Have been here for a little over 2 weeks... So much has happened in such a short time. I'll attempt a basic chronological order.

I arrived in Los Angeles on November 30th; my friend/roommate Nik picked me up @ LAX and brought me to my Mum's house. On Dec. 1st, I spent the day with my Mum & sisters; Mum took us to see my 14 year-old sister (Alexandra) perform in the Nutcracker. Ali is so big now... almost as tall as me... The years have flown! My sister Saunseray (Sauni) and I got to spend time together too... She's 11 and very cheerful- with this robust laugh and lots of musical inclination. She can actually READ SHEET MUSIC... puts me to shame! It was good to finally see my Mum. We got to talk a bit and spent a brief tearful time together the night before upon seeing the [George] Harrison news segments. Once upon a time, she and my Aunt Meg used to play Here Comes the Sun and Blackbird for me on guitar, usually around bed-time. It was like having a story, but even BETTER 'cuz you had *MUSIC*! Come to think about it, the Beatles were the first band I ever heard of and the authors of the very first song I ever learned to sing (Octopus' Garden, @ the age of seven). For many of us-especially those who grew up during the 60's, 70's, 80's- they became a point of reference.

Earlier this summer, I was haunted- impacted- again by the reality of John Lennon's death. Yoko had this amazing exhibit @ the Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis. Though I've seen many different types of art (especially working @ the MIA & visiting museums while living abroad) and have- thanks to my Mum- fostered a great appreciation for it, I had NEVER been so completely ENGAGED by it. I NEVER FULLY EXPERIENCED IT- ART- in an interactive sense before. On top of having this perspective altering experience with art, the Bed-In for Peace video was playing at the very end. Though at the age of 5 I was quite aware of who John Lennon was, I had no idea how painful losing him would be for the world. At that age, I could not fully comprehend his work and his life. Almost 21 years later, I cried for nearly an hour at the Walker... watching him and Yoko protest war with music and love. It made me realize again how important music is. And now George... With Sept. 11th looming about my subconcious, it seems a sign of the times somehow.

Thinking again about my Mum, I kind of worry about her. She totally put herself through university to the point of PHD and has seriously struggled to raise us all these years. Things have been awful difficult for her and the financial burdens never seem to end. All I know is that if I can manage to make enough money to fund it, she's damn well getting a house.

This brings me now back to Los Angeles...

On the evening of 12/01/01, I went to Hollywood with my roommate [Nik]- DIRECTLY to the Beatles' star on the Walk of Fame. I wound up crying again... I just... well, the Beatles have been such a part of growing up. I will elaborate more on this in a piece on Harrison in the January issue of City's Tone (call David Kieski @ 612.998.5253 to obtain a copy if you can't find it in your area).

The following Saturday (12/08/01) I was lucky enough to be able to attend & perform a revised spoken-word version of Bleeding World (which I began writing some weeks after the Yoko/Walker experience; later performed with Chuck Zwicky @ 1st Avenue for Future Perfect in the Fall) @ the Harrison-Lennon commemorative services... there will be more about this in the Harrison article as well.
http://www.citys-tone.com
Bye for now... more soon.

It's my friend Emil's Birthday today! He is actually the reason that I came to get on line... I miss him like crazy. He's in Zimbabwe- Harare right now. I worry about my friends who are still there on a daily basis... There's so much political chaos (has been this way for years) and it just doesn't seem to be getting any better.
ARGHHHHHHH.... anyway... EMIL, EMIL, EMIL... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Lots more freaky stuff has happened here in LA over the last 2 weeks:

1) My official debut on the LA spoken word circuit occured Tuesday- 12/4/01- evening @ the Poetry Lounge on Fairfax & Melrose. It was super cool... PACKED and with DJ's spinning between sets. Ironically, a Zimbabwean (Farai Muyanga) happened to be in the audience! Farai has turned out to be a great connection... it's nice to have someone to speak Shona with and relate about the state of Zims.

2) I wound up (for like 5 seconds, apparently) on the KTLA Evening News 12/08/01, performing at the Harrison-Lennon Services.

