“This 25 year old ‘Carmen Electra meets Marilyn Monroe’ and her super tight band nail a hard-boogying riff to the floor, while Halla’s seductive singing and coy lyrics, coupled with her explosive octave bends and Gibbons-inspired solo licks, slam her perky pop palms up against the ceiling.”
- Michael Molenda, Editor in Chief,
Guitar Player Magazine - November Issue 2009
Thanks Michael!
To subscribe to Guitar Player Magazine visit www.guitarplayer.com
Here is a little video I cooked up from the New Jersey sessions at Felix the Cat Studios. Unfortunately the amount of caffeine I had consumed at this point, not only made me a bit of a weirdo, but also meant I couldn’t hold the camera steady for the life of me! I tried to edit out the shakiest parts, but ummm….well you’ll see….
***** This video has been removed due to copyright issues.
Well its around 10 pm New Jersey time, and I’m here in Felix the Cat headquarters. We are working out of the recording studio here, tracking one of my songs called “Taste For Blood”. I’m working with producer Warren Hibbert straight outta Jersey!!!!!
Felix the Cat is EVERYWHERE. This is also where all the Felix shiz goes down. I met Felix’s owner Don Oriolo today. Don is an exciting, charismatic person, who could very well be a cartoon character himself! He has a great energy about him, and there is MOST IMPRESSIVE artwork all over this building. His paintings are incredible.
Its really interesting to the see the evolution of a cartoon. The way that something like that can develop over time, develop with technology, develop through the eyes of its creators, and then watch the use of it in pop culture also seem to mould the culture itself.
One thing I know for sure, is that working on music in place the every door is painted a shade of pink, purple, blue, red, green, yellow, etc… its pretty hard not to be in a good mood, and not to grow a little “loopy” after 4 red bulls and 3 days of writing/recording.
Its been a really interesting experience so far. I think I’m finally starting to zero in on a unified sound, and a way of expressing exactly what it is I want to say.
Well, Les Paul sadly passed away today at the age of 94. He lived a long life, and influenced many people, and touched many people with the gift of music along the way.
Here are a couple videos I was enjoying today, remembering his legacy:
And my goodness was I ever surprised by the talent of his wife Mary at playing the guitar as well!
I played my LTD EC-400, which is basically ESP’s version of a ….well LTD’s version (made by ESP) of a Les Paul Standard. I played it allll night long. Which was great. I suddenly realized I’ve been working on the Stevie Ray Vaughn song “Lenny” for the last 10 years and still don’t have it. And by working on, I guess I mean maybe attempting to play it once a year…so I think that is the problem. I’m hoping that with the inspiration I had tonight, and the longing desire I’ve been having lately to get my ass back into gear as far as my guitar playing, I can really turn things around here in the next little while. I play usually at least an hour a day, but mostly that is playing rhythm parts to accompany myself, whether practicing my songs, writing, or recording. The thing I need the most work on is soloing, and actual technical and melodic ability on the guitar. I want to rip some FAT GUITAR SOLOS basically.
So my goal, on this the day of Les Paul’s passing, is to start spending an hour a day on improving my technique and ability. Whether it be theory, scales, mechanical drills, learning other masters songs, writing, WHATEVER… I must improve. I MUST!
Please check in and see how I am doing, and hold me to this damn it! If I can’t do this in Les Paul’s honor, for what he has done to inspire me, may I never come to have a Les Paul of my own. And THAT would be BRUTAL. So here we go….
So cruising around on ebay one night I stumbled on an old toy organ that looked straight out of a Disney movie like Jumanji or a Tim Burton movie like Edward Scissor Hands. Its hard to say really.
The look of it alone stopped me dead in my feverish mouse clicking. I did a quick search on youtube and found a few clips of the organ in action. Let me link you to what I saw and heard that fateful night:
The First Glimpse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1kTcY88Qxg
An Emenne Organ Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtSXGwmGGs0&NR=1
So already from hearing those two clips, I was completely sold on this little guy. I began my pursuit of the Emenee Golden Pipe shortly after that. Watching intently on the ebay auction.
