When Singer Gilli Moon moved from Sydney to Los Angeles 10 years ago, she flung herself into meeting record-industry execs, arranging gigs and scraping together a living....For artists like Gilli Moon, penning pensive ballads in her living room using nothing more than high-tech tools and good business sense, they also represent a viable path to success."

Making Their Own Breaks

Technology is helping aspiring writers, musicians, artists and filmmakers go from amateur to pro. Who needs an agent when you've got the net?
By Tara Pepper

When Singer Gilli Moon moved from Sydney to Los Angeles 10 years ago, she flung herself into meeting record-industry execs, arranging gigs and scraping together a living. "I didn't know anybody, I didn't have any money, but I worked very hard," she says. In 1996, she created one of the earliest artist Web sites, offering a bio, pictures and an online diary she wrote; later she linked to MP3.com so people could download her songs. "That made everything possible for me, in terms of getting my music out there," she says. When an indie label signed her just two years later, she thought she'd made it. But gradually, Moon started to wonder if she couldn't do a better job of promoting herself. Three years ago she decided to break away from her record company and give it a try. Now she writes and records in her Los Angeles living room, gazing out at palm trees and her pool. Online, she arranges and promotes her tours, sells tickets, CDs and ringtones, and chats with other songwriters about upcoming festivals.

Since then, Moon has sold 20,000 records, and is steadily building up her business. Last month her Web site received 133,000 hits, up from 86,000 during the same month last year. Moon is hardly the only artist singlehandedly turning herself from amateur to pro. New technology means creative types across the board—from filmmakers to visual artists to authors—are finding it easier to bypass traditional middlemen, like record labels or galleries, and reach out to appreciative audiences themselves. The market has become so fragmented and audience tastes so specialized, it's no longer possible for big companies to cater to every niche. But individual artists can. The "indie revolution," as Stand Alone records label manager David Cool calls it, means amateur artists don't have to wait to be discovered. "There are still some who want to be plucked from obscurity and made into a star," Cool says, "but they're an increasingly small percentage. More and more, artists are realizing they can do it themselves, build up a fan base and keep control over their art as well." Some artists—painters, for instance—have always been able to produce work themselves, relatively cheaply.

Others, like musicians and filmmakers, had to pay for studio time, which proved prohibitively expensive for those without corporate backing. Now systems like ProTools enable musicians to produce top-quality recordings from a home studio for a fraction of the outlay. Indie filmmaker Jonathan Caouette didn't even use Apple's sophisticated Final Cut Pro software to put together his recent film "Tarnation," an account of his abusive childhood, which includes old home-movie footage and audiotapes; run-of-the-mill iMovies, standard on all Macs, proved perfectly adequate. When "Tarnation" was released, director Gus Van Sant commented that Caouette's technique had opened up the field to new talent. "No more excuses or filmmaker's block or procrastination," he said. "Either they start shooting or they're waiting for the vanity crew or they aren't filmmakers." The new technology has given aspiring artists an unprecedented degree of control over their careers. Until recently, labels, publishing houses and studios had a monopoly on distribution. There wasn't much point in creating a work of genius if no one could access it.

Then, after the 1998 launch of cdbaby.com, Web sites specializing in selling CDs by unsigned or indie artists mushroomed. Sites like tunetribe.com and karmadownload.com enable bands to sell CDs directly to fans around the world, without the backing of a global corporation. Gilli Moon offers ringtones on her Web site through a partnership with the Web site bandaideonline.com. Last year filmbaby.com launched, selling only movies received straight from the filmmaker—rather than from an agent or a distributor—and giving the artist 80 percent of the purchase price. For a monthly subscription of $9.95, artspan.com provides artists with an elegant personal Web space. Though she joined only three weeks ago, retired U.S. art professor Chrisa Craig Kumnick has already received inquiries from as far away as Africa for her $3,000 oil paintings. "I always knew there was an audience out there for my work," she says. "I'm amazed already at how far-reaching the visibility is." web sites and online communities are also replacing corporate publicity machines to create buzz around new talent. Festivals as far afield as Iran and Poland contacted London-based filmmaker David Bond after seeing his Web site, which features a downloadable version of his short film "Lions Are Green."

Moon used sonicbids.com, which creates an online press kit for artists, to help her pitch music to festivals, conferences and songwriting competitions. On myspace.com, bands and other artists build their own sites, with songs, photos and a blog, creating a community of "friends" by cross-referencing sites that list similar interests. "Fifteen years ago bands would have had to build up that audience with constant touring," says Paul Smernicki of Fiction Records. "Now you'll see groups without a record out, and 300 people will turn up for a gig." The British band the Bays, for instance, have never released a CD of their sparkling, ethereal music and generally operate outside "the traditional music industry," says London DJ Nick Luscombe, who programs live music and club nights at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. "Yet most festivals have them playing, and they'll be a real draw." Increasingly, artists can make a living without ever coming into contact with a bricks-and-mortar publisher or record label. "Sales of 20,000 on a major label would have you kicked off because of the enormous overheads," says Cool. "But as an indie musician, that's a good living. You have to pay for a good computer, some office supplies, and as long as you educate yourself on how to run a business, you're set."

When self-published author Angela Hoy started offering her readers the option of print or electronic books in 1998, she was surprised to find 75 percent bought the latter. She says that though fiction readers prefer traditional paperbacks, readers of nonfiction prize speed. "I converted all my titles to electronic files, and my profits soared," says Hoy, who has written nine works, including "The Emergency Divorce Handbook for Women" and "How to Be a Syndicated Newspaper Columnist." With no paper, printing or postage costs, she clears about $5,000 a month—and doesn't have to share it with a publisher. Not everyone thinks the digital revolution is unequivocally good for art. "Anything that allows people to express themselves outside the mainstream is fantastic," says Michel Shane, executive producer of "Catch Me If You Can." "It's a great training ground, and we will see some brilliant things come out of it. But in the long run I don't think it plays out as something that's a realistic career," since audiences will always be partial to big-screen movies with special effects and high-quality editing. Others question whether high artistic standards are being sacrificed. "I see editors as sculptors and color graders like watercolorists," says filmmaker Bond. "If the digital revolution focuses all these crafts into one individual, unless they're really exceptional, it will mean lower quality." And for consumers, the flood of amateur options can be overwhelming. "There's a tremendous opportunity right now for sites that want to set themselves up as frameworks, offering context and meaning," says Peter Spellman, author of "The Self Promoting Musician."

