016!
India
Music for the mood: Tous les Mêmes by Stromae (incredible Belgian artist of electronic dance music, it really helps if you translate his lyrics or if you understand French- because what he writes is GOOD STUFF!)
02 January 2016
29 December 2015
Press Release: What Have I Been Up To???
Answer: Everything! I cannot begin to describe how busy the last months have been and how they have completely breezed past me- as I'm sure is the case with most people. So it's been difficult to get to writing for a number of reasons. I've been sick (I'm sick again right now), I've been partying, I've been singing, I've been writing songs, working a lot, and so on.
First off: I really wanted to write about Halloween. It was so much fun! I dressed as Amy Winehouse and did the beehive and everything. A few people even recognized my costume and I danced the night away until about six in the morning! I went with a very good friend of mine to a weird, out-of-way club near the central train station. It was an interesting experience, because it was the first time I really noticed so many people reacting toward me in a positive way. After leaving an emotionally abusive relationship, it gave me a huge surge of confidence when I was at the party and people would repeatedly tell me that I'm nice, sweet, or otherwise! That might sound a little sad, but that was what 2014 was for me- sad. So I had an absolutely great night that evening.
November went completely over my head. It was over so fast (as was/is December) that I can't even remember a lot of exactly what went on. What I do know for sure is that I wrote new songs that I am VERY proud of and excited about!!!!!!! Finally finally the album is starting to take a specific shape and direction- basically the experiences I've collected over the past two years. So I've written a few new songs entitled:
Tell Me Why (about my mistakes with love)
Got a Girl (when you like someone but they're unavailable, but you dream on anyway)
Take a Seat (I might compare this to You Know I'm No Good, it's got that kind of style and a similar energy. Basically a more defiant song when it comes to relationships that don't work)
More Than Fine (this is when you've broken up or been rejected or similar and everyone is like 'RU OK' and you're like 'I'm fine! I'm great! Excellent! More than fine!' and you kinda overdo it)
So obviously those are the kinds of things I've gone through in the past two years. I am really excited about each and every one of those songs because finally I am getting into songwriting that I myself like and personally find good and want to listen to. It's all very jazzy music, definitely a nod to my hero Amy Winehouse. But it's still me and my thoughts, so it'll be interesting when we record them and are able to release them- but that's still going to take a while. The plan right now is to get a diverse demo of 5 songs together and send them off in January to the A&R's (artists and repertoire) of various record labels, and see if anyone is interested in meeee :) wish me luck!
November was also partially a sad month for me. I lost a friend of mine from school (in the U.S.) that month, and one day later I learnt of the terrorist attacks in Paris. I asked myself, why all this death, violence, and killing? I'm not sure what to make of it, and both events (occurring so close to one another time-wise) hit me very hard. Especially the loss of someone I knew personally, went to school with, would laugh and talk with... It was a difficult time for sure, and my heart continues to go out to the family of Lexi Dressel.
Moving on to December, this month has also been busy, with christmas markets, drinking hot mead (honey wine! YUM), Glühwein (also yum!), giving tours and trying to manage everything in between... Well, I also made some particularly interesting experiences this month as well ;) I won't be too specific, but I'll say I made an experience recently that gave me the power to carry on with my life and believe in myself fully again, and also believe in the possibility of falling in love again. Many of my close friends know how difficult it was for me to detach from my ex, and it was a very public matter, and difficult time. Even after we officially "broke up," we'd start talking again, meet up from time to time, and it just turned into this nonsensical cycle. So while we've been separated since August, it still has taken some time to really get past the whole thing. Lately I've felt better and been able to fully move on. It's a process and I've allowed myself time for it, but I also had difficulty believing I'd be able to find love again. Well, I'm not in love right now, but events in December have shown me that I definitely can be again someday. And that gives me hope.
Look at me, getting all sappy on you... ;)
Christmas time was peaceful and not busy for me. I had a friend of mine over for dinner and we played games and watched movies, it was quite pleasant. Unfortunately at the same time I grabbed myself strep throat, which developed into tonsillitis, which caused a short bout of pinkeye, and now is turning into laryngitis. Merry Christmas to me! I had tonsillitis two years ago and treated it with antibiotics, this time I didn't want to go to the doctor because it was Christmas so I would've had to go to the ER, which I didn't care to visit a 5th time this year thank you. So I'm letting my body heal itself, drinking obscene amounts of ginger-lemon tea, eating homemade soup and superfoods, etc. It is all helping but is taking some time (and add to giving tours to upwards of 40 people every day, it can get a bit straining). But I am already over the hill and on the road to recovery.
How were your holidays? I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families and loved ones. Over the next few days I'll write another post to wrap up/summarize 2015 and begin 2016.
Most of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Lots of love and best wishes for 2016 (what are your resolutions?? have any?)
