Saturday 4 May 2013

Physical Album is out!!! Lidiaana - How Often

Hi guys,

I hope you are all well.
My last few weeks have been really, really, really stressful - and it's not done. I still have another 2 months of pure uni stress.

But I love it - yep I do ;-)

I love being busy and seeing myself accomplishing something.

This is why I present to you


Lidiaana ..... (moi!!!! ;-) )  

and her debut Album "How Often" (Hard Copy)


Taaaadaaaaaaaa!!!

It will be soon in some independent record stores but in the meantime you can buy it online via my website

www.lidiaana.com




The Queen has arrived ! Lidiaana & the Afro - Lidiettes





Please check out @diamantdreams blog about our massive show last week. 
Thank you x



The #queen has arrived. #launchparty at #hoxtonsquare … Thanks for coming down and your #support . #love you all xx

Unforgettable! ^.^
it’s been nearly a week since we performed on that glorious night in Hoxton Square bar & kitchen but I still wonder whether it was really us twerking, strutting and almost moon-walking across the stage lol xD
All of the stress and anxiety leading up to this performance was released with explosions of passion and energy. I honestly felt like someone pushed the “Showtime!” button located somewhere in my brain and quickly buckled my back knee so I could dance in overdrive to the infectious music our amazing band delivered.
When I think about how much time, stress and dripping sweat we put into this project with very little of the accurate means we needed to plan a show of this enormity, I begin to understand the true meaning of work ethic and pure determination to succeed in something that seems realistically impossible and unattainable.
My sister Lidiaana’s “FemaleBossiness” mentality and vigorous drive has been such a wonderful learning experience for me personally. As an aspiring artist and performer, watching her hands-on with every aspect of the project and strongly believing in her vision regardless of the circumstances was a real inspiration for me to step up and carry that same hunger she possesses whilst still being effortlessly beautiful as she is ;D
To our newest beautiful and talented Afro-Lidiette sister, Heza boo we love you! She was just a blessing. To come into something new with as much passion, openness and love as we did was just the icing on the cake on top of being committed to rehearsals within a very short space of time.
The bond that we built during this process was practically displayed powerfully that night and I remember telling my girls at the end “We did it…we actually did it!!” having a clear knowledge of what we went through to get to that stage. This show brightened the future even more for us and I’m even more excited and convinced that performing is something I should be doing on a regular basis. The feeling I get on stage is just so electric and I feel like I can be the best version of who I am as an artist/performer and human being. 
I appreciate everyone who came down to support and everyone from our friends, the models (HOT!), amazing stylist, DJ, band/musicians etc. to the venue people, bar staff, sound and lighting guy…just everyone who willingly volunteered and contributed to this successful project. Merci, merci and merci beaucoup!
Catch us again performing at TETV’s Showcase/Party event on the 10th of May 2013 @Vox(Colosseum), Vauxhall
You don’t want to miss it! :D
My girl @diamantdreams … Thank you for this beautiful blog ….. Much love sis x

Friday 3 May 2013

Jordan's lovely Blog ;-)

Oh gosh , I love this man. He knows about PR, designs clothes, has german roots and knows how to twerk hahahaha