Some, such as musicdish.com, or the Internet radio show "Groovesalad," already act as trusted filters, picking gems out of reams of amateur material. E-book sites such as fictionwise.com offer ratings and reviews; Debbie Ridpath Ohi, author of "The Writer's Online Marketplace," recommends looking out for e-book award winners. The Internet has already spawned its own tastemakers, who spot promising acts long before they ever reach the mainstream. Singer Stephen Fretwell used his Web site and other music sites to create a following years before being signed to Universal Music's new, small label Fiction. A series of tiny, underground Webzines loved his songs, and his career "just took on a life of its own," he says. Smernicki says these online communities, often composed of teenagers, are very savvy about music. "They're early adopters, they listen to bands before they break and lose interest once they become bigger," he says. "But they have good taste, they're music connoisseurs, and it's something [record labels] are very aware of because it's very hard to fake it on those sites. You can't market your way into that community." Artists are increasingly using technology to revolutionize their work as well as their business. Though artist James Ford found early Web art irritating, when flash technology developed he realized its potential as a medium. So he started creating global, collaborative projects such as "Six Degrees of Smoking," in which he sent lighters around the world and encouraged recipients to photograph them via mobile and e-mail him the images. Contemporary art should always feel outside the mainstream, drawing its audience into a world away from everyday life. The lone troubadour, the writer scribbling away in his attic, are stereotypes of creative genius.

For artists like Gilli Moon, penning pensive ballads in her living room using nothing more than high-tech tools and good business sense, they also represent a viable path to success.

© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.

What would happen if you just took a leap of faith in your Artistry and just got out there? Are you ready to take risks in order to achieve your dreams? Are you ready to build a plan for yourself? Are you ready to see your dreams come true?

GILLI MOON, Author, Artist, singer/songwriter, record label owner, certified professional coach and “Artist Entrepreneur”, takes you on an enriching journey of artistic and professional discovery with her second book: JUST GET OUT THERE - Achieving abundance, self-empowerment and professional success as an Artist entrepreneur.

The best how-to book out there in the entertainment industry.

 (www.justgetoutthere.net to purchase your copy as a paperback or e-book).

Interviewed here by Franklin Spicer, from Songwriters Vantage, Gilli takes you through the key points of the book and her principles and philosophies on being an Artist Entrepreneur in this new dawn of the entertainment industry.

ESpiritE - Radio7 - gilli talks about the new book and inspiration.

Women Entrepreneurs, The Secrets Of Success with Deb Bailey - gilli talks about her new book, JUST GET OUT THERE.

Backstage Gourmet/HealthyLife.net - gilli talks about her upbringing, music, and her favorite quick and easy recipes. Yeah this was a fun one which included one of gilli's favorite topics: food.

Indie On Air - gilli talks about making the change from Aussie "Bush" life to the bright lights of NY and LA, plus her new album and book coming out.

Carmen Milagro's Women Who Really Rock - gilli talks about the zen life of an artist, defining success on your own terms, and a little about her upbringing and sense of self.

At Home Biz  - gilli moon talks about her book, being an author and her artistry

Women Entrepreneurs, The Secrets Of Success with Deb Bailey - gilli moon talks about success, being an artist entrepreneur, building her business

Tao Radio - gilli will pop in on the Tao radio show promoting her new songs from the album

Ronnel Corre Blog Talk Radio - gilli moon live and intimate with Ronnel Corre radio. Gilli will talk about her new album and other good things like "love".

Women Enjoying Success  - gilli's best interview yet! - Listen as Women Enjoying Success host Sharon Michaels talks with music artist and self-made entrepreneur Gilli Moon of Warrior Girl Music. Gilli shares with us how she started her own record label, co-founded Songsalive, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing, promoting and educating songwriters and, the personal inspirations behind her newest album  "the stillness". This is a moving interview about self-growth, creativity and the unstoppable entrepreneurial spirit. It’s all about Women Enjoying Success!

Sheena Metal Show on LA Talk Radio - gilli stepped in to the LA studio to talk about life, the music and living in LA.

Club Indie - gilli talks about her life, her songwriting, being an artist entrepreneur and the state of the music biz

The Sample Show on Bristol Community FM - gilli gets down and deep with British community radio station about her life, album and Songsalive!, the global non profit songwriters organization. Website. Download mp3 of entire show.

Dr Syleecia Thompson - gilli talks about being an "indie" artist and how important it is to be entrepreneurial.

Diva Toolbox Show with Janet Powers - gilli talks about the meaning of "the stillness", being an entrepreneur and how artists can get out there in the music business.

Nadia Sahari Show - gilli talks about her first years as an artist, being poly-media, living in Hollywood, and the new album "the stillness", along with meanings of the songs.

LaToya "Princess" Jackson - gilli talks about the new album  "the stillness" and what it was like growing up on an Australian mountain.

Past audio interviews


BREAKTHRURADIO.COM
Is Gilli addicted to creativity? You be the judge!
Listen to gilli's interview on this fab online radio station, about her art, music, and keeping very busy!
click here It automatically starts playing. (Interview starts about 7 mins in)
Listen to the interview


gilli moon on FLAT CAT RADIO
- listen online with quicktime
About Flat Cat Radio

"...I’m prolific and want to be creative. I want to create; be a creator. All of it is associated with the entertainment industry and creativity, which is my driving force"

Read the interview

Indie-Music recently interviewed Songsalive! co-founder Gilli Moon.

Indie-Music: How did Songsalive! start? Who was involved, where were you, and what motivated the idea?

Gilli Moon: Songsalive! was an idea I came up with after being involved in a few other songwriter groups in my early twenties. One was the Music Writers Forum in Sydney Australia, which was a collective of about 20 songwriters who came together to critique each other's songs. The other was L.A's National Academy of Songwriters (NAS), (by then amalgamated with the LASS), which I volunteered at in '96 on my first visit to the U.S. They had been running for 20 years and were very well known and respected and soon after dissolved. Upon returning to Australia, I felt the need for an umbrella-type internationally reaching organization for Australians that not only ran programs for songwriters to support and promote them, but also be a link in the chain to other resources and organizations offering similar services and opportunities. Australia in the nineties was still a far away place and we felt disconnected in the music business to the rest of the world. Factor also this: the internet really hadn't started properly yet when Songsalive! was created. We had been using email for only about 2 years.

After coming up with the name and creating a concept about Songsalive!, I gathered together who I felt were the leaders in the music business in Sydney for a think-tank brainstorming meeting, those who I felt would be interested in getting involved in Songsalive! as team members or industry supporters. We met at APRA (ASCAP of Australia) in the boardroom and discussed the notion of the role Songsalive! could play as an industry mover and shaker, representing the songwriter, which really there never had been such a representative who truly had the songwriters' interests at heart.

From that meeting I gathered a team to build the organization, and brought on board a cofounder, Roxanne Kiely, who became and still is instrumental in the operations of the organization. She continues to oversee the Australian operations while I have, since '98, started and built Songsalive! oversees across the United States, Canada and Great Britain.

