Lazie Indie Magazine

Lazie Indie Magazine Edition 21 27 January, 2022 New Year Edition

Features Music for Love Nojazz Cathy Grier

Rodney Collins Juan Sanchez Tracy Horenbein Chris Catena

Giotis Kyttaris Anand Junction District 13

NEW YEAR GREETINGS

On Cover USHA UTHUP

Content

Editors Corner Music for Love Nojazz District 13 Once Great Estate Chris Catena Giotis Kyttaris Cathy Grier Juan Sanchez Anand Junction Rodney Collins

NEW YEAR GREETINGS Darby Mills, Steve Lynch, Dave Evans, Will Johns, Oliver Sean, Lyia Meta, Dave Coonrod, David C Deal, Steven Berez, The Hammond Brothers, Sami Chohfi, Sherise D'souza & The Foole.

Cover Story USHA UTHUP

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Editors Corner

Information The magazine is published by Lazie J Print Edition 21 The month of publishing - January 2022

Editorial Team Author/Editor: Jay N Pillai Co-ordination and Promotion: Manoj Verified by: Inge Zimmermann Probst Guest Feature: Column and Review: Tomiko Dixon Galaxy FM NZL Emma Goldberg Cover Photo: Usha Uthup Cover Photo Courtesy Samaresh Karmakar

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Wish you a Happy New Year The year 2021 started off with great hopes and ended up with a mixed bag of results to many. We at LIM did have a great time though. Hours of hard work put in did help us to move ahead and get ourselves a place among a few good magazines promoting Independent music. We intend to continue this work and if possible, enhance our focus of actions to a few more areas. We will announce that soon. New Year has come with new hope, new opportunities and new challenges at the same time. How we meet those challenges determine how we will use those opportunities and that helps us reach our plans for the year. Personally for every one this year is critical as we have all been stuck in a hole for past couple of years without full mobility and with some restrictions. I think this year we will all come back to our regular path which we had to leave recently. To regroup and refill and re-energize we need a lot of inspiration and that is what prompted me to try and feature one of the icons of Indian Pop music and asking her to tell her story and share her wisdom with the readers of Lazie Indie Magazine. We are thankful to Usha Uthup for agreeing to the interview and in fact giving us a detailed one. We also have interviewed the founder and promoter Music for Love an initiative aimed at helping the underprivileged in countries that are poverty stricken. Mr Franco Nannucci deserves to be spoken about and his label Music for Love needs to be cheered for the work they do. We do have a lot of other fantabulous artists featured and a host of our previously featured artists sending their love and greetings to our readers, so read the New Year special edition... Share it with your friends, your help matters the most to us... Thank you and wish you a Great 2022 - Jay Page7

Usha Uthup: "Didi" (Elder Sister) of Indian Pop

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ive decades and more, Usha Uthup has spread the message of love, unity, peace, harmony, tolerance, integrity and happiness - through music. From discotheques to concerts across India and the World, she has addressed the youth about the values of music that makes us human. She has been an inspiration to

generations of musicians or for that matter, anyone who ever has come to know about her or heard her music. Usha Uthup has held on to her Indianness with pride all through her illustrious career while she belted out music from all across the world. She has sung in 17 different Indian languages and 8 foreign languages and has been honored with Padmasri which is the 4th highest civilian award in India.

Here is a list of a few milestones from her phenomenal career spanning 53 years and going stronger each day.

• She has pioneered. At the behest of Shri Rajiv Gandhi, the most path breaking, show on Doordarshan."POP TIME" featuring only POP Shows.

• Worked for Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity mobilising funds for Prem Daan, Sishu Bhavan, home for the dying in Kalighat, Kolkata.

• Represented India at Mother's beatification at the Vatican City invited by the Pope, • First charity in 1968-69 for the TOI fund for the Services - Bombay.

• Awarded Key to Kenya by the late President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, for contribution to bring communities of the world together through song. The big song being Malaika and other hit songs in Swahili.

• Awarded the Person of the World, by the President Daniel Arap Moi. • Worked extensively for Spastics Association, first performed in Bombay for Nargis Dutt in 1970 when the Association was formed.

• Actively worked for the leprosarium and supported the home for people suffering from leprosy across the nation.

• Worked in innumerable NGOs and with the Govt. supporting research for cancer, aids, women trafficking, child abuse, worked with The Richard Gere Foundation for Aids.

• Worked extensively with NGOs concerned with empowerment of women. Swayam, Ladli and many others in South India.

• Mobilized more than 100 artists for the victims of the Tsunami. And, more recently for the victims of Aila.

• Worked for street children and children coming from red light areas.

• Represented India through ICCR across Europe. Africa and Asia.

• Worked in South Africa extensively for various charities including SPCA and Milk Fund in Durban, collecting over 1million Rand.

• Sang "Aage Badho" for women's empowerment in 15 languages, for the Government of India.

• Composed and recorded a song called "The Peace Prayer" based on a poem by the then President of India APJ Abdul Kalam.

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• She has received the coveted Padma Shri Award in the year 2011.

• Performed at the prestigious TED, conference to a standing ovation at Mysore.

• ln Davos she performed at the world eco forum to a standing ovation.

• She received the Film Fare Award for the song "Darling" in 2011.

• She attended the Canonization for Mother Teresa in September 2016 the Vatican City. She also performed there.

• She received the Life Time Achievement Award from Radio Mirchi in 2017.

We Indians call her "Didi" (elder sister) in return to the love and affection she has showered on us all these years. It is a matter of immense pride for Lazie Indie Magazine to present to our readers across the world Usha Uthup. Let us listen and learn from this loving "Didi" of Indian music and there is a lot to learn folks. Read on ...

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Jay: Hello Didi! First of all, it is an absolute honor to share a few words of wisdom from someone like you with our readers. Let me start by asking this: You have been a true Indian with an unparalleled multicultural background, born to a Tamil family, brought up in Mumbai, married to a Malayali, lives in Kolkata and sung all around India in 17 languages and many other foreign languages wears a sari and sings Western music. Have you ever thought about how unique this is and maybe that you were just born to do this?

Usha Uthup: Yes, indeed I am a Tamilian, born and brought up in Mumbai, married into Kerala, and now living in Calcutta and I have sung in 17 Indian languages…

That itself should show that I have always taken pride in the fact that I am an Indian. Thank God! I would like to say to everybody that it is just fantastic that I was born an Indian and for me, it is a huge thing. I took advantage of right from my school days with my languages and it paid off. I went to the convent of Jesus and Mary in Bombay at Byculla and the Medium of teaching was in English.

Second language was Hindi, my third language was Marathi, 4th was French and we spoke Tamil at home, so already I had a good foundation of 5 different languages. But of course, I keep saying to everybody that if you are born in India you are already born with an advantage of 17 languages and God knows how many different dialects… So why don’t we take advantage of that? It never struck me as something very different that I sing Western in English and I never thought it to be unique. That is the only thing I knew. I came from a time when there was no TV, no media, nothing! No internet, I mean I come from that time 1968-69 and in my formative years in school I only heard the radio so whatever I heard in school or on the radio I just picked it up.

My sisters were the original Singing Sisters called Sami Sisters who used to sing only Western music. So in any case the “Mahol” or atmosphere was conducive to me picking up my choice of LIM

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singing in English. But while I sang in English I always included an Indian language song too. So if it is unique I am really blessed because it was the correct time for me to come into the scene. I did it not to show people in a rebellious way that I want to be different, I just did it because it was the only thing I knew wearing a saree and looking the way I do and singing the way I do.

Jay: ”Hang in there” has been your advice to upcoming artists all these years, what is the most important factor that helps one to hang in there as you say?

Usha Uthup: "Hang in there" has been my advice. I say this not just to aspiring singers but to established singers as well.

Hang in there! You know, if you have a dream… first of all, dream big because if we don’t have a dream how will we make the dream come true? I think it is necessary to hang in there because all dreams do not come true straight away but if you really believe in yourself it will come true someday. So you have to work toward it and hang in there with all your honesty with your dedication, but always with the fact that you got to be honest to your art and craft and honest to your audiences and as far as I am concerned a LIM

song is a song and it doesn’t matter who sang it first, and the song is always, always bigger than the singer. So just hang in there everybody!

Jay: The energy you share is capable of pulling every one towards you when you perform and may be even when you are just around. What do you think an artist should do to develop and maintain such high energy levels?

Usha Uthup: Actually for me you know, music and life and energy and happiness everything is cyclic. What you give out comes back to you. Sometimes it takes a longer time and sometime smaller time but whatever it takes it will come back to you. So when you give your energy and yourself, that means your love and energy put together unashamedly it has to come back. Without having the energy it is not possible to convince the audience that you love them you really got to love what you are doing. You’ve got to believe in the music you are singing. If you don’t believe in your music who is going to believe you?