3) While applying for a job @ the Roosevelt Hotel- by ABSOLUTE freak coincidence- I ran into Rob Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice). I think he thought I was staying at the hotel... At any rate, he asked me to his show @ the Knitting Factory (Hollywood) on 12/12/01; I will also expand more on this later... look for an article in the coming Interviews section after Febuary. It was rather interesting to say the least.

4) This Saturday- 12/15/01- I had my first paying gig in LA as an audience extra on Candid Camera. It was cool but didn't $$$ for sh*t. I need a real agent! If anyone has local info for me, email: souprecords@yahoo.com
:)

All in all, things have been pretty cool and I've had some great luck. There's only two problems:

1) I am having a hard time finding a regular job... Many of the labels have had staff layoffs and in my other given departments (security & retail) most everyone's hired out for the Holidays. I am still waiting to see what the Roosevelt has to say... THANK GOD FOR CITY'S TONE... I would be screwed without my writing job.

2) I feel kind of naked (and NOT in the cool way!) without having people to jam with. I've met a few musicians, but am still looking for the "one"/"ones" (TANK, I NEED AN EXIT QUICK!)...

I mean, I came here *LITERALLY* for performance bootcamp... figuring since LA is the entertainment capitol of America it shouldn't be too hard to find a good band. Honestly-
I don't care if it's backing vox in someone else's band or a mutual collaborative effort, I'm here to work and to LEARN. At this point, I'm going a bit batty... the Poetry Lounge is cool and the Knitting Factory (they're the GREATEST by the way... you really must pay a visit if you're in town! They have the some of the best shows and the most diverse staff [Holy sh*t, they actually respect you and treat you nicely!]- one of their doormen is actually from Durban, South Africa... I felt right at home, needless to say!) has spoken nights as well, but I NEED *MUSIC*.

On the bright side of things, I've been playing bass a bit more and putting together an add to post at the Musician's Institute (Hollywood's answer to Music Tech). If the band situation isn't remedied by the middle of January, I will pack up and head off to Arizona (Tucson and Sierra Vista), where two of my collaborators- Rey Vasquez (first cat I ever recorded with) and Nevermind (see the Audio Archives section)- are. I've been given an invitation and at least I know that I'll have people to play with and GIGS to get on. I mean, I don't care if I wind up waiting tables by day... all I want to do is perform and create and GROW right now.

OK- MORE SOON... gotta fly!
Will check in at Christmas-
Best and Brightest wishes to everyone of you for the Holidays... Thanks for tuning in!
Stay safe & warm,
XOXOXOXOXO
:)
Brooke

Oy, I can't believe it! D@mn... I just spent a half hour pouring my heart out and giving the run-down on holiday shananigans and lost my whole journal entry because of a "temporary interuption" on Tripod... ARGGGGGGH!
Will try to update this properly later (have like ZERO time now), but here's a super quick run down:

1) I've been at my Mum's for Christmas...
We've had a bang-up good time (even considering the standard family/sibling bickering-- but would it be a holiday without?!). My Uncle Rick and Aunt Marcia (who *ROCK*) just rolled in a few hours ago... They're out now helping my Mum find a new car (she had a bit of an accident a few months ago and lost hers... She's ok- that's the MAIN THING!). It's so great to be able to see everyone!
I'll be returning home later tonight.

2) I'm moving to Hollywood by January 1st. My current roommate and I have been bickering like mad on and off for the last three weeks. It *SERIOUSLY* makes me miss my COOL room mates in St. Paul. Ah well... :} C'est la vie and you only have ONE life to live SO... :] As you know, I've been DYING to move to Hollywood too... there's something very positive about the energy there.
I found a temporary place with another musician girrrrl (Wan, who I met at the Harrison-Lennon shindig @ Capitol). We're planning to possibly knock heads on tracks!

3) Had a major breakthrough on Thurs.- wrote a new song; actually mangaed to PLAY (bass) and SING the whole way through!!! (Laugh all you want, but I've been struggling with this for months!)

