Another Song for youuuuu!! Hope you like! :-D

The day is here - the song is FINISHED. Mixed and ready for your ears. Alex and I spent a lot of time polishing it last night, and finally I have something to show you guys!
So without further due… I give you… :

Another Song.


Audrey Wilsen - Another Song by Audrey Wilsen

I hope you like it! =)


Lyrics & Music: Audrey Wilsen
All instruments: Daniel Drumm
Backing Vocals: Synne Eileen & Katrine Stenbekk
Arranged and produced by Daniel Drumm
Mixed and mastered by Alex Pegington

Happy days & good news!

I got some very good news yesterday - I have been granted a 10 000 NOK (£1,000) scholarship from Sparebank1 in my home town in Norway! :-o

It is so nice to get some acknowledgment for all my hard work, and a huge motivation for the time to come. And I know exactly what to do with it. Lately I have really missed having a piano in my room and being able to just sit down and play whenever I feel like it. It’s just not the same to sit down in the piano rooms at LIPA, they seam to suck the inspiration right out of me - and not in a good way. Now I finally have the opportunity to get one for myself! THANK YOU SPAREBANK1!!! :-D This will definitely help my creativity, and I can’t wait to write some new songs by my very own piano. ☺ I will probably get one I can both play on and use to record, so some kind of midi controller with weighted keys… But a big one! I definitely want the full 88 keys. Hurraaah!

I also got a lovely “YES” from my two songbirds who I was hoping to get to join my Oslo based band, which means the Oslo band is almost in place. So is the Liverpool band. Another guitarist here and a keyboard player there have yet to confirm, and we will be ready to rumble… Exiting times!

Again, sorry about the delay on “Another Song” - the last tweaking is taking FOREVER!! Arrrgh… Hoping to get it out to you soon. In the mean time, I’m spending a lot of time working on my new song (working title “Free”) these days, since I’m using it for my arrangement task. Tonight I have played around with making a string arrangement for it, which is sounding pretty sweet. But we’ll see what I end up keeping! ☺

I will leave you with a picture from my lovely weekend in Norway. I went home to see my sister as a young, luring which in an opera on Saturday, and she did such a great job. Fun fun fun! PROUD! :-D My other sister had a baby last Tuesday (good timing, I know, and a job well done there to!) and one of my best friends moved his birthday party two weeks back just for me, so it was all in all an amazing weekend with lots of fun. I have now stacked up on hugs from my niece&nephews, my best friends and the rest of the family to last me until christmas.

I hope you have all had an as wonderful weekend as me!

I LOVE YOU!

Lots of luuuv,

Audrey

Some of my favorite people in the world! <3

HALF AN HOUR OF MY LIFE!!!!

"On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is not at all satisfied and 10 is very satisfied, how satisfied are you with Blaaah Blaah Blah Bla...."

I just spent 31 minutes of my life trapped in a market research phone call from O2. They have tried to call me a couple of times when I haven't been able to pick up, and this time I thought "how long can it take, I can spare 5 minutes...." 5 minutes my ass...!

"It won't take long," David assured me, and went on about how much O2 values my opinion as a customer. Polite as I am, I kept answering questions about how satisfied I am with my mobile services, but I must admit, as it got closer and closer to 15 minutes into the call, my rates went considerably lower... I KNOW that 1 means not at all satisfied and 10 means very satisfied by the 5th time you say it, DAVID, you don't have to keep fucking repeating it...!!! But, of course, he does. Because it's his job. I get it. He doesn't want to ask these questions any more than I wanna answer them, and he doesn't CARE about how effective I think O2's TV adverts are. I get that someone has to make these phone calls, and I sure as hell won't be one of the assholes who take their anger for being interrupted in their busy lives out on the poor schmuck who is just doing his job. But I do wish the last question was something along the lines of "On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is not at all satisfied and 10 is very satisfied, how satisfied are you with being called up around dinner time to answer ridiculous questions for half an hour?" Or what about "On a scale from bla bla bla, how satisfied are you with the length of this phone call?" 0, that's how much. If you must know. And of course you do. Cause it's your job.

Have a great weekend, David. You're all right. ;)

Who are you??

I wasn’t sure if anyone was actually reading this blog, but when I had a look at the statistics, they said that I have had 1037 views in the last month - by people in USA…! The rest are spread around Great Britain, Norway, Singapore, Georgia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Iran, Spain, Germany, Finland, Kenya and Russia... Which is AWESOME!! :-D

So whoever and wherever you are - thank you for making sure I don’t just write to myself. This one’s for you:

The First Kiss Hello (Since Goodbye)

I normally don't put stuff out unless it is 100 % finished. However, Caesar put this rough version of "The First Kiss Hello" out, and I thought I might as well share it with you guys while we're waiting for "Another Song." Just click on the link to listen. Enjoy! =)

All I ever got out of chemistry

I might regret this post… But here’s the deal; I used to be in an R&B group. Boom.

We dreamt big, and I have written a lot of R&B / Hip Hop songs in my time, but they, and we, never got anywhere. That’s why, when I had to record a song for a Sound Recording project at LIPA last year, I decided to brush the dust off of one of my old rap songs. It was the least I could do - I mean, the song has been there, all finished inside my head, since that double lecture in chemistry 8 years ago. I wrote the whole song in that class, and I have always said that’s all I ever got out of chemistry.