And if you don’t believe that the song is what you love the applause is what you live on and live for actually, as far as I am concerned if I don’t get the applause from the audience I absolutely don’t get the energy. So my energy comes from the audience and my co-musicians, who give me fantastic music, but basically it is the audiences and God that helps me along.

Energy is cyclic. You have to give before you get and remember that in all your relations, you give before you get…

Jay: What makes you click with any new generation at a given time while many great artists become an old story?

Usha Uthup: I think the fact is you have to make time your friend. Instead of fighting with time, I think it is nice to walk with time and befriend time and change along with times, because there is nothing so certain as change in life and life is all about change. Every minute life is changing and times are changing. So if you don’t walk along with time, then you get left behind and if you walk too fast then you have to wait for life to catch up.

So it is always important to be a friend of Page13

time and see that time befriends you. Because only when your eyes, your heart and soul is open to time. You really see the differences in different generations and as far as I am concerned I don’t see much change but cosmetic changes. So if I was singing ‘Rumba Ho’ or “Green Bag Dollar” or “I believe in music”. I am singing the same song whatever I sang 53 years ago with a different package of energy, with a new package of looking at life and the way I sang those days will probably be different now because the atmosphere is different. The whole situation is different. I mean whoever thought we will be going through Covid like this right? So when I am singing or doing a virtual show, my attitude is totally different so these are changes we have to bring in. That is why I can connect with the young generation. In fact, I am singing to 5 generations. The one common factor is that the heart still beats the same way.

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Jay: You have transcended language barriers, styles of music, age, gender gaps and keep going relentlessly. Did you ever feel tired or feel that you have been caught in your image of this unbelievably popular one-of-a-kind star and you better move out to a different part of the planet?

Usha Uthup: No I never really felt the importance to keep changing my clothes according to what people want or the languages or the boundaries or countries.

I felt all these are unnecessary. If anybody loves you it should be because of who you are. Yes, the truth is that I have felt caught in my own web many times because now if I get into an airport not now, it has been 2 years I have seen an airport, but if you went into an airport without a ‘Bindi’ and the security girl will

dedication and hard work for there is no substitute to hard work or putting in that effort. There is not shortcut. So before the show, sometimes maybe the day before, sometimes on the day of the show or two days before we make a playlist. By we, I meant Samaresh (Manager), Rinta (PA to Usha Uthup) and myself we make a playlist according to the brief that we have got from the client, depending on what kind of cloud we have, is it an older sophisticated crowd or a younger casual crowd or is it a show with a full crosssection of people where you have people sitting on the paddy fields with barricades all over the place. It depends on what kind of a show I am doing, I make my playlist. I know I have an idea and I put down 30-40 songs and then play along

"I think the fact is you have to make time your friend. Instead of fighting with time, I think it is nice to walk with time and befriend time and change along with times because there is nothing so certain as change in life and life is all about change".

definitely say “aap ne bindi nahi pehna aaj? (haven't you worn your bindi today?) or in whichever language they speak be it Malayalam or Bengali they kind of dictate without realizing what you should be wearing and I love it! I love being caught in my own web. Sometimes I do think oh I should have worn a “Salvar Kameez” (Indian dress) for some interview or something like that, but then “I realize that, it is not what people are looking for”.

They want to see Usha Uthup the same way and I am happy to see that of course there are changes they notice in me say and extra grey hair, who cares as long as you are essentially the same person within.

Jay: How do you plan your show, who helps you set the song list, and what is the basis of your choice of the setlist for each show?

Usha Uthup: Now the planning of a show requires a lot of energy and a lot of time from me and as I always say a lot of LIM

with that, because if I know that in a particular place I cannot sing Skyfall, I would substitute that with something else. But yes I do make a playlist and I spend a lot of time making it just right.

Because sometimes you will find that there are a lot of people from say, Karnataka and I will definitely add a Kannadiga song or if they are from Bombay, I will put in a Marathi son. It depends on the place where I am singing, but yes I take a lot of trouble to make my playlist.

Jay: What gives you maximum satisfaction, writing, recording or performing live and why?

Usha Uthup: Oh! Any day I love recording. I have recorded during the Covid pandemic times. It is unbelievable.

I have never recorded so many songs in my whole career as I did in the past two years. But for me, the most important thing and the most satisfying thing is a live performance. As I always say real life Page16

gives you no rehearsals. It is all performances, you better deliver as there is no second take and I think that is very important. So I am very happy doing what I am doing and performing live is most satisfying because you will get your gratification or satisfaction immediately.

The reaction is there immediately which you can’t get in a recording. I mean you know the music director or the people you know may say that it is wonderful but you have to wait for the reactions from different people and then the market. For me, performing live gets instant, instant reaction.

Jay: The world of Independent artist is one of a lot of struggle, especially these days. Being someone who has weathered it all for many years what would you say to an Indie artist?

Usha Uthup: Actually, I don’t make a difference between this music or that music where as I would definitely go to say that if you are going to make LIM

Independent as you may call it, in those days it used to be called private songs. So if you are going to make money out of these songs you gotta be really lucky if one of your songs which is not in a film succeeds. When people ask me how is the Indian music scene I ask them to please clarify, because it is the only country which has filmy music and non-filmy music. As long as people are pumping in unreal amount of money into the film scene, the non-filmic scene can never compete in terms of money or revenue earning as far as I am concerned. But it doesn’t matter, I am a happy person where ever I am. I am happy in the space that I am in. No problem at all. But yes film music will prevail on a much higher level than independent music.

Jay: A quick stupid question, which is more demanding? Being Didi to millions or Dadi (grandmother) to Ayesha your beautiful and talented granddaughter?

Usha Uthup: It is a stupid question as far Page17

as I am concerned they are both so satisfying and so important in my life being Didi to the audience and everybody around and being Aisha and Riyad's grandmother.

There is nothing to compare with that, your mother, your wife and your grandmother is the most important relationship in your life and I think that is fantastic. I mean I just love it. Aisha is my beautiful… beautiful granddaughter and Riyad is my grandson. A brilliant boy. As far as I am concerned, I wouldn’t be able to function without them. They are really amazing kids. So both the roles are wonderful and it is not difficult to be either.

Jay: In your words can you share your thought on a few words for fellow Independent musicians across the world: Recognition, Roadblocks & of course India?

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What can I say about India? Except that it is the most fantastic place in the world to be a musician because you have so many different genres and it is not a,b or c it is the whole alphabet that India gives you a chance to prove yourself. I think it is fantastic and I think there is no other place for art and culture like India, especially for music …

Usha Uthup: For Independent musicians all across India and the world, I think the most important thing is your passion for music. If it wasn’t there why would you be there at all? So I think your passion for music. Also I think your honesty towards music and for that, I am really grateful that God has given me the passion and the wherewithal to carry on.

Recognition: Of course is very important.

Without people recognizing you or your work, what is the use of creating at all? At least for me, I am not a person who is happy to create for myself and say Oh I am happy to listen to myself. I have to get applause, I mean, I live for that and I don’t make any bones about that. There was a time when people used to think Oh Usha Uthup sings to the gallery, of course! Yes, I do. Because without the gallery there is no audience, the gallery can sit right in front of you and it LIM

makes no difference where they are sitting. The gallery is the people who clap for everything you say putting in their request and giving you critical feedback.

That is important Road Blocks: Roadblocks are there in every aspect of your life. What is the big deal, you just deal with it the way you deal, I mean if you were an architect or a nurse or an engineer or a doctor you have roadblocks everywhere. See, actually I am a very compulsively optimistic person and the harder you put me down the bigger the bounce back. So actually roadblock is a good thing because you learn a lot out of it. In fact, that is what life is all about. I hope I have sufficiently and committedly and honestly answered all your questions.

Have a wonderful 2022 and I do hope that everybody will realize the most important things that I have said is "Hang in there, no matter what happens", Page19

"Life is for living" and "the song is always bigger than the singer. No matter what happens song is always... always much bigger than the singer!!!"

Jay: Thank you, Didi… it is an absolute honor to speak to you and share your honest and insightful thoughts with our readers. Wish you the best of 2022 !!!

Usha Uthup: Thank you!