4) Went to a *hot* lil jam on Sunday night- met some *KILLER* muscians and actually improv-ed bass in front of complete strangers... this is exactly what I had in mind when moving out. Situations to grow from- artistic exploration!

5) Chris Constantino from British Alt-prog-rock outfit JackieOnAssid (JOA) is coming out in Febuary!!! We've been mailing for about 2+ years and I'm dying to knock heads. JOA will be playing some dates starting in April- will pass the info along as revealed :)

And what about you?!
Hope everybody had a lovely Christmas... email and tell me how it went!
Love & miss you all-
XO
Brooke

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thanks to Wan, I'm living in the heart of Hollywood. :)
I found a temp. job last week working as a front desk clerk at Days Inn (about 2 blocks away on Sunset Blvd.), but was offered a position at a *swinging* vintage clothing shop (a-la-Lula/St.Paul flavor) this past Wenesday. It became apparent in a short period of time that working @ the hotel would be seriously stressful, so I decided to opt for a job I'm extremely comfortable with: clothing/retail. My first shift is tonight. :> I feel better now that I'm in a more positive/creatively supportive living situation and have a job that I know I'll like!

Many interesting and unexpected developments have occured over the last week...
In my spare time, I've mainly been writing or hanging out with my *COOL* Zimbabwean friend Farai or with Philip- the chap from Durban, South Africa who works at the Knitting Factory. Accompanied by my friend Terry (who I met at the Harrison/Lennon services @ Capitol in early December), I went to visit Philip for a bit @ work New Years Eve.
On Tuesday night- 01/01/02- after meeting two B&D performance artists [Sal & Hope], Phillip and I wound up going to this amazing cafe called The Bourgoise Pig. It kind of reminds me of Cafetto's in Minneapolis... but much more chic! Lounged out in the back room on pillows (Harem-style!), we talked for hours about everything from music (Sal LOVES Prince & co.!) to poetry, performance, night life, survival in L.A. and... well, you name it! Our party in the back was later joined by a female poet/vocalist called Girlfriend and her friend Bart- a dancer/dj from New York. Bart will be heading to Minneapolis for a couple of days around the 26th... I wrote down a list of clubs for him to hit and told him to DEFINITELY stop by the MIA and give the security desk a long distance 10-4 for me! *CHUCKLE* Tuesday night was *SWEET* :)
Side note: After work tonight (5pm-10pm), I'm going to see Sal perform at a goth-edged club here in Hollywood called Blue. :>

On Wenesday afternoon (01/02/02), I talked with Entertainment/Music Lawyer Dean Serwin. I met him on my way to spoken word @ the Poetry Lounge my first Tuesday in Los Angeles. It turns out that Dean used to work for one of the Twin/Tone distributors... Turns out he knows Kim Randall (formerly of No Alternative Records, a Twin/Tone affiliate), who is now in L.A. She- GET THIS- works *RIGHT* down the street from him on Vine (about 8 blocks from me)!
***THIS IS THE PART WHERE THE DISNEY SONG "It's a small world after all..." PLAYS IN YOUR HEAD :>***
Kim had an office at Twin/Tone; I knew her via my internship/Chris Strouth (Future Perfect). Actually, the last time I ran into her was at Chris' wedding @ The Lounge night club. At any rate, Dean is going to pass on my number. I didn't know her extremely well, but always thought she was really nice. :) It would be *SO* great to connect with someone from home right now!

Dean also asked me to bring a demo by; I will do so next week. I knew this was coming... As most of you know, I'm still kind of teed off: despite making arrangements *WAY* ahead of time, having my own equipment (thanks to Lorren) and Chuck [Zwicky- angel that he is!] coming to help record the last show for demo purposes (we were going to master the best three tracks), 1st Ave/7th St's engineer lost our ENTIRE set. He wouldn't let Chuck in the booth during the show to double check everything and repeatedly assured him that everything was "GOOD". And let's not forget the lovely SURSUMCORDA incident... ARGHHHHHHHH.

