Marlonz Blog

2011-11-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

I love this....

What You Want, Want's You As Well

Perhaps the most incredible thing about universal laws is that what you want, want's you as well...

At some time you chose what you wanted in your life and because of this, it want's you as well... This is how nature works. The deal however is that you have to let go of the things that you didn't choose so that there is room for what you have.

As you open the door to let the things go (of which you must do first so that they can find their right home) you also allow the things that most excite you in...

You don't have to know how to manifest... This is all done for you...

What do you know you have to let go of that no longer serves you and would set you free? Is it a belief about yourself? A job? A person in your life? A business? Or a bad habit?

2012 is coming up, let these daily emails help you become the very best you can be.

Don't forget to tell the soulneeds community about your journey. Sharing is one of the best ways to ensure your happiness and lets face it, soulneeds is the best place on the net to be your honest self with no judgements from anyone...

Breathe in excitement and breathe out what no longer serves you...

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Hope you liked it. See more at www.soulneeds.com

Rock on.
M.

2010-11-30T16:29:00.001-08:00

Hey All...

I'm in my studio uploading old videos of my kids. It's pretty cool to see them when they were younger. It's amazing how fast time goes by. It makes you think of when you maybe get mad at them for whatever... and how we just need to relax, take a breath and appreciate how great they are.

I am in the process of moving again. It's a good thing though. We were up in a big house that was beautiful but was so far away from anything. It took 15 minutes just to get to the freeway. Now we are right in the middle of it all (still in Coquitlam) and back near my stomping grounds. Yes!

Anyway... holidays are here, we are packing and getting ready to move.
I hope you all have a great Christmas!

M.

2010-10-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes sayings or quotes can just make you think.

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

M.

2010-09-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

To succeed in the world, do all you can to appear successful.
Nuff said....

M.

2010-08-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

Today's Thought: What we should consider is how we are good rather than how good we are.

Hey all...

I drove from Coquitlam this morning and now I'm just hangin' out in Vancouver enjoying the beautiful weather. It's amazing what can happen to the weather here when you drive West about 30kms. Of course sometimes it's pouring rain so ya never know.

I'm putting together a great band for the upcoming CD Release Show at The Roxy in Vancouver. It's gonna be a good time so I hope to see lots of people out!

See you soon...
M.

2010-08-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hey guys...

Just a quick one today. Played 4 shows yesterday in West vancouver. It was a total blast!
Hope we can get some more shows booked and keep on playin' around town.

M.

2010-07-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Hey all....

In life, the first thing you must decide is what you really want.
Then make up your mind to go after your goal with all your might.

Been busy with work and haven't had a chance to write my blogs for a while. I go in and out of the realm of my music career as my mind wanders from work, family, life, etc. I will do my damndest to get on here more! :-)

I am really excited about a great review I just got from IAE Magazine.
Check it out here: IAE MAGAZINE
I was dumbfounded cause you never really know what you're gonna get. What a great review!!

Anyway... hope to be playing live somewhere near you soon!

M.

Quote: Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive... it isn't. Richard Bach, writer (b. 1936)

2010-06-21T11:27:00.001-07:00

I'm in my studio playing a little Jungle Jewels on Facebook. It's how I unwind and release stress. Not the only way but it's fun at the same time. I think I'm kind of addicted. :-)

Also working on some new song ideas wondering which one to record first.

M.

2010-05-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

Just started a new workout program and I'm ready to kick some ass. Playing a couple shows and booking more so I need to look my best. Of course I'm not one to just look good for certain gigs or photoshoots. I always want to look and feel fantastic!!

Time to strap on the guitar and do some practicing. :-)

M.

2010-04-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

Hangin at home today practicing vocals and guitar for my upcoming shows. A couple booked right now and many more to come. The goal is to just play everywhere I can. I'm going to all the open mics in the city as well.

Having fun writing new songs as well. Of course I am ALWAYS doing that. I probably have 200 ideas recorded on my phone. I just go back and play them and then determine wether or not they are worth progressing into full songs. Sometimes the ideas are awful and I think to myself "what the hell was that?!" Haha. Whatever. I just move on to the next idea or write something else.

M.