...Here is the blog he wrote about me ;-) ..thank you




Lidiaana Album Launch


It’s Sunday, and you’re sat on the sofa as the sun sets on your week…. WRONG!
Get your glad-rags on, dust on some bronzer and take a trip down fierce lane. Segenita Records proudly present Lidiaana’s Album Launch Party! Join Award Winning singer/songwriter and music label entrepreneur Lidiaana for the launch of debut album ‘How Often’.
Lidiaana described the up coming event as “A night of soulful multi-cultural sounds, upbeat music and cool neo-soul rhythms” Lidiaana will be joined by two fabulous backing singers the Afro-Lidiettes, with a live band Live Band and some other special guests in their own right; Mr. Mackie, JVocals4v and DJ R3dd.
Hosted by 5 Star Firmz, the night looks set to be a killer. Glitter, glam and girls! Lidiaana has fire in her belly, and is in the starting position to take home the gold. Lidiaana embodies one of London’s brightest new entrepreneurial talents, and truly is passionate about the music she’s been making. From a young age, Lidiaana has been tightly holding gospel, R&B as well as funk to her heart. She left Germany to relocate to London as a kick start for her career, and despite reaching  heights in the world of fashion in the Capital, Lidiaana finds her heart and soul in music. Since then she has toured venues across the globe, including the acclaimed Royal Festival Hall. She’s performed alongside some of the biggest artists;Naturally 7, German Hip Hop set-up Les Sans Mono, and London’s Philharmonic Orchestra. A recent tour of her Eritrean motherland saw her win the Raimoq Award for her single Sawa.
So when Sunday comes around, throw on your dancing shoes and step into the world of Lidiaana.
Free Entrance until 8pm – after that £3 all of which goes to charity and 20% of album proceeds go to children’s charity the “Lidiaana Foundation” which focuses on bringing children to the forefront of the arts.
Check out; www.lidiaana.com to steal a snippet of Lidiaanas sound!
Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen
2-4 Hoxton Square
Shoreditch
Greater London N1 6NU
020 7613 0709

Thursday 2 May 2013

Arts Council Application ....

This week we had some great people visiting our lecture at uni. 
Two officers from the the arts council . This was perfect timing, as I was about to send my application to them for an exciting music project I am planning to do in the future "FUSIONITA ARTS FESTIVAL" . I am glad that they were able to have a look at my business plan before applying, as they had advised me to improve on a lot of things. 


This helped me to concentrate on all the points I should improve on and as a result I have postponed my deadline. 



I believe that accurate work takes time, therefore I will consult more business people in the meantime before applying for a grant.

Peace Out And have a blesssed week,

Lidiaana

Segenita Group Ltd



One of my Final Projects for my University coursework is to setup a Company.

I am now the proud owner of

 Segenita Group Ltd

which consists of Segenita Records, Fusionita and the Lidiaana Foundation.









  

So excited!


Currently I am finishing up my Business Plan, creating the Logos, designing the website and the upcoming Events that I am going to hold real soon.

I know it sounds a bit boring but hey -  it's crucial to know about the business if you are working in the music industry.

Setting up the company online,  taught me about so many areas within the business sector.

At first I had no clue about the role of an shareholder and what subsidiaries were and the advantages of having a limited company rather than becoming a soletrader.

Reading the articles of association , which were sent to me 2 days later after setting up the company,  were even more interesting.

The registration company I have used is Jordans, which have been around for over 150 years.
What I found brilliant is that you can type in your chosen name for your company and it will tell you within seconds if your name exists already or not.

Thank god - my one was available.

Next step is to arrange a meeting with an accountant.



@lidiaanamusic

To ask for help ..

Well, for a while I didn't ask people for help because I didn't want to look desperate. Now I figured that asking the right people can save you a lot of time and possibly money.

I had a lot of prep to do in order to get my launch party started and in the last minute a lot of people and artists pulled out. Everyone had different reasons.

Miss @CharmerMills1 and miss @denisedav88 were so helpful. They both do many events with really talented artists. Within minutes they told me where to print my flyers and who my 2 opening acts are going to be. BAAAAAAAM!!!!

That was soo amazing !!!!!


Follow them,....

much love,.....@lidiaanamusic

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Lidiaana in Tenerife

Lidiaana in Tenerife



One of my trips last year was in Spain - more precise - the Canary Islands - even more precise Tenerife.

My goodness this Island is seriously blessed - the weather - the people - the food. I seriously asked my friends if there was a prison on that island - as I couldn't imagine a bad person being in paradise.

Within 2 weeks I met really beautiful people - recorded my music video for my single "How Often", learned a bit of spanish and even flew to the neighbour island Fuerte Ventura.




A great holiday!!! The best thing though - I spent my holiday with my super girly - Super Producer Sabina Beatz. We had a great time and I started speaking so much italian. Yes Italian - cause that's a language I can speak and I kinda assumed that my new spanish friends, would understand what I was saying. Guess what? they actaully did.

