Friday, August 31, 2007

the big finish

First off, sorry for the delay.

I didn't have a lot of computer access on the road trip home, and i'm just trying to get my life back in order here in St. Paul. I also had a short period of freaking out, seeing as how my bank account was in the negative by the time i reached my hometown in Illinois. Luckily i have great parents who had no problem helping me out and working a little extra to put this behind us. (thanks again!)

After talking to friends that have been around here all summer, i realize that i really have a lot more knowledge about the music business. I feel like because of my experience in Los Angeles that i am now one step ahead of the game. I know names and companies that none of my friends have heard of, but should know!

Being in that situation, in the tall office building in Beverly Hills, made me rethink my direction. But only slightly. I have had a plan for awhile, and it's still my plan. I just didn't know that it might involve moving to California (Which now seems like a definite possibility). Talking with Debbie and especially Charley (who was nice enough to have lunch with me one lovely day in Culver City) has really made me think about what i need to do to get where i want to be. Now, i've always said i don't want to work for a large corporation. That's not really my style. But after this experience i'm thinking that getting a job at one to stay within the industry might not be such a bad idea.

I want to have my own artist management agency. That's the goal. But until then, working at the Embassy Suites isn't going to get me any closer. I've been doing alright on my own, helping out The Ballet and Julie Moffitt.. and there's even another band that wants my help here in st. paul. So i'm not slacking. In fact, i feel like i don't put enough effort into those guys. I haven't in the last few weeks anyway, but that's because i was traveling and unpacking and whatnot. I should have more time now.

It is terrifying and so exciting, graduating from college in only one semester. I like the twin cities, i'd like to stay around for awhile but if there's nothing here for me, then it looks like California, here i come. I'm in such turmoil about where i'm going to be in a year.. because i have no idea. I'm just hoping The Ballet or Julie Moffitt gets famous so i can just manage them and be successful :) but unfortunately, the chances of that happening are very slim. It is hard for any band to get past a certain level of stardom anymore.

I'm torn between being independent or going to work for a large company. I'm the independent type. But i'm also realistic and down-to-earth, and realize that i might want a little job security. I know Debbie and Charley are always thinking on the large scale and are hoping i get a job with one of those large companies. That would be great, but i don't want to feel like i'm selling out my own morals and values. After working at The Firm, i feel that maybe i could work for one of those companies and have time on the side to keep working on my own projects like i'm doing now (therefore, not selling out).

maybe i need a job at one of these large companies to be successful financially. actually, i know that i do, unless something amazing happens and am able to make it on my own as an independent business. maybe one day. but until then, having a job within the industry is important. i need to keep all of the connections that i have made because in this industry, its all about who you know. when you have all of the right connections you can get your bands places. that's where i need to be.

sorry, i realize that this is one huge brainstorm. but, that's how i feel after spending my summer in Beverly Hills.

thanks for all your support

i love you

amanda

(ps. if i think of anything else i'll add it in within the next week. otherwise, thanks for reading! peace)

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

on the road again

i'm in fabulous las vegas at the hampton inn with glen. we just ate breakfast (and brought some extra food for lunch) and now we're packing up and getting ready to head to our next destination, the grand canyon.

when i get a chance i'll post some of my las vegas pictures, probably with some grand canyon ones later.

the beatles LOVE cirque de soleil was phenominal!
before we even went in we were in beatle mania heaven.
(trust me here- you'll see the pictures)
we were so excited and it just turned out to be so great
we didnt get back to the hotel until about 2am

i should go though, finish packing so we can get to the grand canyon and then to the hotel, i need to get some swimming time in! i miss the ocean already.


take care,
more updates soon.

love, amanda

Saturday, August 4, 2007

SHRED SCHOOL

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i had to get up and do a panel. but it was sweet, people told me i did a good job. and i might have discovered another band to manage.

