Mem-or-ies!

Wassap rawkers!

How goes it? Everything is going great here in LA. Just having some trouble believing it's already the end of 2007, geez :)

This has definitely been one hell of a year. Released the album, moved out to the City of Angels, licensed "Morning Pill" to MTV/VH1 networks, in the process of recording the follow up...whew. My New Year's resolution is definitely to take some more "me" time. Well, I say that now...

Anyways, just wanted to give you all a quick update. I just finished writing and recording a brand new song with my producer, Luigie Gonzalez (A BALLAD OF ALL THINGS...), which is as a of yet untitled. It's probably one of the most thoughtful and beautiful works I've ever written, and it really showcases my range, which has improved drastically by the way thanks to my awesome new vocal coach, David Coury (Menudo, Lance Bass). Check him out, he's the bomb diggi-tay!

Luigie and I will also be working on yet another song, entitled "No Rompes Mi Corazon (Don't Break My Heart) over the next few weeks as well. I guess I was inspired by the whole Menudo resurgence :)

Thanks so much to everyone who voted for the song for the next AC vid by the way. I'll have the results of that very soon! We'll be shooting the vid out here in LA next year, so if you just so happen to live in or around the area during the time of the filming, we may just need your lovely mug(s) ;)

A message to all you AC diehards out there:

If you're looking to be more involved with the Alexx Calise cause (hehe), then join the AC Police. In exchange for helping to spread the word about your fave chick rawker, you'll receive free schwag, and you may even get to sit in .. AC recording and rehearsal sessions. For more info about this, please send me a message saying you're in it to win it.

Well, I hope you all are having a fantastic holiday. I'm really grateful to have all of you in my life! You make all of this possible.

Love Always,

AC

Silverchair Rawks Arse!

My Silverchair Concert Review - November 20, 2007

I think I can honestly say I saw the best concert of my life the other night at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. It's not even because Silverchair has been my favorite band since I was a little kid. Believe me, I've seen bands that I love on records attempt to perform live, and fail rather miserably. While most music aficionados would probably deem me sacrilegious for saying this, I do believe this band is almost the Pink Floyd of the new generation.

Just to let you know how much these guys freakin' OWN, I had general admission floor seats, I couldn't see a damn thing about 95 % of the time, and they still managed to make me laugh, cry, and scream in a matter of an hour and a half. I paid $40 for my ticket, but I would gladly have paid $400.

What I think was so special and different about this show was the fact that their set was actually orchestrated and structured like a set should be structured (I imagine that the band learned a thing or two about orchestration from their work with acclaimed arranger Van Dyke Parks). So often you go to a concert and a band runs through their set list mindlessly, with some obligatory stock banter in between songs. It's another night, another city, another drunk, heckling audience. There's just no show.

Not these guys, though. They have theirs down to a science. It started off with an ominous, slow-rolling train sequence, and then the band erupted onstage with the title track of their most thoughtful and innovative effort to date, Young Modern.

Lead singer Daniel Johns knew just how much to speak to the audience, just how they'd react when he slid up and down the scales with his guitar and with his voice, or when he sang a line a tad differently than how you hear it on the record. They jammed on nearly every song, made weird, funny noises on their instruments, and as a band, were tighter than a mosquito's tweeter (Well, they have been together since they were about 10-years-old, but still, that's pretty tight).

At one point during the performance, Daniel even told a really horrible, long-winded joke that managed to involve a joint, a koala bear, a lizard and a crocodile. I couldn't tell you what the hell it was about, if it made any sense, or if it was even funny, but I had to laugh at the way he acted out all of the characters, and how Paul Mac played little ditties on his keyboard to imitate the sounds of them walking or climbing about. In his thick Aussie accent, Daniel even made a well-received Outkast reference, shouting "What's cooler than being cool? Ice cold!"

As a musician myself, I was most impressed by Daniel's perfect pitch (and I mean PERFECT), astounding guitar-playing skills (don't even get me started on the arsenal of pedals and sequencers this guy must have to make all those crazy sounds), and fondness for and execution of Indian scales. And what can I say about Ben Gillies (drums) and Chris Joannou (bass)? Not one missed note or accent, not once did they step on Daniel's toes or play TOO LOUD (all of you vocalists know what I'm talking about), not one complaint whatsoever. I was rendered speechless, and believe me, I ALWAYS have a lot to say!

