Grow Fond of GrowYoung!

Hey guys! Help spread some "likes" and support for newly formed band, Grow Young! I had the pleasure of collaborating with one of the band's members, Kevin Roberts, on recording a song of mine a few weeks back. His band is having a debut show on Friday December 30th in Valencia! View the description below for more info on the band itself!

 

"GrowYoung is a collaboration of three songwriters, Hayley Brownell, Kevin Roberts, and Shannen Roberts.  The idea for this project started a few months ago when Kevin met Hayley-a drummer and a freshman at Cal State University of Northridge majoring in Jazz Studies.  After jamming one afternoon, with Shannen included, we all knew we wanted to pursue this project on a more serious level.  All three of us have many different musical influences including MuteMath, Evanescence, and Local Natives.  Other influences include Radiohead, Kneebody, Grouplove, Tune-Yards, and Anberlin.  We are also influenced by our friends Tangent Transmission and Vas DeFrans! 

Our debut show is on Friday, December 30th in Valencia!  More info can be found at our website: growyoungmusic.com.  You can like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/growyoung, follow us on twitter @growyoungmusic, and follow our blog at news.growyoungmusic.com.  We start recording our 3 song EP on December 17th!!  

Please check out this teaser video for our first show: http://youtu.be/Zva2jIopcPE (recorded in my home studio with a children's choir).  

You can also subscribe to our official newsletter here: http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=1ac381f4cf88e345e9170c13a&id=03cb46fe26

Unraveling "My Window"

"My Window" is actually a song I wrote back in high school, but never really brought to the forefront until a few months ago, when I decided to vamp it up a bit- adding some new sections and elements. The song exposes the idea that despite the fact that almost everyone in the world has a window to look out of, everyone has a completely different view depending on where they live (obviously..). Some people are blessed to see good weather, be surrounded by welcoming neighbors, have flowers to appreciate, people to see, and so forth. At the same time, someone living somewhere else has a different reality- a reality that is not so pleasant, a window that opens their eyes to war, gangs, constant rain, isolation, you name it. Regardless of the reality, it is important to know that what you see is what you make of it, and that's what I hope we can learn through this song- the importance of seeing the light in the best and worst of windows. 


As far as the video, I owe a big thank you to Armani and Tiffany Smith for shooting this video for me this past Tuesday, and I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed making it! 

As always, share away, "like" my facebook music page, whatever you need to do, so I can stay connected with you! :) 

Musician Of The Year Recap!

Performing my songs with the band!

halfway through the night- never loved stickers this much.

Keyboards a la Nyla Hammond

For those of you that missed last night's RAWawards 2011 performance, here's the low-down on what took place! I was recently nominated via online votes for a Musician Of The Year Award. As apart of the top 5 nominations for Hollywood I had to perform a 7-minute set for all those in attendance. I performed two songs, "My Freedom" and "Better" alongside bassist Austin Underhill and drummer Justin Anastasio. For the remainder of the night, I walked around with a voting sheet and people that wanted to cast their vote for me would put a sticker on my sheet to represent their vote. I'll be honest, it was kind of intimidating, but reaped an exciting pay-off. At the end of the evening I was announced as Musician of the Year for Hollywood.


So what's next? My music, biography, and overall appeal will be reviewed by judges and their votes will be tallied thus revealing who wins the awesome prize package.


Lastly, I want to thank those of you that continue to support me in my musical endeavors. It's not an easy career path by any means, but it's a lot more comforting knowing that you guys take the time to wish me good luck, "like" my abundant music posts, spread my music, come to shows, help with voting, etc. All of the encouragement, little or small means the world to me! So thank you :)

Look how excited my friends are -___- haha. :)

Amazing Chalk Art!

A few months back I went to the Pasadena Chalk Festival. If you've never been before, it is an absolute must see anddd It's free! (I hope your eyes are wider now). I was pleasantly surprised by the calibur of this festival. There were over 100 artists creating chalk art on the pavement. The one that I was most impressed with was the one pictured to the left. I had to snag a picture of it because I couldn't believe how realistic, smooth and beautiful it was! Learning that these artists expected to spend over 20 hours on these artworks was so inspiring to me. I only caught the first day of the festival which means I only got to see the early developments, but you can take at the winners gallery here...you won't be disappointed! Excuse me as I go purchase some chalk.

http://www.pasadenachalkfestival.com/

Alas, 21 and then some

To the left you'll notice a very happy Nyla on my 21st birthday. That's also me all over the walls in the background (which by the way are still hanging in my dining room 2 weeks later). What's the moral in all of this you ask? The moral is this: Regardless of how beautiful a cake is, eat it anyways, it's just a cake!

