Betty Crocker, Halloween and Full Moons

That's my little Goth Betty Crocker bandmate. I go off for a gig for a couple of hours, and she turns into the Iron Chef, hee-hee...It's one of the things I adore about her, can't wait to see what this Halloween Party looks like, our Malena does not mess around when it comes to the most important Holiday of the year!

I remember last year at Halloween, I had seen the reel of 13 Nights of Fright and found Malena's website, and started reading her journal and articles and thinking that it sounded like such a great time, like she was one of the funnest people ever and really knew how to do up Hallween right. Truth be told I thought , " that girl is the spirt of Halloween and I really really want to know her " ( mirror, mirror....)

It was another 6 weeks before I got over my shyness enough to send her a letter.

The rest , as they say, is history.

The gig last night was a strange one, lots of people there, but they sort of sat like Zombies, until the song was over then they clapped like the world was over, they didn't much talk to eachother , just sat and listened, but it didn't seem like they were enjoying themselves, tho I guess they were. Paul asked at one point " Are we the only ones drinking in here? "

Then we got to the third set, and everyone who was left was mightily drinking, ye gads. Someone started sending up Bourban shots to the stage, and as the one member of the band who doesn't drink, I was fine, but the rest of the stage was getting pretty happy. Full on madness I say, madness. I am a girl of extreems , but for gigs give me an even night where people are happy and just having some fun. Not that I mind full on Madness. Madness has it's place to be sure.

How close are we to the full moon? And what will tonights little darlings turn out to be?

Come down to Charlies pub tonight if you're around and we can find out....It would be nice to see you. Each and all of you. In the flesh or spirit.

Love and Moon Madness, Lorraine

Lorraine a' Malena's Halloween Kitchen

Lorraine and I are planning a halloween party extravaganza and we wanted to share our ideas with you! So, check out our Halloween page and if you have something spooky to add, email us and we'll post it!
Music and Magic,

Malena

http://www.lorraineamalena.com/halloween.html

Off to Charlies Pub

I'm off soon to play tonight with my Irish band , Folk UnderGround, at a little pub in Stillwater, MN. Very fun place to play, in fact, it's the one I like best so far of the pubs we play in. It also has the little bonus of the fact that we only play 7:30pm to 11:30pm. I am NOT a fan of the Play Until 2:00am gig. Who wants to hear this stuff that late????? I mean if you're going to stay up, hee-hee, do something FUN!

Not that this isn't fun , of course, I have a great time, and I really get a chance to fiddle, I love playing all the fiddle tunes, and tend to get pretty on fire with them. That would be the one thing we didn't do with Mirror Mirror that I would like to do more of is some fiddle tunes, with both Malena and I playing. Perhaps we will get to put a couple on the St Patricks Day EP that we are doing , with the songs that there wasn't time or room for on Mirror Mirror. ( this ep is going to be a proper full lenth cd before you know it! )

See you tonight in at Charlies if you live close enough, or off in the Haunted Mansion of our dreams later this evening, where there is always a party going on.....

And you are most invited.

Love and dreams, Lorraine

Yet another new song for listening!

Well, we have changed our minds, after a few conferences today. All of the songs on the cd are very different, tho they all go together , but they all have a different feel. With the exception , possibly, of the two we put up, something we didn't realize until we played them back to back first song of the cd and the last. Both so haunting and sad.....

Sooo....anyone who got to hear Post Mortem, there was a little treat, but now, we have gone with another Neil Gaiman song, called " Just Me and Eve ", which , we are hoping you like just as well. It will, we hope give you another side to the cd, and another taste of what we are coming up with here. ( lest you think the entire cd is filled with very scary , morbid, haunting, ever so sad and darkness of the night type tunes, hee-hee, tho yes, there is Plenty of that, it does go other places as well! ) We are learning as we go , Malena and I....

In another week you will be able to hear all 14 of them, in the right order, but for now, we have two up, the Dark Sonnet and Just Me and Eve.

Enjoy!

Love and music, Lorraine

Post Mortem

Our little nocturnal creature of the night ( Malena ) is up and about and has posted the MP3 of Post Mortem on Our Love . Give it a listen. Please.

I was very happy with this one, as I first recorded it with Emma Bull , with the Flash Girls in 1993. It's a cd that is long out of print now , so it made me very happy to do the song again, with all the bits I always felt it ought to have had.

Including an Un-Dead Dixieland Jazz Band chorus at the end of it. Go figure. ( don't think THAT wasn't fun to record. Malena literally phoned in her vocals. Via a cell phone held up to the mic. )

It's the only song that ever came to me in a dream, actually. The music, not the words, those are Neil's. I was trying to find a tune for the words and dreamt one night of Tori Amos, it was just about the time her first cd came out and I dreamt she was singing Leather and the song sort of went off into the music that became Post Mortem at the end of it , and I woke up, ran downstaires and worked it out on the guitar, singing it over and over until I was sure I wouldn't forget it. I'm not sure she shouldn't have some of the credit, that Fouth Dimension stuff is strange, hee-hee.....Not sure how the rules work.