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Dean DeLeo of the Stone Temple Pilots

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Stephen Carpenter of the Deftones

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John 5 from Marilyn Manson

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Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates from Avenged Sevenfold

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Herman Li of Dragonforce and Adam Jones from Tool



i'm really, really tired. i was there for more than 12 hours!
i made a lot of good new friends though
i met someone from GENESEO!
they will be very helpful in the future

i feel like i might be doing the right thing here.
this is what i was meant to do, and it'll work.

it has to, right?


lovelovelove
amanda

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

starting to feel a lot like summertime

i just returned from Manhattan Beach, the home of beach volleyball. But just because i'm done at the firm.. that doesn't mean i just go sit on the beach all day. i've been forcing myself to wake up early and go running every morning. i make a healthy breakfast and start working.. booking Julie Moffitt on the west coast. i'm getting a percentage of the shows i book depending on how big they are. there are a lot of dates to fill so i've been emailing like mad. most people prefer email these days so that's what i'm starting with. we'll start calling maybe next week. The Ballet's tour came together nicely and they head out next week! i've already told Padraig to call and confirm all the dates.
i'm still a little bit worried about what next year is going to bring. will i come back to LA? will i stay in minnesota for awhile and be able to get a job that pays well and is in the music industry? Good thing i've still got a little time, and Debbie to help me out with all this.

So i just found out some terribly interesting news. The 35W bridge near minneapolis over the mississippi river collapsed. luckily i dont think anyone i know regularly uses that bridge. 6 people are dead so far i guess. how often do bridges just collapse? its awful.

anyway... shred school with charley and debbie saturday

glen gets here tuesday :)

next wednesday is the McNally Smith wrap party at the house of blues

and i'll try to update you more.

ill put up pictures when i can

love you!
amanda

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

the final days

i'm in the second day of the last week of my internship.

it's ridiculous how fast this has all gone. it's hard to really explain what i've gathered from this experience. i obviously have a better understanding of how everything at a management agency is run, and who does what. i wish i would have been able to work with a specific manager in the music department to get an even better inside look. instead i've done a lot of things for many of the assistants and just tried to make myself useful. There being so many interns made it difficult to really stand out and get cool projects, especially ones related to what i want to get into. i've been in the dub room for a few days, and will be for the rest of the week. it's cool, i get to stay busy making copies of movies and cds and whatnot for everyone (..and myself). i've learned how to be someone's assistant.. which is what i'll probably do when i get out of here until i can get my management company on its feet (lets hope).

The ballet is finally kicking out some new recordings. www.myspace.com/theballet has a few new songs off of the live cd they got recorded at the Redstone Room in Davenport, IA. They are thinking about moving to the twin cities next year, and we're wanting to get a 5-bedroom house in minneapolis for all of us. that will be good for everyone. i think the ballet has what it takes to be a popular indie rock band. i think they are just realizing it too.

Julie Moffitt is great. she's organized and up until now has done SO much on her own. it's great being able to help her out with booking and promotion where i can. i'm currently helping her book 2 dates in winnipeg, and with some press for upcoming shows. maybe something more will come of this relationship in the future, but i don't know that she really needs a manager at this point because she's pretty steady on her feet. she's got a lot on her plate right now though, so maybe i'll be able to do more for her in the future. she has an EPK at www.sonicbids.com/juliemoffitt2.

i'm in the process of inviting people to our intern wrap party at the house of blues, which i'll be a part of helping put together. i'm getting together with charley tomorrow to discuss some of these things, as well as my future in the biz. she seems to know what's up so hopefully i can get some good advice and some more direction from her.

i'll give you another update later this week!

peace and love

amanda p.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

sorry for the delay.

life has been a little crazy. i think i was depressed for awhile there. but, after something as simple as spending an afternoon with debbie sandridge and the other interns, i felt so much better.

debbie got in on thursday.

i didn't see her then, or on friday for that matter. i wanted really badly to go out on friday, but then ended up just staying at home by myself. being sad. it was the five finger death punch cd release party, and brian was going to go with me but then when he flaked, i decided it wasn't worth it. i should have gone.

saturday i got calls from Debbie and Charlie, the new LA rep for mcnally smith. after passing warner brothers studios (and seeing the famous WB water tower!) we met at ribs USA, and brian and i got there before everyone else. a minute later though, Charlie showed up and we got to talk to her for a good 20 minutes before everyone else arrived, which was nice. we like her. we all put on our "I (heart) ribs" bibs, but i crossed out the heart. i had a salad.

following our late lunch/early dinner, we drove up to the spot where everyone takes pictures in front of the hollywood sign. we would have gotten closer, but we didn't feel like hiking up the side of a mountain. we took a lot of fun pictures, some of which i will be posting...



