Day 1 of the Apocalypse

So it's recording day numero uno and it's already been a whirlwind!

This whole story kinda starts last night when we played an acoustic fundraiser for my brother's school band @ the firehall center for the arts. We were testing out a couple new songs to see how the audience liked it and so far people LOVED it - so I'm hoping that means we're doing something right.
Then in the guise that 'we're gonna play another show @ someone's birthday!', the boys dragged out band butt's out to a house party where- I'm sorry liver - we partied it up a bit too much.

I was surprised by Kevin though when he had one beer and even when goaded by a group of rambunctious partgoers- refused to drink anymore! Especially since Kevin's favourite food is beer.
Jesse and I weren't as responsible and so here there we are at 11am - Kevin slamming the door open, jumping up and down with two drumsticks in hand, ready to pack up his drums and all Jesse and I can think about are an Advil and glass of water.

We manage to make it to the studio early and sit in the car blasting some death metal out of Jesse's car. It's a few minutes past noon and we load everything in and all is set up by one. Then comes Jay from Edges of Seven to give us a hand fine tuning the drum sound and all I can say as I listen to Kevin banging away at the tracks is HOLY NO WORDS. It's way too amazing. The drums sound 100x's better than what I expected. They're meaty and sharp all at once and super clean. We've done Dekadense and right now Kevin is one take into My Yesterday.

I'm so excited I could cry. Actually there are a couple of tears in my eyes right now (but it just might be an eyelash). Keep checking back!

As Tim, our producer would say! Chow for now!

Mel GUP

Bonfire Bonanza!

So yesterday's practice was pretty lax- I've got a feeling we're really gonna kick our asses next week. Only about two weeks until the studio! Ah! So, a few friends of ours came by and listened to our jam and totally invited us to a bonfire party tomorrow night. So here Jesse and I are frantically texting each other cover song ideas to try to pull off with a couple pages of TAB and a slight inclination of what the song sounds like... this is gonna be interesting!

I also met the event planner for Guilt & Co. Bourlesque, Jazz and hangout lounge. She's a super nice young lady and I can't wait to contact her about some exciting openings for bands in May. Keep checking'!

So that's all I've got to report except for the fact our website's gonna be in the works soon and Kevin hit 154 beats per minute for our song SHUT! Only another 10 beats to go caveman!

Cheers Guppies,

Mel, GUP

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

Boredom, I challenge you to a duel!

Unfortunately I lost the duel. Boredom won over.
I'm sick and it SUCKS. And I don't understand why that, whenever I get sick it has to affect either my throat or my ears... irony much? So its been about 5 days and I've gone to work screaming "WHAT? WHAT?" every two sentences cuz I can't really hear on my left side. Curse you sinus infections! The rest of the time I'm in my snoopy PJs either staring at the TV or my computer screen as I kick some serious rear on Starcraft II (yea, I'm a chick who likes videogames, whatcha gonna do about it :P) or asleep for 14+ hours trying to boot out this bug.

The only good I've got out of these 119 hours of nothing is we auditioned a bass player! He was good, here's to hoping he lasts it out! And I got a bit of a kick into designing the GUP t-shirt and web design. I've got an awesome feeling everyone's gonna love it! Can't wait for our band release in the Spring! Yea baby, we're gonna bring it!

Anyway, in other news, cuz my buds and I find interesting stuff all the time, the scientists' on this great big planet found an organism who doesn't rely on the 6 elements required for living! Its a bacteria that substitutes Arsenic for Phosphorus! The arsenic just reminds me a bit of Chicago. Sometimes things just defy logic!

I hope you all are enjoying the festive cheer right now! There's lots of Red and Green going around!

Cheers!

Quote of the Day.

"Without fame, he who spends his time on earth leaves only such a mark upon the world as smoke does on air or foam on water." - Dante

I plan on leaving a giant mark. It'll be a crater etched into the minds of many with only a few knowing how it  got there or who made the impact. I want my actions to echo through the future, far past when I'm breathing and far past the day anyone remembers my name. I want to change our thinking and our culture. I want people to love themselves and love their lives. I want to promote gratitude, confidence, love, acceptance, kindship, action, initiative, grace and catalyst a pursument of passion. No dream is too large and no step too small. Negativity stems from idleness and Positivity from initiative and creativity and action.

Go for everything you want to do and believe in yourself, because it won't take long until everyone believes along with you.

Life is short, so take advantage of every minute and seize every opportunity. Live your life outside instead of living someone elses life inside. Do it. Because you are the only one living your life right now and it'll never happen until you do it yourself! I believe in you and I hope thats enough to make you believe in you to.

Three Cheers to Living Life to the Fullest!

Rockstars Can Like Country Music To!

No one believes me when I say I grew up on Cher, Shania Twain, Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw (not to mention his superstar country lady Faith Hill). It wasn't until I hit high school that I realized rock music was the best of all worlds and that GIRLS COULD DO IT TO. It was a changing point in my life and I'll always remember it started with Treble Charger and Evaescence, progressed to Saliva and Aerosmith and right now it's somewhere in between Apocalytica, Breaking Benjamin and Queen (a staple in ANY rockstar's influences).

But country music still influences me! I can sing every word to every Martina McBride song on her greatist hits album. Cry by Ms. Hill is my favourite country ballad and dude, Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy? Even if you don't like country music you've got to like that song! Cheeky and catchy. There are so many more I can't name them all.

Anyway, what brings me to blogging this is I think I resparked a bit of life into my love of country music and its all Aaron Pritchett's fault. I went to the Roxy tonight for his CD release with a good couple friends of mine and found out that his song's "Hold My Beer" is amazing and "Pinch", off his new album is pretty rockin' and different. I really love that song. You should listen to it, the riff in the chorus is pretty sweet.

"Baby, it can only go up from here!"

Anyway, it's really late and I had one too many whiskey sours before my business class in the morning so... Goodnight y'all!

It's a Long Way Forward, but a Long Way Back.

As I've mentioned before. I've been doing the whole music dance for a good part of my memorable life. I've written countless songs about the journey and its trials and difficulties but I really want to write one to compose the whole party of it. The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the fun, the boring, the mistakes, the successes... And I'm having a really hard time of it. It's not easy writing a catchy fun beat that picks you up and throws you around the room, banging your limbs into walls and your head into the ceiling but somehow causes you to crash onto the ground, laughing, your sides aching with the fun of it all. Cuz this ride has been like a rollercoaster with no seatbelt. I've held on for this long, terrified and thrilled all at once, and it wasn't until recently I realized that even if I fell, I would have been having the time of my life.

And I'd love to say thank you to all the amazing people who have made the journey thus far so awesome and memorable. You'll always know who you are.

And as in the words on P!nk! RAISE YOUR GLASS BABY... Cuz I'm just gonna get this party started! You wait world, Melody Dante is here to bring you something else!

Cheers my little fishies.

MelDante of GUP

Find me on Twitter @MelDante for all the updates on my rollercoaster journey.

P.S - My Good friend Bella Johnson of BellaJohnsonPhotography read this and totally made my day with this regurgitated quote. ""rather to fail at something you love, than suceed at something you hate". I hope you all succeed at that you love. Don't give up just because a few doors close, stay focused, work hard and use that passion. You only live once.

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.