2010-04-05T19:09:00.001-07:00

THE CD IS OUT!!! It's called "late day sun" and is available in local record stores in Vancouver, Canada and at www.cdbaby.com/marlonoreilly

I am super excited to get going on promoting and playing live to get the word out. I hope many of you get the chance to buy it online or in stores. I would love to know what you all think of it?

See you on the road soon....
M.

2010-03-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

It's just a waiting game for me for now. Everything on my end is done. CD's should be here on Friday and they go on sale on Saturday. I have to ship a box to CD Baby as they will be handling most of the sales online until I get my own store built. We also just had the t-shirts and other merchandise get here. They have to head off to the printers to get my name and album title on the shirts. We're just keeping it basic for now.

I'm actually on Myspace right now adding local friends. Network, network, network!!

M.

2010-03-19T15:45:00.001-07:00

Where do I start on this topic? People that download music FREE. I find it strange that they think it's ok to steal music. Yes... that's exactly what it is... STEALING. Especially from an independent artist. So here I am, worked for the last 13 years as a Landscaper, saving money and buying equipment to build my own studio so I could record my own CD. If I had saved that money and paid a studio, it would have cost more. Even if I had, it makes no difference as far as the stealing is concerned. Stealing is stealing. I spent thousands of hours writing, recording, mixing, hiring musicians & producing this CD. It cost me over $50,000 (so far). Then someone just goes to a "Sharing" website and just downloads a song, or my whole Album for FREE and thinks nothing of it. It amazes me. Same thing with movies. I NEVER have downloaded a movie for free. I have also never downloaded a song for free that I didn't ALREADY purchase previously. I either lost the tape or CD, or it was damaged. If someone buys my music and something happens to it, I would love for them to download it at no cost because they already paid for it.

Movies are different. It's still stealing from the producer of the film but at least you're not stealing directly from the actors themselves. They get their 15+ Million dollars for that film and when it's done they move on to the next project. If you download my music, for free... you are taking food right off my kitchen table. LITERALLY! And that goes for any independent artist. We are out there trying to make a living. We don't own Bentley's. And even if I do one day, how does that make STEALING MY MUSIC right? PLEASE... if you buy my music, do not upload it to your computer for file sharing, or at least upload it into a separate folder so it's not available to others for FREE. It will make all the difference in the world.

Then there's the argument that big celebrities are already rich so you should be able to steal their products. WRONG! We end up right back at square one... yep, you guessed it: IT'S STILL STEALING. Who made it ok to take from someone that is already successful anyway? Why should it be any different? IT'S NOT! It's like going into Home Depot and walking out with an unpaid Fridge. Why not? They've already made their money. They make Billions!! Who cares about a Fridge? It's only $500. They'll never miss it right? YOU'D GO TO JAIL.

Somehow downloading music without paying for it has become more acceptable today than yesterday, and it's only getting worse. I guess what has to happen is people, everyone on this earth has to have a little more respect for others on this planet. From just being nice and having some compassion for one another to using your damn signal when changing lanes on the freeway. It means realizing that when you pay your very small $0.99 for a song, it adds up and you are SUPPORTING an artist trying to make a living doing what he/she loves. And believe me, they love it more than anything in the world!

I've often thought: What would happen if no one paid for music anymore?
Well I'll tell you: Artists just wouldn't be able to afford to pay for Studio Time, Studio Musicians, Engineers, Mastering Studios, CD Manufacturing, Photography, Publicists, Managers & Lawyers? (not to mention their basic living expenses while they are doing all these EXPENSIVE but necessary things?) Seriously.... NO MORE NEW MUSIC... EVER. Think about it. Support artists. It's on $15. Buy it, don't steal it. :-)

M.

2010-03-13T17:19:00.000-08:00

In the studio today listening (proofing) the mastered songs for the CD. They sound amazing!! Andy is one talented guy.
He's done 5 songs so far and they will all be done for Monday, March 15th. I get the actual CD Master by overnight courier on Tuesday sometime.

At the same time I am proofing versions of the CD insert. I think we have the front & back cover done and my designer Anthony Pratico (Insomnia) is currently working on the inside (lyrics, credits, etc.)

Getting close...

M.