India xox
Music for the mood: Never Ending Circles by CHVRCHES
First off: I really wanted to write about Halloween. It was so much fun! I dressed as Amy Winehouse and did the beehive and everything. A few people even recognized my costume and I danced the night away until about six in the morning! I went with a very good friend of mine to a weird, out-of-way club near the central train station. It was an interesting experience, because it was the first time I really noticed so many people reacting toward me in a positive way. After leaving an emotionally abusive relationship, it gave me a huge surge of confidence when I was at the party and people would repeatedly tell me that I'm nice, sweet, or otherwise! That might sound a little sad, but that was what 2014 was for me- sad. So I had an absolutely great night that evening.
November went completely over my head. It was over so fast (as was/is December) that I can't even remember a lot of exactly what went on. What I do know for sure is that I wrote new songs that I am VERY proud of and excited about!!!!!!! Finally finally the album is starting to take a specific shape and direction- basically the experiences I've collected over the past two years. So I've written a few new songs entitled:
Tell Me Why (about my mistakes with love)
Got a Girl (when you like someone but they're unavailable, but you dream on anyway)
Take a Seat (I might compare this to You Know I'm No Good, it's got that kind of style and a similar energy. Basically a more defiant song when it comes to relationships that don't work)
More Than Fine (this is when you've broken up or been rejected or similar and everyone is like 'RU OK' and you're like 'I'm fine! I'm great! Excellent! More than fine!' and you kinda overdo it)
So obviously those are the kinds of things I've gone through in the past two years. I am really excited about each and every one of those songs because finally I am getting into songwriting that I myself like and personally find good and want to listen to. It's all very jazzy music, definitely a nod to my hero Amy Winehouse. But it's still me and my thoughts, so it'll be interesting when we record them and are able to release them- but that's still going to take a while. The plan right now is to get a diverse demo of 5 songs together and send them off in January to the A&R's (artists and repertoire) of various record labels, and see if anyone is interested in meeee :) wish me luck!
November was also partially a sad month for me. I lost a friend of mine from school (in the U.S.) that month, and one day later I learnt of the terrorist attacks in Paris. I asked myself, why all this death, violence, and killing? I'm not sure what to make of it, and both events (occurring so close to one another time-wise) hit me very hard. Especially the loss of someone I knew personally, went to school with, would laugh and talk with... It was a difficult time for sure, and my heart continues to go out to the family of Lexi Dressel.
Moving on to December, this month has also been busy, with christmas markets, drinking hot mead (honey wine! YUM), Glühwein (also yum!), giving tours and trying to manage everything in between... Well, I also made some particularly interesting experiences this month as well ;) I won't be too specific, but I'll say I made an experience recently that gave me the power to carry on with my life and believe in myself fully again, and also believe in the possibility of falling in love again. Many of my close friends know how difficult it was for me to detach from my ex, and it was a very public matter, and difficult time. Even after we officially "broke up," we'd start talking again, meet up from time to time, and it just turned into this nonsensical cycle. So while we've been separated since August, it still has taken some time to really get past the whole thing. Lately I've felt better and been able to fully move on. It's a process and I've allowed myself time for it, but I also had difficulty believing I'd be able to find love again. Well, I'm not in love right now, but events in December have shown me that I definitely can be again someday. And that gives me hope.
Look at me, getting all sappy on you... ;)
Christmas time was peaceful and not busy for me. I had a friend of mine over for dinner and we played games and watched movies, it was quite pleasant. Unfortunately at the same time I grabbed myself strep throat, which developed into tonsillitis, which caused a short bout of pinkeye, and now is turning into laryngitis. Merry Christmas to me! I had tonsillitis two years ago and treated it with antibiotics, this time I didn't want to go to the doctor because it was Christmas so I would've had to go to the ER, which I didn't care to visit a 5th time this year thank you. So I'm letting my body heal itself, drinking obscene amounts of ginger-lemon tea, eating homemade soup and superfoods, etc. It is all helping but is taking some time (and add to giving tours to upwards of 40 people every day, it can get a bit straining). But I am already over the hill and on the road to recovery.
How were your holidays? I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families and loved ones. Over the next few days I'll write another post to wrap up/summarize 2015 and begin 2016.
Most of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Lots of love and best wishes for 2016 (what are your resolutions?? have any?)
India xox
Music for the mood: Never Ending Circles by CHVRCHES
28 October 2015
Hit the Road, Jack!
I'm back again! My apologies once again for the hiatus on writing. The past 6 weeks have been so busy, and needless to say, flew by! What with Oktoberfest, visits to the studio, LONDON, and more studio time... I've been absolutely full!
At the moment I am in Innsbruck recording a brand-new song and putting the finishing touches on two others. My latest song is a very Amy Winehouse-inspired number, and it's actually somewhat of a tribute to her work. Already the guys in my band drew parallels to her music in this song. And like every other song I've made- it's completely different from all the rest!! As much as I'd like a congruent sound for my album, all of my songs are completely different from each other. From jazzy-blues numbers like my latest ("Tell Me Why"), to dance songs like Irresistible or more adventurous like Runner. I'm excited, anyhow :D
Soon, I'm going to start making my very first music video for another song. It's very much a rock song, with plenty of bass, guitar riffs, and a couple of my own personal touches like chimes and some synths. My hope is to shoot the video in a gothic-style church in northern Bavaria, but I am still working on the script for it. This is also something I'm extremely excited about!