I need to let my anger over losing the live recordings go now... It's hard, though: I've lost some very important, personal and pivotal creative moments forever. Sure there will be more, but those were just as important to me- if not even MORE SO- as some final studio track. That and the fact that though opportunity has been knocking for months I have not been in a position to do a d@mn thing about it. I was supposed to have a demo of the new stuff to Extasy Records in September after their rep called. I did my best to prepare... everything in my power. There is nothing more I could've done. I'm lucky to have friends like Lorren and Chuck... time and time again they've demonstrated their unfailing support. For whatever reason, fate wants something else right now. I'll just have to stick with the STATION9 material and the 4-track Burning Shakespeare stuff/rough sketches in the meantime.

Speaking of Extasy Records, I saw their office on Beverly Boulevard yesterday! Turns out it's about 3 1/2 miles away from where I live! Despite the lack of new digital material, maybe I should finally drop in. Their logo seemed like some sort of glowing omen; it caught me completely off gaurd. I wasn't even looking for it... Los Angeles is such a HUGE place too. Ironically, I had just come from dropping off a business resume (still trying to land an Assistant Publicity position) and Chris' reccomendation letter to Interscope/Geffen/A&M (they're all one company now).
The last thing I was looking for was Extasy. Despite their rep's interest, I have the inkling that if I had to apply to work in their office that they would not take me seriously as an artist. In the music industry, there seems to be this generalization that a person can only be good at one side of the business or the other. Once they see you in a business environment and not on stage, I think you tend to be immortalized as an office worker as opposed to a creative/artistic force. I hate that.
I really don't want that happening again, so I've only been applying to labels that I like (artist-wise) but would not be on as a performer. :) *chuckle*

I've been thinking about George (Harrison) quite a bit again... It's been about a month but tears sometimes still sneak up on me. Paul Mcartney has a new album out on Capitol. I wonder what it's like. Have any of you heard it yet? Maybe I'll review it for the 'Tone. Drop me a line and let me know what you think: souprecords@yahoo.com

Ah me...
That's about it for now.
More to come (ASSUREDLY!)
:)
Luv,
Brooke

I LOVE MY NEW JOB! :)
I've been having *MASSIVE* fun dressing mannequins and clientele, doing case displays, color coding racks + racks of vintage/bizarre clothes (it becomes sort of trance-ish after a while... to the point of "Zen"), digging through new shipments/items and listening to lots of loud rock music! I love being at the store... It's like being a little kid with a brand new coloring book and
crayons! :> :> :> My hat collection is growing by the day... I'll need a 3rd suitcase when I come home in July :) I'm finally starting to get caught up financially... what a relief! (O.k., this is the segment where I start singing "What a Feeling" by Irene Cara & jump around a la Flashdance...)

At work, I'm constantly reminded of 3 people: my *super* cool friend Shannon (There are so many *SWANK* outfits she'd love!), my old room-mate/friend Lisa Dostal (I could see her staging some odd short film here) and Ana Voog. Ana-once upon a time when she was known as Rachael- used to work at the Uptown/Minneapolis Ragstock. We share the same passion for freaky/fab fashion. I wonder what Ana is up to these days. She's really amazing... I really do hope someday she will recieve the sort of recognition she deserves as a musician as well as artist. If you haven't got it yet, run to CheapO or another such music store and grab a copy of her former band The Blue Up! Otherwise, hit her website: http://www.anacam.com

Hmmmmmmmmn... let's see... what else in L.A. ...
I finally emailed Dave N. last week to let him know I'm in town. He's coming off of national tour and about to get married. Good for him!!! He deserves EVERY bit of happiness, to finally reap the rewards of his work. His art came to me as a catalyst... TOTALLY inspired me to create. Though I still have absolutely NO CLUE as to whether he actually got around to listening to his response piece [Romeo's JADED], I'm keeping my fingers crossed. One way or another- even if he absolutely hated it or thought it SUCKED- I would like to know how it struck him! Make no mistake, though: I'd feel the same if he were a street musician I happened to stumble upon... Infact, I like that scenario even better.
I mean, when I first came across his music I had no clue as to who he was and *REALLY* could have cared less. The honesty as well as effort/emotionality of his solo work provoked as well as moved me. As far as I can tell and from what I've seen over the last several years, celebrity is a bunch of bullsh*t that ultimately segregates the creator from his or her audience... a gimmick designed to sell MORE and MORE product... by making artists inaccessable... untouchable... F* THAT. Yet so many people long for absolute fame... I've been guilty of that charge in the past as well but PLEASE- OH PLEASE GOD- DON'T EVER LET ME BE SEPERATED FROM MY AUDIENCE!
One thing I have learned in life is to be careful for what you wish for... You just might get it!
*chuckle*
More after a tea break (NEED CAFFEINE!)-
XO
B