after dropping brian off and heading home, i uploaded all of our pictures onto my computer and then went to debbie's hotel where i met up with her and the other interns (minus brian) and we picked out our favorite pictures. debbie decided it was then time to go shopping at sephora in the beverly center, but it was closed. so we went to macy's instead and debbie bought some new shoes, including a pair for me :)

sunday i worked in the morning.
i was scheduled from 9am-2pm, but ended up getting off at 1 since it was really slow and there were a lot of us there. so naturally, i went to the beach. i met up with my friend steffen and we headed out to venice, evenutally meeting up with ashley and her friend and going to the drum circle. we did some chilling though, laying out and swimming in the ocean. how was it? salty. a little chilly, but nice. then steffen came over when he dropped me off to tune my terribly out-of-tune guitar. woot.


yesterday, migraine city. my least favorite place to visit. it started right after i got to work, got bad, and i went home, aching and nauseous. i went back to bed for awhile, watched some episodes of the office, and that was about it. brian called me after he got off and we went to harry potter. it was really good.

today i'm still achey. my eyes still hurt and my stomach isn't quite back to normal but it'll fade.

maybe pinkberry will help.


<2amanda p.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

brainstorming

today i was assigned a project to brainstorm ideas for radio promotions for hawthorne heights. like... playing lazer tag with the band. i came up with a pretty decent list and sent it jaclyn's way (Nicki Loranger's assistant). She liked some of the ideas so hopefully they get used!

Also, the power went out today. luckily it was right around lunchtime so most people just went to lunch (that's what we did.. even though i didn't eat.. i brought lunch but took my break anyway).

I need music to function. Brian always tells me to turn it off. that makes me upset. he's like the mean brother i never had (i have a nice brother). well, that's not completely true, i love brian, he just gets on my nerves sometimes. i'm a little too chill for his super dramatic over-the-top ways.

I've been a little homesick i think. it's pretty lonely out here.. working all the time. i don't have time or a really good reason to make good friends. my roommates are great.. but i need some people around that like all the same things i do. i have my fingers crossed that my friend melanie will make it out here for a few days.. and i'm really, really glad that glen is coming out here to hang out with me. i'll be done with work and we can hang out and see the sights. i haven't seen my family in forever.. luckily they'll be home when i get there in august.

debbie is going to be here thursday! i'm excited to see her. we're all going out to eat and trekking up the hill to the hollywood sign (which i STILL haven't seen) with the new LA person for mcnally. luckily i don't have to work saturday. but, that just means i'll probably have to work all day sunday. my feet are dreading it. just 2 more weekends there!! phew. and only 2 1/2 more weeks here at the firm! weird.

brian is falling asleep at the desk next to me. we have barely an hour left and there's not much to do. oh nevermind, his head is up again. haha. ahh.

hopefully i have some more interesting stuff for you later this week.

peace out
amanda p.

Friday, July 6, 2007

week 5-completed

we got a nice suprise before we left work today, we were told we don't have work tomorrow! hoorah. so, today was pretty pointless because so many people were gone. at least i get to do nothing at home tomorrow. i put together a tour binder for three days grace today. sounds cool right? yeah... i just made all the little separator tabs. and i delivered some packages.

on tuesday the 3rd we got out of work early, so my roommates and i went to six flags magic mountain. it was awesome, there were no lines! so we got to hit quite a few rollercoasters that hot afternoon in the valley.

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Amanda, Mo, Petunia, Dan


on the 4th we grilled out, then got some cold stone to celebrate america's birthday. we went to culver city for some fireworks. (i've seen better, i'm not going to lie).

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oh, and i took this sweet picture at the drum circle this week.

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i might take a trip up to san francisco next week to see some friends in the band Comadre that i did sound for a few times when they've come through the Quad Cities. They are awesome.

i think thats all for now

peace out!
amanda p.