Oktoberfest was absolute madness. It was my most intense Oktoberfest to date. It was great fun, I played lots of games, rode lots of rides, and of course drank my fair share of Maß's. A summary of my visit to Oktoberfest: Day 1 (the first Sunday of the festival)- start drinking at noon and just... don't stop. Apparently. I survived, I neither became ill nor blacked out- not after one full glass of wine (1/4), two (or was it three?) glasses of prosecco, a liter of beer shared with my mum, followed by my own liter, followed by continued sharing of beers by the people I was with in the tent until close. I can hold my own, I guess. The next day though, I had to work two tours. I had barely any hangover symptoms (luckily!), the only problem was I went on the high swings the previous day and decided screaming on them would be a neat idea. So I pretty much lost my voice at the end of the day. And then after all that I caught an obligatory cold (nearly everyone catches a cold during or after Oktoberfest). The rest of my days weren't as intense as that, but they were just as fun. I won myself a lot of prizes by going to shooting stands. I even got to go to the ER and ride in an ambulance! Many of you might have already heard about that- it's not nearly as scary as it sounds. Actually a girl chinked her glass with someone else in front of me- she did it too hard, and a piece of the glass splintered into my face. I had my eyes checked out to make sure nothing got into them. Luckily, nothing did!
What also happened in September- I finally met the members of my band! My producer has been working on getting musicians together to accompany me when I finally perform my music live. We still need a drummer (hmu if you know a good one!), but I've met my guitarist and bassist and they are really splendid guys, both so talented and they have worked so hard on learning my music and contributing to it as well! It is truly not only a fascinating experience but also so uplifting, so exciting to have people to collaborate with, to work on a common goal together. And it is all the more flattering that it happens to be my music ;) So we rehearsed last month and now I'm back in Austria again to rehearse with them. We're preparing original material but also a few epic covers (Led Zeppelin, Priestess, etc.)
And last but not least, I've also been over to London two weeks ago!
It was AMAZING (pardon the non-creative adjective, but it was truly amazing, awesome, magnificent, superb!)
Bear in mind, I haven't been to a city as large as London in more than 6 years (last city of that size I'd been to was New York in April 2009). And it absolutely blew my mind. Of course it was completely different than what I expected, but in a good way. First of all, it is massive. It is a huge city! I guess I have really gotten used to the size of Munich, which is a very comfortable one.
It was also my very first trip alone. I flew alone to the U.S. almost two years ago to visit my family, but this was my first trip ever by myself, for myself, and to a place where I didn't know anyone. I'm thrilled to be growing up and making my "first" experiences of doing new things. Traveling alone, first apartment, first backpacking trip, etc. So in London I did all of the touristy stuff, including a free walking tour à la Sandeman's (the same company I work with) of course ;) I also visited the British Museum (fantastic- you can see Cleopatra's mummy in there!), the National Gallery (can't recommend this one, it's just a bunch of random paintings of dead royalty), The Tower of London (my favorite part ever, so much history!), and I spent a toooooooon of time in Camden. I explored the markets and discovered an amazing vegan cookie shop called Cookies and Scream, and I continually went up there to visit the pubs at night. On one Saturday evening I had a particularly adventurous time, visiting first a pub called the Lock Tavern and seeing a live concert from some pretty good bands. Then after three or four pints I decided to go climb Primrose Hill for a beautiful view of the London night sky. Drunken me tried to take pictures up there. Needless to say they didn't turn out. The amazing part about Camden is that everyone in the local pubs and spots seemed to know Amy personally. "I played pool against her once," or "she'd always go to the Hawley, I saw her there once," were phrases I heard from multiple people. And that really made me sad. You could really sense that if Amy were still alive, she'd be there playing pool at The Good Mixer like always. Surprisingly I didn't find too many Amy-related souvenirs though.
The whole trip was great fun and really opened my eyes to the outside world. I've gotten very comfortable in the cocoon that is Munich so it was valuable to me to get out a little bit to a big city.
And that brings me to now. Now I'm in Innsbruck, on Monday I recorded my brand-new song and we also put down the bass line and guitar. I can't even begin to describe how thrilled I am about this song. It just might be my proudest work yet. Yesterday I finished up the vocals on some older work and this evening I have band practice ;)
Tomorrow I go home to a voice lesson, and this weekend is Halloween. I'm planning on dressing up as.... can you guess? ;)
No? (pssst... it's Amy)
What are you going as?
I'll write soon again I promise!
Love,
India
Music mood: Hotline Bling by Drake (sorry bout this one, it's so addictive though)
At the moment I am in Innsbruck recording a brand-new song and putting the finishing touches on two others. My latest song is a very Amy Winehouse-inspired number, and it's actually somewhat of a tribute to her work. Already the guys in my band drew parallels to her music in this song. And like every other song I've made- it's completely different from all the rest!! As much as I'd like a congruent sound for my album, all of my songs are completely different from each other. From jazzy-blues numbers like my latest ("Tell Me Why"), to dance songs like Irresistible or more adventurous like Runner. I'm excited, anyhow :D
Soon, I'm going to start making my very first music video for another song. It's very much a rock song, with plenty of bass, guitar riffs, and a couple of my own personal touches like chimes and some synths. My hope is to shoot the video in a gothic-style church in northern Bavaria, but I am still working on the script for it. This is also something I'm extremely excited about!
