From the beginning of this year i knew this would be a challenging year as i have an album to complete, but i was not prepared for what was in store in late February.
My partner had a seizure as he walked up our hard wooden stairs (no carpet) and fell the full way as he was fitting and crumpled with a loud bang into a ball at the bottom of the stairs. This was 11:30 in the evening on the 24th February. When he has a seizure you never truly know what to expect, i.e., if he will have a long seizure or a short one, but this one was not only a seizure, this involved broken neck bones and head injuries. He started to have seizures from the age of 17, but since being with him he only had jerks and restless sleep, until a few years ago when he had a full seizure which lasted over 6 minutes, then had another one a few hours later in the hospitable, where the neurologist strapped to machines and sedated him. We he had his first seizure in front of me i was completely confused, was this a stroke, a heart attack? He was turning blue and stopped breathing at one point. I cried down the phone to the emergency services, not knowing what to do. I never believed that this would happen to him, he had signs for a few years but nothing came of them as he often slept and was fine afterwards. I did research into epilepsy and knew i needed to prepare, even though we were both confident that the medication he was and is taking would prevent them. How wrong we were. I am glad i researched as this help me to deal with this, even with the added trauma of the fall. All you can really do is hold the person's head to stop them from rattling it on the floor and talk to them, saying their name over and over again, giving comforting words. He soon came around after a few minutes, which was a relief. I kept reassuring him that the ambulance was on its way and to not move. The blood was flowing from his head wounds and nose, so it was hard to stay calm inside seeing all the damage. However i did not show any panic and kept giving him warm smiles of reassurance. He is now recovering and is making good progress. He needs to rest, which is not in his vocabulary as he is always on the move and does not know how to shut off from work and ambition. He had to wear a neck brace for a few weeks and now he has just a faint bruise around his eye with uncomfortable pain still from his neck and back, but this is only to be expected. The Doctor try to refrain from expressing panic, which he failed in doing so, as he confirmed that my partner was a hair's breath away from being permanently in a wheelchair. His Doctor told him he must have had an angel watching over him. This is my life at the moment, watching and caring for my partner. I will not deny not to you or to myself that i am frustrated that i am not able to fully concentrate on my music at the moment. I am determined to remedy this as soon as i possibly can. I think this sounds very selfish, especially with all the recent trauma. I am still being tortured by the sounds of my partner crying out as he fell down the stairs and the bangs he made. Every time i leave him to shower for example i hear these sounds, i am not sure i will ever stop hearing those cries. It is hard to carry on with my music, although some would say that this is the perfect time to write. I wrote a song called Always for my last album after his first seizure with me, my partner does not like to listen to this as it is about the possibility of losing him and i am asking him to always stay. Being on my guard to make sure that this does not happen again is, i know, holding me back, but i cannot and will not let my guard down again. I have a song that i feel is the best song i have written. It is sat there as a file on my lap top in Logic pro X, waiting for my attention. It is strong, i know this already and this is a huge step for me to admit that any of my songs are strong or even good enough for others to listen to. My partner pushes me to be the person he knows i could be, as he sees me, even when i don't. Now Spring is here, i hope this is the silver lining around this cloud, and the warmth of the sun will inspire me to breath again. Micci Lou xx
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Hello!
I know it is a belated well wish, Happy New Year to you! :) I never truly know what i am going to write as a Blog, i just hope my fingers make some sense of all the doodlings in my head. So Christmas was a new beginning for many ways for She's Got Claws, mainly due to receiving a Mac Book Pro for my main amazing present, thanks to my partner Chris, who is lovely (at times) not because he is spoiling me (well that goes a little way lol) but because he supports me and believes that whatever i turn my hand to i can achieve it. (It is a gift to have someone in your life who stands by you, even when you are not sure exactly what you are about to encounter when you make up your mind to learn something new.) My Mac Book Pro is now running Logic Pro X on the latest OS, (Mavericks) 10.9.1. This has opened a small can of worms as the audio driver is not as yet compatible with this update, so my writing has come to a halt until Apple sort out the bugs in their recent updates. They are about to release 9.2 hopefully with all bugs eradicated. I have to laugh and drink a little brandy, or i would just sit and cry lol :) Away from this to keep a kind of perspective on all things annoying, I also received another gift of John Foxx's music. Chris played me a video previous to buying this for me, a song called 'Underpass'. He decided to play this to me as i am showing signs of 'Foxx' in my new material, which i was completely unaware of. Underpass is fantastic! When the keyboard hook comes in.. well what can else can i say but... OMG!! There is a remix of Underpass on You Tube which starts off a little slow burning but once it kicks in it is breathtaking! WOW! Now i am wondering why the hell didn't i know of him before?!! For many years i have loved electronic music, thus my adventures into all things tech with my writing. I started to grow a love for this style when i first heard Nine Inch Nails back in the late 90's. Trent inspired me to kick out the rule book and learn to produce and write with feel. To people who go by the rules, this is not acceptable as i have had a few people talk down to me as they feel all music should have a certain production which everybody should have, which is petty and not in keeping with the whole expression of any kind of creative art. No matter what text book idiots think of my creations, i was signed to Earache Records with this approach. (See SGC About Page) At the same time of loving all things NIN, i fell in love with The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy as they were at the time throwing away all the rule books of writing and producing dance