Murky Water Chronicles

LAST BITS OF RECORDING!

2010-09-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here we are guys: working hard for you and to have the best possible product to take home and share with friends. Thank you all for your awesome support! We honestly never expected to record an album, but the support from music lovers definitely motivated us to get the project rolling. In the hands of NY-based producer Luke Moellman and music engineer/guitar player Matt Gajewski, I promise a sparkly and whimsical album!

I love hosting LAST OF SUMMMER DAZE!

2010-08-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

I think throwing events in Miami is a mission, but it's a mission I've taken on with a lot of heart. I recall the very first show I put together myself @ GOO warehouse. It pretty much looked like a crackhouse: no bar, no a/c, but it was a space and I planned to fill it. As lo-fi as the conditions of the space were, we got a great line up, packed the place up, and payed off the warehouse owners. After that, I set up the Double Siren Bday Bash in North Miami in a nicer, ventilated warehouse with stage lights and all. Finally, last December, after hearing so many complaints from my musical friends about getting jipped by event throwers, I decided to throw Tickles and Tunes and got to pay some artists. Our most recent event, LAST OF SUMMER DAZE @ The Electric Pickle Company, was based on getting some bands to make performance debuts in Midtown and expose them to new audiences. It was a lot of fun to plan and see all of you show up and enjoy yourselves. Here is a quick look!

Critically Massive Benefit for Michael Lum

2010-08-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

It all started on a Tuesday evening in mid-July. Nick and I were recording at Luke Moellman's home studio and when it came time to leave, we realized my car battery had died. Luke's car was unavailable at the time as well, so we called up our friend Lucia, who is also our leading lady in our Thump'n Of My Heart music video. Lucia came to the rescue and in the midst of conversation, she mentioned her friend Michael, who neither Nick nor myself had ever met, had been in a bad cycling accident earlier that day. Overwhelmed by the story of an unconscious young man in critical condition, I stepped up and offered to TRY to help somehow. I had put shows together before and knew that maybe S&S and some of our musical friends could help Michael out. I kept using the word TRY. I didn't want to promise something I couldn't properly deliver. I managed to attain a great line-up and a cooperating venue within 48 hours because, you see, we wanted the show to happen within a week. With the help of so many wonderful and generous individuals, THIS BENEFIT HAPPENED and here is our video summary!

First Music Video DAY1

2010-06-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

After working on this project for two years, writing blogs, filming the band life, creating social networking accounts, local radio interviews, performances, and finishing up our album, I thought it was time for a new medium. A music video seemed like the next logical step. What song to work with wasn't a difficult decision, we needed one of our originals. A song that was heartwarming and simple. One that could help portray a universal message. We chose Thump'n of My Heart and we chose to shoot it at our local Fox's Lounge. Co-directing the video is local sound tech and producer Myriam Valdez. Local film maker and photographer Andres Melo is working as Director of Photography in the video and we are lucky to have him. Most importantly to the band, we have an amazing cast, taking up small roles and parts as extras.

The support has been amazing and we can't wait for the final product! A special thanks to all the listeners who have volunteered to join us for Saturday morning shoots. We still need more help, so contact me on our Facebook or MySpace page if you're interested to help.

S&S proud to STANDUP FOR KIDS!

2010-06-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Out of all the gigs we get invited to play, we've been lucky enough to participate in some with great causes. A couple of months ago we were invited by Coral Gables High School's LGBT rights club to play at the Wallflower Gallery. The event was called Night of Noise, an evening following the Night of Silence paying respect to all hate crime victims in America. Due to bad schedules, we were not able to play that show but our respects went out to the hearts that made the event happen. About a month ago, our guitar player Matt was approached by some volunteers of the StandUp For Kids organization, a project working to take kids off the streets everywhere. It was only a matter of synchronizing schedules, but after that was taken care of there wasn't a doubt in our minds that we were IN! It was really cool to see so much artwork created by the very kids who have been effected by the program and it was a pleasure to donate a performance to the event!! (Nick and I were just JOSHIN' you all with our crunk and passing out song, but we hope you like it anyways.)