When it was all said and done, I lucked out as if fate itself had decided this would be my organ. No one else made a bid, so I took the organ for $35 USD all in (shipping and everything included)
Now the organ has arrived and I did my first recording session with it today. It sounds amazing. I highly recommend these little guys to anyone looking for a cool vibey organ, that will give some color to a recording, without wanting to spend a CRAP LOAD of cash.
They also make a very nice addition to your home or studio decor!
I guarantee you will hear this in use on some of my future recordings.
Ok so Nashville is pretty cool. But at times, it gets overwhelming. At times you are all alone. No one is around, nothing is going on. This wouldn’t be so bad IF you hadn’t just had THE MOST INSANE NIGHT OF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE just the night before. Now lately I had someone say to me “Oh, you are posting things trying to be some rockstar or something”. I disagree. And feel free to disagree with me as well. But mostly, I won’t care.
This is my life. Do I think I’m better than anyone because i’ve gone through STUPID hard times, and had some AMAZINGLY GOOD things happen as well. Of course not. And is struggle comparative? Can you say to the son of a crack or heroine addict that their struggle isn’t valid, because they didn’t grow up in a war torn country where they lost one of their parents to gun fire?
How can you compare struggle? i don’t think you can. On any level. Tupac could rap about things, I will NEVER IN MY LIFE experience, but I can identify. SOMEHOW> through the struggle. And so can millions of other people. There could be someone who suffered through terrible tortures, the likes of which Tupac never dreamt of, but even they could identify with him. Because you can’t quantify struggle. There is no measurement of adversity. It is simply adversity. And it is something we can allllll identify with. And great stories of overcoming adversity are meant to inspire us all. Not make us feel guilty about coping with our own. Just inspire us. Let us know we are not alone. Let us know, there is hope, there is success, there is overcoming, there is victory.
Now Nashville is a great town.
I’ve had some crazy and amazing things happen here. Things that mean a lot to me, because they are related to music, and because I care about music a lot.
I still end up in my tiny little apartment alone at the end of the night. I still write songs alone, present them alone, put myself out there alone, and wait for the criticism to fall on myself alone. But it is a welcomed practice at this point.
I get hurt alone. I cry alone. I think alone.
But I win too. I win a little, in some way, almost every day. Just being in Nashville. And when I win, I NEVER win alone. I win with others. I win with those who support me, who encourage me, who message me, who communicate, who reach out, who help, who respect, who champion my success for some reason I still do not know. I win with them, because they are THE ONLY way I ever win. But we do. We win.
As far as my music goes, things have been going exceptionally well lately. I feel they will only get better. But if I had no one to share each small victory with, I think I would go mad. I think true happiness comes from sharing a knowing moment with something else. Nature, friends, family, god or the universe, some unknowing, unphysical thing even. But it is shared. A piece of great artwork. You could stand alone in front of it. And be brought to tears by it. But someone else’s hand created that, to communicate to your eye, and then to your core. And it was shared. Even nature, is shared. The existence of light, just to be able to share the form of the world, for the recognition of those with eyes to perceive it. Plants don’t have eyes. But yet they share something with us, that we could never duplicate, that we could NEVER give back to THEM.
I’m not stoned. Trust me.
Read this book:
A Little Book on the Human Shadow
by Robert Bly
Listen to this band:
The Kills
you don’t have to of course. And if you do, you don’t have to think they are very incredible. But I do. And since this is my blog, and I’m guessing you have come here to read what I’m writing, I’m going to write about two things that have affected my life in a great way lately.
Now for your thoughts. the age old question. Are people basically good, or are people basically bad?
And don’t even think about leaving a comment with your opinion, without at least attempting to justify your reasoning…
I’m going to write more often. I promise. I’m sorry for being so slack after setting this blog up. It doesn’t make much sense to have a blog and not to use it, does it? Well I’ve dealt with some things, and I think I have the ability now to operate this site in the way I have always desired. Its a matter of tweaking your own brain and the things you’ve always struggled against, to a point where they no longer have dominion over you….and all your greatest desires, are now within reach.
FROM THE MAILING LIST:
Hey guys and gals,
just wanted to let you know I’m posting my song “Black Butterflies” in this email on the player, on my reverbnation page (http://www.reverbnation.com/valhallamusic) and on my myspace (http://www.myspace.com/myspacemusicvalhalla) for 24 hours only. Then I’m taking it down because i’m going to be rerecording it very soon. I will be heading back up to New Jersey in August to work with a wicked producer there named Warren Hibbert and the team at 4west records. We shall see what comes of it, but obviously i am VERY excited.