There you have that little bit of history.

Hope you enjoy.

Love and Dreams, Lorraine

Dark Sonnets

Thank you SO much for all the comments, e-mails , calls and orders! I am so very glad that you like the Dark Sonnet, we feel so loved! Dark Sonnet is the first cut on MIRROR MIRROR, and I want to mention that the music was done by Chris Ewen ( Future Bible Heros, Magnetic Fields ) out in Boston, and we did the vocal tracks out here. We called Chris and told him what the song needed to sound like, and what we wanted and sent him some basic tracks and he , genius that he is, he sent us back the most lovely , haunting song ever.

Neil , of course, wrote the words and music. We are truly blessed to work with some of the most talented people going. Truly.

Malena is going to put up the last track from the cd , a song called " Post Mortem on Our Love " later today . ( later today LA time, Nocturna is NOT an early riser! ) so you will get to hear the begining and the end. Post Mortem was first recorded, a little trivia for you here, by the Flash Girls ( myself and writer Emma Bull ) on our very first cd " The Return of Pansy Smith and Violet Jones " way back in 1993. Neil worte the words, and I did the music for that one.

We are still, according to Noiseland, on track for delivery on Friday the 21st, and if you order before then, I will be mailing everything I get on Saturday morning. Some people have asked about getting them signed, and we would be happy to sign for you. Just write us a note, I am leaving for LA on the 23rd and we will be able to sign and send the following week.

Again, many many thanks. We are so very happy that you love the cd . So far. We hope that you love the rest of it as well.

Love and Sonnets in the Night, Lorraine

Dark Sonnet

You can now listen to "Dark Sonnet" written by Neil Gaiman, from our new album Mirror Mirror. So, what are you waiting for? Go to our front page and be swept away....

Come with me..Into the haunted castle of your mind

Miles and I just listened to our CD. We got the best comliment ever when he said, "The Post Mortem party sounds like the graveyard in the haunted mansion ride!" Now, that is the highest of compliments for this goth girl. There is so much I want to say. Well, first of all, our personalities come through rather well. You can hear how much fun we had making it. Each song takes me back to where I was when I first heard it...how I felt while singing it. Neil Gaiman's songs are full of emotion and suspense. Post Mortem took me back to 13 Nights, when I first walked out on the set. Neil's songs remind me of an imaginary graveyard just past a forgotten old castle where I await my lost lover. Hey! That's first the Nocturna painting in a nut shell. All paths lead you home, I guess.

Adam plays many instruments, and one of my favorites is the organ. There are lots of spooky tunes and some sassy ones too. Did I mention Lorraine's fiddling? Wow. Viscious and on fire baby! So now that I have not only tooted my own horn, but blasted it as well, I will leave you....But just for a moment. Soon you will hear us singing you to sleep, beckoning you to come with us.... into the haunted castle of your mind. Sleep well and wear your garlic!
Mwwuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaa ha ha haaaaaaaaaa!

Mirror , Mirror

I am not certain that we ever mentioned the name of our little guy here at all. We are going to call it " Mirror Mirror" , for a variety of reasons. ( besides the fact that it is just a really cool thing to say ) When I first met Malena she referred to herself as a " Goth Snow White" and the phrase popped into my head
( actually she is more like a Goth Betty Crocker , truth be told ) but as we went on and became not only bandmates but best friends as well, being with her and working with her started to feel like looking into a mirror, we think that much alike.

I have never worked on a project that went this smoothly ( knock on wood it's still in production , hee-hee )I have never made a cd before where I didn't at some point , break down in the studio and cry . I have never met someone before who is not only willing to come with me where ever I want to go, musicly, but is very often there before me. Waiting for me to catch up. Of course I have never formed a band with someone, set up a website , done a photo , and booked studio time to record with someone I had never actually met in the flesh before either. Something like that is either going to be magic...Or not.

So Mirror Mirror it is.

The cover, after many different ideas, is going to be Miles' Mirror Mirror picture from our front page, with a few changes. We love that picture, and it was made some months before we actually met, which is kind of cool.

( My Boss took the picture of me in the living room .I remember when I saw the picture for the first time, I was complaining to Malena that she got to use a lovely modeling shot and I had only this one from the living room, and she said to me " I took that last night same as you. Only in the bathroom" I said " You mean you just look like that? In your bathroom? " She said, you just look like that in your living room. It was very new thought for me. )

The songs , I can say after two days of lsitening, turned out well, I think. The cd does everything that I had in my head when we set out to make it, it is the cd I wanted . ( Of course, when you have someone who can sing like Malena can, the rest of the cd could be Orcs and the thing would still be rather lovely ) Malena gets to hear it for the first time today. I hope she loves it as well.