2010-03-10T16:59:00.000-08:00

Today... I have finally finished re-mixing and being insanely anal about making these songs perfect. Sometimes I think we all need to let go of the best you can make something at the time. If we don't, it will go on forever! Now I am happy with the way the mixes sound. It is up to Andy @ Silver Birch Productions to put the icing on them in the mastering studio. He has already sent me a proof to be approved and it sounds fantastic. I am excited to get the full mastered CD in my hands. I also have my fabulous Web, CD & everything else press-able Designer, Anthony Pratico working like an insane mad man to get things done on schedule. (Which of course keeps changing... HEHE)

It will change no more. Well... the possible changes that are in my hands anyway. I am just sitting back waiting for emails to come in so I can proof more mastered songs and CD Designs.

This is going to be a great journey.

M.

2010-03-01T19:03:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I've been on here. There's just a lot going on. I am just playing a waiting game as far as getting all the fine tuning done. A new website, CD Package, Posters, Shirts and some of it I haven't even started yet. I have my website up now but we are still making changes to it. You can see it at http://www.marlonoreilly.com Anthony of Digital Insomnia Media is doing the website. The guy is great!

Everything is coming down to the wire. I have set a release date of March 27th, 2010 and it's getting SO close already!

M.

2010-02-26T10:24:00.001-08:00

This thing is getting a little surreal on me. It's hard to put into words what is going on in my head right now. Excitement, fear, fulfillment, anxiety, RELIEF & hey... I'm just ready to GO! Wow... after 10+ years of writing, recording, re-recording, hiring musicians, web designers, CD Duplicators, merchandise company's and I could go on forever... it just ends all of a sudden? I'm programmed to head into the studio everyday and now I don't have to? So strange. But... here's the amazing thing: I want to more than ever now. Of course right? I now am planning the next CD which I'm thinking will be a Christmas Album. I've always wanted to do those traditional songs and put my own spin on them. I may do a Country/Jazzy thing. Who knows at this point.

I get a draft of my new website tonight and am so excited but REALLY freaked out cause I haven't even seen any of his ideas. I am just trusting that it will be phenomenal! This is just fun now. I still have a lot of work to do but the mandatory stuff is over and now I just get to see it all come together. Let's see where it takes me.

M.

2010-02-23T15:46:00.001-08:00

My ears hurt! Haha. I have finished all of the singing for the CD.
I have an extra song called "Sweet Jennifer" I may put on it but time is of the essence so probably not. I have been doing the last adjustments on the mix for "If You Need Some Time." It's sounds great! I just like to take breaks from the mix and then go back and make sure it all sounds good. The reason my ears are tender is that I tend to mix at a high volume. I can feel it better that way. I do mix at low & medium levels as well but for the most part I crank it up!

I will send this to the Mastering Studio tonight and then it's off to pressing. That's a whole nuther ball game. I am having someone design the CD cover & insert. I just need to step back from it all and let someone else make it look great. I am directing them on how I would like it to look but they are the wizzards. :-)

M.

2010-02-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

So I'm kickin ass in the studio. (Yesterday & Today) Lead vocal done for "Stephen Anderson" and I'm working on the lead harmony and background vocals now. I should have those done in a couple of hours and then it's mixing time. Well actually... it's more like tweaking because I have been mixing this song for probably over a year. I try to make it sound better every time I load it up on my system. ;-) Of course sometimes that can be worse. You have to leave great alone. If you keep fiddling with things you tend to mess it up.

I have a couple tweaks still n "If You Need Some Time" as well. That song is just a nightmare! Hehe. I know it will all be worth it though in the end....

M.

2010-02-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

Hey all....

I've been down in the studio all morning/afternoon and it's really great when you get so much accomplished. But.... I am STILL tweaking "If You Need Some Time" This song will be the death of me, I swear! I guess I'm such a perfectionist that I keep hearing little things and want to make them juuusssst right. It has to be that way. It's the ONLY way.

You see... I still do things like I did when I was in school. You know... the project you had all week to work on and you decided to start AND finish it on the Sunday before it was due on Monday? I figured this song would be the hardest. I probably should've started with it but here I am leaving it as the second to last song! Damn.

I will continue on and get this song done once and for all. ;-)

M.

2010-02-12T13:59:00.001-08:00

If something is worth doing at all, it’s worth doing right!