DWNTWN Miami Concert Series Season 2

2010-05-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

So the video narrator man says it all, but we'll all die knowing we opened up for a band whose songs we hummed at the average age of 8.

MARCH & APRIL, fools!

2010-05-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

Our Spring was appropriately full of quaint book stores, hippy hostels, and percussive tunes by the bay! This vlog is so jam-packed that there is little to say what the images and commentary don't already explicate. So please enjoy and comment! We love reading the feedback!

Recording

2010-04-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

2010 has treated us rather well. We have all tried our hardest to be a prolific band, considering the number of members and the different schedules. The positive response we get after every performance never ceases to amaze us and the opportunities presented to us are nothing less than a blessing. With the two-year mark (of S&S as a band) approaching in June, we have set some goals for 2010--the completion of our album and a CD release party.

This is truly a band that was initiated by music lovers trying to share their love for music, a group who never planned out or expected anything beyond that. In fact, the idea of recording an album never occurred to us. Sure, we had GarageBand on our iMacs, and didn't mind tinkering with it in order to provide online access to our tunes, but even that was taken lightly. A shift slowly happened upon our second recording (Suburban Ring-a-Ling) and in my opinion it was primarily due to the contribution of Matt Gajewski. Once Matt joined the band and we mentioned recording a 2nd song, he presented to us his version of minimalism, incorporating quality software and actual mics. I recall Matt apologizing for not being able to provide more but we all just laughed because we knew the recording process would be different from that point on. For our next 3 singles Matt brought in local composer and fellow Van*Gloria bandmate, Luke Moellman. The recordings got better and better. Luke believed in the sound so much so that he offered to be a major part of the final product. Slowly but surely the tracks are being laid down and Sirens & Sealions is focusing on larger paying gigs in order to get this album completed. I hope you guys enjoy this video blurb of one of the long drum sessions with drummer and engineer Jorge Balbi.

Breaking the language barrier with ALTOPARLANTE!

2010-02-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

After the Borscht Film Festival, you guys had no problem showing some love via Facebook and MySpace! AHHHHHH loved it! Out of all the ladies and gents that gave shoutouts and expressed their positive comments, I met Maria Fernanda, a gal delved in local media production. She is currently involved in a couple of independent production companies and when she heard us perform at the Borscht, she recommended us for an online show, Altoparlante. The name of the show is a translation of "loudspeaker." Anyway, the program will only be available online and is based around the exposure of local bands. Live performances are recorded, followed by a short silly interview and a lot of unexpected surprises.

Here is another vlog of our experience on the set and we will most definitely keep you guys updated when the Altoparlante video premieres in about a month. Much love!

An Apple a day, lets the music play!

2010-02-21T12:15:00.000-08:00

February has been an insane month for us sea creatures. We started off the year by making our single, Tumbleweed, available on iTunes. I wanted to promote the single the right way and made sure to schedule an Apple store performance in what I believe is one of the most crowded of the Apple shops in Miami, the Lincoln Rd Mall location. Unlike other performances, we decided to keep this one low key and were very curious to play to an audience that has never heard our sound before! The result was, at one point, a completely silent Apple store hanging on every word of one of our newest songs, Hopeful Heart. The silence was broken only by a concluding applause and we couldn't have been happier with the overall response.

Here is a video of the evening's events and we will be coming back to the location once we have more songs available on iTunes! A big thanks to the Apple team @ the Lincoln Rd location, you guys were amazing!

Tickles & Tunes

2009-12-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Tickles and Tunes was a great local success. We had a great turnout and the evening was filled with tunes by local artists like Anita Bertollini, Bridget + Luke, and Jesse Jackson. We also heard the comedic styling of local comedians Jessica Gross and Daniel Reskin. We would like to thank the residence of Coral Gables, South Miami, and West Kendall for driving out despite the holiday season and joining us in our last show of 2009! It was a blast!

