Blood and Bass Players

So another few weeks have gone by and because I have not blogged lately, people have yelled at me.

Well not yelled, more like Facebook harassed.

So in order to save my eyes (and potentially my ears) from another onslaught of rowdy complaints, I'm taking a vow of blogging. I shall henceforth blog twice a week, even if my life is boring. That way I'll satisfy my crazy friends, AND bestow upon the world some level of not only excitement, but monotony.

Told you I wasn't a one trick pony.

So to start off my little excursion into my world. I did three main things since I last spoke to all of you.

1. Photoshoot
2. Auditioned a Bass Player
3. Fell off my mountain bike

The photoshoot started at my place, in front of what I can only say was a $6 dollar sheet from a thrift store. It just so happened to make an excellent replacement for a $400 an hour white room studio. So we brought in my good friend Bella from www.bellajohnsonphotography.com and took some shots for the official website. The boys ended up ruining most of the pictures by making stupid faces. Sometimes I feel I should beat them...

Yet, I won't, because scarely enough, one of my favourite photos is of the two if them in my lawn chairs, beer in hand, making almost gangster faces. Oh boys... I don't know how I'll ever be able to use that photo but it's pretty amazing.

My aunt decided to join in posing us as well, claiming "I watch all those weird runway shows. I must have retained something!" Well Aunty, looks like it so far!

An hour or so later, we trek out to Crescent Beach for a few, more intense shots as the tide is out. The sky was a perfect overcast and we got some pretty awesome shots. But I won't give them away because they're part of the ALBUM SURPRISE!

So that brings us to number two. Bass Player Audition.

All I can say is so far so good, Matt is turning out to be a great addition to the group, and we may be out playing a show with him July 16th. I'm just super glad that last Saturday when Kevin, a case of beer, 4 shots of gin and a few swigs of melon liquer later... didn't scare him away with his half an hour attempt at explaining his interpretation of the rain song. Which we have partially transcribed thanks to our resident Guppie Sam, so that's COMING SOON!

Lastly, and most recently, I had a pretty fail bike fall today, resulting in a deeply cut hand and road burned elbow. My shoelace was untied to I pulled over to the side of the road, next to a stop sign. Said shoelace got stuck in the bike chain and WHOOP "to the left to the left" Mel fell, in slow motion, to the left onto a curb. Somehow I not only cut a very deep line in my palm, but scraped off a bunch of skin there too, and on my elbow. It burns as I type.

Nanu stop laughing.

Peace!

P.S - Shout out today goes to www.bellajohnsonphotography.com Check her out, she's been amazing for us!

I'll Do Anything in the Name of Music - photoshoot #1

It's been a pretty odd three weeks. I've gotten the new pokemon game (black, yea I'm a bit of a dork), gotten drunk off one cooler and watched more musicals in a row than numbers called on a 649 lotto draw.
And I can proudly say its been because I've been seriously ill for 22 days, and finally I have been given anti-biotics so here's to hoping my crazy gets put on the back burner in favour of my workaholic tendencies.

Unfortunately I'm on the fourth gym leader so I've got this feeling the pokemon might not go away... it might end up being a 1am addiction when I can't sleep. I can't win 'em all I guess...

Onto better things:

GUP had our first photo shoot courtesy of my good friend, Bella Johnson! The funny part about this both Jesse and I were still horribly ill last Saturday and we had the shoot outside in Burns Bog... and it started pouring rain just like good old Vancouver usually does.

So there we are, desperately trying to not laugh in the photos- my 1 hour hair ruined, make-up thankfully intact but skin red and full of goosebumps underneath my uninsulated white leather jacket with two friends scrambling to try to hold umbrellas over Bella's head as she's scurrying around changing angles. And dude, I don't even get an umbrella! (Who's the rockstar here?)

But somehow we got a ton of awesome photos! The theme was post-apocalypse (because I'm a zombie apocalypse movie junkie) and we shot with random props we found on the ground at the old peat mill - a pipe, a golf club, some sticks and some kind of shelter Jesse hunched under trying to get outta the rain.

So after being outside for two hours in the pissing rain, I can't feel my hands and we decide to go, pick up some pizza and hang around the house for a while. The next day I'm hacking up a lung and the world seems tilted to the right constantly. I guess I'm gonna be sick again... all in the name of music. The things we do for the things we love.

If I haven't convinced you I'm crazy yet, stay tuned for the next blog!

Cheers,

Mel Dante, GUP

(Wanna see some shots?)  It's GUP! with more @ Bella's blog 

30 Days and Nights

I don't think I've ever been this busy. Not even when I was juggling school and work and music while still finding time to walk the dog, eat, sleep (sometimes), hang out with friends and catch Glee every Tuesday night.

And I thought THAT was hard.

Now there's no school. But there is more work. I've not only started working for a Biotherm, I've starting working in conjunction with Bella Johnson Photography, Sumit Prasad Fashions AND making time for the day job.

And don't forget the music. The whole reason I live and breathe and exist! I've got recording to organize, new songs to memorize and notarize... and how about practice? And T-shirt design!

In good news though we've got the logo prototype! Can't wait for the world to see it!

Anyway again I've worked til almost two in the morning and I should be off to bed! More updates soon! I've got lots to talk about.

Sweet dreams

Post Number One!

Hey everyone!

I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Mel and I'm the singer, guitarist and primary songwriter of Grace Under Pressure, a Vancouver based, female-fronted and male-backed hard rock band who's in this to get famous.

And this is my blog in which I'll dictate anything worth knowing and a bunch of stuff that probably isn't, during our journey to rockstardom.

Two things that you should know about me? I'm passionate and I'm dedicated. So far I've been on this journey for 6 years and I'll continue in this direction until I'm old. Or maybe I'll keep going like Madonna. Who knows. I've been told a thousand times in a million words and a hundred eyerolls that 'getting famous' is like winning the lottery and it won't happen to me. It's a good thing I believe in a more positive view of the world. And I will never know until I try!

Another few things you'd probably like to know... I'm friendly (so give me a holler!), I'm open to ideas, I love impromptu parties and small-time gatherings. I watch anything from the Discovery Channel to Manswers to Dexter and Glee and I try my hardest to stay wickedly (and I've been told scarily) positive.

Some things you might like to know about the band...

Kevin's the drummer and he's been with me since the name Grace Under Pressure was thrown out into the world. I usually call him caveman cuz he likes to hit things, make lots of noise and speak improper English. He pretty much rocks.

Jesse's the lead guitarist. He joined in the summer and auditioning him was probably the best decision we've made so far. (Here's to a ton more good decisions to!) His riffs are always melodic and as a bonus, they're catchy to. We recently wrote our first song together and its definitely in our top two favourites. I can't wait for you all to hear it world! He's usually quiet but he knows everyone and quite a lot about random things and he's always got a story to tell... usually something crazy he did the last weekend.

And _________ you haven't met cuz he's the invisible bass player. As soon as he's corporeal and pokeable I'll tell you more about him!

Anyway, look forward to more updates on our journey through life!

Cheers,

-Mel Dante. Grace Under Pressure.