Happy "Auntie's Jam" Day!

My birthday is October 2nd, 1982. The "Auntie's Jam" project is my gift to myself. Let me take you on a journey...

 Videography by Lana Mack

This was during the days that I was still on Patreon. Money was an ISSUE! I was so sure though that I would be able to get back into the studio in the upcoming spring, but then COVID happened, and I ended up stranded in Atlanta (with one of my best friends) for five months. It was August of 2020 before I was able to get my final session in. And then it was another eight months before I could FINALLY get this baby mastered!

 Photography by Aurelie Davis

As this project was taking shape, my audio recording engineer Andrew Monheim encouraged me to really slow down and put some weight into this. My original intention was to just release the single and move on quickly to The Next Thing (my next music video), but that wouldn't really honor the journey this song has taken. Andrew was so right; I decided to take his advice and let it take fabulous, extravagant shape. So I reached out to the homie DJ Aaron Jacobs.

We first met in 2011 at a Friendsgiving dinner in Echo Park, where we quickly bonded over our shared love of house + techno music and the underground scene in Los Angeles. When we were discussing the direction I wanted him to go in, this was my only directive: “Go wild. Make something that you’d be proud to spin at Sound Nightclub.”

  Photography by Aurelie Davis

Three is a sacred number: I really wanted another remix to round out the track list, but I didn't want to force the process. And then God intervened: this summer at a birthday picnic for a college friend, another mutual friend of ours attended, and brought her boyfriend, the super-talented rapper and producer Buggsy Capri. I only mentioned this project in passing, but when we shared our music with each other, we clicked - his sound was something I really valued. And now we've got a remix perfect  for nightclubs and parties.

  Photography by Aurelie Davis

This small, simple project has been a three year journey, and the hard part wasn't singing in the studio or the music production. I'm a professional, working with professionals. The artistic process is nothing new to any of us, and at this point in our careers it isn't the production that's difficult. The difficult part was patience. The difficult part was seeing myself for who I really am. It was keeping my eyes open so that I could discern and seize opportunities as they were presented to me.

The past three years were some of the most trying times I've ever experienced, and that's within a decade of treading personal chaos and confusion. It was these choppy waters that constantly threatened this song. I made it. And at this time last year on my birthday, I didn't know if I would ever make it.

I'm glad to be here. I'm so happy to share this with you. "Auntie's Jam" is the true story of how my own Aunt Inez changed her life for the better by reframing her point of view, and by making herself of service to our family. But I didn’t write this song for her – I wrote it for me. Because I needed it. 

Enjoy.

Click here to stream "Auntie's Jam"

Click here to download "Auntie's Jam"

💋

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