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"Music for Love is a charitable organization aimed at bringing tangible and effective economical support to different charity projects around the world. The goal is to ensure significant, immediate help to children and young adults living in contexts of extreme poverty where basic things such as survival and personal safety are questioned on a daily basis"- founded by Italian businessman Franco Nannucci. Music for Love has successfully rallied around musicians from across the world for a common cause of supporting young people in need in the most poverty affected places on the earth. Music for Love started almost by chance in 2016 when, to celebrate his 50th birthday, Franco Nannucci organized an event which raised €60,000 all destined to be donated to the Fabrizio Meoni Onlus, the foundation named after the great motorcyclist who passed away in 2005 while running the Paris/Dakar. Today Music For Love is also an award winning international label

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"I wish I could bring many people to visit some of the projects to show how a small school can change the future of a small village or city".

and Franco Nannucci is a big part of the Fabrizio Meoni Onlus and through Music for Love, he organizes yearly events to collect funds and raise awareness on the harsh realities we as a collective society should address with all our might. Galaxy FM has been supportive of the cause and Lazie Indie Magazine thanks Barbara Harkins and DJ Grant of Galaxy FM NZL for introducing Franco Nannucci to LIM. Jay speaks to Franco Nannucci...

Jay: Hi Franco, welcome to Lazie Indie Magazine and great to have you here. You have dedicated yourself to supporting schools across the globe and with a great amount of success. How did you come into this?

Franco: First of all let me say thank you Jay for this incredible opportunity and thanks to our friends in New Zealand, DJ Grant and Barbara of Galaxy 107 FM. LIM

Everything started many years ago while racing the Paris/Dakar rally and meeting Fabrizio Meoni, one of the super star of that sport. He was the reason I embraced and support the foundation that has his name after he suddenly passed away in 2005. His example and generosity needed and need to live. I am one of the testimonials of the Fondazione Fabrizio Meoni Onlus since 2016 and a major fundraising support for it. The first school was built in Dakar, like 2 more but after a few years the foundation partnered with few organizations in other countries, this helped us to become sort of international organization. Education and Health Care are the foundations to allow young generations to build a better future for themselves. Right now these projects and mission really got under my skin and I love to have the opportunity to support so many kids and do it with music incredibly Page23

rewarding.

Jay: Before taking up this arduous task you were from the textile industry. What made you think of involving in music and charity, both distinct to textiles?

Franco: Well, let me say this, textile is still my real job, textile is the source to pay for music production, for donations and giving back to so many people. I realize that I needed something to offer all people I was going to ask for donations, I decided that music was going to be my gift to them hoping for waves of donations. I entered the music world in 2015 with few homemade music productions and videos, in 2016 Music for Love was born and the first event/ fundraising was produced. The results of this first event were the sparkle to keep going, but I was not sure how. I am no musician, singer, music producer (now the people around me they say I am a music producer, but I still consider myself a textile man!). In 2017 I produced LIM

a fantastic Jazz concert in Prato, Italy, that I believe is incredible event for a real rookie in the entertainment business, with a fantastic fundraising. At December 2021 (while I am in London with one of my music producers, Stefano De Donato ... in quarantine, because we both tested positive to Covid) I have produced 10 live concerts, a dozen of music video and 10 albums in various music genres, from Jazz to World, from Hip Hop/Rap to R&B/Soul and Ethnic. We received multiple awards and nominations at Hollywood Music in Media Awards, Global Music Awards, Top Brazilian 2021 songs and finally in the ballots for Grammy Nominations this year.

Considering where I am coming from, it is simply a fantastic journey, thank to all the people that crossed my path in the past 6 years. Some of these encounters are really incredible, from the nephew of Miles Davis, the family of Michel Petrucciani, the family if Bob Marley and more. I have Page24

to say thanks to Mrs Alessandra Lo Savio and Alacran Group for all the support during this fantastic 2021, without her I would not have accomplished some of the results with "Music for Love Vol.1" album and for example I would not be here today talking to you. The people we meet make the difference; it is all about the people.

Jay: How do you choose your artists for your label? And as a label what is expected out of the artist to be selected by your label?

Franco: Well as far as music production as a business, I want to focus on young artists and talents, offering them the opportunity to develop their talents with the support of great music producers, musicians, vocal coaches and more. We have 2 artists right now that are 21 and 22 years old, Kristina Murrell, R&B/Soul and Roc Flowers that go from Rap/Hip Hop to Nu Jazz. I produced also other artists like Duo Manibe" (Ethnic/World), ABC LIM

Project (Jazz Fusion), Sonny King (Rap/ Hip Hop) and we have more coming. As for the humanitarian part of the project, I have 120/130 artists supporting my projects from 10 different countries and this is just the beginning, I hope. The "selection" is simply based on the mood and target of every project, so extreme flexibility with one strong foundation: I want artists ready to challenge themselves stepping out of their comfort zone. I strongly believe that diversity is a strength and not a weakness, in music and within humans ... so no limits, no boundaries with the need to think outside the box. Some of the real professional in the industry welcomed my presence saying: You are free from all boundaries of our industry and you show it in your productions and projects. We would need more people like you to refresh our vision and making sure we take some risks to innovate it. (I am not going to say who these comments are Page25

coming from, I can just say they are from industry leaders).

Jay: How do you identify an area where you need to support say building schools etc?

Franco: This is not an easy task, as we all know, the world of non-profit and humanitarian projects can be a dark world and I stop it here. We work very carefully to identify local partners that can guarantee some of critical aspects of project like ours such as: Transparency, credibility, past work, long term vision, ethical values. Over the years, as every other organization, we had some issues but the vast majority of the projects, from 2005 to 2021 are active, live and functioning to the purposes we envisioned. I always say to our donors, little or big, if you like to visit the schools or other projects to feel comfortable about what your funds are going to be used for, let me know and we can fly to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Cameroon etc. The keys are continuity and consistency.

Projects need to have a long term vision and feasibility, we are not in this if it is not on the table. We have a new school project in Senegal right now and we are just looking for a land as I am writing to you. Jay: Where all do you have your charity projects running? Franco: We supported important projects in USA, where I live and in Italy where I was born but the key for now is Africa, I wish one day I could find a partner in India for example. I do not look to gigantic projects; you can do a lot of good to people with small but well executed projects. Fondazione Fabrizio Meoni Onlus support with us the following: Senegal - 4 schools Burkina Faso - 1 school and medical dispensary Sierra Leone - 1 School Ivory Coast - 1 School Cameroon - 1 agricultural project South Sudan - 1 School (over 3000 children) and 2 wells Kenya - Builty a library in a remote region and support an orphanage We have supported with major events and fundraising also 2 important organizations in Italy that support LIM

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children with rare illnesses, leukemia and cancer plus the Guilford County School system where I live in North Carolina.

Jay: Your events are for raising funds for Charity. How do you conduct the same and how do you get maximum participation from artists and crowd?

Franco: Lots of passion, lots of energy ... trying to forget fast some of the frustrations that I encountered on the way. I have to say that on the artists side, I found an overwhelming support, I surely try to pay for their art, talent and time, they know all funds come out of my personal pocket so they have been very fair to me. The success I believe is simply in these ingredients: Offer beautiful and top quality music, give proper visibility about the project supported. I have to say that my team dedicated a lot of time and energy. It is fantastic to see with every project more people embracing Music for Love, these are incredible "love collisions" ... when you know you do the right thing, miracles can happen, as I said before people make the difference and the more we are the better it is. Jay: The lockdown brought the industry to a halt. There are many musicians whose livelihood was affected. Have you thought of something LIM

to help some of them through your projects?

Franco: Covid was and is a major disruption into the life of so many musicians, artists and all the industries involved. I, of course, tried to help and in fact our first compilation album, 'Music for Love Vol.1" was possible because of Covid. I helped some of the producers and musicians and they helped me while they could not tour and perform live. I can say that without Covid that project would have not been possible. We worked with 29 artists in 8 different countries, all sharing the frustration of Covid and the love for music and the message that is behind it. The 18 months production and the last 12 since the publishing have been a fantastic journey and for me learning about a world I was just observing till recently, journalists, magazines, blogs, DJs, Awards, Nominations and also some donations! I am on the artists side during this pandemic and not just now. Artists are fragile and need the help of the other industry's parties cause with them there is no industry.

Jay: What have been the responses from governments across the countries where your projects have been implemented?

Franco: We received few responses but our work is really on the ground, with the teachers, local representatives of the institutions. We are not big enough to get governments involved and if it happens we try to stay with locals on the ground, villages and small cities. Where we go we need to make sure we have control or supervision of spending and project management. Small but real, small but effective. I believe in governments and institutions but the more there are involved the slower the pace of the project is and the more funds are required. I wish I could bring many people to visit some of the projects to show how a small school can change the future of a small village or city. We are very often "confused" by very large projects that are suppose to change a region, a country or a continent ... I still have to find one of those that made it to completion. I travelled over 100 countries Page27

in the past 40 years and I saw and see way too much poverty, hate and violence ... there is more to do of what has been done.

