Clare's Journal

So it’s the end of Day 3. The boys, Darran Muller and Mark Peric were back in the studio with us to record drums and bass on the last 5 tracks. We arrived in the rain at 9am and spent the morning working on upbeat tracks ‘My Heart Aches For You’ and ‘Freedom’. I waited for over an hour for the rain to ease enough to make it to the car for a well needed coffee run. By 2:30pm we had 3 songs down.. 2 to go. A quick lunch break later.. we were back into it! ‘Violet Stream’ and ‘Waiting Here For You’ were done by 6:30pm and they sound beautiful!!! The guys have done an amazing job! They are both so talented and worked super hard over the last couple of days so thank you so much!!!
Now what shall tomorrow bring? editing the drums and bass parts and then moving on to guitar or maybe vocals. We will know what should come next once we get to it.
It was a big day but it was loads of fun and many laughs were had! It’s so exciting to see the songs coming alive. I’m a happy girl and will sleep well tonight.
Night all
Cxx

Well, it’s not really day one since we’ve been working on these tracks for a month but it’s Day one recording in the studio. The morning was spent setting up drums, ironing out strange buzzes with the bass and heading out in the rain for coffee. By midday we started recording… The studio is on the outskirts of town in a farmhouse.. Well a studio within a farmhouse. it’s got a great vibe, an awesome space.. very chilled. By 6:15pm we had done drums and bass on 4 tracks and decided we were happy and called it a day.
We also spent a bit of time throughout the day on YouTube.. as you do.. came across ‘Man sings five octaves’. We were all on the floor in stiches. We actually recorded Darran doing a version on the drums!! I’ll post it on YouTube soon..
Day two will be spent editing what we’ve done so far so we know we’re we are at.
Cxx

Not too much to report as of yet..met up with the band yesterday and run all the songs. It went really well.. keen now to get into the studio on Monday!!! I’m a little frustrated because I’m feeling under the weather.. my throat is sore and dry.. I haven’t been sick in so long and my body now decides it wants to take a break. bad timing. But.. I’m positive I’ll be feeling great in a couple of days!!!
Cxx

The songs have finally been chosen from around 50 tracks I’ve written over the past year. The last few weeks have been spent working through the songs, making sure they are exactly how they should be, making small changes and building arrangments. Now.. we rehearse with the band and then come Monday morning we head to the studio to record!! The first part of the week will be recording drums and bass and then comes everything else.. I’m really excited about these new songs. They feel so different from the old stuff but are still me (if that makes sense).
Well I can’t wait for you all to hear it but before that happens we need to record the beast!
I’ll have daily updates on the album progress here and on Twitter. The plan is to be mixing the record at the end of March so that gives us just over a month.. fingers crossed it all goes to plan. talk tomorrow
love clare xxx

Hey all,
It’s been a while since I blogged. I’m bloody hopeless!!! So anyway I’m writing this from my iPhone. Pretty cool. I love this thing!
So.. I get married next weekend!!! Can you believe it!! Not long now.. Most things are done.. Not much of a stresser so my plan is to have a fun week leading up to. Just do some more writing and continue recording.
If anyone has any tips on weddings or anything really.. Let me know.
P.S here’s a photo of my dog. She’s laying next to me on the floor of the studio.
Ciao
Cxx

Hi everyone,

Just a bit of exciting news to let you all know that my song, ‘Take My Breath Away’ has been featured in the movie trailer for Uma Thurman’s new film, ‘Motherhood’.

I’m pretty excited!!  I must say I am a bit of a sucker for a romantic comedy particularly when it’s set in my favorite city in the world ‘New York’.   I can’t wait to see it and hear it on the silver screen.