All of a sudden I realized that this feeling of "remoteness" was not just felt by Australian artists, but all artists, trying to "make it" on their own, no matter what city or country they lived in.

I started Songsalive! in the US in Los Angeles first, at an interesting time: the NAS had dissolved after 20 years, and there really wasn't any community driven organization for songwriters anymore. Of course ASCAP, BMI and the Songwriters Guild were around, but they were never known to be support organizations for songwriters to meet, collaborate and feel supportive on a personal one-on-one basis. I wanted to have Songsalive! be a non-bureauocratic, personable, community driven organization.

In the late nineties, the Internet began to bloom with opportunities for indie artists to get out there and make it happen for themselves and mp3.com, Napster and Yahoogroups started providing some networking and music download tools. Songsalive! was right there with them gearing independent artists up to be self-starters and captains of their own ship.

Songsalive! is now an official nonprofit 501)c3) educational organization (public charity status) with 15 chapters around the world.


Indie-Music: Was the original vision to make Songsalive! international, or did it start as an Australian-only organization and sort of expand organically on its own?

Gilli Moon: I always wanted to see Songsalive! as an international organization. In fact, even in its infancy, all flyers and promotion included the words "global" and "international". It did start in Australia, but after one year I brought it to the United States, beginning with Los Angeles. We keep all our worldwide chapters very organic and grass roots in operation. Every time I visit a new place, I find songwriters and music industry representatives urging me to start a chapter there to create a sense of community and opportunity. So as the need comes, we expand.

What levels of membership exist, and what is their cost? We have 3 types of membership: General membership is $40 a year ($60Australian) to join and $30 yearly to renew. Elite membership is $100 a year ($120Aus) to join and $60 yearly renewal. We also have Associate membership for non-songwriters (typically music industry) and that is $40 a year ($60Aus). We try and keep our membership dues low being nonprofit, and to assist our writers financially, yet still be able to offer services.

Membership (all levels) includes access to our programs (showcases, workshops, CD sampler, critiques, promotion, retreats and seminars, songstudio), support central, partner opportunities, community and resources, which I have detailed further down. Elite membership has the added bonus of a PR campaign, including a member page online, interview, CD review and store links, plus their songs on rotation in our podcast. They also get special offers and pitch opportunities.


Indie-Music: Do any membership opportunities cost over and above the yearly membership? Or have additional submission fees?

Gilli Moon: Yes. As you can imagine, keeping our membership as low as it is doesn't always afford us the ability to create extra special promotional programs. One of these includes the Songsalive! CD Sampler. To be on the sampler, we charge approximately $200, give or take, as a 'production fee'. This 'co-op' type contribution helps us produce, master, package and promote the compilation to the music business and media markets. We also charge a submission fee of $20 to apply for the sampler, but it's taken off the production fee. We also charge $20 for online critiques, and $100 to be involved in the Get Promoted program to a specific music conference we attend, where we hand out our members' CDs and press kits. Our Songstudio demo production program costs $550, to produce a song for our members.

All in all, our costs and fees are really low, compared to industry standard, and we'd like to keep it that way.


Indie-Music: What events and networking opportunities does Songsalive! present?

Gilli Moon: We offer 5 facets in our support and promotion of songwriters: access to our programs, support central, partner opportunities, community and resources. All of these areas provide live face-to-face and online interaction, promotion, support networking and song opportunities for our members.

Our Programs include:

• Workshops (songwriting critique meetings which include feedback on your music, networking opportunities to meet other writers, and an music industry guest speaker);
• Songwriter Showcases (perform internationally at our events and be seen by the music industry and create a strong fan base with our strong media PR and cross artist promotions.)
• Online song critiques (ability to get feedback on your songs over the Internet);
• CD Samplers (biannual compilations promoted to the music industry and media);
• Songcamps and seminars (co-writing retreats, and song business events)
• Touring Map (tour hop around the world using our online database of venues, plus chapter showcases assisting our members on the road);
• Songstudio (educational workshops on recording plus access to studios and producing demos/CDs);
• Songshop (song leads in film, TV, media and the music business for your songs);
• Get Promoted Program - (ability to sell CDs in our store, have a website link and banner on our website, promote at music conferences we attend, and for Elite members, an artist page online (which includes a bio/pic space, CD review, interview) plus song rotation in our 24/7 online PODCAST.)

Our Resources include:

• Online resource center - listings for practically everything you need on songwriting and the business.
• Great articles by leading music business authors and celebrated songwriters, plus motivational tips and prose for songwriters to keep them juiced and oiled on their creative journey.

Our Support Central includes

• One-on one-assistance, support and consultancy with our chapter coordinators, head office personnel and key music business referrals;
• Our Online Forum in our backstage section for members, to collaborate, get daily opportunities and resources.
• Our ever expanding website - www.songsalive.org - filled with information, resources, member and industry contacts, and opportunities.

Our Partner Opportunities include:

• Exclusive discounts and leads on song pitches, music conferences, book and online resources, writing programs, song competitions and more.
• Sponsored competitions, events, conferences and festivals (that Songsalive! sponsors), allowing discounted access and unique promotional opportunities for our members.

Our community includes

• A weekly discussion list called Enotes
• The Online Forum for members opportunities, collaboration and discussion
• Self promotion on our discussion list Songchat
• And groups at MySpace.com and tribe.net, fostering interaction and promotion.

Indie-Music: How many CD Samplers have been released? Who chooses the music included on CD Samplers, and by what criteria?

Gilli Moon: We have released 8 samplers since 1998 (1 a year). We are looking to increase that to 2 per year from this year on and our CD Sampler application is now open year round on our website. We have a carefully selected team of judges that go through the submission process.

For the last two years, we have chosen to stream the applications through one of our partners, Sonicbids.com. They are an excellent EPK/online submission service. I chose them for the CD Sampler applications because not only are they really cool people (Panos, Jim, Heidi and David are really super human beings), but also they provide the technology we need - artists can upload their music mp3s, photos and biographies for us to receive the package all at once in a specially designed 'inbox' we can log in to (making it easier for us than receiving CDs in the mail when our judges are around the world). Also, one big factor as to why we use them now is it actually helps us filter out the less-than dedicated artists to the truly committed and high standard artists who are prepared to navigate the process of promoting themselves professionally and investing into their art. That is why we make the application process this way, as well as charge a fee. Pros, ready for success, need only apply.

Once we receive the submission, myself, Roxanne Kiely (Director of Operations Australia), Toni Koch (membership coordinator) plus a handful of key judges, log in and select the songs for the upcoming Sampler. Even once we have selected the song, a lot of work goes into selecting the right order of the CD so that it shines all our songwriters as well as creates a nice flow for the album. Stephen Kiely, one of our team members, has been designing the CD covers, and we have a select core of sponsors who help master and replicate the Sampler.

