Crazy : Songwriting With NV

I'm starting a small series for my next few post called "Songwriting with NV" (get it, NV = envy). I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little of what most people want me to do anyway as a songwriter and explain a few of the songs I've written. Now, don't worry, I'll do that...at least a bit - I can't give away all my secrets, you know. Some of it's still for me. ;)

Photo by Don Razniewski

So, below is my song "Crazy", and it is also on my EP Sounds...which you can purchase on iTunes here (shameless plug!). So, confession: I LOVE playing this song! (yeah, I know - it sounds kind of self-aggrandizing, but it's true!) It's such a departure from my more serious explorations of the tougher situations we find ourselves in: it's fun, it's upbeat, it's danceable, it's sexy, it's about admiring the one you love, and it's that other side of me that I think the people who know me get to see the most. I tend to save that more melancholy, introspective side of my personality for myself - not on purpose: it's just the way I am. 

 

Anyway, I remember when I wrote this song how good it felt. It was actually one of the first songs I'd ever written, and it was at a time when I had just stopped seeing this very awesome, beautiful girl...and yes, I said girl. My, oh my, have the times changed! ;) She was smart, charismatic, fun, jovial, hot...yes, hot, and just an all-around awesome girl. I had made the decision I was going to pursue a music career, and I had just started trying to figure out how I was gonna get started, since I honestly knew nothing about the music business (truth be told...I still don't. It's an ever changing headache of a beast!) I was sitting around one day, and I was just thinking about how awesome this girl was and how I was so glad that, for whatever happened between us, I was able to have been a part of her life. 

Now, I know you're thinking: why did the word "Crazy" come to be the title of the song if this girl was so awesome. Short answer: I love juxtaposition. 

 

Well, I was playing around on my keyboard (that I still have and use to write songs...thanks to my awesome friend JBR) and this very rhythmic comping feel came to me, and it felt like a smoky jazz club in Paris in the 1940s, St. Germain, with well mixed drinks clanking in the background. If I ever re-record this song, it WILL have horns dammit! So, I got this rhythm going and then these words started flowing: "Woman your hips, and your lips, and your kiss on my cheek, makes my body so weak, that I can't seem to think, about anything else". I wanted to interplay the physical beauty with her inner beauty in the second verse: "You pique my curiosity, and you challenge me, with your brain, I refrain, from those games that those other guys try, but still I have to say..." So, as I kept playing and thinking about this girl, and more broadly, about how overwhelmingly cool it is to be smitten, the more kept coming. It was the first time I realized, "I'm turning ideas into songs. I'm a songwriter. This is CRAZY!" So, between putting out those feelings and being proud of my success at writing what I felt to be a good song made it simple: this song had to be called "Crazy". Pretty crazy huh?

So, tell me. Do you have anyone in your life that you love that's, for good or bad, got you goin' "Crazy"? Leave a message or post your thoughts on twitter @normanvladimir. Thanks for listening. 

 

 "Crazy" by Norman Vladimir on Sounds

Much love,

NV

Links:

- My Website:  http://www.normanvladimir.com/
- Twitter: @normanvladimir
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/normanvladimir1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/normanvladimir
- iTunes "Sounds": https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sounds/id326854876

120 Volts: Songwriting With NV

I'm starting a small series for my next few post called "Songwriting with NV" (get it, NV = envy). I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little of what most people want me to do anyway as a songwriter and explain a few of the songs I've written. Now, don't worry, I'll do that...at least a bit - I can't give away all my secrets, you know. Some of it's still for me. ;)

Official Music Video for "120 Volts"

 Directed & Edited by Mary Anderson Casavant

So, this is my song "120 Volts", and it is also on my EP Sounds...which you can purchase on iTunes here (shameless plug!). So, to begin, I literally woke up one morning at around 4am, which is when my brain is its most creative, with the majority of this song already written. How, you ask? Well, I'm always, always, always, thinking about song lyrics and melodies - I can't help it. Literally, I woke up and I just had this driving, 4-on-the-floor beat in my head with these lyrics about how sometimes you just need some PASSION in your life, good or bad. A shock of energy, a jolt to wake you up. Yes, my friends: the lies, the distrust, the frustrations someone can bring into your life can be just as much of a turn-on as flowers, chocolate, and remembering your birthday. Passion gives you feelings, emotions, things to laugh about, things to cry about, things to let you know you're living and that your life is dynamic. Why this song was in my head at 4am...who knows! I'd like to think my life has a good amount of passion, but maybe there was room for more, as I stated in my previous post: I've never been in love, so perhaps subconsciously, I needed more. Anyway, I had this song and this melody in my head, and I needed to QUIETLY play it out on my keyboard at 4am and write down those lyrics before I forgot them...I had roommates that were still sleeping, you know. HA!

What I love about this song is the juxtaposition of this happy march-like beat interspersed with all these major (happy sounding) chords, but the lyrics are so damaged, defeated, and pleading. I also like how the chorus builds into this frenetic, chaotic sound with a few sound effects and EQ effects (even with a faint robotic voice in the background), and once it's out of the chorus, it's back to that steady 4-on-the-floor beat.  

A few fans have said to me that they wished the song was longer and that I repeated the chorus a few more times, but I personally like the idea that you leave a song wanting more...that's what the "repeat button" is for! ;) Another one of my fans abroad said, "Will you change the song when you're in Europe?" I asked "Why would I do that?" And they responded, "Well, Europe is on the 240 volts system!". I said, "HA!Good point!".