Jay: If one wants to get involved in your project how does he/she reach out to you?

Franco: I would love to have many to contact me and us, to share the details of what we do, they can become part of the team, they can start their own, our goal is ultimately to help people in need! On our website there are links to learn about us, the music, the projects and how to connect with our team, www.musicforlove.org, or on the social media. I would be happy to have people contacting you and you can direct them to me. The more we are, the better we can do, together we can make magic. Music For Love | Not For Profit Organization & Record Label CHARITY Music For LOVE is an organization, founded by Franco Nannucci, that creates, produces, and promotes positive music and musical events, with the sole aim of raising funds for charitable causes in support of humanitarian and educational projects around the world. www.musicforlove.org Jay: What is the best advice given to you and what would you share as advice to LIM

our reader?

Franco: I would give 2 different that are related to my experience and life: "If you dreaming it, you can do it. Dream big".

"You need to give what it takes to make it happen. Sometime 100% is not enough and you need to push yourself to an extra". 6 years ago I could not imagine that today I would be here, talking to you, talking to so many important people in the music industry ... but I dreamed to make it happen and I have worked very very hard to try to make it happen and not without difficult times. Thank you for your time and it was great speaking to you.

Special thanks to Galaxy FM NZL for their support to the Music For Love efforts and introducing Franco Nannucci to Lazie Indie Magazine...

This interview is presented through Galaxy FM Column "Around the Galaxy".

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About the column About the column (Around the Galaxy is a column contributed by Galaxy FM 107, New Zealand, introducing artists from New Zealand and Australia. Galaxy FM is one of the top radio stations in New Zealand and is quickly expanding its listener base across the world. The authors of the column, Barbara Harkins and DJ Grant are well known radio hosts at Galaxy FM hosting the popular Breakfast Show. LIM thanks team Galaxy for their support. Websitewww.galaxyfm.co.nz)

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Well! All the Electro Jazz lovers in the planet, here is a band you must listen to. If you haven't heard them do check them out now!!! Nojazz started in year 2000 in France with 5 top class artists came together to create a new sound throwing in their experience and talent. They quickly got signed up by Warner Bros and released their self titled album in 2002. The band released a number of albums after that all becoming great success. Philippe Balatier: Keyboard & Sampling, Philippe Sellam: Saxophone, Sylvain Gontard: Trumpet, Pascal Reva: Percussion, Jeffrey Mpondo: Lead Vocal have had a great run since they came together. Emma Goldberg in her column Just Like Emma presents this fantastic band to Lazie Indie Magazine readers... Check it out.

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Emma: Hi, you have had a great time as a band so far. How do you feel was your journey so far?

Nojazz: We had an incredible journey.

Our project immediately won over a large audience and allowed us to travel around the world and live great musical experiences and encounters. We have always been free in our artistic choices, it is not always easy to manage, but it has allowed us to stay the course.

Emma: Who were your musical influences and how did you arrive at this genre you play?

Nojazz: Our influences are multiple and of course they have evolved. There is a part of the group that came from Jazz, a second from Electro, and a third from Pop and World. Quite a program… with that we had years of musical combinations ahead of us. But we quickly realized that we had to break free from these influences and create our own style and sound. It happened quite naturally, the ideas flowed.

Emma: How do you go about writing your songs? How do you record and produce your music?

Nojazz: We write a little on our own, a lot with computers. One of us comes up with a strong idea, and we can go over it to refine, but the basic idea will remain the backbone of the song. The Internet plays a major role, we live far from each other and this greatly facilitates communication.

Emma: What do you look to convey to your listeners when you create music? Do you look to set a theme first or do you let the song take over your lyrics?

Nojazz: Writing can start with a sound, a sample, a bassline, a vocal gimmick.

Everything is good to find a new idea, and sometimes even a false computer manipulation.

Emma: Where do we find your music on the internet? Which is your latest release?

NoJazz: You can find our music on all platforms, record stores, YouTube and you can buy our CDs during our live concerts. Our latest release was our album Beautiful Life on 2019.

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"Whether successful or not, an artist has to continue to get fully involved as much as every member of the band. Each action, however seemingly small, counts Every day is a challenge and looking for new ideas is like brain-jogging. Music is our best motivation".

Emma: How do artists in successful bands get their best into their music?

What makes their vibe? What should one be careful when in a band than an individual musician?

Nojazz: Whether successful or not, an artist has to continue to get fully involved as much as every member of the band.

Each action, however seemingly small, counts every day is a challenge and looking for new ideas is like brainjogging. Music is our best motivation.

Emma: The lockdown brought the industry to a halt for some time, but many in music used it for creating new music. How did you spend this lockdown with respect to your music?

Nojazz: During the lockdown, after a period of waiting, we told ourselves that we shouldn't just sit idly by. We wrote like mad 10 Nojazz-style arrangements with

the theme of a re-reading of the great Jazz standards. It was exciting all of a sudden after that freeze to hurry to finish the project that we are now quite proud of.

Emma: What are your immediate future plans?

Nojazz: Our future plans are the release of the album "Nojazz play jazz" and our release concert at "La Cigale on February 8th in Paris.

Emma: What is the best advice given to you and what would you share with fellow young artists bands?

Nojazz: The best advice we would give to young artists is, be yourself, don't try to redo what has already been done, go for it because the doubt will always be there, but it always ends up paying off and keep a cool head, we just make music.

- Thank you

About the Columnist Emma Goldberg is French Pop Singer, Composer, Video Producer, Author writing in Italian, Spanish, English, French. She also is a radio host in Radio 242 UK introducing Independent musicians to audiences across UK, France and the nearby countries. Emma has her own radio show called Just like Emma which is maintained here for the column she contributes to Lazie Indie Magazine.

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District 13 is a Heavy Alternative Rock Band based in London. The band consists of 3 members Asen, Richard and Jon who is the front man. The band can be safely called a Heavy Metal & Punk rolled into one with their own unique signature. They have been described as a cross between Black Sabbath and The Ramones. The songs are mostly up tempo and the band is known for its high energy performances.

District 13 has a fast-growing fanbase and the band performed at top festivals like the Hills of Rock festival in Bulgaria in 2018, that was headlined by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. District 13 is currently working on their second album the first one being "Soma" released in 2015 which was a great success. Jay from Lazie Indie Magazine spoke to Jon from District 13 to know more about them. Thanks to Barbara and DJ Grant of Galaxy fm NZL for introducing District 13 to LIM... Let us read...

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Jay: Hi Jon and Asen, wish you a great year 2022. You have had a very exciting run till now in music. How do you feel was your journey so far as an Alternate Rock Band?

Jon: Hi Jay, Happy New Year! Have a Killer year ahead! We have had some ups and downs. Some of the highlights include performing at Hills of Rock festival 2019 (we are booked for 2022 also), recording two albums and signing a deal with Curtain Call records. Covid has had a big impact as we were unable to play a live show for over a year.

Jay: Who were your musical influences and how did you arrive at this genre you play? Do all 3 of you have similar roots in music?

Richard: Our biggest influence is Hard Rock/Metal music, but we also take influence from many other genres. Some of Jon's favorite bands include Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, The Doors and Black Sabbath. We all like similar music but our favorite bands differ slightly. Asen's favorite band is Metallica.

Jay: How do you go about composing your songs? How do you record and produce your music?

Jon: A lot of first album I composed as I had a lot of ideas already. I would write most songs on an acoustic guitar then record demos. Richard and Asen would add great contributions to their parts. For our new album Asen and Richard have also contributed some riffs and lyric ideas. Both albums were recorded by Georgi Stanev at his home studio in Bulgaria.

Jay: What do you look to convey to your listeners when you create music do you look to set a Lyrical theme first or do you let the tune of the song take over and decide what the lyrics should be?

Jon: Can work either way. A lot of songs I work with music and melody first then think of lyrical themes. Some songs the lyrics came first and I wrote music to fit lyrical theme. Cantankerous is an example of this. I wrote lyrics to be very angry and aggressive and music was written to fit this theme.

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Jay: Where do we find your music on the internet? Which is your latest release?

Asen: Our latest release is Step Into The Fire which you can listen to on various streaming sights including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. We will be releasing a new single on 28th January which is an acoustic song. First acoustic song we have released.

Jay: What gives you the kick, writing, producing or playing live and why?

Jon: Writing, producing and playing live all bring a great sense of accomplishment.

Playing live gives me the biggest kick as it is great when you see and audience connecting with our music and being in the moment.

Jay: How did you spend this lockdown with respect to your music? Many in music used it for creating new music.

Jon: Writing new music is exactly what we did. Our second album was mostly written and recorded during lockdown.

