Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Vote Funny or Die!

Carlos & Brandi 2 - watch more funny videos     
 
Was asked to play Boo in the funny or die video Carlos & Brandi 2 

Honored to be a part of the Icelandic Poniez comedy team, although playing tennis in full makeup, a skanky outfit and high heels on a hot day in L.A was challenging. Fun to step into acting for a day.

Vote Funny or Die! Common, the Baywatch effect alone on my behalf deserves it!

www.funnyordie.com/videos/7250a1fce8/carlos-brandi-2

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Save the date March 17

On March 17, my graduation day I´ll be releasing two of my songs, "I Feel It at Night" and "Falling For You" on my bandcamp site to raise money so i´ll be able to go to my sisters wedding this summer. I call the fundraiser "Get me to my sisters wedding in time."

My sister means the world to me. She came all the way to Vienna, Austria to see me graduate so i really want to be there for her when she gets married in Copenhagen, Denmark.

I need your help! Spread the word. Save the date March 17 and go to the site

http://annaclaessen.bandcamp.com

Thank you for your contribution

Viva La Vida en L.A.

2012 is going by really fast. The last months i´ve spent a lot at school. For the final project at school, i had to turn in three original songs (do everything by yourself, songwriting, recording, mixing, mastering and visual art as well), marketing plan, bio, website and social sites and a business card. That plus homework at school and the last quarter is intense, a lot to learn. So i´ve been studying a lot.

I have gone every week to the artist and career development center at school which offers career counseling with different people from the industry. I got both amazing reviews as well as one bad one. I considered it a taste of the music industry.

I finished my internship. First half i did at True Talent Management and then at Lafamos, where i met great people and got to know the industry more and gained some contacts. Good experience.

We went to the People´s Choice Awards after party. We signed up at seatfillers.com and got free tickets. We thought we would see some big celebrities but the biggest ones were Brian McKnight, Mario Lopez, the guy from the movie The Blind Side and Ronnie from Jersey Shore. We were a bit disappointed. The best part was meeting a great group of people from O.C. who were had also signed up as seatfillers. We had a blast with them.


Seatfillers is though cool, we got to go to the Grammy´s concert outside, saw Foo Fighter, Deadmau5 and Chris Brown/David Guetta live. Best part was Foo fighters, this was the fourth time i saw them and they never seize to amaze me. During the break they played different riffs, playing My Hero, with the audience singing along, despite the producer lady screaming STOP PLAYING! They ended up shutting them down. That´s true musicians right there.

Living in Hollywood is intense, between the tourists, premieres and the homeless people, it can feel overwhelming to live here day to day, so i was glad when Viktoria asked me to go to the beach. We went to Venice Beach where we soaked up the sun, ran and took pics on the beach, then rented bikes and rode our bikes to Santa Monica Beach where we had lunch. It was perfect. I would love to live by a beach someday. Seems like a dream. At least compared to Hollywood.


Talking about life in Hollywood, we were there when Paul McCartney get his star. Matt (dan´s friend) had just moved in so him and his mom (the Dutchess) came with us. A camera crew noticed Dan´s guitar and Dan played and i sang with him "Yesterday" for ABC news. Unfortunately it didnt air. We had a blast though and saw Paul McCartney and Neil Young. Great day!

Mason moved out of our place and Eric joined the gang, so now Dan has his whole band and best friend living with him. Awesome! It is though a challenge sometimes living with four guys. Although its mostly fun. Really social. We´ve had plenty of people come over, which is always fun.


Turns out my lactose intolerance has gotten worse, i ate chicken alfredo and got really sick. Not a good idea. Reminds you to take care of yourself and be grateful when times are good.

I met Dan´s grandpa and his grandpa´s brother. Honor to meet them and i can´t wait to meet the rest of his family/friends in Michigan in the end of March. The same day i took Dan to Þorrablót, traditional icelandic feast, so Dan got a taste of traditional food. He tasted it all. What a hero! Kinda fun introducing him to my wold, since i will be seeing his this month. Hope to show him Iceland one day. Talking about Iceland, i´ll be going home between March 19 to March 24, short visit to change my visa status. why you might ask?

I GOT INTO THE VOCAL PERFORMANCE PROGRAM!!! WOOHOO!
SO I´M STAYING IN L.A.! That´s all folks!