The Songsalive! CD Sampler is unique to other compilations because it's about the SONG and the SONGWRITER (not the artist). The Songwriter applies, not necessarily the artist. We are all about promoting the "song" to media and the business, in this case.

Criteria to be on the CD Sampler includes - the applicant must be the songwriter and master owner of the song (to avoid having to get permissions from other entities), but also have gained permission from everyone to submit the song.

- The song needs to be already professionally mastered and radio quality. - The song needs to be under 4 minutes 20. - The song must be great. Ha Ha. It really does. I mean, don't send us your second best song, that you just wrote last week on your 4 track. Send us your best song that you feel will be your winning ticket.

Songsalive! is merely the go-between with these samplers. We don't represent the songwriter and we are not a publisher. Any third party who wishes to use the song can contact the songwriters direct on our website.


Indie-Music: Songsalive! has so many benefits it's hard to keep track! Tell us the top 3 benefits of joining Songsalive!.

Gilli Moon: I know huh?! Actually responding to your interview, funnily enough, has once again helped me re-address how to properly detail our opportunities and has spurred me on to revamp the website wording. Ha ha!

Benefit 1: You are helping a nonprofit organization that needs your support to do what it needs to do. When we are asked "what can Songsalive! do for me?", our first answer back is... "well, why not you think about what benefit there is for us?" Supporting and contributing to the ongoing running and altruistic vision of a nonprofit 501 c)3) public benefit (charity) organization is very rewarding and fulfilling. The membership fee is tax deductible and you can feel warm and fuzzy that you are contributing to your music community that is counting on your support to stay alive and to keep songs "alive".

Benefit 2: You get a whole world of opportunity for a low membership fee. For the cost of filling up your car, or 8 cups of coffee at Starbucks, you get a whole slew of programs, resources, support, community connection and partner opportunities that is pretty amazing. More bang for your buck than anywhere I know.

Benefit 3: You are no longer alone. The art and business of songwriting is one of the loneliest careers on the planet. One tends to write alone, normally have little feedback in the writing process, and then we throw it out to the world, usually having to ward off hungry vultures, and critical music industry know-it-alls, bruising our self worth along the way. Songsalive! can be that supportive and educational home, a place for nurturing, feedback and promotion, and a link in the chain for you to reach out to the world, safely and successfully.


Indie-Music: How is Songsalive! more effective than ordinary "Networking"?

Gilli Moon: To be honest, I really don't enjoy the word "networking" and tend to avoid it as much as possible. The word has been overused and misused. Besides, there are many "networking" type groups and meetings and I just don't see Songsalive! focusing on just that. We are primarily a membership organization providing support and promotion for songwriters and composers. We do this through all of the programs, resources, community, partnerships and direct communication provided, online and through our chapters. Collaboration, sharing, learning and networking is diverse and plentiful amongst the members, and between our members and the music industry, through our live showcases, our songwriting workshops and seminars, our online forum, Enotes and Songchat (discussion lists), and conferences we attend and host booths and showcases at.

More so, we have been instrumental in the development and success of songwriters' careers, from the beginning to the end. They come to our workshops for feedback and support, rework their songs, sometimes produce the music, help promote their artistry through our member pages, podcast and Get Promoted program, offer them marketing and distribution opportunities, leads for their songs for film and TV, promote their song on our CD Samplers to media, radio and the business, and so on and so forth. Some of our members have gone on to land major recording contracts, publishing deals and international tours.

Our success stories are daily, whether small and personal, with members feeling fulfilled nurtured and inspired by our programs, articles or just plain old support; to highly impactful business relationships and deals. I'm constantly getting letters from our members on how motivated or thankful they are about what we provide. Ultimately, it's up to the member to either enact on an opportunity we offer, or not. The more proactive they are, the more fruitful the rewards.

I have received emails where a member complains about how many Enotes emails they get, but in the same breath they ask what can we do for them to get out there. I ask them, "did you actually read Enotes this week". "Oh, no", is their response. "Well, then why ask me what we can do for you? It's all in the email.... Or it's all online... Or log in to backstage now and then and see what new opportunities there are". I can't force success on anyone. They have to be willing and motivated to grab it for themselves.


Indie-Music: What is your future vision for Songsalive!?

Gilli Moon: Songsalive! will always remain as a community, grass roots, volunteer driven organization. It is not supposed to end up like the Walt Disney Company or Microsoft. It is to be an organization for songwriters run by songwriters, run with an altruistic nonprofit spirit, but maximizing the careers of our songwriter members as well as making changes in the music business. This business is changing and the only way artists can survive is to bring it back to community level, making impactful promotional and marketing decisions that are artist-driven and controlled, regionally focused (marketing small but thinking big), and using out-of-the-box ideas to get our music out there. Songsalive! is right behind that notion.

"Strength in numbers" is a key factor about our future success, with our chapters becoming mini "grass root" flag waivers, representing songwriters of that region, and in turn are empowered by the international force of our Songsalive! world nation. We are only around because of the songwriter and here to serve the songwriter. Until that day is not needed, we will be here and whether I am the president of the organization or not, it seems to organically grow on its own accord.

Our duty is to promote and support the songwriter in the best way we can, shifting carefully with these changing times to always keep the songwriter's needs in mind. Our mission is to encourage and foster all genres of original music and song expression within our songwriters' communities, in order to support and promote songwriters and composers worldwide, with continued development, annual reviews and expansion.

Songsalive! is about revolutionizing the music business to create change. Songsalive! focuses on a high concept goal of changing the music industry to focus more on artists', songwriters' and composers' needs.? Songsalive! hosted the Songsalive! Expo 2002 in Los Angeles at UCLA, bringing together 1000 songwriters and artists and music industry professionals together in a power packed weekend dedicated to the business of songwriting. Since then, many 'music conferences' have sprung up, as well as Internet sites for artists, and there is so much bombardment of information that artists really don't know which way to turn anymore.

I want Songsalive! to be that solid foundation of support for songwriters, and also a service that helps clarify what opportunities are out there, and be a discerning mediator for those artists who need that advice on which direction to take. We choose our industry partners and third party opportunities carefully, and as a recording and touring artist myself, with a certain degree of respect and esteem in the business, I try to weed out the time wasters versus the strong, positive and fruitful opportunities for our members. We are the largest "international" songwriting organization out there, and at the same time we are fully committed to support and foster regional and local songwriting groups and associations, because without them, we cannot do what we do on an international level, with all of us joined in the chain.

It's a great feeling to not be dreaming alone within this world nation of Songsalive! I am blessed to be part of an ever growing family of now 30 team staff and thousands of members, partners and subscribers. I hope that we continue to build a strong, opportunity-filled and enriching playing field where artists can thrive, survive and bring their dreams alive.