Oktoberfest was absolute madness. It was my most intense Oktoberfest to date. It was great fun, I played lots of games, rode lots of rides, and of course drank my fair share of Maß's. A summary of my visit to Oktoberfest: Day 1 (the first Sunday of the festival)- start drinking at noon and just... don't stop. Apparently. I survived, I neither became ill nor blacked out- not after one full glass of wine (1/4), two (or was it three?) glasses of prosecco, a liter of beer shared with my mum, followed by my own liter, followed by continued sharing of beers by the people I was with in the tent until close. I can hold my own, I guess. The next day though, I had to work two tours. I had barely any hangover symptoms (luckily!), the only problem was I went on the high swings the previous day and decided screaming on them would be a neat idea. So I pretty much lost my voice at the end of the day. And then after all that I caught an obligatory cold (nearly everyone catches a cold during or after Oktoberfest). The rest of my days weren't as intense as that, but they were just as fun. I won myself a lot of prizes by going to shooting stands. I even got to go to the ER and ride in an ambulance! Many of you might have already heard about that- it's not nearly as scary as it sounds. Actually a girl chinked her glass with someone else in front of me- she did it too hard, and a piece of the glass splintered into my face. I had my eyes checked out to make sure nothing got into them. Luckily, nothing did!
What also happened in September- I finally met the members of my band! My producer has been working on getting musicians together to accompany me when I finally perform my music live. We still need a drummer (hmu if you know a good one!), but I've met my guitarist and bassist and they are really splendid guys, both so talented and they have worked so hard on learning my music and contributing to it as well! It is truly not only a fascinating experience but also so uplifting, so exciting to have people to collaborate with, to work on a common goal together. And it is all the more flattering that it happens to be my music ;) So we rehearsed last month and now I'm back in Austria again to rehearse with them. We're preparing original material but also a few epic covers (Led Zeppelin, Priestess, etc.)
And last but not least, I've also been over to London two weeks ago!
It was AMAZING (pardon the non-creative adjective, but it was truly amazing, awesome, magnificent, superb!)
Bear in mind, I haven't been to a city as large as London in more than 6 years (last city of that size I'd been to was New York in April 2009). And it absolutely blew my mind. Of course it was completely different than what I expected, but in a good way. First of all, it is massive. It is a huge city! I guess I have really gotten used to the size of Munich, which is a very comfortable one.
It was also my very first trip alone. I flew alone to the U.S. almost two years ago to visit my family, but this was my first trip ever by myself, for myself, and to a place where I didn't know anyone. I'm thrilled to be growing up and making my "first" experiences of doing new things. Traveling alone, first apartment, first backpacking trip, etc. So in London I did all of the touristy stuff, including a free walking tour à la Sandeman's (the same company I work with) of course ;) I also visited the British Museum (fantastic- you can see Cleopatra's mummy in there!), the National Gallery (can't recommend this one, it's just a bunch of random paintings of dead royalty), The Tower of London (my favorite part ever, so much history!), and I spent a toooooooon of time in Camden. I explored the markets and discovered an amazing vegan cookie shop called Cookies and Scream, and I continually went up there to visit the pubs at night. On one Saturday evening I had a particularly adventurous time, visiting first a pub called the Lock Tavern and seeing a live concert from some pretty good bands. Then after three or four pints I decided to go climb Primrose Hill for a beautiful view of the London night sky. Drunken me tried to take pictures up there. Needless to say they didn't turn out. The amazing part about Camden is that everyone in the local pubs and spots seemed to know Amy personally. "I played pool against her once," or "she'd always go to the Hawley, I saw her there once," were phrases I heard from multiple people. And that really made me sad. You could really sense that if Amy were still alive, she'd be there playing pool at The Good Mixer like always. Surprisingly I didn't find too many Amy-related souvenirs though.
The whole trip was great fun and really opened my eyes to the outside world. I've gotten very comfortable in the cocoon that is Munich so it was valuable to me to get out a little bit to a big city.
And that brings me to now. Now I'm in Innsbruck, on Monday I recorded my brand-new song and we also put down the bass line and guitar. I can't even begin to describe how thrilled I am about this song. It just might be my proudest work yet. Yesterday I finished up the vocals on some older work and this evening I have band practice ;)
Tomorrow I go home to a voice lesson, and this weekend is Halloween. I'm planning on dressing up as.... can you guess? ;)
No? (pssst... it's Amy)
What are you going as?
I'll write soon again I promise!
Love,
India
Music mood: Hotline Bling by Drake (sorry bout this one, it's so addictive though)
08 September 2015
Best Tour of My Life! (So far...)