I honestly have not seen this kind of showmanship from any of the contemporary artists that are out today. I actually felt special being in that audience. They spoke to me in a way that few artists have managed to. Even if you don't like anything this band has ever done or you've never heard a lick of their material, you will come out at least appreciating them for their musicianship, attention to detail, and superb live performance. Final verdict: Silverchair RAWKS!

Halloween update!

Hey guys,

As many of you probably already know, I'm out here in California recording some new material and playing a few intimate solo acoustic shows. I've been receiving a lot of emails lately from fans asking if I'm okay and away from all of the horrendous fires that have been going on throughout the state, and I just want to assure everyone that I am, indeed, alive and well. Thousands of less fortunate Californians, however, have lost their homes and everything they own in the blaze. I think it's very important that we all band together and try to help all the poor people who have been affected by this disaster, so please visit the American Red Cross website to find out how you can do your part. I'm also working on a few things myself for all those who are in need now...I will have an update on that soon.

In other news, I've been keeping very busy, and I've really been enjoying my time here in LA, playing such historic places as Pig N Whistle, Cat Club and Rainbow Room, and recording with some of the best in the biz (Luigie Gonzalez, Cristian Delano). I will have my next track, "Good Enough" up soon, so please keep checking back.

Also, don't forget to vote for me for the Blender Battle of the Bands contest. We're in the finals now, and you're the only ones who can help us score a homerun! If you haven't voted yet, you have until November 14, and you can vote up to once a week! Just click here to cast your vote!

Thanks so much to everyone who's come to support me at all my shows. If you haven't seen me in action yet , you still have some more opportunities. Come out and say hi. I don't bite...hard!

Oct 31 - Cat Club on the Sunset Strip at 7 p.m.
Nov 8 - Rainbow Room on the Sunset Strip at 8:30 p.m.
Nov 10 - Cafe Europe on Santa Monica Blvd at 9 p.m.

Hope you're all doing well. Thank you all very much for continuing to support me. Your kindness does not go unappreciated or unrecognized! Keep it RAWKIN'!

Peace,
AC

I'm Not Dead!

Que pasa rawkers?

How's everybody doing? I know many of you have been wondering where in the world I've been hiding, so I just wanted to let you all know that I am in fact alive and well. I've just been hard at work in the studio recording some new tracks (which I'll be posting very soon) and beating up A-list celebrities. Hehe, just kidding. :)

Also, some grand news for those of you (in LA that is) who'd like to see yours truly in the flesh! Now don't get excited, it's not what you think…sorry! I'll be playing live this Saturday, Oct 20 at Cafe Europe on Santa Monica Blvd at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 27 at the Pig N Whistle on Hollywood Blvd at 10 p.m., and Thursday, November 8 at the Rainbow Room on Sunset Blvd at 8:30 p.m. Please come and say hello. It would be nice to have some human interaction since I've been locked away in one studio or another for several weeks now…

In other news, I'm still a little unsure of what I should be for Halloween. I was thinking I could be Britney Spears and not wear underwear…but that's so overdone these days. All kidding aside, if you can give me a better idea of what I should be, I'll gladly award you with the pride of knowing that you outfitted me for Halloween! Also, drop me a line and let me know what you're going to be. I think the best costume I ever heard about was a Mormon. You know, black tie, white button-down shirt, backpack, and bicycle helmet…how awesome is that? Well, I hope you all had a rawkin' weekend and you're not causing too much trouble. I'll be holding it down in LA for ya'll. Til then, take it easy and keep it RAWKIN'!

Peace,

AC

Technologically speaking...

Another rant in the key of awesome…

In so many ways and on so many different levels, the human race has defied logic and superceded even the greatest of expectations. Every day there’s a new technology, a new antidote, or a new discovery that propels us toward a brighter new age and brings us one step closer to god. We’ve tested and stretched ourselves beyond even our own comprehension. We’ve even discovered how to think without thinking and how to do without doing. The question is though, will all this knowledge and power kill us or make us stronger? Will Rome fall again?

While I firmly believe that knowledge is power, I also believe that it is poison. We’ve become too smart for our own good (or too big for our britches at least), and because of this, we’ve become lethargic. It’s almost as if we’ve already discovered everything we need, or care to know. Just think for a moment. The entire world is at your disposal. Anything you can dream of is right at your fingertips. You don’t need to know how to read, write, or even formulate a sentence at all because of your trusty Spell Check (which I’ll admit to using while writing this essay). You don’t need to make a trip to the music store to buy an album because you can download it in its entirety instantly. You don’t even need to interact with another person physically because you can chat with them via email and instant messenger. Did you ever sit and think that you never EVER have to leave your house EVER again if you don’t want to because you have everything you will EVER need right there?