I will be playing in Savannah, Georgia this weekend which also is going to FREAKIN ROCK because that city has so much history and I am just going to LAP IT UP!!!
Nashville is rocking too right now and I’ve been doing a lot of writing. I met a guy named Matt King who has some of the coolest music i’ve ever heard in my life and I actually get to write him tomorrow. I can’t believe it. Check out his stuff at http://www.myspace.com/mattking
You won’t be disappointed! Its like the dirty under belly of the south music or something. I don’t know. Its like Tom Waits in the prohibition era drinking out of a bottle with XXX on it or something. You’ll see what I mean…
A lot of other really good things are happening to with the website, the blog, and some other business deals goin down. I can’t say much now but will soon! Enjoy the tunes for now and I’ll holler at you again soon! Oh yah, and I made it to 25 so let’s all throw a mad high five down for that one 
Yours in service and your most thankful fan of you the fan,
-Val Halla
The first writer’s I heard on a panel at ASCAPexpo included Craig Wiseman, Ryan Tenner. Craig said when writing “Get the fear out of the room.” Ryan said “Ask a busy person to get something done, and it will get done.” Both good things to keep in mind.
ASCAPexpo also had some great performances. Richard Marx told the story of “Right Here Waiting For You.” And for some reason knowing the real life story behind it, really made it that much more meaningful when he sang it acoustic moments later. I don’t mean to sad like a sappy girl on this one, but truly reality and truth in a song adds a whole other dimension. Some of these songwriters who performed at this conference even had issues with singing in tune, but I can’t say i heard a single hit song coming from the person who wrote it, that didn’t hit just as hard when they performed it in comparison to the star who cut the hit song.
A highlight was hearing Heart play songs both new and old live acoustic. I haven’t been that blown away by female musicians in my life EVER before. I’ve never seen Joni Mitchell or Fleetwood Mac live, but DAMN! Heart has some serious balls! True musicians, who didn’t rely on being female to get them through, but didn’t play down their femininity either. That hour I watched them and listened to their road stories, and their songwriting inspirations, was a moment in my life I won’t soon forget.
Ok so I’ve been slacking on the updates. So i’m going to chop them up into segments to make …sense?
I left April 12th i think it was for Pennsylvania. I played 2 showcases at Launch Music Conference there. Launch was a great conference, though I’m sure some of you read my DIY blog where I vented some frustration with a common theme i was hearing from panels at conferences lately…not just Launch. I would definitely recommend Launch to those of you who may be in the region close to Pennslyvania. Apply next year, showcase to lots of people, have a great time, and make good relationships. its a good place to go. And good people attend and are in charge.
Then it was off to Baltimore where I did a show at Joe Squared. A place FAMOUS for their pizza in baltimore. Also fully licensed! Yipppeeee! I tasted the pizza, and YES, it was delicious. Unfortunately, I walked out of their just happy enough from a great show, and just tipsy enough from a few shots, to forget my prized microphone-stand-beer-cup-holder. It was a beer cozy that attached right onto your mic stand and made bending over for sips between songs irrelevant. If anyone knows of its whereabouts, please don’t hesitate to call me! I had a great time in baltimore, and the people there were AWESOME. Friends of mine from Nashville lined me up with their friends from back home in Baltimore, and i must say they were a great group of people. We ended up at a strip club on a sunday night even! Bahahaha. And when the guys say “as long as we don’t do shots tonight…we have to work in the morning” i took that as a cue to go get a round of shooters. What a night…
Also thanks to “Corrin Campbell & the Election” who opened up for me at the show. Corrin is one bad ass singer, and the boys in the band can PLAY man YAH!
Off to sunny Los Angeles after that. There was no time to enjoy the sun or beach though because I was about to attend to incredible music conferences in a row… and things were about to get VERY interesting….
Ok, so I’m at Launch Music Conference in Pennsylvania right now. Its a great conference put on and so far the panels have been great. Its a lot smaller than something like SXSW so you actually have packed showcases and get a lot of attention. The panels are more intimate and involved AND engaging.