Okay, so I really have to say that my tour this Saturday was probably one of my all-time favorites and where I earned the most money ever!
Crazy. I had a really really fun group. They all laughed a lot at my jokes, and seemed to have a really good time! And they all showed it. I can't even hardly describe it. So it started out like any other tour, I start talking about Munich and Marienplatz (the main downtown square of the city, also our tour's meeting point), but everyone was really fun and attentive and it didn't even feel like work. And as many of you may know, my colleagues and I work on a tips-only basis for our city tour, so Saturday was really really swell. I really hope I have more amazing tours in this coming (OKTOBERFEST- 2 WEEKS AWAY) season!!
I'm not even sure what it was that day, but I have a feeling I am just regrowing my confidence. To be completely blunt, living in Austria was very damaging to me personally. I think it's a beautiful country and learned a lot while living there but most of the people I spent my time around did not build me up as a person. My inner self decayed. I lived wrongly for the entirety of 2014. And by wrong, I mean, I wasn't actually living for myself, I wasn't making myself happy, I was just trying to make sure other people approved of and liked me. It sounds very pathetic, and it was. I changed nearly everything about myself last year. I was too loud and obnoxious, so I became reserved and soft-spoken. I apparently looked like a bimbo with my platinum blonde hair, so I dyed it down to darker blonde (and severely damaged my hair in the process, leaving me with partially long hair, partial bowl-cut). I was too "girly," so I stopped wearing high heels. I was too "fake," so I stopped wearing makeup. I was too "arrogant," so I stopped even trying to be social. It seemed for a time that everything I did was wrong. It felt like people were judging and watching my every move, more than ever before. I made sure to give people gifts, compliments, thank them 20 times for hospitality, all in order to avoid leaving the wrong impression.
Now I know 2014 is long behind us (ugh can you honestly believe 2016 is four months away- yikes), but as I mentioned in my introductory post, I also got out of a relationship recently that was very much "feeding" those messages to my mind, so to speak. So what I'm saying is now, things are changing for me. I feel better. Just truly better. I'm dressing the way I want, wearing makeup, and truly being myself with people, which feels so right after such a long time of hiding.
It may seem trivial- hairstyle, makeup, clothing. But those details are a part of the way I express my true self, and when someone stops you from expressing yourself or even discourages you from doing so, it's a little disempowering, or at least for me it was. So here I am, the real India, coming back to finally get my life moving in the way I want. So I just have to imagine that my tour on Saturday was just a reflection of the inner success I am experiencing. I don't mean to sound my own horn, all I can say is that at the moment I am elated and truly excited for both the present and future.
Friday night was a party of some newer friends of mine- and I'll just say it was a little crazy. You know the drill- Munich + Beer + Party ;)
I had a good time getting to know a lot of new people from all over the world! But the party went on til 4:30am (as a good house party should)! So I definitely had an interesting weekend, conversing with people all kinds of different topics- music, world issues, personal, etc.
The only thing I want to address here though is a little something about myself and the way I communicate with the outside world. Here on my blog and in "real life," I can be a very open person. Anyone who has conversed with me for longer than five minutes would probably recognize that easily. I find strength in being able to be open and honest about my life, and those things I choose to share, I am happy to be open about. However, when people up and ask me very personal questions without getting to know me well-
well, let's just say I will close up. I guess that may seem hypocritical- but the point is, I choose what I want to share with the world and like every other person will appreciate personal privacy and do not appreciate prying. Certain details I will share with my friends and the public when I'm ready!
I mean, you guys know how open I am to talk about anything. Here I am only referring to a specific incident from the weekend where I was asked some very personal questions from someone I did not know well. I know people generally mean well- but it still made me a teensy bit uncomfortable!
I know if I ever hope to have a career in music, I will probably have to deal with plenty of nosey questions. But I'm not famous now. And like I said, while I may be very up front about myself and my life, I do enjoy being able to choose what I share and what I don't- I'm sure you can relate???
I hope so at least. I'm not sure exactly how to formulate these words.
In any case, I am truly happy that you are here, reading, and I'm so excited for the things I'll be able to tell about in the future.
This week, I'll be working, writing music, developing content for my very first music video (OMG!!!! Juicy details to come...), and curling my hair ;)
Happy Tuesday!
Music for the morning: Me and Mr. Jones by Amy Winehouse (love love love)
Crazy. I had a really really fun group. They all laughed a lot at my jokes, and seemed to have a really good time! And they all showed it. I can't even hardly describe it. So it started out like any other tour, I start talking about Munich and Marienplatz (the main downtown square of the city, also our tour's meeting point), but everyone was really fun and attentive and it didn't even feel like work. And as many of you may know, my colleagues and I work on a tips-only basis for our city tour, so Saturday was really really swell. I really hope I have more amazing tours in this coming (OKTOBERFEST- 2 WEEKS AWAY) season!!