2009 Borscht Film Festival

2009-11-29T16:12:00.000-08:00

I actually decided to banter in this video blog, so that's why it's longer. I hope you enjoy us being ridiculous 'cause that word pretty much describes how we felt all night. We had an amazing time at the 2009 Borscht Film Festival and would like to thank Lucus Leyva and Andrew Hevia for thinking of us to perform. Quite the experience guys, and it's something really special that you guys are doing in this city! The blog will say it all!! Oh, and P.S. in the blog I uttered the number 600, but when I found out, we actually played for about 1,000+ or so people before the theater reached its max 1,600 capacity..Crazy!!! Biggest crowd ever for a lot of us local bands! If you missed it, we expect to see ya December 12th. The audience was amazing and we were completely foreign to a great amount of them. It was amazing to receive such an honest, unbiased response. It let us know we are doing something right, so thank you guys for enjoying the music and searching for us online. Your comments are much appreciated and super heartwarming! DECEMBER 12TH GUYS. IT'S NOT THE GUSMAN, BUT ITS A KILLER LINE-UP FOR 5 BUCKS, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, AND WE CAN ACTUALLY HANG!

(Recap/Commentary by Jo at the end of the video)

WE ARE IN LABOR!

2009-11-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting rehearsal; we are finally getting together a song written by our drummer and also trying to untangle the possibilities of another ballad. The new song sounds nothing like our old stuff but this is why we are so stoked about it, you guys won't know what hit ya. We just have faith in the loyal listeners to expect the quirky and unexpected from us frivolous sea creatures and enjoy the tunes.

This rehearsal I gained pride in being tambourine girl. These roles are sometimes underestimated but I kid you not, when you play with Daniel Higuera, a wrong tambourine hit could mean your life. Hahaha. He knows how to remind you that every percussive sound counts and better be tight--love that! Nick, the leading man whose voice makes the gals go giddy up, is still in the search of his inner heart-throbness. Haha we were assisted by Yannick Calleiro on bass today and we will have him the day of the show, so please--nothing but warmth for the foreign bearded fellow, guys. He's definitely stepping it up in Gerry's temporary absence.

Overall it was 4 hours of me in a room with lots of testosterone, but you gotta love these guys cause they love you! Check out the video blog to make more sense of banter!

LAST ACOUSTIC SET!

2009-11-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

We sea creatures never really indulge in live performances, primarily because of our hectic schedules and these past two months (without our drummer Daniel Higuera) have not been any different. We took things at our own suburban pace and only played 2 shows in West Kendall. We also had the pleasure of working with RevMiami and their Big City Breakdown series, which was suitable for our acoustic sound at the time. I am happy to announce that Daniel Higuera will be returning to us in December and we will be performing a couple of new songs at The American Legion building inside of Harvey's By the Bay. I (Jo) took it upon myself to welcome back Daniel with a show I'm putting together. The night will consist of some of Miami's finest DJs, stand-up comedians (Daniel Reskin and Jessica Gross) and of course musical acts (featuring: Jesse Jackson and band, Sirens and Sealions, Bridget + Luke, and a possible surprise guest!).

In this video blog we say farewell to Kendall acoustic sets for a while and give a big thanks to the epitome of local supporters. You guys are amazing and not only come out to shows that are a block away from the familiar suburban settings, but you also drive your butts 20 miles away for Downtown, North Miami and South Beach shows. The support and feedback is indescribable and here is some footage of our Starbucks performance. Keep a look out for your own face 'cause Danny is a camera fiend and has no mercy! Hahaha. He is the man for putting these video blogs together so efficiently, so please comment on his work and on the blog in general!

Big City Breakdown

2009-11-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

Big City Breakdown (BCB) is RevMiami.com's video feature where local musicians are taken out of their typical performance element and placed at one of Miami’s signature outdoor locations as they present a song. The presentation will be shot in a single running take with no editing magic. BCB is an opportunity to showcase Miami's best talent, highlighting their versatility without electricity, four walls, and other amenities of the bar and club scene.

We had the pleasure of working with the RevMiami's Steven C. Imas and his production team. Once again our band duties caught us on a Sunday evening, which as I've mentioned in previous entries is not a "day of rest" for these sea creatures. I'm not even going to sugar coat it after being up since around 7 AM the night before where both Gerry and I knocked out the moment we got home. Sunday morning I woke up frazzled and disoriented around 5:30 PM and we were scheduled to meet Steve soon after at 6:30. I went into soccer mom mode almost immediately and called everyone that I was supposed to pick up. We arrived at our destination, Chanti right at our tail, and got started with our race against the sunset. The sunset won the race sadly, but we simply relocated to an inventive source of fluorescent lighting and ended up in the metro-mover, HENCE THIS FUN VIDEO! CHECK IT OUT AND COMMENT!