music, just like Fluke and Atari Teenage Riot, to name a few. Chris's childhood consisted of listening to OMD, Gary Numan and Human League, this i have also adopted, as they were part of the pioneering years of electronic pop. If you love electronic music then you need to listen to the masters of this genre to find your own individual style, not just fall in line pedalling the vacuous noise which the charts are swamped with today. Why have i never been aware of John Foxx?! I was aware of Ultravox (Vienna, Sleepwalk) but only with Midge Ure, i never knew Mr Foxx was the original vocalist. I listen to him and i feel my music has a relevance, not just me losing my way, a foundation has already been created for my approach and style. I thought i would be forever stood on the outside without any understanding from anybody other than Chris. Plaza, Underpass and No One Driving are hook ladened with sounds which drive shivers up my spine leaving me with happy goose bumps! I have never felt so thrilled to listen to what i deem as new music since the first time i ever listened to This Wreckage by Gary Numan, Zoolook album by Jarre and The Man Machine album by Kraftwerk! - These guys know what melody is and how to use it in a constructive way, i just wish production houses of today would stop churning out soulless noise and take a step back to listen to how it used to be done, if they don't then the noise they create will be lost and dated without any credibility to last over 30 years like the music created by Gary Numan, OMD and John Foxx! John Foxx - Metamatic... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWQ7O3DAPl0 I am creating a Playlist of all the coolest music on my You Tube profile, from John Foxx to Ladytron to Numan to Chemical Brothers.. something there for everybody with a love for all things electronic :) So please subscribe so we can stay in touch and share each others videos and music. Micci Lou xx www.shesgotclaws.co.uk She's Got Claws is donating money from the sales of her Christmas single to Save The Children, to help the families who are living in poverty in the UK. Over 1..6 million children are affected by these times of austerity and the harsh cuts that this coalition has forced upon us, leaving families going without basic needs such as food, warmth and shelter. Can We Hope For Christmas is available to download from iTunes, Amazon and Play.com. Please show your support xx
There is now a remix of Blind available to listen to on SGC's Music Page and the Home Page. It is not just there to listen to, you can also download this for free as a thank you for your support.
The title of the mix will hopefully give you an idea as to what the song is about. Finding names for remixes can be a little daunting but this one just popped into my head. Chris, my manager, believes it is very Hurts, which has given him reason to tease me. Hurts is one of my favourite bands and so this is a compliment. I wonder where they get their suits from? ;) Bye for now! Micci Lou xx Thank you to everyone who has supported SGC in 2012. It has been an amazing year of finishing the debut album, reviews, interviews and making it available globally to you from iTunes, Amazon, HMV Digital, Spotify etc..
Here is a gift to you for your support ... Christmas Gift. Here's to a fantastic New Year of writing more music, yes SGC is back in the studio cooking up more songs for you to enjoy :) All the very best for 2013, hope all your dreams come true! xxxx Micci Lou xxxx So now we are in October. The leaves are now starting to fall from the trees and you can see your breath and your nose wants to drop off!
Not to worry, i have a gift for you.. something that will keep you warm by making you bounce around like a happy idiot all through the cold spell! I have arranged a download from the website Music Glue, who have kindly created a profile for She's Got Claws on their website with a download to you for ... FREE!! Yes i knew that would make you smile and warm your brass monkeys! Click on the Music Glue Logo below to take you straight there, the song is all ready for you to enjoy and to help keep the winter chills at bay ... Enjoy!! Micci xx Come and have a look, there are lots of new features including at the top right of each page a direct link to SGC's Twitter and Facebook, a new page called 'STUDIO' which will take you through the making of SGC's debut album, plus lots of new photos! The Studio page will be complete by next Saturday, so please keep checking :)
Please also let me know what you think of the new look, i personally believe it pulls the image more in line and represents the feel of the album. The image, however, is mutating as i can never stay still for very long. The hair is now blue which will stay for a little while and the clothes will keep changing too. At the moment we are in talks with a Video company to make a video for my song 'Blind' and this will show a new look, which is under wraps at the mo ;) The single 'Blind' will be out around November (date to be confirmed) along with a fantastic remix! Lots of stuff planned, so exciting! Then after all the above it'll be Christmas woohoo! :D My album is still available to download with free artwork so would make a fantastic stocking filler. Comments welcomed about the new look of the website, looking forward to hearing from you :) Micci Lou xx Hey everyone! A tip jar is now available form music x-ray for She's Got Claws. All proceeds go towards SGC's promotion of the album, including album cover printing and CD costs, plus putting food into my mouth so i can carry on with my music. As a big thank you, you will receive a download of the song 'Fake' for FREE, so please give generously. Thank you in anticipation of your support xxxx
New review just sent to me by Carl Jenkinson of Hard Wired Magazine. He gives me 7/10 which is great for a debut album :) I've added a quote from this review to my 'MEDIA' page, which gives you a summary of what he believes about She's Got Claws. Click on the photo below to take you to the full review... do you agree with what he says? Check out all the quotes that are streaming in on my MEDIA page. I shall scatter a few across the website pages too. Here is the latest - "Finely tuning her skills, her influences echo throughout of Gary Numan and Air." ( 'M' Magazine - PRS Music Online Magazine)
"She's Got Claws is what we've been waiting for. It's so refreshing to hear new music with real feeling and genuine meaning. You need to buy this album." Jesse Casey (Crass Nouveau) |
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She's Got ClawsHi and welcome to the She's Got Claws' Blog. AuthorMicci - Songwriter & Producer for She's Got Claws "Gritty and engaging synth pop" -The Electricity Club
"A one woman electronic powerhouse" -Electronic Sound Magazine
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