I'm not even sure what it was that day, but I have a feeling I am just regrowing my confidence. To be completely blunt, living in Austria was very damaging to me personally. I think it's a beautiful country and learned a lot while living there but most of the people I spent my time around did not build me up as a person. My inner self decayed. I lived wrongly for the entirety of 2014. And by wrong, I mean, I wasn't actually living for myself, I wasn't making myself happy, I was just trying to make sure other people approved of and liked me. It sounds very pathetic, and it was. I changed nearly everything about myself last year. I was too loud and obnoxious, so I became reserved and soft-spoken. I apparently looked like a bimbo with my platinum blonde hair, so I dyed it down to darker blonde (and severely damaged my hair in the process, leaving me with partially long hair, partial bowl-cut). I was too "girly," so I stopped wearing high heels. I was too "fake," so I stopped wearing makeup. I was too "arrogant," so I stopped even trying to be social. It seemed for a time that everything I did was wrong. It felt like people were judging and watching my every move, more than ever before. I made sure to give people gifts, compliments, thank them 20 times for hospitality, all in order to avoid leaving the wrong impression.
Now I know 2014 is long behind us (ugh can you honestly believe 2016 is four months away- yikes), but as I mentioned in my introductory post, I also got out of a relationship recently that was very much "feeding" those messages to my mind, so to speak. So what I'm saying is now, things are changing for me. I feel better. Just truly better. I'm dressing the way I want, wearing makeup, and truly being myself with people, which feels so right after such a long time of hiding.
It may seem trivial- hairstyle, makeup, clothing. But those details are a part of the way I express my true self, and when someone stops you from expressing yourself or even discourages you from doing so, it's a little disempowering, or at least for me it was. So here I am, the real India, coming back to finally get my life moving in the way I want. So I just have to imagine that my tour on Saturday was just a reflection of the inner success I am experiencing. I don't mean to sound my own horn, all I can say is that at the moment I am elated and truly excited for both the present and future.
Friday night was a party of some newer friends of mine- and I'll just say it was a little crazy. You know the drill- Munich + Beer + Party ;)
I had a good time getting to know a lot of new people from all over the world! But the party went on til 4:30am (as a good house party should)! So I definitely had an interesting weekend, conversing with people all kinds of different topics- music, world issues, personal, etc.
The only thing I want to address here though is a little something about myself and the way I communicate with the outside world. Here on my blog and in "real life," I can be a very open person. Anyone who has conversed with me for longer than five minutes would probably recognize that easily. I find strength in being able to be open and honest about my life, and those things I choose to share, I am happy to be open about. However, when people up and ask me very personal questions without getting to know me well-
well, let's just say I will close up. I guess that may seem hypocritical- but the point is, I choose what I want to share with the world and like every other person will appreciate personal privacy and do not appreciate prying. Certain details I will share with my friends and the public when I'm ready!
I mean, you guys know how open I am to talk about anything. Here I am only referring to a specific incident from the weekend where I was asked some very personal questions from someone I did not know well. I know people generally mean well- but it still made me a teensy bit uncomfortable!
I know if I ever hope to have a career in music, I will probably have to deal with plenty of nosey questions. But I'm not famous now. And like I said, while I may be very up front about myself and my life, I do enjoy being able to choose what I share and what I don't- I'm sure you can relate???
I hope so at least. I'm not sure exactly how to formulate these words.
In any case, I am truly happy that you are here, reading, and I'm so excited for the things I'll be able to tell about in the future.
This week, I'll be working, writing music, developing content for my very first music video (OMG!!!! Juicy details to come...), and curling my hair ;)
Happy Tuesday!
Music for the morning: Me and Mr. Jones by Amy Winehouse (love love love)
01 September 2015
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Again)
I'm back! I'm really really back!
After taking exactly one year-long hiatus from writing and blogging, I'm back with a new blog, new ideas, and a fresh take on my life.
So what has all changed in one year?
Well, for starters (and to state the obvious), I'm older. I turned 20 almost three months ago (I know, I know, I'm practically an old maid- so my friends like to remind me).
Secondly, I ended basically the worst relationship ever. It took me forever to do, but I've mustered up the courage to make a final cut and change in my life, a long needed one. (Remember all that stuff I wrote about in my old blog, Dutch, Deutschland, Definitely? Well guess who didn't take their own advice all the while!).
And probably most notably, I live in MUNICH once again! My home! The city that I adore!
It's a tough topic to consider. People all have their own points of view on the matter- all I know is, I was in a relationship that did not serve me, it did not add to my quality of living, it made me tired, depressed, irritable, and so on. All my friends noticed how I felt in and outside of it all I can say is, it is REALLY good to be single again! I am celebrating every day. I mean jeeeeeez, I'm only 20, I need my freedom, ya know?
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean this at all in a snarky teenage-angst way (well I kinda do). He was a nice person. The relationship taught me a lot. I learned a lot about my own inner strength, about my character, who I really am, and all of that motivational movie stuff. No but seriously, I feel like I've personally come a long way in a year.
My goals are clearer. I'm so much closer to finishing my album, here are a couple of the titles (I can't give away all my secrets, now can I?!)
