"CHRISTMAS MOOD" Q&A
Each of my songs are personal. With elaborate backstory's from origination to music video production. Here's a little storytelling about how my new single came to be.
01
What inspired this track?
Honestly, a joke I made to my husband. I started noticing a pattern that around the holidays I get baby fever. This is both funny and ironic, cause I'm a conscious one-and-done kinda gal. But, there's something that happens. I mean, there's romance. A psychotic phase of nesting. All which convince me in the heat of the moment to say, "Welp, let's just have 12 kids." Then January hits and that sounds like the worst idea ever. Anyway, it's become a running joke in our family and this song is a byproduct of that. A word play, if you will, of setting the Christmas Mood by partaking in all the stereotypical holiday festivities (& of course quirky mishaps), while simultaneously finding the sexy allure of Christmas that puts you in "the-mood."
02
How was the writing process?
I wrote the draft of this song in Summer 2020 when the world fell apart. When July hit and quarantine was in full swing, my family and I decided to go full-out Christmas in July on the 25th. The weeks leading up to it as an all-encompassing marathon of our Christmas traditions with a summer spin. We decorated a palm tree in our living room. Baked and decorated gingerbread cookies in swimwear. Jammed Christmas songs & binged holiday movies. Even made our Breakfast casserole (that only gets made once a year....except 2020, of course) We went full-out, and lo-and-behold, yours truly had that same can't-put-my-finger-on-it, let's now have 20 kids feeling. But instead, this song was born. My quarantine baby, if you will.
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TAKE-IT-TO-THE-BRIDGE
The original song draft did not have a bridge. Berlin wrote the instrumental for the bridge and in probably one of my quickest writes to-date the bridge lyrics and melody were written as I recorded live to his instrumental track. It was a unique and new writing experience for me. The bridge is now my favorite part, so of course I'm like, "let's do THAT more often!"
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July 25, 2020
03
How was the recording process?
MEET THE PRODUCER
I teamed up with my long-standing co-writer and producer, Jonathan Grant Berlin, on this track. Berlin has been there since the beginning of my recording career. He produced my first single, "Forgiveness," released in 2020. He has now co-written and produced 5 out of my 6 releases. He leads his own solo project, Sunbears! as well as records and tours with popular folk duo, JOHNNYSWIM, as their lead guitarist.
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When I got the full instrumental back from Berlin to record vocals, my response was, well first, my jaw dropped. Then I looked at my husband and said, "I am not worthy. Who else is gonna sing this?!" At the very least, I knew I had to do a double song drop releasing both the single and instrumental version. The music in this is pure art I could listen to on repeat. So for the first time I released an instrumental-only track, and I'm so glad it exist in the world.
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STRINGS
You'll notice a mystical arrangement of strings on this track played by the immensely talented Anton Patzner. Anton's work can also be spotted on my song, "Forgiveness." Always the creme to have Anton on a song!
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SIR MIX-ALOT
It's been an honor to have my last 4 releases, mixed by Raul Lopez of Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles. His portfolio includes acclaimed artists like FLETCHER, Lennon Stella and JOHNNYSWIM. He's a master on the board, and I'm immensely grateful to have him on my team.
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VOCAL ENGINEERING
My whole musical career is always about challenging myself and learning something new. I engineered my own vocals on both my last three releases, "This Small Town" and "Every Excuse," as well as this tune. Each time around really diving further into that process. Learning and growing. Tracking, comping, and writing/tracking background vocals along the way.
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04
Release time. What's new?
Just 3 months ago, I spontaneously opened a vintage shop full of eclectic vibey decor, furniture and lifestyle pieces called Jesabel Home. Completely unplanned in-sync with this release but has created some really unique opportunities. The first being a brick and mortar shop to sell my new "Christmas Mood" merch, which includes two jewel-toned tees, a sweatshirt, and hand signed Christmas ornaments. I designed the album art on this release and converted the design to a gold, wear all-year-round logo. As an avid designer and decorator myself, I'm also encouraging people to use audio from my song to show me how they are getting in the Christmas Mood by decorating in their own homes. I love how organically my worlds as a musician and a vintage shop owner melt together without even trying.
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Fun Fact: The kaleidoscope background in the Official Youtube Audio track was filmed hand-turning a vintage 1987 Chetnik-Kock Kaleidoscope I picked up at an estate sale for my Jesabel Home shop. DIY. Always. Forever.
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Fun Fact: I curated a "Christmas Mood" Spotify playlist full of sexy, moody, quirky tunes for those that want to bring the unexpected vibe this holiday season. My new tune fits right in!
Give it a spin. Hope it puts you in-the-mood.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me at jesabelmusic@gmail.com
I'd be happy to answer them and share more about this special tune.