Thoughts? What do you think about this song? What do you do to break your daily routine to find passion? I'd love to hear your thoughts Hit me up on twitter: @normanvladimir

Much love,

NV

Feelin' Up: Songwriting With NV

 I'm starting a small series for my next few post called "Songwriting with NV" (get it, NV = envy). I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little of what most people want me to do anyway as a songwriter and explain a few of the songs I've written. Now, don't worry, I'll do that...at least a bit - I can't give away all my secrets, you know. Some of it's still for me. ;)

 

Feelin' Up by Norman Vladimir from "Sounds"

Performing "Feelin' Up" Live @ The Living Room, NYC

So, the song above is my song "Feelin' Up", and it's on my EP "Sounds"...which you can purchase on iTunes here (shameless plug!). To date, it's one of my most requested tunes to perform, and currently, there are two friends of mine who are literally fighting over who gets it for their wedding song. I love it! :)

When you first hear the title, you probably expect it's gonna be one of those R. Kelly-esque, body worshipping, steamy, sultry songs that dominate current Hip-Hop and R&B, and I'll admit, I gave it this title on purpose. Yeah, I'm sneaky. There are a few elements of that "steaminess" in there. For example, one line of the song says "we swim the sheets, to our favorite beat, till we find the one that we need...", but what I wanted to do with this song was play with the concept of love vs. lust, and to see whether or not the two could co-exist. There are many people we love, that we don't lust over, and there are many we lust over that we don't love, right?! So, I mixed and interplayed those feelings and emotions you get from someone you love with that "jump your bones" physical response you get in both the first and second verse, with the second verse being a bit more introspective about how this person makes you feel inside. So, by the time you get to the chorus after each verse, the concept of "Feelin' Up" becomes a double-entendre of feeling happy and feelin', ahem, horny (up)!

All that being said, I have a confession: I can't say that I've ever truly been in love. Yes, I've loved people, but I can't say that I've ever been in love. From what I hear it's debilitating and awesome! I wrote the song at a time when I wasn't in a relationship, and frankly, I'm just a big ol' hopeless romantic, so I was literally sitting one day, thinking about what it would be like to finally find that person that makes you ignore everyone else at the party, that person that has this otherworldly illumination or "halo" around their face that has nothing to do with the lighting of the room, that person that you can't help but do anything when you see them but smile and feel completely powerless, yet completely complete. It's a feeling, I believe, we all aspire to have. That's why I wrote this song.

So, who knows: maybe one of these days I'll be "Feelin' Up"...

What's your story? Do you have someone who has you "Feelin' Up"? I want to hear from you. Write me on twitter: @normanvladimir

Much love,
NV

Thoughts? Do you like this series?

Links:
- My Website:  http://www.normanvladimir.com/
- Twitter: @normanvladimir
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/normanvladimir1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/normanvladimir
- iTunes "Sounds": https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sounds/id326854876

Who Is Norman Vladimir? The New Millennium Soulman

Photo by Don Razniewski

At least that's what Ebony Magazine called me for my latest feature in their "Introducing..." series. See my feature in Ebony Magazine here.

So, who IS Norman Vladimir? I've been getting this question a lot lately - and, trust me, I'm glad people are asking. Perhaps he's the "New Millennium Soulman". Perhaps he's a Pop & Soul singer/songwriter. Or perhaps he's a musician who grew up in small town Tennessee, who, through his blend of acoustic soul, storytelling songwriting, and his goal to connect, has let his music guide his journey around the world to Europe, Australia, South America, and Asia, and has landed him in the center of the New York music scene. Check out my song "120 Volts" here, proudly featured on Hypeli as "Video of the Week" :

Let's be honest: it's difficult to define yourself! But as an artist, it's the question that everyone wants to ask you. The reason it's difficult to answer is because when you're an artist, the last thing you want to do is put yourself in a box, or limit the scope of your work - you always want to expand your reach. As an artist, you want to constantly be growing, changing, improving. But, people want to know YOU.  They want to know your story. They want to know what makes you tick. They want to know what inspires your work. And, let's be honest, we artists do this all the time to other artists who excite and intrigue us, so it's only fair, right?!

So, check out more of me on my website here, and let me know your thoughts on twitter @normanvladimir . Who is Norman Vladimir to you? I'd love to hear from you!

Much love,
Norman Vladimir

Links:
- My Website:  http://www.normanvladimir.com/
- Twitter: @normanvladimir
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/normanvladimir1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/normanvladimir
- Ebony Magazine Feature: http://www.ebony.com/video/entertainment-culture/introducing-norman-vladimir-video-888

Lucky Number 2013

That's right! I said LUCKY number. I know there are many theories and superstitions about how UN-lucky the number "13" is, but for this year, I'm sticking to the positive!

It is only the 2nd day of this year, and already I've seen the pieces coming together for a great year - all evidenced by the incredible love shown by my friends and family here and abroad, the positive words I've received from fans who've heard my music for the first time, the opportunity to work on new projects, and the fact that my love of music has not waned in the least...AND the simple fact that the Mayans were WRONG.

In this year, and every year, you gotta do what you love.You're on the right track when you're doing what you love. When you're doing what you love, all those worries in life that you have fade away and those puzzle pieces of uncertainty fall into place. When you're NOT doing what you love, you fight against yourself, your intuition, and your potential - and you get frustrated that you're not progressing. I mean, it's science. ;)

I'm looking forward to so much this year: more national and international tours in even crazier places as well as  returning to the places I've already been, a wider audience of friends/fans to listen to and pass along my music, bigger shows, putting together the official "NV TEAM", writing many more songs!, releasing my next studio project as well as some other projects I've been working on, strengthening my already established friendships as well as new friendships, and gaining a deeper understanding of the person I am and the person I want to be.

"2013 is our year". It's not my year, and it's not your year. I say this because we can do nothing alone. Every fiber of our being comes from a shared experience. So, we should always remember those around us who lift us up and keep us going. So...What are you looking forward to this year?

Much love and prosperity in LUCKY 2013,
NV