Not The Same
Vollgas/Nonstop (two versions of the same song; one in German, one in English)
Plus a few more that I can't name yet. Right now I'm working on finishing three of my favorites; a new song called Runner, an older one called I Told You No, and finally, song VERY very personal to me, Irresistible. It sounds maybe kind of like a cliché title, but it's actually about my struggles with this last relationship and how it almost felt like an addiction to me. I couldn't break free in my mind of my own emotions- it's crazy when you actually deal with something like that inside (and more!).
So yeah, it's been a crazy year obviously. Let me try to recall what exactly has happened between the last time I blogged and now. Last post was August 30th, 2014, so in September 2014 I joined my Mum for one day at Oktoberfest, then my ex-partner and I flew to England.
England was sweet, and I'll be returning in October!!! Last year we spent three weeks in Bristol, while also visiting Wales (wild herb hunt on Hay Bluff!), Cornwall (Pasty's!), and Glastonbury (hippies and glitter everywhere!). What I didn't get to do though was visit London, and now I'm going back just to spend a week in that city. Actually, I've developed a fascination with London this summer.
It all started when I saw a little clip on the Grammy's Facebook page of Amy Winehouse accepting her Grammy for Best Album. I never knew much about Amy. When Back to Black came out I remember my Dad bought the CD. Rehab. Big hair and tattoos. That was it. When I saw this small 30-second clip, suddenly I was fascinated by this gal. I especially wondered why she died so young. So I watched a couple of videos on Youtube about this troubled young woman. I went and saw the documentary Amy twice in theaters (if you ever want to have a nice cry, be sure to check it out). And suddenly I became aware of what a huge talent and brilliant soul the world lost in July 2011. Suddenly I wanted to know about this place where she had "made it," about Camden, the pub scene, music in the British Isles (Ireland/Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England) in general (my favorite musicians EVER come from those countries: The Cure, New Order, Belle and Sebastian, CHVRCHES, obviously The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, Queen, Coldplay, Joy Division, Hozier and SO many more).
So I'm going to London for a week to explore the city, get to know it better, and just have fun! I'll go to pubs, visit museums, see Big Ben and all that typical London stuff!
Shortly after Bristol September 2014, began a relatively quiet period until everything came to a head in December. Personal situations intensified and I made the decision to move back to Munich on my own, right around Christmas time. I found a quiet shared flat near the village of Dachau (getting to downtown Munich only takes 20 mins by train) and since then my quality of living has constantly stabilized and improved. Although since then I will say I've been to the ER twice (once was food poisoning on a holiday, another time was for tests for appendicitis, which I luckily didn't have!), and I've had the flu three times (the last time was on my birthday) :(
An intense year indeed! I've met a lot of random new people (some came, some went), tried new things, and basically spent my time doing what 20-year-olds do I guess- shop, eat take-out twice a week, get jumbo cocktails at happy hour, work, write music, sleep, and do laundry on the occasion ;)
I've also started giving a new tour in July (well, new to me). Before then I was always giving the city walking tour of Munich and the tour to the castle Neuschwanstein (soooooooo much Ludwig II you wouldn't believe). Now I've started giving the Third Reich walking tour through Munich. It lasts three hours, and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite tour to give, because out of the three tours, it's the one where you can leave behind the most positive impact/inspiration for the world today. It's a very negative topic, talking about where the Nazi party had its roots in Munich and how they came to power. But at the end you can basically leave people with the thought and connection to our present day, like are the times we live in now very different? Can we honestly believe that we have done away with intolerance, racism, classism, etc.? Of course when you ask such questions, most people walk away thinking, 'no, it really isn't that different.' And that we need some big changes in this world, and I think those are some very important messages to convey.
Besides this, I'm slowly dipping my feet back into the pool of writing (so to speak). I must confess- writing was legitimately hard for me last year. It didn't come naturally anymore. I just could not, did not want to write. I had so much going on in my life and mind that I couldn't possibly organize anything I wanted to say. So I gave up blogging, and I didn't write any new music for a long time, albeit I tried, and everything was coming out mostly very contrived so that I just gave up. I guess that's what you call writer's block, but that's not how it felt to me. At least I knew that it was dependent on my living situation, and that I in general was "blocked" myself, and my life had absolutely no flow to it.
So in any case, I'm really happy to be back here writing and sharing with you guys, my readers, the people who seem to be somewhat interested in what I have to say! Of course I hope that eventually this will stay the platform for me to share what's going on in my life as I progress through my projects with music, make videos, release an album, and eventually tour. Besides that it will just be the same me as ever- my thoughts on life, what's going on, and what I'm into at the moment (HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THE WEEKND BTW), haha!
Thanks for reading, you'll hear from me soon again ;)
Lots of Love
India
(Music for starters: obviously Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division)
After taking exactly one year-long hiatus from writing and blogging, I'm back with a new blog, new ideas, and a fresh take on my life.
So what has all changed in one year?
Well, for starters (and to state the obvious), I'm older. I turned 20 almost three months ago (I know, I know, I'm practically an old maid- so my friends like to remind me).