In all seriousness, I don't know if it's the timing or what, but very close to my turning of age I've been learning a lot about myself. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with any age - responsibility to take care of ones self (spiritually, mentally, physically), responsibility to carry out goals, and responsibility to be the best that you can be. These are all areas that can be improved upon, it's the best thing that I can do for myself. So what is there to do about it? I change! The New Year is too far away, so I'm allowing Daylight Savings to be the time where I re-adjust. I'm sure we've all been at this point sometime before, so cheers to us! And let's be honest, hitting roadblocks can produce great inspiration when it comes to music, so let's just see how this all plays out.


Sincerely, 
Nyla 2.0 

Oh snap! with Kyle Ellis

The photo displayed to the left is just one of many shots taken during a recent photo shoot with Los Angeles photographer, Kyle Ellis.  I first met Kyle about a year ago while having a blast at the happiest place on earth. Lucky for me, I found myself having a blast yet again- except this time on a summer Sunday evening in the comfort of California's very own and very hot San Fernando Valley. We started the day off with some shoots in a parking garage followed by a hike in which we raced against the sun to capture some awesome shots! Not only do I have the beautiful landscape to thank for that, but also the positive attitude and creative eye of Kyle matched with his fancy photography gadgets of course! Which by the way- I thought hauling my keyboard around was bad, but photographers can have it hard too with all of their equipment! I guess every craft has a catch, but the results make it worth it!

Feel free to peruse through the rest of Kyle Ellis' work which can be found on his website: thisiskyle.com. You can also find him on Facebook at Kyle Ellis Photography

On the big screen!

Alright, I'm not really on the big screen (unless you are reading this post on a giant computer screen) Other than that, this is just a tiny little video of me on youtube from an interview I had at the Playhouse earlier this month. I performed at an event called Illuminare which was presented by RAW artists, an organization that showcases Los Angeles' finest talents in music, art, fashion, photography etc. The place was packed! I'm talkin' about 500 people or so which resulted in a great night of high energy art lovin' fun. In my interview I talk a little about the things and people that inspire me, and what type of music I produce. So grab a lemonade, eat a chocolate bar, or whatever will contribute to your viewing experience :)

My Summer Playlist

It's summertime, and my poor ipod has been treated like an old abandoned t-shirt. For the past 2 months, my ipod has literally remained uncharged and lonely (and no, this is not something that I am proud of.) So the first thing I did today was grabbed my ipod and re-acquainted it with that awesome white usb cable and my computer. My second order of business was one that benefited both myself and the ipod- create a summer playlist. So far my summer has been extremely busy. I'm not necessarily complaining, but something as lowkey as making a playlist definitely sounded awesome today. With that said, I present to you...my summer playlist. Ta-Da!

1. Till The World Ends - Britney Spears- this is my guilty pleasure pop song. shh.

2. Crying Shame (Jack Johnson)- This is my sitting in summer traffic song

3.Ain't no mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye) -I play this when I'm cleaning...its encouraging haha

4. Atlantis to Interzone (Klaxons) in a hurry song

5. Bullet and a Target (Citizen Cope)

6. Come Around (MIA)- the I'm not sure what mood this puts me in, but I like it song

7. Crazy in Love (Beyonce)- hehehe.

8. Another one bites the dust (Queen)- the feeling good on the freeway song

9. Do it (Nelly Furtado)

10. Don't know why (Norah Jones)- The chill out song

11. Hella Good (No Doubt)

12. Doo Wop (That Thing)- Lauryn Hill 

13. Feeling Good (Michael Buble)

14. Get Down (Nas)

15. Gossip Folks (Missy Elliot)

16. Wasn't Me (Shaggy)- the if you're carpooling sing along song.

17. Video (India Arie) -the get ready song
18. Girl Talk (Ultra Violet)- the I could do without this but I still like listening to it song