Links from the depths

2009-10-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

The New York Times
Miami New Times // 02
Miami New Times // 01
RevMiami
City Link // 02
City Link // 01
Wasabi Fashion Kult
BreakThru Radio (NYC)
MMMelody (NYC)
Jolt Radio
NBlog
Local Radiation blogspot
Glowing Light blogspot
Bardot Miami

Oh photo shoots!

2009-10-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

So today, Sunday, was a very busy day for us sea creatures. Four of us in particular had to wake bright and early to attend service and help out at church. As I mentioned in the previous post, Sundays are a work load for Chanti, Gerry, and I. Today however, Matt joined in on the Sunday fun with two consecutive church gigs at a separate location from ours. As for the rest of us, well... you know what we do. It's quite a bit and it's all done quite early in the morning.

It was no surprise for Chanti to have been greeted by a groggy, half-asleep Johanna this afternoon when she called to ask about the photo shoot we had planned. It was plain and simple,

Chanti: hello?
Jo: mmmmmmellooo?
Chanti: You napping?
Jo: mhmm
Chanti: cool I'm gonna nap too!

And that ladies and gentlemen is why we consistently, YET jokingly, state "We're perfect."

Now that I've established the impression of exhaustion on you guys, I can tell ya a bit more about this photo shoot. The photographer we worked with is amazing local freelance photographer, Bryan Rodriguez. We worked with him a bit over a year ago actually, when the band consisted of the original quartet. We sea creatures aren't exactly Calvin Klein models, nor do we carry the personality for "making love to the camera," but Bryan always manages to capture those tiny, happy moments when everyone in the frame is doing what almost feels like they SHOULD be doing. So slothfully, but surely, we all got dolled up and headed over to Nick's where the photo shoot would take place. Nick at the time taking an online sociology test, displayed his ability to balance academics and his rise to stardom, HAHAHA (just for you Nick!) Despite our weariness, we each stepped up to the plate and got the task done!

Click the above link to see more photos from the shoot.

One of my favorite moments was Chanti's turn to take solo shots. She wasn't feeling too well on top of being tired from a full day, and when it came her turn, she nose-dived into the moment with a uke at hand and a sense of humor on her sleeve! Another favorite moment was the realization that it has been over a year and we are still kicking, with new members on board and a boat full of song ideas. Overall, we were all super thankful for Bryan and his lovely glowing wife for taking time off their busy schedule to make us look like noble folks from Poseidon's kingdom. We finished off the video blog with a song for you guys! Read up and share!

The Sound of the Sea

2009-10-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

As most of you guys heard, we couldn't make it to Felix Varela Senior High's Battle of the Bands this year, so instead we had a another gig. Last night we enjoyed some tasty free meals at the ever-so warm and groovy Moon Thai & Japanese restaurant where we got to perform our acoustic set for some West Kendallites. Here's a wrap-up to what happened. Comment and enjoy!

Manning the troops!

2009-10-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

So after our Double Siren B-day Bash performance, we were flooded with show invitations and we are soooo very grateful for such high tides. There is no better feeling than receiving a phone call or email from an unknown source, who you know put effort in trying to contact us for a show. It's just great to know they heard about us through a friend or some other word of mouth.

Click on the above link for more pictures from RevMiami.com

Unfortunately, we've had to turn down about 6 gig offers in the past two weeks and we currently have 3 other events pending. So why can't we make a lot of the gigs we are offered most of the time? No, it's not because we are divas, even though I struggle to get Nick and Chanti to stop asking for those Frappaccinos during rehearsal, or have to consistently ask Matt to stop holding out his guitar while looking away whenever one of his strings break (he still seems to be under the impression that a go-to fellow will tend to the instrument's needs upon command.) These are not the reasons, HAHAHA. All jokes aside, I thought this entry could give the listeners some insight about how crazy our schedules are and how hard it is to "MAN THE TROOPS."

