Swinging Berlin

Happy New Year – Plans For 2016

2015 is almost over. I hope it was a good year for you despite the difficult political situation. For me the past year has brought a lot of musical and personal changes. In 2014 I definitely had more gigs than this year, but after all I decided to focus more on quality venues than being on stage as often as possible.

During the first half of 2015 I suffered from a slight lack of creativity. Some song drafts remained unfinished and unpublished because I simply didn’t consider them as good enough to be thrown out on the market. Due to surprising inspiration during my summer holidays (please read The Story Behind Tvoje Plave Oči), I suddenly had a strong urge to complete my EP The Muse differently than expected. I started to learn a new language, got rid of the pink wig connected with the Swinging Berlin record and said goodbye to a number of false friends.

After the making of The Muse I felt particularly attracted to the classical songs from the Croatian composer Josip Hatze. Thus, I started to arrange five tracks to be released on my first classical EP Serenada (learn more on Preview Of A Classical Record) next spring. In the meantime I discovered two additional songs which shall also appear on that record. In January I will film my first classical music video called “Suzi” (To A Tear). By the way, I have a brand-new quality camera to shoot overwhelming static and moving pictures!

In summer 2016 it’s fixed to go to Croatia to produce a breathtaking Tvoje Plave Oči video. I’ve already written a new first verse in Croatian (eventually I’m able to do it myself) and translated the song into English and French. The three new versions will be out on July 1st, 2016. As usual, I may also compose a series of new songs on which I will experiment with lyrics in different languages. Which language do you like most in connection with my voice? Before wishing you all the best for next year, I’m asking you to answer another poll:

HAPPY NEW YEAR! FROHES NEUES JAHR! SRETNA NOVA GODINA! BONNE ANNÉE!

Three copies of The Muse

How I designed the CD artwork for The Muse

While I was arranging a Josip Hatze song for my classical EP Serenada, my forthcoming oeuvre The Muse arrived from the CD factory on Thursday night. After unpacking the parcel I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve as some of you may have noticed on my Facebook site, on Twitter or Google+. In my opinion the CD looks beautiful and even a little bit better than its predecessor Swinging Berlin! Well, it’s a question of personal taste and I don’t want to sound narcissistic here. Nevertheless, it involves a lot of work to create professional-looking CD artwork. Today I’m telling you how it works.

At first you must find a realiable factory to print CDs at reasonable prices. I always order them at the same company which is specialized in smaller editions. On their website they provide samples having the right measurements for the cover image, the booklet, the inlay and the CD label. Customers can download these samples for Adobe Photoshop – the well-known photo software I’ve always used to design the outer appearance of my music.

Booklet picture of the CD The MuseAs my recent press photos focus on romantic sunsets in Croatia, it was easy to conceive an appropriate layout for The Muse on CD. The booklet conceals one of the marvelous images taken by Christina Katz (please also read “The Muse“ press photos in the making). Page 4 of the booklet and the back of the CD feature my spectacular sunset pictures I personally shot on the beach of Starigrad-Paklenica. By the way, I didn’t need Photoshop to increase the brightness of the colours. When you look at the CD, you will see the sunset through my eyes. Of course nothing will ever be able to compete with the original moment of taking the photos, though!

Until now The Muse has not left my territory, except for one copy: Although it’s a national holiday in Germany, my vocal coach Snezana Nena Brzakovic gave me a lesson this morning. Since she helped me translate the song “Deine Blauen Augen“ into “Tvoje Plave Oči“, she had to be the first one to hold The Muse in her hands. 🙂

The official record release of The Muse is on October 30th. If you preorder it before this date, I will give you my EP Alien Pop from 2013 for free! I decided to sell the EP for 8 euros per copy (plus package and shipping). Soon you will be able to order my music on this website, but you can also contact me via Facebook or write an email to info@godiva-records.biz. I’m going to add my signature to each CD!

CD The Muse and Anna Aliena on the cover

Swinging Berlin Meets The Muse

Recently I’ve revealed plenty of interesting facts about the last muse who helped me finish my forthcoming record The Muse. However, there is more to my new EP than blue eyes, unfulfilled longing and Croatia! 😉

In fact, the whole story started at my Swinging Berlin record release party in the most popular of all overrated capitals. Just as all the other records from my portfolio as a solo artist, Swinging Berlin had been inspired by somebody. Contrary to my expectations, that person appeared at the venue although I had not invited him.

In his presence I felt torn. Inside of me there was a mixture of raging anger and a certain delight to see him again. Yes, when I went on stage, I actually wanted to slap him in the face, but at the same time I enjoyed singing in front of him. He was even naughty enough to take pictures of my performance! We didn’t talk except for saying hello and goodbye.

After all, I was happy about having created Swinging Berlin. Furthermore its muse had the magical power to fill me up with even more inspiration. In August 2014 I wrote “The Muse” and its German version “Die Muse”. It took a while to arrange the track because my motivation had almost reached point zero …

Last winter around Christmas destiny gave me another worthwhile encounter which resulted in “Sasha”, but afterwards all my attempts to compose more music were meant to fail. I was no longer satisfied with the outcome of my endeavours!

One morning in January I woke up before 5 a.m. without being able to fall asleep again. Thus, I was wondering where to travel in summer … What a great coincidence! A couple of hours later my holiday was booked out and I would never have produced “Deine Blauen Augen” / ”Tvoje Plave Oči” if I had slept till dawn. Well, life is full of surprises sometimes. 🙂