Thanks for the opportunity Suzanne. It was an absolute pleasure to answer these in-depth questions and feel inspired and motivated today in responding.

Singer/songwriter Gilli Moon will perform at Rio Hondo College in Whittier on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008. (Courtesy) Gilli Moon has her fingers in so many pies, that it's amazing she's hungry for more, but she is.

"It's like an adrenaline rush for me to find a new project," Moon said. "It drives me to keep moving forward."

Moon has released four albums, including her latest, "extraOrdinary life" (Warrior Girl Music), and penned the book, "I Am A Professional Artist: The Key to Survival and Success" (Warrior Girl Publishing). She also has appeared on a clutch of other artists' albums and has had songs in the soundtracks for Nickelodeon's "South of Nowhere," Disney's "Rip Girls" and CBS' "That's Life."

She heads up Warrior Girl Music and Publishing, Songsalive! and DayJams Summer Music Camp in Pasadena. Moon's music has garnered her many awards and led to global tours. The Sherman Oaks resident is also a record producer, a painter and a lecturer.

Wednesday night, she'll appear in a free concert at Rio Hondo College in Whittier. Moon will treat the audience to an acoustic set showcasing her new style, including re-workings of many of her popular songs. She will be seated behind a grand piano and accompanied by musicians on upright bass and semi-hollow guitar.  "I hope that my music relates to everybody in their own way," Moon said. "I hope they can find the message in my songs and feel inspired."

Moon was born in Italy and grew up in the Watagan Mountains, just outside Sidney, Australia, in a solar powered home her parents built.  "My neighbor was a piano player," she said. "When I was 4, she was 6 and I wanted to be like her. I asked my parents for piano lessons.'

Moon has a degree in visual arts from Australian Catholic University in Sydney and has worked her share of jobs to make ends meet, from picking fruit to teaching, as well as working as an assistant in television and as an event producer. But her passion is music and, although she plays piano and guitar, she likes being the lead singer the best.

"I would say my sound is very mainstream," Moon said. "It's pop with an edge, more adult pop. It's hard to label me, I'm eclectic and I like it that way."

Travels home to Australia spark inspiration; Moon enjoys spending time in natural habitats.  "To me, to be creative on a daily basis is very important," she said. "I do the business side of it. I think that if you really love what you do and you're creative and passionate about it, the money comes. You have to think a little bit out of the box."

Thinking this way led Moon to start Warrior Girl, a recording and publishing company, in 2000, to release her own work. She now has other artists signed to her label and has begun putting out an annual compilation disc, "Females on Fire."  Moon co-founded Songsalive! in 1997; it is a nonprofit organization in Australia that supports and promotes songwriters and composers. The group provides programs, workshops, performances, a CD sampler, networking and other opportunities to more than 4,000 artists and songwriters worldwide.

Moon also is the director of the Pasadena DayJams Summer Music Camp (www.dayjams.com) held at New Horizon School annually in July and August. The program has been in Pasadena for four years and is part of the nationwide camps sponsored by National Guitar Workshop. It is open to all musicians, including absolute beginners, ages 9-15. The children form a band, write a song, record a CD and perform.

"They learn all the different instruments in a rather long two weeks and then they play a concert," Moon said.  Moon is currently working on a new album and another book, "Just Get Out There," which is geared to help musicians begin and continue performing. She has shows scheduled in Colorado, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Moon plans to marry spoken word artist J. Walker in the fall. He developed Rhymecology and is a regular on the "Loose Canons" radio show on 570 AM.

Warrior Girl Music is the place in Los Angeles to go for music, inspiration and community. Gratefully you can join the action without leaving home. With the focus on creative and artistic development Warrior Girl Music founder Gilli Moon is making it her mission to bring empowerment to the people.  

Founded in 1997, Warrior Girl Music provides seminars and personal coaching for artists as well as services in music production, multimedia and PR campaigns, an indie record label and a non-profit organization: Songsalive!

Warrior Girl Music has also co-produced Females On Fire, the Los Angeles Women's music festival this past summer in Encino. The festival featured over 100 artists and performers. Females On Fire is also a compilation series CD that boasts over 65 female artists from around the globe. The 3rd CD is scheduled for release in 2008.  

At the core of these services is the concept of the empowered artist.  In her workshops, which are 
based on her book I AM A Professional Artist – the Key to Survival and Success in the World of the Arts,
 Gilli begins with the basics. For example, each of the participants describes themselves in one 
sentence. From there, Gilli's experience in the performing arts comes into play as she guides each 
person to a more confident self-identity as an artist. Gilli initiates the discussion by emphasizing the importance of using affirmative language.

"Many people introduce themselves with excuses about why they aren't successful," Gilli explains. She says that often times we doubt our ability or we wait for some else to come give us the affirmation we need to follow our dream. But in reality, the way we use language is itself a block. If we want to be successful, then we need to act successful.

Gilli knows all about success and entrepreneurship. An only child raised in Australia, she played piano at the age of four and taught herself music and art by candlelight. Gilli learned to love nature because she lived with her parents on their rural property on the edge of a wilderness. At 18 she moved to Italy, then back to Sydney for degrees in Visual Arts and Business. 

In 1997 after a stint in New York City and then back to Rome where she worked in opera with Placido Domingo – Gilli settled in Los Angeles.

Since then she co-founded Songsalive!, which is the largest international non-profit organization supporting and promoting songwriters and received honors for her Warrior Girl record label as "Indie Label of the Year 2003" by Philadelphia's Independent Music Awards.

Although she now lives in Sherman Oaks, Gilli still retreats to the sanctuary of nature to replenish. Her home is an oasis of gardens and a pool that she shares with her fiancé, ‘rhymecologist’ J. Walker. Here Gilli grounds herself in her extraordinary life, which incidentally, is the title of one of her 4 original self-produced CD's. Gilli takes time out to relax by losing herself in espionage: movies such as the Bourne Identity, as well as in John Grisham books. She is a 'total sucker for Starbucks music' and is currently listening to the band Fiest.
  
Just back from a tour of the east coast, Gilli is completing her 2nd book Just Get Out There which is about the internal journey of an artist and is due out in the spring of 2008. Gilli is also taking a performance hiatus to go back to Australia.  

"I am a professional artist, singer-songwriter, actor, dancer, painter, adventurer, and teacher of truth in creation of 
positive mindsets and healing connection," is how Gilli describes herself in one sentence.


One trip to the Warrior Girl website is all it takes to see that Gilli is passionate about sharing herself so that others 
can expand and grow artistically as well as professionally. This passion is the driving force behind her work whether she is writing music, performing or on tour to support one of the many 20 chapters of Songsalive!