Holy hell! I got the lead vocal done for "If You Need Some Time" Harmony's are next but that won't take long at all and then some final tweaking on the mixing side of things. I still have to get this off to Andy at Silver Birch Productions. I also have to sing one more to complete the album... Stephen Anderson.

Yes that is the name of the song. "Stephen Anderson" He was a classmate of mine when I was in Vanier Elementary. He used to be quite annoying but then so was I from time to time. I guess you could say we picked on him a bit and when you get older and have children, you realize that that might not have been the best way to spend your time. I felt bad about being a jerk so I wrote a song about it. It's one of my faves for sure. All the friends I went to school with will get a kick out of it when they hear it. Maybe Steve will too but I haven't been able to find him on FB or any other means on the net.

I think I will head down to the studio in a bit to finish up the vocals.

M.

2010-02-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

THOUGHT OF THE DAY ~ If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.

So I think I have Kidney Stones...AHHHHHHHH!!!
I was actually in my studio mixing "Through The Night" and I got this sharp pain, like an ice-pick that had been over a fire going into my side. It scared the shit out of me! I actually thought I was going to be in my car driving to the hospital ASAP. But... I got down on my back, flat on the floor and starting really breathing deeply and it went away within one minute. WHEW! Of course, just like any man I figured it would go away on it's own. I guess I had no reason to believe it wouldn't. But.. yes... it came back and I got scared again. Now I knew it was not something that was going to go away. Damn!

I got on the internet right away and started searching about home remedies. I found some!! One suggested 6 cans of coke (one every 20 minutes or so) and boiled-blended asparagus. The other suggested a straight 12oz glass of lemon juice. Then 12 more glasses (1 each hour) with 1oz of lemon juice with the rest water. I chose the coke method because it didn't take as long. I did it. Drank the coke in about 2 hours and just drank the asparagus. It actually wasn't bad. Good times. ;-)

Needless to say I haven't been in the studio at all today. I will head in there in a little while.

Chatted with my web designer today. It went well. My site should be up sometime next week. Lots of options usually delays things so we are trying to make the site simple. If you have any suggestions or want to tell me which sites you like the best... post a comment here.

M.

2010-02-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

Success isn’t about being the best; it’s about being better than you were.

I was down in WhiteRock today with my photographer, Jeff Fairbank www.jdfairbankphotography.com Very talented!
He told me about this little pub down there on the strip that he thought was cool. So, he picked me up at my place and we drove out there around 11am. Tons of really cool stuff in there which makes for great photos. It was a great day... overcast and no rain. We booked open the whole right side of the pub and took a few hours to take about 200 photo's. It think we'll get some good ones out of the shoot.

Back to singing tomorrow. ;-)

M.

2010-02-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

I was up in Harrison Hot Springs, BC for my cousin Celine's wedding. It was the most fun I think I've had at a wedding ever! Good food, music, good people. You know... you miss your family when you realize how long it's been since you've seen them. It was nice to see the ones from out of town. Good times.

We're now heading up to Hope to see my son play his last game in the Hope Hockey Tournament. Funniest thngs happened though. We turned down a road to the rink and there was the guy that is carrying the Olympic Torch! Haha. It was cool to see I guess but I could really care less about all that hyped up crap. All I can think about is the massive debt this province will endure. Just bring on the frigging games already. :-)

M.

2010-02-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

If you keep doing the things you've been doing - you'll keep getting the things you've been getting.

Got up and had coffee. Damn! I make the BEST coffee! After being in the studio all morning, I'm cooking oatmeal. Ran out of egg whites so I figured Oatmeal is the next best thing besides a protein shake but I just don't feel like making one of those right now. Makes a big mess. I also make those the best too! Haha.

When I was down in the studio I was mostly editing drums and cleaning up noisy amps from the recorded guitars. Gotta get rid of that hissing. It takes hours of patience.

Last night, I almost finished "If You Need Some Time" but got stuck at a high range vocal part of the song. I'm wondering if I want to put it in there anymore at all? Maybe it doesn't suit the song. Hmmm? I will do some more today and finish it up however I decide to do that. I know it will be great! ;-)

M.