We would send ideas to each other. Some LIM

of the lyrical themes on the new album take influence from the pandemic. Our latest release Step Into The Fire is one example of this and there is another song called Stand United.

Jay: What are your immediate future plans?

Asen: We will be releasing our next single on 28th January and are booked to play Hills Of Rock Festival in July. We want to arrange to play more shows out of London and hopefully travel to USA where our label is based. We will be releasing our new album in April.

Jay: What is the best advice given to you and what would you share with fellow young artists?

Jon: Music takes a lot of commitment and you have to be willing to try everything.

There can be many setbacks, but on the positive side there is no better feeling I get than playing music.

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Once Great Estate was formed in 2018 when singer/songwriter/guitarist Tracy Horenbein enlisted the help of four fellow multi-instrumentalists to form a band of Southern misfits. Bassist Jeffrey Chagnon, guitarist/mandolin player F. Matthew Burns, fiddle player/guitarist Christopher Ash and drummer Steve Burke joined soon after. Although two of the members ended up being a Wyoming transplant and a New Yorker, the members’ varied and vast musical backgrounds melted together like butter on grits. They have released an album, an EP and 5 singles, and they perform regularly around the southeast region. Their releases have received critical acclaim, with one writer describing the band's Americana sound as "Cinematic Southern Rock". Normally an electrified 5-piece, they occasionally perform quieter acoustic shows in more intimate listing rooms. Amped up or traditional, the heartfelt, thoughtful songwriting and musicianship comes through in each

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performance. When Horenbein is not performing with Once Great Estate, she is composing Ambient music under the moniker Tracy Chow. Her instrumental compositions have been featured in numerous documentaries and Independent films, as well as meditation and yoga compilations. She was also featured in The Guardian magazine Folk Album of the Month for May 2021, for her solo singer-songwriter work on the Slow Movement Label’s folk compilation “Future Folk”. She also manages the Neve based recording studio Indianhead Factory in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband. Lazie Indie Magazine spoke to Tracy Horenbein.

LIM: You have had a rising career in music so far creating a substantial fan base worldwide with your music. When you look back, how do you feel about your journey so far?

Tracy: The past year was a challenge with the Pandemic still happening. We continued to find creative ways to engage with our listeners and use social media.

LIM: Who were your musical influences and how did you arrive at this genre you play?

Tracy: Our influences range from LIM

Radiohead to Willie Nelson. We are drawn to great songwriters who are not afraid to experiment.

LIM: How do you go about selecting your songs?

Tracy: We write songs about things that are interesting to us. Sometimes it may be something happening in the world, or sometimes it is just something personal one of us is going through in life.

LIM: How do you record and produce your music? Do you have any special gear/recording system which you feel is important to bring out the kind of voice you want? If so why?

Tracy: Initially, a song idea may get recorded on iPhone. Then maybe a better version using a Universal Audio Arrow, ProTools and a laptop. The final versions get recorded on a Neve Genesys console.

LIM: Where do we find your music on the internet?

Tracy: You can find our music on all digital platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc.

LIM: What gives you the kick, writing, producing or playing live and why?

Tracy: Our favorite part of making music is recording in the studio. There is something magical about creating art that will be shared and discovered by people for a long time.

LIM: Tell us about the success of your album “Even the Undertaker” and its hit singles!

Tracy: Our album, “Even the Undertaker”, has been shared and listened to by so many different people in many different countries. We are so thankful for all of the support and are excited to share new music in 2022.

LIM: How are you coping with the new realities post the Covid scare especially when the live music scene is hit hard?

Tracy: We have not let the Pandemic stop us. We recorded an album during lockdown and have kept in touch with our listeners using social media. The band members are all vaccinated and encourage everyone to be safe. We remain positive and look forward to more live performances as more people get Page41

vaccinated.

LIM: What are your immediate future plans, say, for 2022?

Tracy: Our future plans are to record a new album in 2022 and play more live shows.

LIM: Being a very successful musician yourself what would you tell an upcoming musician to keep in mind when a) he/she is struggling to get recognized and b) once he/she has just made a mark in the scene and needs to sustain here?

Tracy: Our advice to any up and coming artists would be to find your fan base and don’t be afraid to be yourself. People appreciate sincerity and originality.

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Jay from Lazie Indie Magazine speaks Italian Rocker Chris Catena who has had a very successful career collaborating with some of the greatest of Rock Music.

Catena, together with an all-star cast of special guests, produced an album of highest level and in different studios around the world. The all-star album, Truth in Unity, featured many stalwarts of the music industry and this only added up to the long list of illustrious collaborators he worked with. Chris’s Rock City Tribe, put together with including Bumblefoot, Joel Hoekstra, Doug Aldrich, Kee Marcello, Stevie Salas, Dizzy Reed and Oz Fox and many more... He is in the process of releasing his latest works released are "Freight Train" and "All About You", both released in 2021. He is working on his latest single called "Little Bitty Drunk". Let us read about his musical journey so far and his plans for immediate future... Thanks to Barbara and DJ Grant of Galaxy FM NZL for introducing Chris to LIM.

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Jay: Hi Chris, you have had a fabulous career in music. How do YOU feel was your journey so far?

Chris (Catena): The journey has been, is and will always be beautiful and very creative. I was lucky enough to record and play live with great stars of the rock firmament and I was able to give voice to my dreams in total freedom.

Jay: Who/what were your musical influences and how did you pick up Classic Rock?

Chris: I can say that I grew up in a house where music of any kind has always been listened to from Opera to Punk to Electronic up to Metal. I love Soul, Blues, Funk and Hard Rock because from the point of view of singing I have been very influenced by giants of the voice such as Steve Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Al Green, Paul Rodgers, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Freddy Mercury, Chris Farlowe or Lou Gramm.

Jay: How do you go about composing your songs? How do you record and produce your music?

Chris: I'm totally independent ... but I never start with lyrics ... I start with a riff, sometimes a sound ... I wake up one morning and think ... fuck what Rare Earth's "I just want to celebrate" song, I want to write one about that genre ... I do so. I place no limits on the creative process. I am not a technological type so I always have to use collaborators to help me. I have my historic sound engineer Davide Spurio, with whom I share ideas, who gives me advice and helps me in preproduction and often also in songwriting.

On my latest record "Truth in Unity" he and Swedish guitarist Janne Stark were key.

Jay: What do you look to convey to your listeners when you create music, do you look to set a Lyrical theme first or do you let the tune of the song take over and decide what the lyrics should be?

Chris: I have already answered this question in part above. However, I like to start with a riff, or a drum pattern or a bass line on which to develop the whole thing. I also happened to have a LIM

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"Today you can draw on all that that you need, there are video tutorials, there are live gigs on videos and the technology that, if on the one hand it can help, on the other hand it distorts reality a little ... You can no longer understand who has real talent! "

choir in my head from which to start an entire song.

Jay: Where do we find your music on the internet? Which is your latest release?

Chris: On Spotify you can find various of my projects ... Chris Catena or Chris Catena's Rock City Tribe or Chris Catena Big Band Experience. My latest work is titled "Truth in Unity", a 15-song album recorded over 10 years and featuring great rockstars from very famous bands in the Rock and Metal scene. My latest singles are "Freight Train" and "All about you" both released in 2021. The next single will be released in early February which sees the production of the great Ron Nevison and is called "Little Bitty Drunk".

Jay: What gives you the kick, writing, producing or playing live and why?

Chris: Writing gives you the opportunity to free your creativity LIM

so it is a factor of enormous importance for me ... producing is like cooking ... if you love to cook you know what I mean ... the choice of the right ingredients, first choice products, the love in combining them and the final tasting when you know that eye and taste triumph ... here for me a record must be like a nice gourmet dish ... It must be elegant, beautiful and tasty but not it must be cloying after a few bites. Live is a way to download adrenaline and communicate with the world, make them feel the audience's warmth, their emotional charge and lead them into this world of yours, like on a journey.

Jay: The lockdown brought the industry to a halt for some time but many in music used it for creating new music. How did you spend this lockdown with respect to your music?

Chris: Unfortunately, Chris Catena's Rock Page63

City Tribe album "Truth in Unity" was released at the wrong time in August 2020… in full lockdown. I begged the record company not to do it but they didn't listen to me. This was not good for me ... but after all the world had stopped and it also needed my musical contribution ... I continued to write and release singles ... Two singles as already mentioned in a previous question...

Making music, composing, collaborating is a way not to die inside.

Jay: What are your immediate future plans?

Chris: I just attended two big events in Romania in October (the Romanian artists Awards) and in December at the national theater of Craiova. I was able to present my single "Freight Train" with a large orchestra in front of a large and wonderful audience. In the December concert I also always sang "Forevermore" with the orchestra, a song by Whitesnake that I love and which was a great success ... It was December 19, 2021. The next day I would have celebrated 34 years since my first live concert and 17 years since the release of my first solo album "Freak Out". I plan to go on with live and studio releases.