The key to Gilli's success is her commitment to the process of her creativity – not the outcome. On her Warrior Girl Music enews she states "As an artist, I am constantly exploring freedom in my creativity. Freedom is also about coming from a certain place of non attachment with our art." This non-attachment to outcome goes a long way to keeping a sense of humor while she is touring.

Once when Gilli was promoting her CD Temperamental Angel she got to imitate HBO's Sex in the City character Carrie, who is played by Sarah Jessica Parker. You remember that part where Carrie struts down the runway and falls during a modeling show. Gilli's version happened when she was introduced at a dance club just before the DJ played the dance remix of her song Naked. As Gilli was walking onto the dance floor, she tripped over the dance stage and fell face first. But the point is always about getting back up. And while HBO heroine Carrie, did pick herself up to finish walking down the runway; real life inspiration Gilli Moon got back up and danced.

For more information about Gilli Moon's music and appearances visit www.gillimoon.com. 
To sign up for her coaching services available in person or via the web visit www.warriorgirlmusic.com. To find about Songsalive! visit www.songsalive.org. Be sure to check out J. Walker's workshops for At Risk Youth at rhymecology.com. (He's Gilli's favorite poet!)

(by Marlyn Potter.)   She may live in L.A., but gilli moon is an outback girl. Raised in rural Australia, she’s got an ethos of self-reliance that was forged in her parents’ solar-powered house at the edge of the bush, and that pioneering spirit has served her just as well in the wilds of Hollywood. Since settling in America in 1997, this Renaissance woman has launched a spirited assault on the corporate entertainment industry and carved a multi-faceted niche for herself that defies categorization. “I’m the leader of my vision,” she declares—and she’s got a record label, a successful recording and performing career, a how-to book for independent artists, and a growing contingent of fans to prove it.

She may live in L.A., but gilli moon is an outback girl. Raised in rural Australia, she’s got an ethos of self-reliance that was forged in her parents’ solar-powered house at the edge of the bush, and that pioneering spirit has served her just as well in the wilds of Hollywood. Since settling in America in 1997, this Renaissance woman has launched a spirited assault on the corporate entertainment industry and carved a multi-faceted niche for herself that defies categorization. “I’m the leader of my vision,” she declares—and she’s got a record label, a successful recording and performing career, a how-to book for independent artists, and a growing contingent of fans to prove it.

moon’s fourth album, “extraOrdinary life”, recently released on her own Warrior Girl Music label, continues to showcase her ability as a singer-songwriter and pianist, backed by a six-piece band. She picks up a producing credit as well. “This is the first time I’ve completely produced my album solo,” she says. Even in an age of mp3s downloaded as single-serving musical snacks, moon still believes in the three-course meal—the concept album. “There should be albums like The Wall,” she says. “It starts in a place and takes you on a ride through highs and lows and brings you out at the end. I can’t just go into the studio and record a couple of songs.”

If all of moon’s albums (including her 1998 debut, “Girl in the Moon,” 2001’s “temperamental angel,” and 2002’s “Woman”) are unified by central concepts, “extraOrdinary life” is about a global harmony that starts with the tiniest one-on-one interactions. “If we are able to have a harmonious relationship with another person then we’re able to understand that dynamic on a global scale,” she says. As metaphors for larger issues, moon believes her autobiographical lyrics about personal relationships are catalysts for change. When she performs, she says, “Invariably both men and women come up to me and say ‘You’ve touched me, I’ve made some sense out of what is going on in my life.’ They’re going to go on and carry positive messages with other people. That’s my way of saving rainforests.”

“extraOrdinary life” represents the latest step in a musical journey that began when moon was just four, studying classical piano, and led to involvement in musical theatre as a singer, dancer, and songwriter. “I guess I’ve always entertained, even as a kid—playing piano, always singing, dancing, always putting a show together,” she remembers, adding that her rural home life forced her to entertain herself. “I had to use my imagination a lot. I think I’ve got this go-get-‘em mentality—my parents taught me you could sort of do anything if you tried hard and worked hard enough.” After spending time in Europe and New York, then briefly returning to Australia where she played in various bands and began recording her songs, moon made the leap to L.A. to devote herself to her musical career.

That career has followed the do-it-yourself model pioneered in the 90s by independent artists like Ani DiFranco (another influence moon often cites), and proves that it never hurts to have multiple talents. moon is not only a trained businesswoman, she’s a writer who supplies her fans with a steady stream of communication in blog and email form. Within a year of her arrival in Hollywood, moon landed on Music Connection Magazine’s list of the “Top 100 Unsigned Artists of Southern California,” then made “Woman of the Week” on MP3.com after “Girl in the Moon” appeared in 1998. By 2000, after a touring stint with the band Jessica Christ, she was ready to establish Warrior Girl Music as her musical home base. Being independent, she says, was the only way to go.

“First it was because I had no choice. I wasn’t going to wait around for someone else to make it happen for me,” she says, adding that as the owner of Warrior Girl, “I can provide that opportunity and service for other artists.” (The label has released ten albums by artists such as Nashville’s Deborah Bishop and Finland’s Ari Inkilainen, and garnered the Indie Label of the Year Award in 2003 at Philadelphia’s Independent Music Awards.) Creatively, too, moon craves the freedom of being her own boss. “I’m an Aries so I’m very much like, ‘I want to do this my way.” she says. “I’ve had a vision of how I want to see my music, how I want to perform live. Ultimately it’s been performing in a way that’s completely natural.”

“Natural,” for moon, means embracing all of her artistic interests on stage, rather than drawing boundaries between diverse art forms. Her performances include elements of theatre, spoken word, and even painting onstage, in a hybrid mode she’s dubbed “SensuArt.” “I want to bring all the senses onstage,” she says. “I see the boundaries blending together.” Audiences at SensuArt performances witness moon dancing and painting in acrylics on a large glass canvas while her band riffs underneath. The paintings are events, not objects. “It’s like a happening—spontaneous performance art that I do in the moment on stage and then it’s gone. Most of the time I wash the glass off,” she says.

Between U.S. and overseas tours, moon spreads the do-it-yourself gospel to other musicians through seminars and workshops. “As an artist I’m no longer fascinated by the glamour of the music business,” she says. What’s important, she says, is “creating the music no matter what happens—not to try and put on any pretenses or glamour or anything like that.”

With a promising and multi-dimensional career shaping up, look for moon to continue forging new avenues for delivering her messages, whether they touch on global harmony or the nuts and bolts of running a record label. As far as she’s concerned, there’s no such thing as too many outlets. “I’m an expressionist,” she says simply. “I have a lot to say.”

