My Kickstarter Campaign

Hi everyone, 

As some of you may already know, I am trying to get my second album out by raising funds through Kickstarter. For those who may not have heard of Kickstarter, it is a site that helps artists and filmmakers get their projects made by pitching it to the world. People then pledge donations and recieve rewards for each pledge they make. 

So far, I have raised 38% of my goal in 8 days. I have 36 days left to raise the remaining 62%.

I need your help. 

All it takes is a $1 to help me out. And if you cannot afford the $1, all I ask is that you share the link to my kickstarter page so that I can get my next album made. The link to my Kickstarter page is 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/minoti/minotis-2nd-album

With my second album, my goal is to make more music in my interconnected genre web so that there's something for everyone on my album. Perhaps my my R&B/Pop number "This Town" won't do it for ballad-lovers, but "I'm Yours" will. Then, there's the dark, mysterious "Forsaken" on this upcoming album, but at the same time, there's also the funky, upbeat, feminist "(Not) a Damsel in Distress". Although the overall genre of my music is Pop, I like to experiment with different forms and make music that is commercial, but at the same time, not something you hear on the radio every day. 

But in order to make really solid, good music, I need YOUR help.  

Every contribution means the world to me and every donation helps - no matter what the amount. Every single penny received will go into studio, engineering and production costs. What is left over will go into making your reward prizes, the album launch event and promoting the album.  

A donation of more than a certain amount gets your name inside the jacket cover of the CD, and other higher donation amounts get a producer credit. 

Once again, the link to the Kickstarter page is:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/minoti/minotis-2nd-album

 - Minoti

Buy My Album - It's only $5.99!

Current Reverbnation Stats

Yeah Baby! Here it is. For the Singer/Songwriter category:

Local Rank: 4 (Los Angeles) Post My Rank :: See Chart

National Rank: 51 (United States) Post My Rank :: See Chart

Global Rank: 78 (World) Post My Rank :: See Chart

Top 100 Singer/Songwriters in the US? YES!

The Contest

I realllly want to win this contest and I need all the votes I can get. So please vote for me!

No forms to fill out, no confirmation emails. It takes less than 30 seconds -

1. Click on link - http://www.supernova.com/events/11761/wildcardvoting
2. Click on 'Vote' next to me
3. Click on 'Connect With Facebook'
4. Click on Fan Sign Up

THAT'S IT

Super Wow!

I am just so surprised but really pleased.

I just logged into Ourstage.com and saw that my songs 'Coffee' and 'One Day' are really climbing the charts. Coffee is no. 12 in the Acoustic charts and One Day is no. 32 in the Female Singer songwriter Charts.

I'm also one of the top 250 artists in Los Angeles on Reverbnation and have a total fan reach of 760 fans.

There have been some well known artists - Miranda Cosgrove, Jordan Pruitt, Charlotte Sometimes and Millionaires - that have liked my music, commented or given me feedback over Facebook.

And all this happened in ONE WEEK!

Ever since I started promoting my music, things have really taken off and it's all happened very quickly! Websites like reverbnation, stereofame and ourstage have really helped me get my music out there in a big way, and am really grateful to everyone who has been listening.

I just wanted to let all the aspiring artists out there know - make music and promote it. Big things will happen really quickly!

Two new songs are up on my reverbnation page (and everywhere else).

Go listen to "Independent" and "Weather" now!

Entertainment Unraveled

Check out the ten minute entertainment news segment we made for our class. I directed and wrote this :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2OWtRkHQp4

An excerpt from a story from my creative writing class...

The music started, the lights flashed. I'm not ready for this, she thought. And then she walked out onto the stage with ease. All eyes were on her. The beautiful gown by Niki Masters that she had on seemed to glow under the stage lights. As Danielle Rafi walked down the runway, cameras flashing all around her, images of her childhood began to run through her mind.
Flash. She was eight years old, running around in the playground after school. Shannon Mills, the class bully had come up to her and asked her if she was adopted. Confused, Danielle had asked what this meant. Shannon laughed and said it was obvious that Danielle had come from a family of giraffes because no human looked that strange. Everyone had laughed. Eight year old Danielle had been devastated. She was called 'Rafi the Giraffy' all through high school.
Flash. She was twelve years old and was playing around in her parents bedroom. She had on her mothers black pumps and was carefully applying her mothers lipstick on her lips. Her mother had walked in and asked her what she was doing. “I'm a model, mom!” Danielle had replied, excited. Her mother had laughed and said, “You're not a model. You're not pretty enough. Now go clean the kitchen”.