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Jay: What is the best advice given to you and what would you share with fellow young artists?

Chris: My biggest advice is to perfect your talent ... The world is competitive. I didn't have internet in my time and I grew up without great means of inspiration other than the great albums that I used to listen to for whole afternoons ... Today you can draw on all that you need, there are video tutorials, there are live gigs on videos and the technology that, if on the one hand it can help, on the other hand it distorts reality a little ... You can no longer understand who has real talent! For this you need to come out in the open, do many live gigs in order to show your skills and qualities! This obviously also depends on external factors ... The Covid has closed each of us in its golden cage ...

We hope that we will be able to recover so that true talent can be enhanced with initiatives and projects. The important thing is to believe and never give up.

Jay: Thank you for your time and it was an honor speaking to you.

Chris: You are very welcome and rock on!

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Tomiko Dixon Grand Blues Review presents Giotis Kyttaris, Composer, Singer and Musician of Blues/Americana Music. He is a fantastic, highly talented artist who plays music with cigar box guitars and homemade instruments.

Artist: Giotis Kyttaris Genre: Blues Grand Daughter of the Blues Tomiko Dixon interviews Giotis Kytarris Let’s check out...

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Tomiko: Who inspired your most recent project and or music?

Giotis: What inspired me the most are the memories from the state of Louisiana from the time I was there. And this is easily heard at the Sound of my upcoming album... I have to admit that my music is mostly inspired from my emotions and my impressions... things that I receive by using all of my scenes... for example the smell of the grass that has just been nourished from the rain, or the sound of a musician playing a monochord in the middle of the street of New Orleans. As you may know I have spent a lot of time in the state of Louisiana... during this time I played a lot of music but also I listened to a lot of music… all these sounds I collected are easy recognized in my recent project... so I have to say that who inspired me the most are all these people that I used to hang out during my time there but also all the memories I have and my experiences over there... I hope that anyone will listen to my upcoming album, will receive all emotions and will experience my project as journey to these places...

Tomiko: Who would you most like to collaborate with and why?

Giotis: To begin with, all these creators of Blues, such as Willie Dixon (of course…)

Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James etc… these people created music from scratch, I mean they invented their own sound which is amazing… all the artist followed were walking in their tracks. I respect and admire them and would be honored to share music with them. Not only for the music, it would be fascinating to spent time with these people, to get to know them in person to act and react with them. To learn from them not only as an artist but as a human as well. I would also like to collaborate with some talented and completely unknown artists that I saw performing in the street or on YouTube, using their own unique handmade instruments and creating grate sounds. I construct my own instruments as well by using the most unexpected materials. I have a guitar that LIM

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I have made from a tomato juice can guitar (3string), another made from a disk brake and many more. So the collaboration with someone who does that too would be very interesting, cause we're not that many you know...

Tomiko: What is one message you would like to give other artists that are inspired to get into the entertainment industry?

Giotis: One message only? I should give a whole manual… by using two words … it’s a long way to the top if you wanna Rock n Roll (ACDC know better!). It takes a lot of effort and you have to be ready to work hard. It’s hardened than it seems… sometimes you will be so disappointed, thinking that it’s pointless… this is the moment you have to pick up your pieces and keep going!! And also you have to work continuously... now days there are so many artists so many musicians and most of them very talented… the standards are higher than used to be… competition is so much harder. Most kinds of music have already been so if you want to distinguish you have to be (at least) flawless… you have to be perfect… and how you achieve perfection (if there is such a thing in art)? The answer is: Work work work… be the best you can…

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give the best of you no matter what that is. But in the end of the day the most important is to enjoy every day, every moment of this journey… cause it totally worth it!

Tomiko: Which entertainer(s) do you admire the most and why?

Giotis: Oh really I have to pick one??

Hard one… so I will say Lightnin Hopkins which is the best guitar player I've ever heard!!! But there are so many others. I mostly admire entertainers that combine high quality art with a good character. I admire them and they inspire me at the same time. Cause it’s a big thing to say "I admire you". I personally admire someone that not only is providing art but also that is a good man or woman ...

Tomiko: What is the best advice been given to you?

Giotis: ''Keep the Blues alive...''. When I was younger, I didn’t listen to anyone’s advice! I used to be this guy that walks his own way, making his own mistakes (and pay for them very often) and gathering his own experiences… that led me to a lot of crazy situations, but also I have learned so many things. When I grew up a bit (I mean mentally) I started to appreciate the wisdom of the elders… so the best advice was given to me was "keep the Blues alive"... not only the sound of the Blues but also the feel, the atmosphere, the history behind the lyrics and the notes... the heart and soul of Blues is what is needed to be kept alive and this is what I try to do with my music ever since!

Tomiko: What’s next for you? Do you have any upcoming gigs or events?

Giotis: What’s next for me? These days we experience very strange times… the Covid situation have put our lives in pause mode… we don’t know if there are going to be any gigs or not… we don’t know if we will be able to travel or not… it’s a continuously changing situation! So we adjust to this new state trying to alternate dystopia into inspiration. During the quarantine I composed so many songs. So now me and my new band called the ''BLACK JUG'' are in the studio recording our new album and this is a priority for Page68

"I always give 100% of my potentials and the people I work with share the same standards...if you don’t enjoy to the maximum your music then nobody else will..."

me… after that we plan to be on the road.

Tomiko: How would you best describe your music or project?

Giotis: It is something I cannot describe... music causes different feelings to each and every one of us... often face this difficulty with art… cause art (in my point of view) is something so personal. If you ask from 10 people to describe to you the same song you will be given 10 different descriptions, cause each and every one of us has his own tastes, experiences, sensitivity and point of view!!! This happens with all kinds of art not only music.

Tomiko: On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest): What rating would you give yourself on this music or project?

Giotis: You should ask my fans and all the people that enjoy my music to answer that question!!! To be honest I don’t think that music is something you can rate… as LIM

I already said above, each one is receiving art differently. However I am quite a perfectionist. I would never release something that I personally rate less than 5!!! I play my own music the best way that I can, and my musicians that join my new project which is GIOTIS KYTTARIS AND THE BLACK JUG know better than anyone that the result has to be flawless.

After all these years of playing performing and composing I kinda owe to all of my fans a high standard of performing and a higher level than in my previous project, if you know what I mean. If I would rate my project less than 5 I would never release it... I always give 100% of my potentials and the people I work with share the same standards... if you don’t enjoy to the maximum your music then nobody else will...

- Thank you.

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About the Columnist About the Columnist This column is contributed by Tomiko Dixon, who is the granddaughter of the Great Willie Dixon and also the youngest inductee to the Blues Hall of Fame and an Ambassador of Blues. Lazie Indie Magazine is glad and honored to join her cause to keep the spirit of Blues alive..

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Cathy Grier and the Troublemakers consists of Cathy Grier vocals/guitar, Tony Menzer bass, Jamey Clark drums, Larry Byrne keys, Jim Ohlschmidt guitars and Deirdre Fellner backing vocals. Cathy Grier and the Troublemakers recorded and released “I’m All Burn”, a sixteen-song full production album in July 2020 on CG Music Works. It was recorded at Makin’ Sausage Music in Milwaukee, featuring the Troublemakers and many notables in the Blues world. The album has received national and international airplay and has been on the Blues Contemporary charts worldwide since last December, while simultaneously climbing to #1 for multiple weeks on the Wisconsin Blues charts. A professional musician since 1978, Cathy Grier’s undeniably powerful voice accompanied by tasty Blues guitar stylings, both acoustic and electric, affirms her place on the world stage. Cathy has experienced every aspect of the music industry. She’s written hit songs, formed a record

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company, produced artists in multiple languages, toured extensively, supported important causes and even honed her craft in the subways of New York City as a busker. Part storyteller, part Blues traveler. Grier’s multi-dimensional guitar technique, gutsy vocal range and unique songcraft thrill audiences with her performances and affirm her commitment to representing the Blues worldwide. Lazie Indie Magazine (LIM) recently interviewed Cathy (CG), here’s how it went.

LIM: What makes Cathy Grier stand out from the other many talented Blues guitar players currently playing their craft out there?

CG: My guitar style is the embodiment or extension of my voice. I create lyrical riff patterns to match my voice or to groove within a song. It’s not as easy to sing and play a pattern at the same time as it looks.