NAMM, Concerts and musicals



As students of Musicians Institute we got to go to NAMM on the last day, so me and Dan headed to Anaheim convention center and enjoyed the madness. All instruments you could think of were shown there and a lot of celebrities with it, including Paul Gilber (guitarist of Mr. Big), Derrick Wright (drummer for Adele), Vinnie Moore (guitarist UFO), Steve Morse (guitarist for Deep Purple, Kansas)
Dave La Rue (bassist Steve Morse Band, Dixie Drags), Carmine Appice (drummer, Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent, Rod Stewart, etc), Vinnie Appice (drummer Black Sabbath, etc.), Rusty Coolidge (guitarist Day of Reckoning). I didn´t really know them but it was fun taking photos of Dan with his idols. He had dreamt of going to this convention since he heard about it.

We have had the pleasure of going to a couple of concerts, mostly at our school Musicians institute.

We went to Venice Beach Townhouse to see Shana Halligan (singer of the band Bitter:sweet) sing. The best part was that Dan got to know her guitarist. Great guy and great concert. Really low key and personal. There were even artists painting in the back. Awesome place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VljGLcxA1U

Our friend Eytan joined the band Midnight Mirage, so we saw them perform at Whiskey A Go Go. They´ve got great chemistry and a great show. Pop rock at its best.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MidnightMirageMusic?feature=watch#p/u/0/GXoRuBD4olA

I was sick but Dan said i had to see the Aristocrats play at school and boy was he right. They rocked!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSVhuZirnhA&feature=relmfu


I was most surprised at guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. I saw him because of Dan but fell in love with his music. Acoustic guitar at its best. Songwriting at its best. So personal and sweet. See the video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J25iuK0n6Hc&feature=related

My school interviewed Brandon Boyd (singer of Incubus) and we were there. Dan even asked him a question regarding songwriting, where Brandon referenced Joseph Campbell. Smart fella!
http://www.livestream.com/musiciansinstitute


One of my favourite musicals is the Monty Python musical Spamalot, so i had to take Dan to see it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E01P1q48oE8&feature=related

I also have great musician friends, check them out

Sara Smith
http://www.facebook.com/MissSmittymusic

Yokul Jonsson
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yokul-Jonsson/141291335980360

Jonina G. Aradottir
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jonina-Aradottir-Music/182174775167389

Mer Pollack
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mer-Pollack-Music/303851563000173

Steed Lord
http://www.facebook.com/steedlord

my man dan and his band Granite Janet
http://www.facebook.com/GraniteJanetMusic

then of course my site
http://www.facebook.com/claessen1

A dream come true

I´m the biggest fans of the TV show Friends, so when Alexandra, my best friend, came to visit me i had to take the Warner Bros Studio tour and see the set. Talk about a dream come true. Seeing the set of your favourite TV show with your best friend. I wish Kolla, Frikki and my brother would have been there too. They would have loved it. We also saw Gilmore girls, True Blood and other sets. Awesome!

I was so happy to enjoy the new year with my love as well as best friend. We took Alexandra to see the best of Hollywood blvd, Hollywood Bowl, Mulholland drive (view over L.A., including the Hollywood sign) and to the santa monica beach, where me and dan got a drawing of us. So cute. It was way too short time but i loved having my best friend here, show her my life here. I wish i could bring my friends over there because i sure miss them. I´m lucky to have such amazing friends that are willing to travel the world to see me. Luckiest girl in the world.

2 articles and a music blog

Wrote two articles in the Icelandic media about the Grammys and the Oscars....

Grammys=Whitney hátíðin alræmda
http://www.pressan.is/pressupennar/Lesa_Onnu_Classen/grammys--whitney-hatidin-alraemda

Fræga fólkið vinir okkar
http://www.pressan.is/pressupennar/Lesa_Onnu_Classen/fraega-folkid-vinir-okkar-

and created a music blog for that purpose only. This blog is for family and friends and whoever is interested in my personal life :P  The blog below is regarding my music. Check it out, 3 covers waiting for you, i sang Glory Box (Portishead), Make you feel my love (Adele) and I see the light (Disney).

http://annaclaessen.tumblr.com/