Lets start with our youngest member Daniel Higuera. The boy is so diligent in his work; its astounding to see at just 17 years of age. That boy is definitely an old soul stuck in a young body. Danny helps put order and structure to our schedule, especially when rehearsal takes place at his house. Us sea creatures have difficulties being punctual most of the times, but Danny's everyday regiment at New World School of The Arts is evidently applied to his everyday life. Danny is currently a senior there and is focusing on auditions, SAT testing, and getting into a great music school come next fall. Due to academic and artistic demands, he won't be playing with us until December when I plan to put together a Holiday show, God-willing that everyone is in town. In the mean time, you may catch a bit of our acoustic set in the months of October and November starting this Saturday at Moon Thai & Japanese restaurant and hopefully later October at the Apple store on Lincoln Road. We'll be waiting for you Danny!

Next, we have our second youngest member, Nick Deluca. Nick is a full time student at MDCC and carries a part time job at Publix. Now I know what your saying, "That seems like alot of kids' schedules nowadays", but not everyone is a music major. Nick's schedule not only consist of day time courses, but requires private guitar lessons and a number of assignments that take more than just reading and typing. He's a champ for putting forth the time for rehearsal, blog videos, and any other random happenings that I propose to him and the rest of my sea friends.

Next we have superwoman, Chantal Meza. I get weary just hearing about her days, so you could only imagine how hectic her schedule is. Chanti is a full time employee at one of Miami's largest coffee companies and despite the office setting, she does so much more than type and file. The job is definitely a 9-5 and right after work you better believe Chanti hits up one of the many FIU campuses, because yes... she too is a full time student. She wakes and doesn't get home till the wee hours of the night with perhaps enough time to read for school, pat her two dogs on the head, and knock out. You figure her weekends may be a bit more relaxing, and sometimes they are, but aside from singing for our band she also lends her talents to her church. The services consist of their own rehearsal times and early morning sound checks as well. PHEW! We are so grateful for the time she gets to put in for rehearsals and just learning songs for the band. Superwoman!

Gerry Felipe is another one of our members with a 9-5. The boy lives closest to our other guitar player Matt, but is a good 30 minutes away from the rest of us. Gigs and practice have to be carefully planned out with our members that are further away from the rehearsal space because it's all about time and gas money nowadays; it's tough. Gerry is also a student at MDC and lends his services to church on the weekends alongside his best girl. He loves his gal pal Liz; shes so supportive of his work with the band and at church and we are lucky enough to have her at some of our practices or recording sessions.

Matt Gajewski. The name says it all... THE POWER OF ZEUS WITH THE INTELLECT OF ATHENA, HAHAHA. Matt is also one of our all-stars in the band. Currently, Matt is engaged in a 9-5 internship, where he lends his knowledge of audio engineering to a dubbing company. Aside from work, you may know Matt from his local radio show Pure Imagination, which he transferred over to a book form this past year. SO GOOD! In addition, Matt writes and plays guitar for another other local band Van Gloria and is working on his next batch of stories and live readings throughout Miami. Bless that kid!

Daniel Fernandez was our latest and surprising additon to the band. His enthusiasm for the sound and for NICK (HAHAHA just for you Nick!), compelled him to create bell parts and sing out harmonies to our songs. He is also a student at MDCC. Danny plays piano and is a great help when it comes to composing and recording rough tracks with his Mac gear. Last but definitely not least, he is the man behind the camera and editing for the video blogs! SUPER STAR!

WOW WOW WOW, there are quite a few of us aren't there?! I'm Johanna Viscaino and I play the role of MAMA BEAR. I somehow manage to keep in touch with these amazingly productive individuals and try my hardest to set rehearsal at convenient times. I choose our gigs carefully and make sure they are worth the while since it takes so much effort to gather all of us in one place. It's been pretty good so far; I'm sticking to just one gig per month with an exception for video shoots, photo shoots, or fun shows we get fed for, HAHA. Aside from the band however, I am a part time student at FIU and a full time tutor. You'll see me driving around Miami in my silver Mirage (with a super cool AFROBETA sticker on the bumper,) spreading math and English skills to private school students K-12, from 3pm-9pm after class. On the weekends I become Hannah Montana at church. I say Hannah because my role is slightly different then Chanti and Gerry's, whereas they sing to our peers and the adults at church, I get to be the "MC/PRAISE AND WORSHIP" for the children's ministry. If I'm not like Hannah, I'm NOBODY and you better believe I have to be updated on which Jonas brother dated who or else I'm exiled from the young and the hip.