In an interview with Leah Bachar for diyreporter.com, Gilli talks about being a polymedia artist, a warrior in the music business, and the passion she has for creating. Along with her new book is her newest contribution to the music world, an album titled extraOrdinary  life. Here Gilli tells DIY of the benefits, the realities, and the experiences of being an independent artist

by Leah Bachar

Gilli Moon is an independent artist that has had her hand in every area of the arts. A singer, songwriter, musician, painter, dancer, and now an author of a book titled I Am A Professional Artist (The Key to Survival and Success In The World of Arts).

This weekend, Gilli spoke about songwriting at the RockrGrl Music Conference in Seattle and then performed her own unique music live at Seattle’s famous Conor Byrne Pub. On Sunday she is back in Los Angeles to play a show called The Living Room Sessions at The Mint. Such is the busy life of a consistent independent artist.

In an interview with Leah Bachar for diyreporter.com, Gilli talks about being a polymedia artist, a warrior in the music business, and the passion she has for creating. Along with her new book is her newest contribution to the music world, an album titled extraOrdinary  life. Here Gilli tells DIY of the benefits, the realities, and the experiences of being an independent artist.

DIY: Okay, I’ll just go ahead and start with the first question, which is how did you get into singing and songwriting?

GM: How did I get into it? I don’t think anyone gets into singing and songwriting, I just think we start doing it as children. That’s how I did it. I started writing songs and singing, but did you mean the business side of it?

DIY: Yes.

GM: Well the business part of it is…I was in Sydney, Australia and I started playing in bands, writing songs, and recording them. Then I came over to L.A and just started getting my music out there on my own really. I just started putting songs on the Internet and developing my own business, Warrior Girl Music. I am kind of a self-starter in a way.

DIY: How did the idea for Warrior Girl Music come to you?

GM: Well, I found that the music business was kind of like a war, which I didn’t want to partake in. It was kind of the underdog and then the people who are in power type of vibe, and I just wanted to have a peaceful way of getting music out there independently. So I created Warrior Girl music, which is me, because I feel that there is a whole sort of spiritual angle to being in the music business. On my website I have a whole thing about how warriorship is about pursuing excellence and being free in creativity.

DIY: How much work did it take to get it off the ground? Once you had the idea what came afterwards to get it up and running?

GM: I started the company in 2000. It takes time to develop your own business, the record company is like branding, it’s like any other business, and you have to brand the name. You have to create a website and promote it, and it’s an ongoing journey really. It’s hard work, and it’s hard work being an independent artist and an independent business in this new paradigm. It’s exciting too though, because you don’t need like millions of dollars of money to do it independently, you can do it grassroots and still spread the word if you are tenacious.

DIY: What do you think the benefits of having your own label are during this time in the music industry?

GM: The benefits are that you can be in control of your creativity. You can decide what you want to do and you don’t have to be dictated by someone else. You also have more time and you don’t have to feel like you have to do it in a month and make some sort of big splash. That’s impossible because you need to do it with time. The benefits for me are that I like to be in control of what I want to do, and think, and how I want to express myself. I get to do that. It’s also very empowering to feel like you have achieved something, it’s kind of like building a fence, because at the end of the day you can look at it and say “wow I built that fence.” That’s what it’s like running your own business and running your own artistry. You feel the benefits as you go, but there are downsides too.

DIY: Can you maybe share some of the hardships you experienced?

GM: Well, you know, MONEY. Competing with what’s out there. You know that you have a great record, but it’s not about how great it is because it’s about whatever is on radio, or whether it getting the big ads and promotions that have got big money. It’s very hard to compete with that. The other thing is that you can feel like you are spinning the wheels, you keep pushing and pushing, because it takes time, and therefore that can feel like you aren’t getting ahead when you want to. The main thing is that you have to do a lot of the work and you feel like you have to be an octopus with different tentacles. That can be overwhelming for most artists who really don’t want to do the business side of it, but I believe in this day in order to make it you have to be a business person, as well as an artist.

Making it is also very different too, and it’s not just about becoming famous. Fame and fortune is fleeting. Making it and being successful have to be defined on your own terms.

DIY: Can you maybe take me through your day, what it’s like handling your own career, and your business as well?

GM: Sure. First thing I get myself a cup of coffee. I usually spend the morning checking e-mails, corresponding, because it’s not just with my artistry that I might be booking a gig. Like I am going to Seattle this weekend, so I am organizing all the details in Seattle, and making sure they are being set in stone. I am speaking up there at the RockrGirl conference and I am also performing, so I have got two sides of myself that’s partaking in that. I might be doing some updating with promotions, like currently I am organizing the press release to promote the show at the Mint this Sunday, which I am performing at. I am doing press releases, constantly promoting, then organizing releases and PR, updating the website, I have GilliMoon.com, WarriorGirlMusic.com, Songsalive.org, which is a non-profit songwriters organization which I am a part of. Then I have meeting or whatever.

Then there is also creativity. I will go into the studio and record. Last month I was mostly in the studio doing a bit of my own songs and music, and also producing another artist that’s on our label. So, that’s very creative and I love doing that.

Sometimes I’ll go and speak somewhere, like I just spoke at UCLA recently, and I took my book. I talked to artists about wanting to get into the music business and what it’s like. I have been doing that a lot lately, because I feel like it’s good to share. You know, then hopefully I get some time to write some songs and be creative.

DIY: With you own label, what do you look for when you want to sign an artist?

GM: Well I am not in the business of signing artists. I think that my label, Warrior Girl Music, is originally to set up, distribute, and promote my own music. Now, I have got a couple of artists that I have signed because I have just been so drawn to them.

I think that longevity in an artist is important, and just to know that they are going to do whatever it takes for the rest of their lives to be creative and to express themselves, if they are great, that they are really unique artists. That they are very business oriented. I believe in an artist driven music business, therefore artists need to have a handle on marketing, promotion, and not just expect someone else to make it happen for them. It never happens like that, especially these days.

I am also doing a compilation called Females on Fire, we just put out a first one and we are doing a second one. It’s thirty female artists, they aren’t specifically signed to Warrior Girl but the compilation is under Warrior Girl. Putting a pool of artists like that together takes time, and I really look for a great hit song. I am constantly looking for hit songs. Also with Songsalive! we do CD samplers three times a year that we promote to film and TV, etc. It’s just about the best songs. It’s all about the song really.

DIY: I know you paint as well. How do you think that helps with your creative process?

GM: It’s everything. I am a Polymedia Artist. I do all different things, like paint, dance, sing, write poetry, and write books. The painting for me is a very personal thing and it helps me zone out and meditate, and it’s all about color. I have used it, my paintings, these days. I have used it for the cover of my book and the IndieBible, next year’s edition, has a painting of mine on the cover of it for next year. It’s more about expression, and sometimes I paint on stage, which is interesting. I call it Sensuart. It’s where the band is playing and then I’ll paint and I’ll sing. I haven’t really seen anyone else do that, but I have seen DJ’s spin and then paint with paint in the background, but I have never seen an artist paint on stage, and I kind of feel like I am a pioneer in crossing into multi-media a little bit. It’s fun for me.