Aaanyway... I always knew exactly how I wanted it, but I never had the tools to bring it to life. Well, the opportunity came, and just for fun, and from a tiny little sting of guilt I guess, for moving so far away from that old version of me, I grabbed it. So here it is. A blast from the past, my ode to myself and my forgotten dreams;

Behind Closed Doors.

Enjoy. ;-)


Behind Closed Doors by AudreyShine

Lyrics, music and rap vocals: Aud J. Wilhelmsen
Piano and chorus/backing vocals: Becky Godlee
Guitars and bass: Daniel Drumm
Drums: Luis Duhart
Additional vocals: Dani Pedro and Brett Patterson Lehrman
Recorded, engineered and mixed by Aud J. Wilhelmsen and Becky Godlee

Trying out a new design, you like? ☺

I decided that the design on this blog was a bit too dark, so I changed it up a LOT. Hope you like! =)

Most of the band is on board! I asked around a bit today, and it seems like I have a drummer and a bassist now. Exiting times indeed. I am actually thinking of changing my Practical Project though, because I will be using my band here as my ensemble for second term as well, and they don’t really like that you use the same thing for more than one assessment. So, I am considering using my idea from my Business Plan last year in stead; putting together a band in Norway, and arranging a concert in Oslo while I am based here in Liverpool. I have a lot of things to get in place before I can make that work, but I do think it would be great fun. And having one band in Oslo and one here would absolutely make it easier to gig both places. So fingers crossed!

Alex is doing some great things on Another Song, and it’s all coming together nicely… It IS taking a bit longer than we thought, which is a drag, but that’s life. I’m just glad it’s being done at all to be honest!

That’s pretty much what’s going on at the moment. Oh wait, I’m lying! I’m writing a brand spanking new song! I was inspired by a guitar lick Dan made, and I’ve written a verse and a chorus so far. It is completely different than anything I’ve ever made before, it’s weird, but in a good way, I think… I’ll be sure to show you guys once I’ve got something a bit more concrete… =)

I hope you are all great (and that you are enjoying the snow for me if you are in Norway!).
I will leave you with a picture of me and my girl Silly from Halloween, long over due.

I love you!!

Lots of luuuv,

Audrey

Yes, I am wearing a tacky French Maid costume.
And yes - my hair is pink.

In The Mix

Between classes in the LIPA Bar. Like my hat...??

YES! We finally finished the vocals on “Another Song” on Sunday, and I am actually quite happy with the result. I say actually because I am never completely happy with a vocal take - there are always a couple of words or notes that just makes me wanna hide under a table. Which is the main reason for the lack of songs on my Myspace as well. It’s different with live performances, it’s more acceptable to make mistakes than on studio recordings I guess. In the studio, I can do any line over again if I’m not happy with the first take, and that makes me such a perfectionist. But yeah, this time nothing bothers me enough for it to matter, and I am looking forward to putting it up for you guys to have a listen! I do hope to have it up within the next couple of days. It is being mixed at the moment, and Alex is doing it all on his own time, which he doesn’t have a lot of… So understandably enough, it is taking a while.

Exiting things are going on in Liverpool. For my Practical Project this year I am recording an E.P. and arranging a concert/mini tour, and I am working on putting a band together for that. Of course I have the acoustic guitar already - Dan is an obvious member of the band. So now I need to look for the rest of them; drums, bass, electric guitar, keys, and strings. It’s all about finding the right people. I do miss Luis and Karina from last year, it’s a real shame they’re not here this year. They did wonders on With You Gone! But I’m sure I will find some great musicians - LIPA is FULL of them!! :-D

It has started to snow in Norway!! :-D I am going there next weekend, to watch my sister perform in an opera show, so I hope the snow stays until then. Dan is coming with me as well, and it would be nice to show him what Norway is REALLY about…! The thought of snow brings thoughts of christmas... Yesterday I heard Maria Mena’s brand new christmas song “Home For Christmas”, and it made me want to buy my plane ticket right away! It is such a beautiful song. I’m gonna leave you with the Youtube link, and if you want you can download the song on iTunes, along with the rest of her amazing music. I have! =)

Enjoy, and have a good evening!

Lots of luuuuv,

Audrey

Coffee & progress

Just popping by for a quick update. I am chilling upstairs in my little “café area” of our room at the moment, enjoying a lovely home made Iced Coffee Mocca a la Henriette and listening to Dan tweaking on “Another Song” downstairs. Vocals have been pushed forward yet again, but this time it’s because we decided to do more on the song than we originally planned, so it's taking more time. We’re not just doing an acoustic guitar-only version anymore, we’re putting in bass and drums and the lot. Dan is re-recording the bass right now, which is the last bit before it is FINALLY time to put the vocals on. And then, I am going to give Alex a cup of iced coffee and my biggest smile, and hope that he will mix it for us. Yey!

Gonna go warm up now, and hopefully the “bubble” in my throat will stay away for the day… More Gaviscon!!

Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend, and enjoying all the colors around you. Autumn may be cold, but it sure is beautiful.

I love you!!

Lots of luuuuv,
Audrey