There you have it guys -- a summary of our day to day. I'm wiped after typing this. Hope to see ya at our next show!

So it starts...

2009-09-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

We never expected the band to be anything more than a one-time fun activity with friends. In fact, a month of rehearsing 3 songs was aimed only for an open mic performance at Raffa & Rainer's "Can You Rock a little Softer" night that they hosted last year. So if you've attended one of our shows in the past couple of months and have no idea where we came from, here it is:

It's only been a little over a year since our very first performance. It all started at our female vocalist's home. It was a Friday night and our current bass player Gerry was playing back then at the late and great Studio A. This particular night was a local jam night and Gerry told us to come out and support. Growing up in West Kendall (wayyyyy south west kendall,) a trip to the more commercial areas of Miami always needed to be worth your while, so Chanti and I quickly investigated who else would be playing. We looked up every other band on MySpace, and we were less than impressed with the sounds we heard. We thought, "This isn't something I'd pay ten dollars and drive 40 minutes for." We stayed in that night and jokingly said, "We could do this too!"

Around that same time our guitar player Nick had been diggin' deep into the local scene, and via online resources alone recommended I take a listen to Rachel Goodrich, Raffa & Rainer, and Jesse Jackson. Jesse had a regular gig Wednesday night at Amendment XXI by Midtown and that was my first encounter with not only a sound but a performance I'd pay to go see. My next stop was Restaurant 190 where Rachel Goodrich had a weekly Friday night gig, another musician I'd pay and drive to see. She, her guitar, and those heartfelt lyrics become playful sketches of this artist's experiences. I was speechless and so were the other members I had brought along for the ride. Finally, I had the pleasure of meeting Raffa & Rainer, a duet that manages to tell a vivid story in every song and always charmingly interacts with their audience. Personally, I was at a point in my life when painting and photography were insufficient vehicles of expression and after hearing a bit of my life in each of these local artist's words, I decided to pitch the idea of a band to Chanti (this time in a less joking manner.)

Chanti thought the idea was great and when I showed her my song book, she took out her Apple notebook, opened a new file on Garage Band, and soon the room was full of snapping, clapping, humming, and harmonizing. It only took us a week or so to pitch the idea to Nick, who with a quick listen, grew excited about the sound and instantly had his friend John Olin, our former drummer, take a listen. It all happened pretty quickly and primitively. We would gather in a bedroom, the four of us and that notebook, and work out our first 3, very simple, songs: Let Me Go, Thump'n of My Heart, and One Day. We practiced these songs for a while just because we had never performed as a group and wanted to make sure we all felt each other out.

So the Wednesday night came and we played and sang our little hearts out. The crowd was a lot more receptive than we had expected. What we had thought was a one-and-only memory and experience was actually the first of many. Right after our short open mic set, Raffa invited us to play with she and Jesse and a couple other acts the very next month. We were flattered that after only one performance we could play with these local gems we kept telling our friends about. It all goes uphill from there -- gig after gig and the accumulation of the best listeners ever, who now drive their butts 30-40 minutes to see us, brings us to where we are today.

We are now a troop of 7, Daniel Higuera on drums, Gerry Felipe on bass, Matt Gajewski on second guitar, Daniel Fernandez on keys and bells, Chantal Meza vox, Nick Deluca guitar and vox, and me Jo... I write the songs, I hit a canvas, I dabble with harmonies. We are currently working on an album (which you guys can totally get the EP for free if you contact me,) working on a music video with local producer Myriam Valdez (which we never expected to do,) and setting up shows throughout the year in attempts to continue to spread the sound. LIKE A PLAGUE I say!