However, i’m not just trying to blow smoke up Launch’s ass here, and so I have to admit the last panel I saw REALLY pissed me off. I’m am so sick and tired of hearing this “Screw labels. Labels will be dead in 5 years” attitude.
NO THEY WON’T. And stop telling the kids that. There is something to be said for a crashing industry, and the fact that physical CD sales have been on a downward spiral and will continue so. Basically there is just a lot less overall to go around. And yes, the major labels are getting hit hard. Are they going anywhere? Absolutely not.
Major labels still have catalogued albums. The old school stuff that we love so much. People will continue to buy because of nostalgia. Because the music meant something. Its the major’s saving grace right now.
But though they are taking a much smaller piece of the pie overall, they have their sites aimed on more AS WE SPEAK.
I know for a fact they have digital divisions set up just for emerging technology. Just strictly to find ways to monetize in the new market. And they will. While these panelists sit here and tell kids to “screw labels” “you don’t need one…do it yourself” EXCUSE ME? Is that kid you just said that to going to walk up to the major cell phone carriers in the United States and say “Hey when you guys start providing subscription based music platforms for mobile, can you put my band on there? We’ve sold 120 copies of our album in our home town.”
They’re going to go GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE, that is if the kid even ever made it past security to get into an office and actually speak to someone about it. Which they wouldn’t. Its just stupid. telling these kids to do it themselves. These are not business men and women. They are musicians. They don’t have years of experience, contacts, business knowledge, business politics on their side. Are you kidding me? Get real DIY dudes.
DIY up to a point is great. You can kick start your career instantly if you go about it the right way, work your but off, yah you can achieve acceptable success in a world where it might not have been possible ten years ago. But why is that everyone’s focus??? to barely scrape by? Isn’t rock n roll based on the idea that you have something worth saying, and something equally worth hearing? Why not set your goals hire. Say , “Hey there is a company that has way more experience, knowledge, and most of all, resources (contacts and money), than I do. I think I should aim to work with a company like that. ” Yes you give up a little bit to work with a company, but what happened to two heads are better than one? As Will Ferrell said on SNL in a famous Robert Goulet impersonation “You wouldn’t hire a clown to fix a leak in the john”
It just doesn’t make sense that these people are telling these kids to forget about the people who know this industry inside and out. Aim high. Aim your sites on people who can do what you cannot. And don’t be ashamed to admit you can’t do it yourself. You are supposed to. You’re a musician. You’re not a college business grad, with a minor in advertising. or whatever. Its just B.S. straight up. Do what you can with what you can, and when the right people come along to build your team, BUILD IT. And dont stop building. Aim high.
Work together. This is not a war. we are not at war with labels. Just find the right ones. Find the right people. Its not us against them. This is the INDUSTRY. Its not the music MAN. Its an industry and if you use all facets you will fair much better than doing EVERYTHING ON YOUR OWN. Its common sense.
If someone makes money off you, but together you are each making more money than you would without each other, what exactly is wrong with that?
And all this B.S. about “oh look what Radiohead did, look at Trent Reznor” YES THEY ARE BOTH DOING AWESOME THINGS WITHOUT A LABEL> AND ITS GREAT> AND TRENT IS ONE OF THE MOST INVENTIVE AND CREATIVE AND FORWARD THINKING PEOPLE OUT THERE AND I ADMIRE HIM FOR THAT……BUT DON’T FORGET FOR ONE SECOND THAT BOTH THOSE ACTS STARTED ON MAJORS, BUILT THEIR FAN BASES ON MAJORS, AND THEN HAD THE OPTION TO LEAVE.
You think you can just jump in the game tomorrow, and have the success that NIN or Radiohead has had in the next year just from DIY and giving your album out for free like them? HELL NO. Sure give you album out for free. Its great promotion. But don’t wonder why you can’t sustain yourself a year or two down the line, because after you did all that fan base building, you refused to sign with a company that could have taken your career to the next level and helped it blossom. AND VALIDATED all the work you did on your own to get there.
Aim high. Don’t be afraid to work with others, just work with the RIGHT people. Educate yourself, but don’t do it alllll yourself. I’m so sick of this B.S. of “screw the labels.” No screw you buddy.
Don’t listen kids. Work hard. Work together. Accomplish amazing things and feats.
Aim High.