2010-02-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

You can change what you are by changing what goes into your mind.
_______________________________________________

YES!! Well... not totally. Hehe. I am taking a break from singing "If You Need Some Time" It's going amazing though. I'm also calling for prices on CD Duplication and that's going ok. Not sure who I'm going to use yet but I know it will work out in the end.

So much to do... so little time. I guess it all depends on how you use your time?

M.

2010-02-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

You are what you think. Think it TODAY. Become it tomorrow.
Nothing can help you or hurt you as much as the thoughts you carry in your head.
_________________________________________________

It's creepy how things in your day-to-day life just get in the way sometimes of what you want to accomplish. Yesterday, I wanted to get the vocals done for "If You Need Some Time". Didn't happen. Oh well... I'm working on it for today.

When you're singing, you're not just working like at a job... it takes everything you have to get that performance fans will be moved by. (or should I say the track I am blown away by. I am SUPER hard on myself) You have to be healthy, feeling great about yourself, your voice has to be in top shape, the emotion has to be there among many other things. It's just a feel you need to have to lay it down. If you are thinking about bills or kids or whatever... you can forget about singing. It just won't happen. So when I feel not as good as I want, I will meditate or take the dog for a walk or whatever to get way from the studio and re-group. It works.

So... now Im heading out to pick up my kids from school, do some grocery shopping for dinner and later I hope to get the chance to get this song done. Hopefully tomorrow's blog will start with ... "YES!"

M.

2010-02-02T11:47:00.001-08:00

~ It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. ~

I've been writing out lyrics on the PC to all the songs on the CD this morning. By the time you get your completed CD (manufacturing, pressing, shrink wrapped) IN YOUR HANDS... it's amazing when you realize how many times you've heard your own songs! I mean it's OVER and OVER and OVER again! It must be in the 10's of thousands on this one because a couple of these songs were written in 1996! Wow.

Anyway, I'm getting prices for CD Pressing, artwork, merchandise, etc. Yesterday I had a mix that was too loud for the mastering engineer (Andy) and I had to open it up on my MAC (all of this record was recorded digitally) and pull the level down only to realize that I had deleted a couple of acoustic guitar tracks. They were out of tune a bit so I figured, ahhh, delete em... you won't need them later right, the mix is done?! DAMN. No big deal though. I re-recorded them in about 10 minutes and just sent the revised mix to Andy. Only took me about 6 hours to do the adjustments. ;-)

Now I'll sing that song that I thought I would get to yesterday. Hehe...

M.

2010-02-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting in my kitchen eating egg whites. They are actually amazing today! Haha. Must be because my CD is about 2 weeks away from being done. I have sent 8 songs to the mastering facility and I have 2 to sing and they are already 90% mixed. One of which I will get done today.

Not only did I produce this CD myself but after having a few songs mixed by grammy award winner Ken Lewis in New York [www.protoolsmixing.com], (one of which I didn't love the end result, hehe just me being the perfectionist I am) I re-mixed that song and mixed the entire album in my studio. Everyone that listened to the songs so far thought they sounded fantastic! Good thing. Believe me, I looked into the best in the world, Mike Fraser was one but even for an independent guy like myself, it was just too much money. $3000/song including studio time and then times that by 10 songs... yikes! I have already invested thousands of hours and a LOT of $$$$!

So on with it I say! Breakfast is sitting well... Time to sing. ;-)

M.

2010-01-31T14:44:00.000-08:00

~ It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts. ~

Well... I'm having a positive day! Sending off my mixes to Andy Krehm @ Silver Birch Productions in Toronto to have them mastered. Super excited! It's funny how you are cruising through stuff you think hasn't taken very long to accomplish or just lost track of time only to find out that some of the mixes were finished in 2008?!! Like what the hell have I been doing?

Here it is: Fear.
Scared of being successful but more of not. Scared of putting myself out there and then having it fail. I guess you just have to jump and go for it. Practice what I preach. (as my Mom would ALWAYS say to me)

It's a work in progress but it's what I really love to do.... so.... I'm doin' it!

M.

2010-01-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

The CD is coming out soon. I just finished the 8th song. 2 More to go and the songs are all heading to Silver Birch Production in Ontario to get Mastered. I am hoping for Mid February for a release date. One day at a time... hehe.