Flash. She was seventeen and in the hospital. Tired of being overlooked, overweight and overstressed with school, Danielle had stopped eating. She began to eat less and less each day, and was counting her calories and following strict 'diets'. Her goal was to eat less than 700 calories a day. She would look in the mirror and see herself as a worthless human being. So overweight. So many pounds to lose. It was only after months of specialized therapy and diet regulating that Danielle realized that she was never overweight – just under a lot of pressure.
Flash. Now here she was. Walking down this runway. She had overcome so much stress, so much drama. She had climbed and stumbled on so many steps up the ladder, and now she was finally here. Danielle felt like she had been such a disappointment to everybody in her life that this was her time to shine. No Shannon Mills to think that she was better than her. No mother to mock her modeling aspirations and tell her she wasn't pretty. No doctors to tell her she was anorexic because she wasn't anorexic anymore.
She stopped. She turned. She posed. Then she turned again and walked back down the runway. She was getting closer and closer to the wings. Ten steps...five steps...two steps...

She turned into the left wing and almost crashed into Niki Masters herself.
“Ow!” she heard Niki say as she brushed past her.
“Sorry”, said Danielle in a sincerely apologetic voice. But she couldn't stick around to elaborate on her apology. She had to change into another dress immediately.
“Models,” Danielle heard Niki murmur to herself as she went back to watching the show. Danielle hung her head. Her first real modeling job. And already, she had disappointed someone.

The Fictional Truth

Hi everybody,

So I thought I'd update this to let everyone know that my first album, 'The Fictional Truth', is now out and available for digital download on amazonmp3, itunes, cdbaby, Rhapsody and all other major online music distributors.

I could not have made this album without the help and time of Vivek Vaishnav, who helped me record 7 out of 8 of the songs on this album, and also co-wrote 'Tin Man' (aka the best song ever). Also, Farah Vaishnav, who wrote the lyrics for 'Coffee' (one of my most popular downloads) and Manmath Vaishnav, who was the only family member to never question my dreams and the only one who fully supported me and always believed that I would make it, no matter what.

I would like to say that everyone is very happy for me and is very supportive. However, I'd be wrong. Most of the support I am getting is from people back home, thousands and thousands of miles away.

But I'm surprised to find that many people here in the U.S have either said negative things about what I am doing or haven't said anything at all - which doesn't show a lot of support, especially since some of these people are people I have known for years and years now.

I understand that the album thing came out of the blue - but why is it so surprising? I've been working on my music for years and this has been a dream of mine for a long time now. So what gives?

Here's how I did it.

I started searching around the web about a month ago as to how one markets their music. I learned that if you have a set of songs, you can sign a marketing deal with a company and they will market your music and make it available as an album for digital download. The music has to be approved for sale by all online retailers like amazon, itunes etc as per their own specifications, and once everything is approved - you're done. Your album is up for sale.

That's all I did. I recorded some songs with my cousin. The retailers liked and approved of the songs and they were up for sale. It's not rocket science. So I don't understand why people are so shocked. Anyone can do it if they can sing, write and record.

Want to buy my album? Click the links below. And if you can't afford to buy it, could you at least listen to my songs on http://www.stereofame.com/minoti and give me a good review?

Thanks everyone!

:)

Buy my album at CDBaby.com -
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/Minoti

Review my album on amazon -

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fictional-Truth/dp/B003YCEWUK/ref=cm_cmu_up_thanks_hdr

The Final Performance

Hello everyone who isn't reading this because I have no subscribers since my recruited P.R agents (my sisters) have had no time to tell people about this blog - how are you?

So last night was my final performance for my Mus 144 class. The class is kind of a training ground for singers because we get trained in vocal techniques, microphone use, movement and all kinds of other stuff. The class basically teaches you how to be a rockstar.

This is how it works:

During the semester, one is required to sing five songs from four different genres - Country, Pop/Rock, Jazz and R & B. The fifth song can be from a genre of our choice. The first time we sing our chosen song, Charlie, the professor (who trained Gwen Stefani by the way), critiques us and tells us what to do and what not to do (emphasis on the what not to do). In addition to this, everyone in the class fills out Performance Evaluation Sheets with three things that they liked about your performance and three things that they didn't. Then, the next week, we sing the same song again and this time, everyone just fills out the sheets. There is no individual critique.

This process repeats itself for each song you choose. It's kinda hard to get 5 songs done in a semester because the competition to sign up is cut-throat. If you don't stalk the door, rush into the classroom as soon as the door opens armed with a sharpie and sign your name on the board, you don't get to sing.

All the singing in class is done with a pianist. No live band or anything. But when it comes time for the final, we have a whole band backing us up - and we don't get to rehearse with the band beforehand!

It's a nerve-racking experience, but still a lot of fun. The show was awesome and everyone shined just the way that they should. The band was awesome. They were all successful industry musicians who had worked with artists like Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, James Brown and more. Here's a little taste of what the show was like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtlYZVTpA3U

This was my first time singing with a live band, so it was a new experience. I had a blast though, and if I didn't just graduate (yesterday, in fact. I ditched the ceremony to perform with the band instead - great decision btw), I'd totally take the class again.

All in all, it was an awesome night and I'm glad I got to be a part of it.