Secondly, I ended basically the worst relationship ever. It took me forever to do, but I've mustered up the courage to make a final cut and change in my life, a long needed one. (Remember all that stuff I wrote about in my old blog, Dutch, Deutschland, Definitely? Well guess who didn't take their own advice all the while!).
And probably most notably, I live in MUNICH once again! My home! The city that I adore!
It's a tough topic to consider. People all have their own points of view on the matter- all I know is, I was in a relationship that did not serve me, it did not add to my quality of living, it made me tired, depressed, irritable, and so on. All my friends noticed how I felt in and outside of it all I can say is, it is REALLY good to be single again! I am celebrating every day. I mean jeeeeeez, I'm only 20, I need my freedom, ya know?
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean this at all in a snarky teenage-angst way (well I kinda do). He was a nice person. The relationship taught me a lot. I learned a lot about my own inner strength, about my character, who I really am, and all of that motivational movie stuff. No but seriously, I feel like I've personally come a long way in a year.
My goals are clearer. I'm so much closer to finishing my album, here are a couple of the titles (I can't give away all my secrets, now can I?!)
Not The Same
Vollgas/Nonstop (two versions of the same song; one in German, one in English)
Plus a few more that I can't name yet. Right now I'm working on finishing three of my favorites; a new song called Runner, an older one called I Told You No, and finally, song VERY very personal to me, Irresistible. It sounds maybe kind of like a cliché title, but it's actually about my struggles with this last relationship and how it almost felt like an addiction to me. I couldn't break free in my mind of my own emotions- it's crazy when you actually deal with something like that inside (and more!).
 |
| a very blurry picture of me enjoying a Maß at the Oktoberfest |
So yeah, it's been a crazy year obviously. Let me try to recall what exactly has happened between the last time I blogged and now. Last post was August 30th, 2014, so in September 2014 I joined my Mum for one day at Oktoberfest, then my ex-partner and I flew to England.
England was sweet, and I'll be returning in October!!! Last year we spent three weeks in Bristol, while also visiting Wales (wild herb hunt on Hay Bluff!), Cornwall (Pasty's!), and Glastonbury (hippies and glitter everywhere!). What I didn't get to do though was visit London, and now I'm going back just to spend a week in that city. Actually, I've developed a fascination with London this summer.
 |
| Hay Bluff, Wales- was actually stunning |
 |
| Poster for film "Amy"- by Asif Kapadia (photo does NOT belong to me) |
Shortly after Bristol September 2014, began a relatively quiet period until everything came to a head in December. Personal situations intensified and I made the decision to move back to Munich on my own, right around Christmas time. I found a quiet shared flat near the village of Dachau (getting to downtown Munich only takes 20 mins by train) and since then my quality of living has constantly stabilized and improved. Although since then I will say I've been to the ER twice (once was food poisoning on a holiday, another time was for tests for appendicitis, which I luckily didn't have!), and I've had the flu three times (the last time was on my birthday) :(
An intense year indeed! I've met a lot of random new people (some came, some went), tried new things, and basically spent my time doing what 20-year-olds do I guess- shop, eat take-out twice a week, get jumbo cocktails at happy hour, work, write music, sleep, and do laundry on the occasion ;)
I've also started giving a new tour in July (well, new to me). Before then I was always giving the city walking tour of Munich and the tour to the castle Neuschwanstein (soooooooo much Ludwig II you wouldn't believe). Now I've started giving the Third Reich walking tour through Munich. It lasts three hours, and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite tour to give, because out of the three tours, it's the one where you can leave behind the most positive impact/inspiration for the world today. It's a very negative topic, talking about where the Nazi party had its roots in Munich and how they came to power. But at the end you can basically leave people with the thought and connection to our present day, like are the times we live in now very different? Can we honestly believe that we have done away with intolerance, racism, classism, etc.? Of course when you ask such questions, most people walk away thinking, 'no, it really isn't that different.' And that we need some big changes in this world, and I think those are some very important messages to convey.
Besides this, I'm slowly dipping my feet back into the pool of writing (so to speak). I must confess- writing was legitimately hard for me last year. It didn't come naturally anymore. I just could not, did not want to write. I had so much going on in my life and mind that I couldn't possibly organize anything I wanted to say. So I gave up blogging, and I didn't write any new music for a long time, albeit I tried, and everything was coming out mostly very contrived so that I just gave up. I guess that's what you call writer's block, but that's not how it felt to me. At least I knew that it was dependent on my living situation, and that I in general was "blocked" myself, and my life had absolutely no flow to it.
So in any case, I'm really happy to be back here writing and sharing with you guys, my readers, the people who seem to be somewhat interested in what I have to say! Of course I hope that eventually this will stay the platform for me to share what's going on in my life as I progress through my projects with music, make videos, release an album, and eventually tour. Besides that it will just be the same me as ever- my thoughts on life, what's going on, and what I'm into at the moment (HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THE WEEKND BTW), haha!
Thanks for reading, you'll hear from me soon again ;)
Lots of Love
India
(Music for starters: obviously Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division)
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