I’ve developed a sound that is my own LIM

which is an amalgam of rhythmic patterns, picking and strumming. As a songwriter, I create chords that allow the guitar to stretch outside of the typical Blues patterns. I am by no means a shredder, but my playing is frankly female - it’s more tender and subtle. The guitar is my alter ego, when I play I feel that shows.

LIM: Let's go deep with the IBC (International Blues Challenge). What category are you competing in there in Memphis, and what do you hope to accomplish while you're there (besides winning)?

CG: I will be competing in the band category. There are no Blues genre categories, the beauty of the IBC is they mix in artists of every Blues genre from traditional to contemporary. Sadly, as of December 31st, the Blues Foundation has postponed January IBC due to the staggering increase in COVID cases. We are disappointed, but we all must be safe.

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The Blues Foundation made a wise, but tough decision to postpone, but how else to truly get through the pandemic. It has upended too many careers in entertainment including our own. We await their decision on how to proceed safely with an IBC this year.

LIM: As a former New Yorker, what were some of the biggest cultural (and musical) shocks and differences you noticed when you moved to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin?

CG: Well there are many for sure. Mostly being able to walk out my building in NYC and within minutes to be immersed in culture. I do miss the racial diversity presented in NYC too. But, we are getting there here in Sturgeon Bay, as more and more people come and see the art scene that is growing and then want to move here. The presence of art always brings diversity. And here in Door County, I am surrounded by artists of many genres and levels of talent. We have a beautiful Museum, multiple theatrical companies and performance spaces, writers retreat centers. And an ongoing songwriting collaboration Steel Bridge Creative Foundation and how I came to move here in 2016.

LIM: You're being introduced to a whole LIM

new audience here at Lazie Indie Magazine, what are some of the very first impressions you'd like to leave them with about Cathy Grier, as a musician, person, etc?

CG: I’d like people to know that I have been a working musician since 1978 as an original artist. That I have lived and performed and recorded in such wonderful places as Key West, Florida, Paris, France and New York City. My lifelong goal is to work at my craft, and I relish the path and adventures that brought me along the way. Of which I have too many to name here! And that I am true to my community activist heart by bringing joy and good intentions to every song and performance. I am open to new opportunities. And through right action, I want to be in a world that is evolving with compassion, diversity and heart.

LIM: We have to go there... Covid. How has the C-word affected your recording, touring, etc.?

CG: Of course, the entertainment world has been hit quite hard. Our job is to bring lots of people together to move, sweat and sing! Our performances are once again on hold. It is also difficult to bring so many members of a band together to rehearse and perform while a pandemic is all over the place. I am hopeful to meet the challenge and write while we are on such a long pause and see what emerges. But I am also not one to move too quickly back to stage without commitments that all measures are taken to keep the audience, and me and the band safe.

LIM: What do you feel are the best ways to keep engaged with your fan base?

CG: I write occasional e-news (there’s a pop-up form to join the list on my website cathygrier.com) I use social media and YouTube too. My website has updates and an occasional blog post.

LIM: What would a 5-year plan for Cathy Grier & The Troublemakers look like?

CG: To develop the connections to propel my music solidly onto the touring circuit, nationally and internationally (I also am Page75

proud to have a French passport). I’d love to open for a well-known artist or band tour as a means to introduce me to new fans. I will write more music for film and documentaries. And dig deeper into my guitar playing. To write a new album, record, release it and tour. But mostly, to give up the role of working all aspects of my career that is not serving my creativity. There is a reason why artists have support so they can create. My being a DIY’er all my career, it honestly leaves me with an unfortunate and uneven use of my creative time. My five year plan would have those roles be taken over by others and leave me the role I am meant to play since 1978 - Cathy Grier the artist. It’s thrilling to think of the body of work I could create. - Thank you

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Juan Sánchez is a composer living in Barcelona, Spain; currently, he is primarily focused on the piano. In his twenties, he lived in London and performed with live bands before returning to Spain. In 1999, he retreated to the studio to make instrumental ambient electronic music, and since then he has been creating music for multimedia and sound libraries for music producers. His life began to change when he discovered the emotive music of ambient piano artists Max Richter and Ludovico Einaudi. He fell deeply in love with their compositions. In 2019 he released his first single “Rebirth” on Spotify which quickly began grabbing attention from listeners all over the world. That led him to release his first album, also titled Rebirth, in September of 2019. He released the next album in 2020 - Now The Silence and the latest one in 2021 called Touch And Sound. His work is appreciated all around the world by listener and most of his songs are added to playlists across

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Being an independent musician is a full-time job in itself, and the most successful artists out there are usually those who have discipline and structure built into their daily routine. Sounds cliché, but consistency is key!

taking him to top of charts for "New Age'.

Jay from Lazie Indie Magazine spoke to this fantastic musician, whose songs have reached the semifinals of the prestigious MN music awards in Spain and now under consideration for Latin Grammy's...

Jay: Hi Juan, you have had a very exciting career as a pianist and a composer. How do you feel was your journey so far as a musician?

Juan: Hi, thanks for this interview, I appreciate your interest. So far I feel that this journey has been very enjoyable and rewarding. I have taken different musical directions over the years and during the process I have learned lots of things and I never stop learning new ones, I am a very curious person and I like to experiment with new projects and ideas. Being an Independent artist is a lot of hard work, LIM

but also very rewarding as I am free to make my own decisions and decide what I am going to do next.

Jay: Who/what were your musical influences and how did you arrive at this genre you play?

Juan: I’ve had different influences. For example, during the late 1980s and early 1990s I was listening to the music of composers such as Vangelis, Mike Oldfield and Jean Michel Jarre, so I was influenced by them. Then during the mid 90’s I started to listen to electronic music artists such as Chicane, Future Sound of London and Robert Miles, so I also became influenced by them. Years later I discovered the music of artists such as Max Richter, Ludovico Einaudi, Philip Glass, Yann Tiersen, Luke Howard and other contemporary crossover/minimalist composers, who also influenced me.

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As I was growing older, I discovered that the way I was composing was more in the style of these composers, something more minimalist with usually the piano as the main instrument, it was in this classical crossover genre where I felt more comfortable and also more identified.

Jay: How do you go about composing your songs? What inspires you the most?

How do you record and produce your music?

Juan: As a composer, I do not have any specific work schedule. I am also a sound designer, so I combine my composing job with my sound design job. Usually I compose in the evening after I am done with my sound design job. I sit at the piano and I start playing and improvising and when I hear something that I like and think that it could be developed into a complete piece, I record it and then I start working from this initial idea. I record and produce my music using different recording studios and music producers. I LIM

also hire session musicians such as string players, sopranos, etc.

Jay: What do you look to convey to your listeners when you create music, do you look to set a theme first or do you let the tune of the song take over and decide what it is to be interpreted as?

Juan: I let the song to take over and then decide what will be the story behind the song once the music makes my imagination fly and I start imagining situations, places, people, etc… Each piece evokes something and this is how I decide the title for each song depending of what the music is evoking.

Jay: Where do we find your music on the internet? Which is your latest release?

Juan: My music can be found on all the digital music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube, Deezer, Apple Music, etc… I also have my own website where people can listen and download my music for free. My latest release is my third album Touch & Sound, Page80

a piano-driven album with ethereal female voices, synthesizer backgrounds and string arrangements. The meaning behind Touch & Sound is the hybridization of my two loves – growing up as a classical musician and falling in love with Ambient/New Age electronic music later on.

Jay: What gives you the kick, writing, producing or playing live and why?

Juan: Until now, what gave me the kick was composing and producing, but recently I have been more focused in finding live gigs in the area of Barcelona as I want to gain as much experience as possible in this field. The reason is that I strongly believe that once you have created a few albums, then you need to play live gigs to see how people react to your music. I have now signed an agreement with a booking agent in Barcelona and soon I will start doing live and also streaming concerts.

Jay: The lockdown brought the industry to a halt for some time but many in music used it for creating new music. How did you spend this lockdown with respect to your music?

Juan: Like lots of other musicians, I did spend the lockdown composing and LIM

recording new music and it was during this period that I finished my second album ‘Now The Silence’, an album that explores the topically relevant impact of enforced solitude and quiet time that we were experiencing during the lockdown, hence the title ‘Now The Silence’.

Jay: What are your immediate future plans?

Juan: My immediate future plans for this new year are finishing what will be my 4th album that I am planning to release next October 2022 and playing live and streaming gigs from different locations in Spain.

Jay: What is the best advice given to you and what would you share with fellow young artists?

Juan: Enjoy what you are doing and do not compare yourself with other artists.

Never stop learning. It is also very important to learn how to market your music, this is the key to become successful, you need to create good music of course, but you also have to be very good at promoting it.

Jay: Thank you for your time and it was great speaking to you.

Juan: The pleasure is mine. Thanks for the opportunity to be featured on your fantastic magazine!