This has created some serious social ramifications. We no longer know how to communicate with each other anymore. I see this especially in today’s youth. For example, having discussions with people my age sometimes is like pulling teeth. I’m not talking deep, existential conversations either. I’m talking light conversation and small talk--simple communication. So often I feel like I’m the only one doing the talking and making the effort to get to know the other person. I don’t think that they’re being rude or aloof necessarily. I really do believe that they just don’t know what to say or how to act in social situations because they’re not involved in them often enough and they don’t allow themselves to be. They’re just always plugged in to one thing or another—the iPod, the cell phone, the computer. Hey, I’ll admit that I am to some degree as well. I’ve even experienced cell phone and internet withdrawal once or twice.

I’m definitely not innocent. With everything so readily available to us, we needn’t expend as much physical or mental energy to do anything. It’s so much easier to solve a problem using a calculator; it’s so much easier to shop online as opposed to actually going out to the store, and it’s so much easier to gather an opinion of your own after reading someone else’s superfluous, long-winded and completely biased blog entry :)

Because people no longer have to expend energy or do anything that requires any physical movement, they become lazy. Quite often, it starts to show on the exterior. While this is an entirely different discussion altogether, I’ll briefly touch on the subject…

According to obesityinamerica.org, approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million are obese and 9 million are extremely obese. While low physical activity obviously isn’t the sole cause of obesity in America, it is certainly attributable to the 400,000 deaths that occur each year because of it.

I’m not sure what the answer is to all of this. I’m not sure we should continue on this technological pursuit, but I don’t necessarily think we should slow it down either. Growth is part of life. We’d be selling ourselves short and we wouldn’t be achieving our full potential if we rested on our laurels for even a moment. We have an astounding learning and knowledge capacity that no other creature on Earth possesses; it must have been given to us for a reason. Why not use it, right?

Let me clarify before I’m accused of being provincial or “old school” that I think technology is absolutely wonderful and extremely beneficial in many ways. For the first time ever, we can communicate live with others from across the globe and we can perform the most arduous of tasks with the simple click of a button. However, I think it’s also misused, and it’s become a crutch to some. Without it, they wouldn’t know what to think or how to function.

I believe that in order to progress socially-speaking, we simply need to unplug once in a while. I’m not saying go back or nature and live amongst the natives. All I’m saying is go pick up a book, hang out with your friends, take a walk, or, if you’re just so damn computer-addicted, get in your car, drive to the local Starbuck’s and plug in your laptop there because at least it’s an excuse to get the hell out of the house. All kidding aside though, we must be able to talk to each other. Not online, not on text messaging, not on the cell phone, but face-to-face. Try it sometime. You might find that you’re good at it or, better yet, that you enjoy it.
~Alexx Calise

We Need a Hero...

I remember a day when a DUI meant hard time, when TV shows had scripts, and when celebrities were famous for something other than partying…no more.

I don't mean to be a traitor to my generation or anything, but where the hell are we headed? Even more important, who are our role models?

I know it sounds sick, but party girls and social climbers have become our heroes and idols. I don't know how that happened really. Maybe it's because we've become so celeb-obsessed and fascinated by the jet-setting lifestyle. I'm reminded of the story of the golden calf…

You know what I think the problem is? We're a generation of the moment. We're living in the age of the video game, the celebutants, the Internet, the iPod. We're all about instant gratification and feeling good here and now. Who cares what happens tomorrow? After all, that's just a buzz kill.

Hmmm…maybe these socialites are the poster children for this generation after all. They're just living up to those principles.

However, I must beg the question…what is to be learned from these people? That the law system is a joke? That all you need to do to open doors is open your legs? That sex is just a recreational activity? I mean, call me crazy, but I used to think that you needed to work hard in order to be successful and that there are always consequences for all of your actions.

These people are parasitic. By supporting them, you're continuing the cycle and putting more partying money into their already fat wallets.

I don't understand why these people are considered intriguing or admirable. What the hell do they even do? What are they all about? I mean, if you're a personality, shouldn't you have one? Shouldn't there be something to you that makes you interesting?


