back-to-back webchats! I'M COVERING "SURFACE PRESSURE", LIVE w a quartet! (Patreon)

HELLO MY LOVES!

Hi.

I'm the strong one.

I'm not nervous. 

I'm as tough as the crust of the earth is.....

OR AM I JUST A SIMPERING PILE OF PURITANICALLY TAINTED BROKEN DREAMS????

NEW PROJECT TIME!!!!!

Surprise. I am making myself feel good by just DOING THIS WEIRD THING because....you guys....I want to. 

On Feb 22, I'm going to record a vocal & string quartet arrangement of "Surface Pressure" from "Encanto" (written by Lin-Manuel Miranda of "Hamilton" fame) and I'm gonna do the WHOLE THING LIVE WITH YOU WATCHING, and with Auckland's THE BLACK QUARTET..... right before your very eyes at roundhead studio, live on webcast. IT'S GONNA BE FUCKING FUN.

This week has been fucked, I gotta tell you. I am overwhelmed, and haven't been this falter-y in a while. Not in my control....everything has banged up against everything else and it's just...a lot. 

The New Zealand border news threw the family and our plans into the mystery blender. 

Plus the start of school. 

Plus learning a new platform (Substack, which is lovely but filled with tech glitches). Neil and ( are trying to figure out life, plans, travel, visas, work, family, balance. 

I am trying to get through the to-do list every day and failing. I am trying to write a good advice column (I mean, I'm crushing it over there, and we already had over 50,000 readers. BUT OMG THE PRESSURE). 

I am trying to keep the house clean. The kid alive and not collapsing. My hair fucking brushed (failing!)

I am trying to get sleep. I am trying not to stumble.

I am trying to examine my own relationship with stress and my performance of stress.

And here we are:

I had February 22 set aside to do another "spontaneous-whatever-happens-cover webcast project" at roundhead studio, WITH all you all on the livestream, because I am LOVING being in the studio with you all there to hang out with me. (If you missed the last one, I did a flash live webcast cover of "Enjoy the Silence" and it came out so so so well).

During that last webcast, there was a super-upvoted request (from my friend Kya!!! HI KYA) for "Surface Pressure" from ENCANTO (yep, I've seen it, WITH Kya's family....and fucking loved it, and yes Ash is obsessed with the soundtrack and it's been bumping at our house 24/7 along with "We Don't Talk About Bruno"....no no no.)

Then I made this random gas station post on facebook that got almost 1,000 comments, with everyone accidentally clamoring for a "Surface Pressure" cover, along with a bunch of people telling me that when they first heard the song, they did double-takes because they thought about was ME, because apparently this song and I are karmically intertwined.

AND anyway...

WHAT DOES AMANDA DO WHEN IT'S ALL JUST TOO MUCH??? 

She fucking covers Disney, that's fucking what. 

(She also swears a lot, and drinks too much coffee. And uses a LOT OF CAPITALS. AND STARTS PROJECTS BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT MAKES ME FEEL I AM OF VALUE).

Sometimes there is just no other way out. If you remember my rendition of "Let it Go" from the last tour...that is going to be nothing compared to this next feat.

So yeah....NO DURAN DURAN, NO SINEAD O'CONNOR, NO MORE DEPECHE MODE, AND NOT CURE COVERS....SORRY. Not quite yet. Wait for it. I gotta get this Disney OFF MY CHEST.

INDULGE ME, OK? I AM STRESSED.

THIS SONG IS MY FUCKING LIFE RIGHT NOW. ON SO MANY LEVELS.

I WANT TO COVER IT BECAUSE IT IS MY LIFE.

"I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service"??

COME. ON.

Once again, Lin-Manuel writes some great fucking musical theater lyrics that are also dance-floor-able. If you've never heard it, I mean, just go listen. IT'S A BANGER ABOUT OVER-WORKING YOURSELF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQwVKr8rCYw

If you haven't seen the film, and you have kids especially, it's pretty brilliant. Disney, I'm proud of you. Not only STRONG FEMALE LEADS, but THREE ALTOS!!!!!! Nerdy musical theater me is real happy about that. THE REIGN OF THE SOPRANOS MAY COME TO AN END!!!!

Here's the song. the song was sung by Jessica Darrow (she KILLS IT). And the fact that it already has over 100,000,000 views on youtube tells you something.