- Thank you

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The Troubadour Nashville, Music City Bar and Grill and Owner at The Kokomo Country Palace, Rodney Collins supports musicians by running these top venues.

But even better he makes music too. Rodney Collins and the Second Hand Smoke band is made up of six very talented musicians. With roots firmly planted in Country music both past and present. Members include David Glassburn (lead guitar) Rodger Frances (steel guitar) Jeff Sheline (drums) Chris Collins (bass) Tommy Henson (fiddle) and Rodney Collins (lead vocals). Rodney has just released his single I Can Tell By The Way You Dance (You’re Gonna Love Me Tonight). Jay from Lazie Indie Magazine catches up with Rodney Collins to know more about him, his music and his venues… let us read…

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Jay: You have worn different hats in your musical career as a musician, producer to venue owner and have had great success in each role you have taken up personally.

Which is your favorite?

Rodney Collins (RC): I love it all! I love to perform and engage with the audience.

We laugh, sing together, people dance, and the smiles and comradery in loving traditional Country music make me happy. We have local regulars and people traveling to visit from all over the world at Music City Bar and Grill Nashville and the newly acquired The Troubadour Nashville. I also enjoy supporting and listening to all the talents at the clubs and excited to begin the journey as an artist on tour and on radio with my new single, a tribute to Vern Gosdin with the song, I Can Tell By The Way You Dance (You’re Gonna Love Me Tonight).

Jay: Who were your musical influences?

Why did you choose Country Music as your genre?

RC: I grew up listening to Merle Haggard, Gene Watson, Vern Gosdin, George Jones and many Country legends. My dad was a truck driver playing those 8 tracks and was a huge influence in my appreciation of the songs and stories behind Country music. Growing up, one of my favorite songs by Vern Gosdin was "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right)”.

These songs have heart and evoke an emotion and memories of love and family. You know they were written by people that felt deeply and lived life deeply.

Jay: You have played along with iconic musicians in your career. What is that one common thing according to you that makes each one of them unique?

RC: Vern Gosdin and Ronnie McDowell are energetic, emotional performers. They care about their fans and take time for people to talk, engage and take photos.

They were great mentors to me starting out and demonstrate how important it is to show appreciation to your fans who come out to support you. We are nothing without that audience connection!

Jay: How do you go about writing songs LIM

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and how do you produce them?

RC: Sitting at Music City Bar and Grill in Nashville or on my tour bus with the musicians that perform there, song ideas come out of our conversations and expressions as we have fun with music.

Performers like Cliff Wadell and Cody Atkins will say something and I think "Hey! That makes a great song!" Country music is very strong in storytelling and conversations with my music friends spark some great ideas.

Jay: Where do we find your music on the internet?

RC: You can find me on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music, Pandora , YouTube and all music outlets to stream or download. You can find those store links at www.rodneycollins.hearnow.com or check out REVERBNATION https://www.reverbnation.com/ rodneycollins and be sure to follow me on Facebook and my music club pages!

Better yet! Come on down to Nashville to LIM

the best honkytonk and concert venue in Nashville and hear the best country music around! FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ rodney.collins.75033 THE TROUBADOUR NASHVILLE https://www.facebook.com/TheTroubadour-Nashville-103564075365256 MUSIC CITY BAR AND GRILL NASHVILLE https://www.facebook.com/ musiccitybar FACEBOOK MUSIC BLOG https://www.facebook.com/RodneyCollins-Music-City-1006163419465336.

Jay: The Covid lockdowns hit the music world especially live music, running 3 music venues, how did you cope with that?

RC: There were a lot of gloomy days thinking "when will this be over?" It was one day at a time. But our locals were loyal and while the bands streamed inside a vacant club for social distancing, the music lovers sat outside and still came to Page85

Jay: What is your advice to an upcoming artist?

RC: Have heart and soul and never give up on a dream! The journey from the dream may take you along different paths, but stay true to what you love and the right people will support you! As a venue owner and as a fellow artist.

Surround yourself with good people and team that shares the same vision. If you are in entertainment and service, people will come back for great music and being treated with respect and part of our music family. And thank you Jay, for having me in your magazine. You as well are an important part of keeping great music alive! I hope you and all will visit, come in and say hello to me in Nashville!

Jay: Thank you Rodney!

listen and tipped through online tip jars.

We survived and the clubs are open 7 days a week with tourists and fans visiting from all over the world.

Jay: What is your favorite, writing, producing or playing live? And why?

RC: Nothing beats that incredible feeling of singing the music you love to a packed house and being on stage with the finest musicians in Nashville. The songs are traditional Country Classics, and I look forward to contributing to that history with some original songs coming out this year on an album as well as a duet with Ronnie McDowell and a song, recorded with my cherished friend Vern Gosdin years ago, that is yet to be released.

Jay: What are your future plans both as a musician and as a venue owner?

RC: I will rev up the touring with Ronnie McDowell, as well as continue to promote traditional Country music. I want to keep the songs and history of the music and artists that sang them alive, and we do that in our nightly shows to folks all over the world. The music is in our heart and soul and more people, especially younger ones, are amazed at the talents they see who have dedicated their art to Country music.

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Anand Junction is a Hindi Rock Band inclined more towards the Hard Rock side with some cool guitars and soaring vocals. The band named itself after the railway station where Indias most famous cooperative movement called Amul originated.

Singer-Songwriter Keval Brahmabhatt and guitarist Darshan Sharma form the fulcrum of the band they have done a real cool job with their single 'Aajkal' released recently, the band has a great sound and has quickly attracted ears of Radio Stations/DJs. Jay from Lazie Indie Magazine catches up with Darshan Sharma to quiz him about the bands journey so far and also their immediate future plans... let us check out.

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Jay: Hi Darshan, you have a very exciting career as a band. How would you look at you growth as a band?

Darshan: Hi Jay, thank you for giving this opportunity to us. Yes as an Independent musician where you are in part of a band doing some new music then it's quite challenging within the lot of excitement, when you are creating something unique then it must will take a healthy time. So we have released our first track "Aajkal", and we are planning to release more singles by this year 2022.

Jay: Did you all have similar musical influences; how did you arrive at this genre you play?

Darshan: We all have different types of tastes in music, but we all have found almost the same kind of perspective toward our musical journey and it's brought us to a very genuine mutual understanding for creating original music with some meaningful thought or message for the listeners. We all are LIM

always ready to explore new music.

Whether it's Rock, Pop, Funk, Classical or Electronic. As we all know, the genres are stand for the shape of artists and musical individuality. So we are more interested in doing rock kind of stuff for now, because Rock music always has its own energetic potential within.

Jay: How do you go about writing your songs? How do you record and produce your music?

Darshan: In the music scene, meaningful content is the only important thing. We have Keval Brahmbhatt, who is writing and composing songs for many years. So we have started working on the content we have, which seems like a short story in a musical way it covers more emotions and sounds. We record ourselves in the studio as well as in the house. Right now we have no producer in the house so we are doing by our own.

Jay: What do you look to convey to your listeners when you create music, do you Page89

look to set a theme first or do you let the song take over your lyrics?

Darshan: We are all engaged here to tell interesting stories to listeners through our music. The band is able to perform in both types of scenarios whether we have lyrics or the theme. We believe to create music that will connect to the listener's soul which they are looking for.

Jay: Where do we find you music on the internet? Which is your latest release?

Darshan: Yes, we have released our first debut single named "Aajkal" and it's available on every streaming platform globally. Our song is available on all major streaming platforms and on YouTube too.

Jay: What gives you the kick, writing, producing or playing live and why?

Darshan: Music is the only answer for this question as simple as that. We as a human, love to express our feelings.

Everybody has different views on that, but as a part of the band we know the musicianship and that's the only thing that gives us new age to our excitement for writing, producing and playing music.

Jay: The lockdown brought the industry to a halt for some time but many in music used it for creating new music. How did LIM

you spend this lockdown with respect to your music?

Darshan: That was the very first time that the whole world fought against the pandemic and we are still facing many challenges. But that was a time where we locked ourselves in our house and started learning and adding a new set of skills to our bucket. We learned new musical instruments/tools to continue producing music. We were joining the online musical events.

Jay: What are your immediate future plans?

Darshan: We are working on the plan to promote the released track to as many regions and do live gigs and produce more single.

Jay: What is the best advice given to you and what would you share with fellow young artists?

Darshan: So we've been advised by so look to set a theme first or do you let the song take over your lyrics? We are all engaged here to tell interesting stories to listeners through our music. The band is able to perform in both types of scenarios whether we have lyrics or the theme. We believe to create music that will connect to the listener's soul which they are looking for.

- Thank you

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