We hope you do too.

Love and Mirrors, Lorraine

From Bed...

A couple of weeks ago the wonderful Miss Kitty, currently touring the world with the bad boys in Crue, sent me her laptop computer, she having a new and improved one , one assumes. Now this is a wonderful gift under any circumstances but this morning I discovered that my life may now be changed for the better forever.

Our house is set up for wireless and I can now work from my bed.

I have been answering e-mail for an hour, setting things up, making things happen, even chatting idely with some friends. I can blog from my bed. ( no it's not going to be THAT kind of blog, sorry people, as to what I am wearing , use your imagineation, I promise you it is better than the reality, at least today , hee-hee )

I always suspected that I could really get things done if only I didn't have to make myself get up to do them.

Than you Kittycat!!!!!!! You have rocked my world.

Haven't heard anything about the cd yet, which I think is a good thing. Listened to it a bunch of times last night and still like the little guy, which I also think is a good thing. I will send a copy off to our Malena tomorrow and we will see if she is of the same mind..

Now we wait......

Love from my bed, Lorraine

One CD Done and off to production!

The cd is now done, insofar at any rate that I can do anything about it. The artwork is on it's way to Noiseland via the internet , Fed-ex having failed us today

( both Malena and I have already gone on Columbus Day rants today, BEFORE fed ex got backed up and moved their cutoff time up. I mean what the heck IS this holiday and why is it only the post office that gets it off from work? DO they go to secret parties and events or what exactly???? )

Where was I ? Ah, the cd. The Master is currently lying on a porch where it will be picked up by Andrew from Noiseland in the morning, on his way into work. Full service Noiseland...

A week from Friday, October 21st I will pick them up and send the little guys off into the world.

I am currently lying on the couch giving it it's first real listen. It may well be lovely. All I am sure of is that it is done. And this is good.

Also, I will , for the record, be going to the Ball while in LA for Halloween, she talked me into it. My little Goth Snow White will however have to turn into my Fairy Godmother and dress me as Cinders here has NOTHING to wear.....

Love and goodnight, Lorraine

We've got it Mastered

Today is the day our CD gets mastered. Yeah! We spoke with Chris Ewen from the Future Bible Heroes who is helping us with the booklet. He's chosen some really cool photos of us. So, we're moving right along. Soon, we will have a list of stores where you can purchase the CD...and you can always buy it from us on the website. This project has been such a joy to be a part of. I can't wait for all of you to hear what we've done. Halloween 2005 will be the best ever. I am still trying to convince Lorraine to go to the ball with me. Well, one of the many costume balls. I told her, "No matter what I wear someone always out dresses me at the FX party, so it doesn't really matter what outfit you choose." And, you all know what a drag queen I am. There will be Aliens (from the movie Alien), demons, and women dressed in nothing but duct tape. If you think about that visual, you can see why a corset and fishnets would be tame. That's what I love about LA and NY. You can be a total freak and still fit in. We'll be sure to post lots of photos. We're also trying to do a online party. If anyone knows how to broadcast a webcam on AIM, or yahoo for all the world to see, let me know. As usual, we'll keep you posted. So, get your CD reserved NOW and be a part of our magic.

Pubs ad Music

Charlie's in Stillwater is hands down one of the coolest pubs I have ever played. We had SO much fun last night. It's one of those pub's where, in the true Irish tradition, by the end of the night everyone knows everyone on a first name basis, and is singing along to all the songs, and patting eachother on the backs, all the while nearly going maudlin for the old country. Whether your'e Irish or not.

Like that.

We had Paul Regge from Bedlam sitting in, and a 70 year old Irishman who played the accordian, named Tiny ( no, not kidding ) who brought the house down with his songs. Terry from St Dommincs Trio came by but slipped out before we could get him on stage ( we'll talk about that later Terry! )

There was an entire extended family with 5 daughters ( Colleen, Molly, Pat, Mary and Kathleen ) and all of their spouses who knew all the songs, and a very small girl who played my violen and had her face painted like a cat. When they were leaving, the little one came and gave me hug and said thank you SO for the music.

And the coupple from Madison who told us about the next door neighbourgh who built a pub in his garage, complete with woodwork and Irish signs, and when the " Pub" was open, the tiki torches would be lit, and the signs in the windowns lit, and you could come on by for a pint and some talk and maybee a tune or two.

This is why I do this.

Sometimes playing bars one forgets, but nights like this you remember why it is that it is all worthwhile.

I can't wait until next weekend to do this again. I know there will be more friends I have'nt met , who will be there. And they will make it all magic.

Tomorrow we go and Master the cd, and then I take it to Noiseland. So close.....

Tonight I have a very tired Boss who is back from his tour.

Love and music, Lorraine