The CONTEXT of the song: it's sung by Luisa, Mirabel-the-protagonist's older sister. Everyone in Mirabel's family (the Madrigals) have been given magical powers. All except Mirabel (you can guess where Disney takes that, but I won't spoil it. Hint: there is no polot twist). Luisa's power is that she's got the strength of a superhero. She fixes everything for everybody and NVER STOPS WORKING. SHE IS FUCKING EXHAUSTED. BUT SHE CANNOT STOP WORKING. SHE IS BUCKLING UNDER THE PRESSURE OF LIFE BUT FEELS THAT SHE WILL DISAPPOINT EVERYBODY IF SHE TAKES A BREAK FOR THREE SECONDS.

Hands up, people. 

Hands up.

Hello.

.....

OKAY SO I AM DOING THIS.

WE ARE GONNA GO FAST!!! AND FURIOUS!!!

BECAUSE THAT'S HOW I LIKE IT!!

I met someone over the weekend on Waiheke who knows a GREAT STRING QUARTET.

GOOD!!!! FATE!!!! I called them the next day. They are FREE. It's a super-pro avant-everything quartet led by arranger and compser Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper, here they are:

You guys know me. I'm happiest when shit just fatefully comes together like this, and FAST.

The ACTUAL live recording of me and the quartet will be on Tues Feb 22 here in New Zealand ...and we will probably start (again) around 11:11 and go til about 3:11. We only have four hours to record this bitch if we wanna impress you, so it'll be FUN!!!! RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK, and Jherek will be beaming in (on the webcast itself) from Los Angeles to help the quartet with the arrangement. You'll get to be a fly on the wall for all of it, including me laying down the vocal, and it's gonna be A BLAST. WHAT WILL I WEAR. 

Okay...so WHAT'S NEXT?? 

WELL: I'm gonna do a webcast LIVE tomorrow morning (NZ TIME) for ALL PATRONS to discuss the string arrangement with Jherek!!! 

This is a REALLY FUN part of the process, and I've never done it in FRONT of anyone before. It's always a video chat or a phone call with Jherek and we bat through all the parts and ideas and tempos and.....WHY NOT SHARE IT WITH YOU.

if you love the nerdy music stuff, this is for YOU, but also, it's just fun to watch to artists talking about the bowels of art and how to make it, and Jherek and I were gonna set up a call anyway, so WHY NOTE INVITE YOU and just have the call in front of you??? It'll be arhived if you miss it, and it'll be a STRICT hour....

it's 9:30 am thurs Feb 10th NZ (that's 3:30 on wed the 9th in NYC, and 8:30 on wed the 9th in london!!) or click here for your time and to RSVP and ask questions: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/taqjhe7j

AND THEN....for anyone who wants to stick around and just shoot the shit with me, it's been TOO LONG SINCE WE CAUGHT UP and if you're gonna attend the jherek webchat anywhere, i figure I'll nab you all while youre there for another hour of life and poetry and tears. super spontaneous, i know, but the week and the month and the life have been NUTS.

THAT LINK IS HERE, for $10 folks only....1

that's 10:30am NZ tomorrow (thurs)..and HOUr after the ALL-PATRON WEBCAST.

START CHATTING HERE, LOVES...anything will go. I'll make a cofffee in between....so bear with me: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/dzcgyyle

SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW, WHOEVER CAN MAKE IT.

PLEASE GO RSVP!!!

I'll send you a little reminder before we go live.

Jherek may come in his pajamas. I'll probably be in a bra. It's fucking hot here. BRING YOUR SELVES and a fruity drink and your sense of humor.

AGAIN, go to crowdcast to have it show your local time:

9:30am All-Patron arrangement chat with Jherek:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/taqjhe7j

10:30 $10+ webchat hangout:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/dzcgyyle

as usual, these webcasts will all be archived for later!!!

CAN YOU TELL I HAVE HAD FOUR CUPS OF COFEE TODAY???????

SO MANY CAPS 

I LOVE YOU

☕️☕️☕️☕️

reading comments, hit me

x

A

———THE STUFF I SAY AT THE END OF EVERY POST———

1. if you are a patron and new to my work, don’t forget your patronage allows you access to ALL of my patreon releases to date. HERE is the link to download my latest big solo record, “There Will Be No Intermission”, and HERE is a link to download the PDF of the art/essay book that goes with it.

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http://amandapalmer.net/things

4. JOIN THE SHADOWBOX COMMUNITY FORUM, find your people, and discuss everything: https://forum.theshadowbox.net/

5. are you new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff (at least up until a few years ago, this desperately needs updating) on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

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