What baffles my mind even more so is when I see intelligent, independent, hard-working people watching these brainless, substance-abusing halfwits on TV and giving them even a second of their time. I mean, is this just sick curiosity or actual, genuine interest? Isn't it enough that you can't even go to the supermarket without seeing their faces all over the trash mags at the checkout line; why do we feel the need to watch them on television as well?

All I know is that I see a very, very sorrowful pattern developing amongst people my age. I see us heading backward instead of forward because we don't have anyone to guide us.

I'm where I'm at today because I worked extremely hard and I stood up for what I believed in. Nothing ever came easy and nothing was ever handed to me. I've never done anything underhanded and I've never screwed anyone over for my own personal gain. I'm able to look at in the mirror every day without flinching or hating myself because I'm proud of the woman I've become. I have self respect, morals and values and I have a will that couldn't be broken by anyone or anything.

While I'm not big on quoting the bible; there's a reason for the quote,"Thou shalt not worship false idols...". I just want to state to my peers that glorifying and emulating the vapid, self-serving girls on TV is not in your best interests. Do things your own way because it's much more fulfilling knowing that you've accomplished something by yourself, for yourself...It truly is one of the most rewarding things in the entire world. You don't need to starve yourself to be beautiful, you don't need to not wear underwear to get noticed, you don't need to sleep with someone to get them to like you, and most of all, you don't need to be influenced by certain girls you see on TV.

In the studio...

Wassap rawkerz!

How's everyone doing? This week's been incredibly busy and eventful. Right now, I'm sitting in the studio waiting to lay down some vocals on the new song I just wrote with my producer, Luigie Gonzalez. It's called "Good Enough." Don't be fooled by the the title though--it's really GREAT! Haha! It sounds like En Vogue or Pink as recorded by Trent Reznor if you can believe it...CRAZY!

This song in particular has been a lot of fun to produce because we blended a lot of different musical genres together. Because Luigie's forte is dancehall / electronica, we've definitely got a 90's-era Chemical Brothers / Dust Brothers vibe going on in the background. And, since I've been listening to a lot of old school rap and urban-edged pop (a la Justin Timberlake) lately, my vocal lines and melodies are very staccato and rhythmic. I think I've really opened up musically speaking since I've been here. I think it's only going to get better from here on out...
Earlier this week, I visited the world famous Rainbow Room and performed acoustically upstairs. It was really nice to do that since I've been locked away in one studio or another for so many weeks now. Not like that's all that bad either...I was at Chalice again the other day and ran into Rob Zombie. I wonder if him and The Spice Girls are teaming up on a record...hey, weirder things have happened...

Well, I gotta go do my thing now, so keep checking back. I'll have some more info regarding my Australia / New Zealand press tour very soon. KEEP IT RAWK!

Peace,

AC

In your face, David Beckham :)

Hey everybody!
How are all my favorite rawkers doing?! Things are great here in LA. I've been doing a TON of writing and recording. In particular, I've been working on the followup song to my single, "Pull It (Bullet)" with my fave producers, Cristian Delano and Mark Vinten. It's called "Round 2," and it hits you like a smack in the face. David Beckham knows this firsthand...
So last night, in a strange turn of events, I end up in Chalice Studios (my last name actually means chalice by the way...just thought you'd like to know) in LA, which is one of THE premier studios in West Hollywood.

I walk in there and this place is SICK!! It's fully equipped with top-of-the-line studio equipment, VIP lounges, marble floors, munchies (what's with studios baking Toll House cookies by the way?)...you name it, they have it. KoRn was in Studio B, and The Spice Girls were recording in the room behind us.

Then, Cristian has me jump in the isolation booth to start laying down some vocals for the new song we're doing with Mark. I start doing my thing and he calls me back to the control room for a second. As I'm opening the door, Posh Spice and David Beckham come plowing down the hallway with their entourage, and I nearly hit David smack in his face. I offered David an apology, and I offered Posh a sandwich. No takers, though, haha! :)

All kidding aside, we had a blast and I'm sure you all will really dig "Round 2." If you like KoRn, Filter, Saliva, and...Ravi Shankar (don't ask), then this will be right up your alley.

In other news, it looks like I'll be heading out to the land of Oz this winter to do some promotional appearances, so keep checking back.

I hope to get your vote for the Blender contest as well. If I win, I'll get recording time at a top notch Vegas studio, a spread in Blender, and a showcase slot at the SXSW music conference in Austin, TX. So, remember: get on the boat and vote :P

I appreciate all your support guys. YOU RAWK! Have an amazing day!

Peace,

AC