Ahhhh... that's better. It's 6:35 a.m. (good thing I'm off today!) and I could not resist taking a few minutes to watch dawn creep over Los Angeles. It is one of the only truly peaceful times in Hollywood... you can actually hear the birds outside instead of the constant lull of traffic. That's one thing I miss about the Twin Cities... a sense of quiet. And while Zimbabwe has- HANDS DOWN- the most beautiful sunsets, I have to say that California has a rather excellent sun rise. I've yet to go to the beach; San Pedro's currently on the top of my list.

Let's see... what else has transpired... OY! MUSIC!!!
It looks as if I may have my first official *singing* debut in L.A. next Saturday night! On Thursday evening after attending a show @ the Lava Lounge on La Brea, I met a rather interesting trip hop artist/producer in from Canada. Her name is Stephani. After a bit of a chat, we wound up eating pizza at her apartment, downloading mp3s as well as hitting a few harmonies. She wants a backing vocalist for a gig @ Hotel Cafe (on Cahuenga) a week from tonight. I love her spatial concept of song... giving the listener room to breathe and imagine... She also has a lovely voice!

After hitting STATION9 & a couple of the Burning Shakespeare tracks on line, Steph offered to help me orchestrate a 4 song/8 track digital demo for $100, including art work + packaging (my only other cost would be actual discs as well as printing!). Hell, I refused... $200 *minimum* is what it is worth to me. I've heard and seen her work; she's cutting me a deal because she's been there/done that financially and artistically, she totally understands. What a relief... between the possible show and studio time, I feel like the missing link has finally shown up. Now I just have to narrow down songs
(SEND YOUR VOTES TO: souprecords@yahoo.com !),
then tighten up bass and/or piano lines. The rest will be taken care of in production.

That reminds me: I'm meeting with Dean Serwin Monday afternoon. I just hooked up my own private line w/ voicemail, so hopefully Kim [Randall] will be able to reach me now. The main line to the house has been super busy as it is the one used for internet. :>

Hmmmmmmmmmmn... what else...

I met a GREAT drummer (David) this past Thursday as well... He played with the second band we saw at Lava Lounge. He's dying to gig as much as possible and is just the flavor- tight, rythmic but also experimental oriented- I've been looking for. He's played First Ave and the Fine Line (!), knows the MPLS scene and is also a huge Prince fan. It's so bizzare... I swear there are more Prince fans per capita in Hollywood *ALONE* than in MPLS- St. Paul!

Speaking of Prince fans, I went to see Sal @ Club Blue. It was great... he's amazing... wonderful presence! Cirque De Soliel comes to mind... Watching him dance and contort, he seemed so harlequin-esque with these beautifully painted eyes, a bright emerald green mohawk and sinewy, cat-like posture. We danced the night away to rare B-sides + remixes of Bauhaus, Siouxsie, the Cure, Peter Murphy, old school Love and Rockets, Sisters Of Mercy as well as some newer darkwave/dance stuff. I found myself thinking of my friend Sam Rowan (from the MIA), who would have JUST LOVED IT! I'm going back to Blue this Sunday (Sal's performing again)... I had forgotten how much I used to LOVE going out!

I definitely want to hook up some kind of performance piece with Sal. I am so greatful to be meeting such fantastic, dedicated and wildly creative people... this is what I have been longing for over the past few weeks!