Love to you all…

Clare xxx

BTW, ‘Take My Breath Away’ starts at about 1:30…

I’ve been back in London nearly a week now. The sun had been out and it’s actually hot! Well not Australia hot but nice none the less. I’ve spent the last few days outside, writing songs… I just finished a song which I think I’ll call Reasons Why. We are getting pretty low on money, which is going to make it hard to stay here in London and we’re pretty stressed out! I’ve also had a couple of major disappointments this week but that’s just a part of life and this business. Just feeling a little low…. so I wrote this song about my situation but it has hope that one day soon things will be better. One day, I’ll able to do what I love to do… without having to worry about other things that seem to get in the way. I am determined to record my next album in the next few months.. NO matter what!!
Anyway here are the lyrics… Will try and do a little demo of it next week. C xx

Reasons Why
It fades, you fall, it’s there oh oh oh
I’m scared cause we’re broke and it’s time to go go go
I try to stay strong but it’s hard to find our way
But you are the reason I fight to stay

Soon we’ll see, there’s a reason why we fall
then we’ll be, on top of the world, we’ll have it all
we’ll be happy, we’ll be happy you’ll see

I run, you jump, we take a leap of faith
with my eyes and your ears we may find a road that’s ours to travel on
the sun will rise, the light will hide our fear, nothings in our way
this day is ours, hope will come and you’ll smile and i’ll say

Soon we’ll see, there’s a reason why we fall
soon we’ll be, on top of the world, we’ll have it all
wait and see, baby, please believe me
we’ll be happy, we’ll be happy

Every day that passes us by, it’s a step closer to knowing why
it plays in my mind a thousand times, but with you, right by my side
I will be happy, you will be happy cause

Soon we’ll see, there’s a reason why we fall
soon we’ll be, on top of the world, we’ll have it all
wait and see, baby, please believe me
we’ll be happy, we’ll be happy, you’ll see…

It’s sunday… I slept in this morning…
I had the most amazing experience last night. It was about 2am I was waiting for the train in the 42nd street subway. A man was sitting on a bench in the middle of the platform.. busking, singing ‘Heard it from the Grapevine. One of my favorites and he was amazing! We sat there singing along… more and more people came down and next thing we had a huge group of people from all walks of life standing around, singing and clapping their hands. Strangers were dancing with each other and everyone was happy and smiling like we were all old friends. Right in front of my eyes I witnessed a coming together of people. It didn’t matter who we were, where we lived, what nationality, what colour… Just a bunch of people enjoying each other and the music. It that moment I saw the power of music, I could feel love and it was with out a doubt the highlight of my time in New York. If only we could all have more of those moments..
I don’t mean to be so cliche but it was just like that. I wonder if the busker knows what he did last night? What he created? I wonder if everyone else feels like I do?
Hahhahaaaa I’m rambling…. hahha
I leave for London tomorrow night so it’s my last night in this beautiful city! Think I’m going to take my boy out on a date and then go find some more music…
C xx

I’ve had a crazy few weeks so it’s nice to have a few days off. I’m in one of my favorite city’s… New York! Yesterday I hung out at the park in the sun. I’m missing my dog so much so I placed myself in the middle of a off leash dog area and got my dog fix. hhahhaha
Just got back to my cousin’s apartment in the West Village. Spent a couple hours hitting golf balls out over the Hudson river. I was hopeless! It’s nearly 8pm and it’s warm and still light out and I’m watching Seinfeld. Man.. I love this show. Man hands… hahahahhaahaa Anyway…
Better get off this computer and enjoy my friday night… We are heading out to a party soon. xx

I’m sipping green tea in a cute little cafe between Bayswater and Notting Hill in London.  Watching the world go by….  I arrived here a week ago and so far I’m loving this city.  I had my doubts, having been here in winter a couple of years ago.  Now that it’s spring and the sun is out, London is a completely different place! People are out and about, everyone is happy and the streets are buzzing.  

We found a place to live for this first month in Bayswater, which is sweet area, with loads happening. The apartment is tiny, I mean really tiny!!! You actually couldn’t really call it an apartment.  It’s more like a shoebox. But I’m traveling again, I’m in a new city and I’m happy.  

I’ve had some time to explore but now I’m really hanging out to write.  We sent over our gear, including my “Nancy”(my keyboard) and Dan’s guitar and some recording equipment but it hasn’t arrived yet!  When the creative juices are flowing it’s like torture not to be able to expel the stuff flying around in the head.  On Monday I went to a studio on the other side of Notting Hill and meet the creative team that work within the walls.  Some very talented writers that I will be working with in the next month or so.  Some interesting times ahead….

I’m heading to the Ginglik tonight in Shepherd’s Bush. It’s the acoustic/singer/songwriters night.  Should be fun…

xx