One thing that really amazed me was that we ate good food everyday. Everyday!!! There are Burger Kings and McDonalds in Tenerife but only tourists would go there.


Coming back to the UK I tried to continue eating healthy by preparing the same salad for myself  I had eaten in Tenerife.


The only unhealthy stuff I was eating was probably Ice cream and Tiramisu.

No matter where we went to - I always felt welcomed. I am sure that if I had stayed there longer that I would probably speak really good spanish. Oh man, even writing about it makes me so sad now. That's the kind of place I would visit over and over and over again.


After having such a wonderful time and recording the new Music Video - I actually didn't want to return back to the UK. I remember waking up in the morning and to go for a swim first thing. A siesta  - Time to rest - Enjoying life to the fullest - Palm trees - Bananas - Sun ...


Anyway, I only wanted to share my love for Tenerife with you,


Lidiaana
www.lidiaana.com

Recruitement

It is a natural thing for people to move on or to change.

You know, that's what life is about.

When our previous band member left, we were stuck - as we had upcoming performances. I knew that there was no time to worry, therefore me and the Afro - Lidiette @diamantdreams started writing an email and sent it out to various universities.

Thank God, we have found a new member 'Hezatu Jalloh' - Beautiful, fierce and crazy - basically the missing piece of our band.
I also feel more professional after reading all the applications and cv's and also through developing an eye for the right candidate.

Lidiaana & the Afro - Lidiettes .... Next Performance @ the TETV Showcase


Lidiaana & the Afro - Lidiette



 Our next performance ...so excited!!!
You have to come ...
IT'S GOING TO BE BIGGGGG!!!

 https://www.facebook.com/events/220086098133861/?fref=ts



@lidiaanamusic

Being a Female Boss

As some of you know - I am a singer/songwriter/music producer - and an Entrepreneur since I own the Entertainment Company 'Segenita Group' and the charity Lidiaana 'Foundation'.







I remember from back in the day, when I was in College - that it was so much harder for me to be respected for my 'beats'. Even today, it's still hard to get the respect I deserve.

Nicki Minaj literally summed it up in a 3minutes interview, what I go through sometimes. Unfortunately the music industry is still a male dominated industry.

No matter what people think about Nicki - I respect her for all of the statements within this video.




I don't rest - even when I go out , as this is another opportunity to network. I don't even have a so called 'weekend' cause that's when I have to do all my coursework or rehearsals.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy it - I love my life and I love to be really successful in the future.

...the more I am being disrespected for working hard or being a 'femaleBoss' the better it makes me.

Therefore  ---thank you xxx

Cookie Hustler

I am almost done with uni - I can't believe it!!

Anyways, one day when I went uni I observed a lot of students fundraising for their Major projects. Therefore I decided to do one as well.

So, I decided to sell cookies and muffins in order to raise money for my album launch Party.

It was great to make a bit of money but what was even greater is the fact that I was able to network with a lot of people from my university.

...and I was surprised about the amount of people who supported my cause ;-)

Thank god I had support from my band member @diamantdrams and my good friend @angelkeyz ,,,....who were hustling with me. The fact that it was cold, made us wanna work even harder.



The great thing was that I was playing my music through the speakers and that way, we created more interest and we also invited them all to my Launch Party. Most of them have also given me their contact details, which is great as I can update them on my releases.

I guess that you have to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, in order to make things happen.

Thanks for the support x

@lidiaanamusic

Lidiaana is doing Cover Songs


You know what, ... for a while I disliked people who would call themselves Singers and Songwriters or Artists , even though they were only doing cover songs.

I didn't get it.

I mean seriously, some of the YouTube covers are straight covers - not even a rendition and they would still get 200.000 + views. 
Apart from that I didn't understand why people liked to advertise someone else's song instead of being original.

Anyways, as I said - I have changed. 

I now think that it's great to do covers as this helps to connect with your audience BUT it's even better if you can show you are original by writing your own music. At the end of the day you are better off advertising your own music.

I have decided to do a rendition of one of my favourite 'Motown' songs I heard it through the grapevine by Marvin Gaye and also put it on my album.


So far that's the song that got most played on radio....