OK- I'm officially, HAPPILY brain dead now :)
I need a hot shower and *nite-nite*.
Have a great weekend: catch ya next week!
Thanks for reading and hope you are well...
*hug*
Brooke

HI!!!!!!!!!
Just popped in for a minute because I had an exciting Sunday + Monday! Went to see Sal Sunday night- even more phoenominal; costumes, FIRE BREATHING, rope patterns and all! I thought very much about my friends Emily & Jeff and All The Pretty Horses. They would *LOVE* these guys! I totally want to create a cabaret around Sal's art... NOIR ET ROUGE is the theme title bouncing about madly in my head thus far... I wish that I could express/tell you guys the images/AWESOME artistic vision swimming in my head but it is too soon! I need to first organize the core structure in my head... birth the concept properly!

I had the good fortune of meeting a *VERY* cute boy- an aquaintance of Sal's- Sunday. We had this amazing stare down going from across the room... *QUITE* sexy! He eventually came over... Not to ruin the smouldering film of intrigue and lust playing in your brain just now or anything, but he (Adam) is also an absolute riot! On top of being boyishly handsome (brunette... my favorite!!!), this boy has a keen sense of humor! He also happens to be a musician :> *yay*
We all went out to Denny's for coffee/early breakfast after Blue... laughed for hours and hours. It was amazing to flirt with someone again... I've been a *VERY* good girl since coming to L.A.! SIDE NOTE: HEY HEY HEY- this is a tell-all journal, so don't be cross with me for being real... that's how I believe life should be. I will, however, keep it clean! ,}

I went to see the lawyer (Dean) today... Interesting.
He is *very* cool (you should see his monster goatee!) and will work on a commision if he hooks me up. I liked his office... reminded me somehow of the old detective films... I kept waiting for everything to turn black & white and for Lauren Bacall or some *hottie* mysterious blonde to show up. OH MY GOD!!! You'll never GUESS what he had on HIS WALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL: a plaque from Capitol with discs for the ROMEO + JULIET film soundtrack (the most recent one w/ DiCaprio & Danes). He helped bring one of the artists on the soundtrack (it's awesome by the way- go grab a copy if it's not in your collection!). :>
I noticed the plaque RIGHT AWAY (again, that stands-out-like-Neon glow thing I when some random object seems really important!)and nearly had a heart attack... I knew I'd come to the right place. I wound up singing the chorus of NO Juliet live for him (I *REALLY* wanted to jump up on his desk and seriously GET BUSY but he had a lot of important paperwork and stuff out) RIGHT THERE... on the 11th floor of the Taft Building in Hollywood. NO VOCAL FX, NO MIC, NOTHING... I didn't need any of them. I didn't give a sh*t! It's funny... I used to be the girl who dreaded live shows... now I want any excuse to open my mouth and SING! It's so funny to see this wash over me. I've realised finally that my allegiance is not to some business person or company but to PEOPLE... to other artists, ears, eyes- to the audience of LIFE. I'm here to learn more about my craft and work my @$$ off. Thus, it doesn't matter if the business end takes note of me or not... To be perfectly honest, I don't give a [insert prefered profanity here] if I ever get signed again. What matters is that I hook up with other bands, like-minded performers and musicians, that I find my stage. Ah... "All the world's a stage..." William... somehow I think you'd get quite a kick out of this all :)

Later today, Sal and I are going to get our hair done & jam with another female vocalist- Simara. I can't wait!!! Later in the evening, I will be working with Steph on some tracks/harmonies for her show. I'm in heaven... :)
Sal and I have hit it off creatively... I am so happy that there are people like this here. Now, if I can just work out the details and bring them back to Minneapolis... I do love this bloody town, but home is home!
-OY!- I don't have time now (it's like 7:30 am, have been up nearly all night again answering emails + writing!), but I also ran across the Smashmouth set again today... yet another accidental meeting just like @ Ritz Camera IDS in Minneapolis... except I'm the stranger in their 'hood now. I suppose the correct thing to do then would be to invite them to a show... More on this later... quite odd and a long story!
:)
B