Monday, June 25, 2007

mail.

i'd be alright if i never had to deliver mail again.


friday was alright, i covered kevin barkey's desk for a little while in the afternoon. answered some phone calls, nothing too exciting. snoop didn't call.

today i've done a whole lot of delivering mail and packages and not much else. seems like a waste of a day, i can't wait to go home. hopefully tomorrow there will be some sweet projects to work on.


i worked a lot over the weekend at Lucky. my feet were sore and still are, it will be alright when i'm done working there. i like most of the people, but it's just tedious and long. i got a new shirt. the discount is a perk.

i'm starting to get a tan. i can judge by where my bracelets are that i never take off. hoorah.


take care

peace&love

amanda p.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Assisting the Assistant

Today i am assisting Julie Yorn's assistant Aaron Criswell. He's ordering me lunch right now. I was fasting today but you can't turn it down when someone offers to order you lunch. Maybe tomorrow. I'm calling people, answering calls, and filing things. Seeing how the film side works over here. it's alright, and i'm trying to still do stuff for the ballet while i'm chilling over here. i've signed up for a few new websites for them and i'll post the links when they are finished. they probably won't be finished until the cd is completely done though. which hopefully is soon! very soon. i'm taking wednesdays off from now on so i have a day to get stuff done since i work on the weekends now. work on that tan!! i'm trying anyway. haha. some of the interns are all going out to california pizza kitchen after work (so fasting today just wasn't an option). it'll be nice to get together with them outside of the office. well that's about it for now..
peace out
amanda p.

Monday, June 18, 2007

pictures!

i posted a bunch on www.xanga.com/amandasbigadventure.

enjoy!

occupation: receptionist.

last week was rather slow as far as projects here at the firm. so, i've decided to take on my role as the ballet's manager again and turn my down time here into productive time for them. i'm getting quotes on merchandise, helping with shows and trying to get ahold of radio stations in the cities they are going to on tour. padraig, if you are reading this, you better have signed up for ASCAP already.

www.myspace.com/theballet

i got a job at Lucky Brand on the 3rd street prominade in santa monica. we get a 60% discount, so i'm going to be buying a bunch of new clothes. i worked on saturday from 2-11 during a huge sale, so it was pretty exhausting. good experience though, i've never worked in retail.

my old friend steffen called me monday evening to let me know he was in LA. Then he called me later saying that the place he was supposed to stay was really bad so he stayed on my couch. He looked for places tuesday and wednesday but ended up staying over again both nights. apparantly he found a cool place though.

my roommates both were gone for the weekend. i was too tired to do anything saturday night after working but sunday i worked 2-6 then met up with Ashley and we went to the beach for the weekly drum circle! i made some friends this time, one of their names was pete, and he gave me a bracelet. we are beach buddies now. israil got to the beach right as we were leaving but i got my camera! too bad it already missed a lot of good stuff, like our first day/week and trips here. hopefully there will be more good stuff to come.

stephanie, one of the receptionists has been gone so i've been filling in her position at the front desk with john. it's pretty easy, but unfortunately i'm not doing a whole lot. eric got to cover one of the assistants desks on friday. the thing is, i don't want to be someones assistant. i guess its ok for now, i'm learning some things but it's just proving the fact that i don't want to work for a big corporation.

last week i did start on a project, (Alyssa, another intern was working on it but didnt know one of the songs and i was singing it when i walking by so she recruited my help!) we had to replace a few songs for a zombie movie to songs from our artists so it wasn't so expensive. i was pretty good at that project.

i'm not on my computer right now but i swear i'll put up pictures soon.

peace
amandap.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Week Two Begins

i'm at work right now, getting ready to start up again on the same project ive been working on for a few days. i have to call and get the chief of marketing or president or whoever i can and talk to them about marketing an artist managed by the firm. i have to get their info and give it to the assistant and then the manager will call them. so, it's pretty ongoing.

on friday of last week i had an interesting encounter with Snoop Dogg. I heard he was in so i went for a sweep (to get everyones outgoing mail). i was flagged down outside of his managers office and had to run to the pizza place next door and bring back some orange sodas. then later i was walking by again and stopped for a second to look at snoop's posters and skate deck, and i talked to one of the assistants behind the desk. snoop saw me looking at his stuff from the office he was sitting in and was like 'hey! what are you doin?' i instantly put down the skate deck i had turned over to see the artwork on the bottom and put my hands up. but it was cool, he said some other stuff and i must have turned bright red. everyone around was laughing and he said to me, 'aw i was just messin with ya.' i laughed and continued walking. i was a bit flustered after that so i went outside to call glen! the rest of the day was pretty normal, and i left a little early to go job searching.