Here is the track https://soundcloud.com/lidiaana/i-heard-it-through-the

Hope you like it x


Exploring new dance styles

Me and the Afro - Lidiettes had only 3 weeks to choreograph some dance routine for the Launch Party.
I am from Eritrea , therefore we dance more with our shoulders in my culture.

There are so many dance styles that I still need to explore but it was great to see Diamant's and Heza's Input and it was quite hilarious to see them teaching me the Azonto and many other dance styles.



For the next performance we will set new challenges.
See you soon


@lidiaanamusic
@diamantdreams
                                                                 @kihannamillarn 

PS: This is a picture from the Launch Party


New Way of mixing

Back in College, I loved to mix my tracks. Soon I realised that I didn't like doing everything within track and started focussing on writing and producing. It's always good to let someone else have a listen to the mix or the production. This is why I have then started to hire independent sound engineers to take care of my tracks.

However after last years amazing summer holiday I felt so inspired to record my vocals and to mix them in a new way. More airy, more reverb .... and as a result songs such as "To the Sky" and "Noah's Lullaby" have a new vibe.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/lidiaana/id325976211

In order to explore that new sound of mine it was a better idea for me to premix those tracks myself and then to hand it to someone to take care of the polishing bits and to EQ the lead vocals.
More importantly, delivering a rough mix saves a lot of time.

Mixing in general is such a a crazy picky job ... I mean look at the pic below :-) LOL



This is why I am so glad that I usually know what I want out of a mix.

Moreover, I work with a really good music producer and sound engineer that goes by the name of WaTa ...check him out https://soundcloud.com/wata-1

Much love, @lidiaanamusic


Lidiaana's online presence


Seriously, this new era of "sharing" is cool. It's great ;-) . But I hate the fact that people are sometimes so focused on having new followers ...lots of FB friends etc. Instead of focusing your fan base through live performances etc ,....you know the 'old skool' way

But hey, I am an artist and I NEED AN ONLINE PRESENCE cause thats apparently how people will rate your music.

Therefore I am now on

Instagram             http://instagram.com/lidiaanamusic
Tumblr                 http://lidiaanamusic.tumblr.com
Blogger                http://lidiaana.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook             https://www.facebook.com/LidiaanaMusic
Twitter                 https://twitter.com/lidiaanamusic
Reverbnation       http://www.reverbnation.com/lidiaana
Soundcoud          https://soundcloud.com/lidiaana
YouTube             http://www.youtube.com/user/lidiaanadotcom
iTunes                  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/lidiaana/id325976211


Thank you

www.lidiaana.com

Lidiaana Foundation .... the Logo


Currently I am designing a Logo for my children's charity the 'Lidiaana Foundation'.
I usually get people to do it for me, but I have decided to do it on my own this time, as it feels more authentic and it is always good to learn new things.

Even though I am aware that I am not a professional it was a good experience.

I was in the uni library when designing it - therefore I had lots of creative people beside me who were able to help with various tools on Photoshop.

Here is the progress,. ......



....and here is the finished one ..... that I have put into my Album booklet



LIDIAANA & AFRO - LIDIETTES ... Diamant and Hezatu

My Afro - Lidiettes

I love them,....Diamant Ballou and Hezatu Jalloh.

Within a couple of weeks they became my "sistaaaaaas". They are both great singers and very talented and it is such an honour to be performing with them. I have realised that it is always best to work with like - minded people.

It's a bad idea to have someone in your team/band who think that they are doing you a favour or someone who doesn't want to succeed.

I couldn't have wished for better backing singers/dancers.

We are all from africa and we all have different musical roots which makes our stage presence even better. The launch party was a banger even though we only had 3 weeks to rehearse.



Heza was very busy with her exams and Diamant has still a lot of uni work to do including finishing off her debut EP. Sometimes we had to rehearse in the middle of the night in order to make the show happen. We would also design and share make up and clothes ideas via 'Whatsapp' on a daily basis in order to make the Launch Party a success.

This experience just shows that dedication, communication and time management is everything.

Glad to have them on board,

and looking forward to our future xx