on friday afternoon i chilled with mike, one of the record label interns at the firm. we just went to the beach and hung out for awhile. it was cool. we met Rasta Pete (i think it was pete). he showed us his artwork and gave us some insight. good times.

friday night i was chilling with Mo (maureen) my roommate. we heard what sounded like helicopters right above our place, so we went outside to check it out. there were like 10 of them! we instantly turned on the news and i had guessed it, it was a high speed chase. apparantly it went on for about 2 hours! we found out that it was only blocks away from our place. not a very exciting ending though, he just got out of the truck and laid on the ground.

saturday night my roommates Dan (danielle) and Mo went mini golfing at some castle arcade place. it was a lot of fun, i got to play some DDR and Mo won a TON of tickets. pictures later.

I went to hollywood blvd. yesterday and walked down the 'walk of fame'. i have a few pictures to show you but i'm not at home so i'll add them later.

last night ashley and i went to the drum circle on venice beach. it was a lot of fun, we brought a beach towel to sit on and chill and then eventually got up to dance. its going to be our 'weekly date'. (as long as i dont have to work).

i think i pretty much got a job at a Lucky Brand store on the 3rd street promenade in santa monica (aka, near the beach!). i just have to go in there tonight after work to talk to the store manager.

like i said, i'll post pictures later

until then,

PEACE

amanda p.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Days One and Two at The Firm!

LA has been great so far! it's pretty gloomy today, but it's been pretty nice otherwise.

brian and i looked fabulous on the first day! very professional. we fit right in with everyone when we got there. i picked him up at about 8:30 and we got there at 9. there were 6 of us starting that day, one had been there a week, and the other about 3 weeks. one more girl started today. (there are a lot of us!) there are also 2 interns with the firm's label. everyone is pretty cool. it's pretty laid back dresscode wise, so most of us were in jeans today.

we toured the building (aka the 5th and 6th floors) most of the first morning. then we were given tasks that were pretty tedious but okay. we went out to sharkey's for lunch (mexican) with a few other interns. it was a lot of fun. when we got back to the firm we went back to what we were doing (i'm not really allowed to tell you exactly what it was). then chad, one of our supervisors came up to brian and i and another intern and said JK (the CEO) had a project for an intern. we were all willing, so we did rock-paper-scissors. brian won, but when he came back with the project i helped him out.

the project was finding a lester hayes (former raider) autographed football, helmet, jersey, or something to get as a present asap. we were told to look locally, and we were calling places but it proved to be rather difficult. apparantly lester hayes wasn't that popular.

we found an autographed print but there wasnt a picture, so JK's assistants told us to have them get us a pic. i had them send it to my email and then i forwarded it to them this morning.

i guess it wasnt exactly what they were looking for. we went back to the task, this time they said as long as they could have it shipped next day we could get it from anywhere. we ended up finding a jersey in Wisconsin, but we needed to get it approved by the assistants and ordered very quickly, because it was nearly 3:00 in wisconsin, the cutoff time. the credit card number they gave us first didnt work because they didnt accept american express. one of the assistants had to call someone to get another card. at this point we had about 15 minutes to get it. she finally got the number though and brian and i got it ordered in time. phew! project completed.

we got another project this afternoon. we had to take autographed CD inserts for Kelly Clarkson singles and put them in all the cases to be shipped out. Brian was rather excited about the fact that Kelly had touched every one of those papers we put in the cases. we did other things too, like take mail from peoples outboxes and deliver it to the mail room, and one of the other interns and i delivered scripts from the copy room to the people who had requested them. there was some time where it was boring but it was not bad. oh, we also cleaned a bunch of desks over by the mail room, our home base. there's a sign up that says "assorted interns". haha. apparantly we are like ice cream flavors. oh well.

i might get to meet kelly clarkson tomorrow. and/or mandy moore. maybe. woot! so thats about all for now.

you can also visit my other blog at www.xanga.com/amandasbigadventure.

peace and love,
amanda p.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

McNally Smith College of Music

Music Education at McNally Smith- Saint Paul, MN
At McNally Smith College of Music, you'll explore your passion for music at a top music college with a unique hands-on curriculum that immerses you in today's technology, nurtures your vision and develops your talents. Imagine a music college where you can study music business, audio recording, production and live sound, or popular music performance with your instrument of choice--guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, voice, brass or woodwinds. Your music college is McNally Smith.