DIY: You have written a book called I Am a Professional Artist (The Key to Survival and Success In The World of Arts). How did this inspiration come about?

GM: I felt the need to express the journey of what I was going through when I was setting up Warrior Girl Music and what I needed to do. I saw what was going to happen and I wrote the book in 1999-2000, and I keep updating every year. It’s about what’s going for the independent musician. The inspiration was that I had come out of being signed to a deal and it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. Signing a record deal is kind of like having false childhood expectations. I realized that I had to take the bull by my own hands and run with it. The book is an inspirational, motivational guide. I never really professed that I was an author until I wrote the book, and I didn’t want to be an author of books but I felt it needed to be written. Again, there is nothing like it because now you have your creativity and it’s like what are you going to do with it? How do you get into the business and survive it? It’s for whether you are a musician, actor, singer, or whatever. It’s a survival guide, because you have to be a business person as well as an artist, you have got to define success on your own terms, how to build relationships, energy zappers, how to stop the negativity and keep positive, and just principles that are spiritually nourishing but also sort of practical.

Every time someone buys it and they come up to me somewhere and say I have read your book, it’s always positive. They tell me that they have put it on their coffee table or next to their bed, and that to me means everything.

DIY: You speak of a “professional artist” in the book. Can you maybe expand between the difference of a professional?

GM: A professional is someone who has chosen to pursue their art as a life long career choice. I don’t believe that a professional means that you earn a living from it specifically. They used to say that you are an amateur if you don’t make money from your art, but you are a professional if you do. These days there is a fine line between that, so a professional to me is someone who has chosen to do it. We are all creative, innately, but it is a choice if we decide to be professional at it and to go into the profession of the creative arts. With that comes a conundrum: “If I am not earning money from it yet then am I am professional”? The answer to that is that it depends... if you are dedicated to that cause. Our talents have to be diversified these days in order to make a living. Professional artistry comes in many forms, and I think it’s a belief system whether you are a professional or not. You need to be really dedicated and passionate about what you do in order to survive that.

DIY: You spoke about Songsalive!, of which you are the co-founder and the president, and exactly what is it and what does it do?

GM: Songsalive! is a non-profit organization supporting and promoting songwriters and composers worldwide. www.songsalive.org. It is the largest songwriters organization that is international. We have chapters all around the world. We started in Sydney, Australia with a couple of chapters, and then to Los Angeles, and then it goes all the way across to New York. We have chapters in San Francisco, Sacramento, Phoenix, Texas, Austin, Nashville, Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and we have Calgary, Canada now, and we are about to start in London, plus Seattle, San Diego, Alabama and more coming. It’s basically a membership driven organization, altruistic and philanthropic in nature, but very much about education, support, and promotion for songwriters.

We offer a lot of programs like critique workshops in songwriting, showcases, different events that we help promote, songwriter CD samplers that we pitch to different people in the business who are looking for songs, networking systems for songwriters. We help songwriters in the studio, and we do a lot of different things to help them.

DIY: You also have something called MPWR sessions?

GM: Yeah. It’s all about the artist self-empowerment. MPWR is an anagram for EMPOWER. It’s a workshop I run with tips and tools on how to drive your own career, based on the principles in my book, and then practical steps like marketing, promotion, touring, and how to really do it independently. I conduct them a lot whether at select music conferences or workshop spaces I set up myself in L.A, or wherever I go touring, for artists to come along and get some motivation.

DIY: I know that now with the Internet, it has created a lot of ways to get in touch with your music. How do you feel that the Internet has played a part in getting you out there?

GM: It has been tremendous. I was in Newsweek a couple of weeks ago, it’s on my website GilliMoon.com, and if you click on >interview - you will see a transcript of it. They interviewed me about that exact point and on how the Internet sort of drove my career. I was one of the first artists to blog, even though it wasn’t called blog back then, and it was more of an online diary. I was one of the first to get an e-mail account, a website, and it was hokey-pokey back then. That was 1996 or 1997. It has changed so much, but with the Internet I have been able to reach fans worldwide, get my music out there, and I am really proactive about going to websites and making sure I am up there, and also offer other opportunities to other artists. The key is to help offer other opportunities for artists as well, because if you offer it to them they will offer it to you.

The Internet has been great. Back in the days of MP3.com I was up there, obviously it was a great thing in the beginning, it was so unique, and now you listen to an MP3 online and it’s everything. As we move towards the future with podcasting, ringtones and downloads, it is becoming big and hard to navigate because there is so much going on, but if your home website as an artist is exciting then people will come to you. I think it’s everything about making your website be really unique and interesting, and easy for people to navigate and enjoy as a community in and of itself.

DIY: What does every new album bring into your life?

GM: A whole new way of life really. A new thought process. Every album I do is conceptual, and I love making concept albums. I believe that the listener needs to be taken on a journey because that is what they are looking for. Some kind of journey that they may not have in their own lives, or maybe they do have it and they want to assimilate with it. So, each time I do an album I am at a new stage in my life as I get older and I understand more. I want to deliver a story, an adventure to my listeners. This new one is called “extraOrdinary life” or extra Ordinary life, however you want to see life. The whole point of this album is that the ordinary part of our life is also extraordinary. It’s the little things, the little moments, that are going to give us the most satisfaction. Whether it’s in our relationships, or in the way we see the world, or in what we do everyday, and it gives me a purpose to keep going. If I didn’t create projects like I do, specifically music, then I wouldn’t feel like I was expressing myself. I learn so much in the studio and it’s exciting to be able to package it and put it out there with the hopes that people love it, assimilate, or a get a reaction of some kind from it.

DIY: Have you taken the book on tour at all?

GM: Yes. Every time I go traveling, like for example I am going to Seattle this weekend, I’ll take the book with me. I get some book signings, or I’ll talk at conferences, or I’ll have the book with me at the Songsalive! booth, and it’s funny because sometimes I’ll do a gig in the middle of nowhere, people will come up to me, and I am always telling them to buy the CD and now I am telling them to buy the book.

People want to feel like they can get something out of it. The music is great, and I love music it’s my first passion, but a book is different because it’s something physical and they know they are going to learn something from it. It’s different than just enjoying a music CD. I like that opportunity and that offer than I am able to give, and it’s not just music ….it’s also words. It’s cool to have that part of me.

DIY: You are a successful independent artist. How does that make you view the music business as a whole and the future of it? Also, maybe being a woman in it?

GM: Well for me it’s not about being a woman or a man, but it’s just about being an artist. I have used my femininity as an asset, I have used my sensuality, my romanticism within the context of my music, whether it’s on a CD or I am performing it live. It is tough being a woman. I have a friend of mine that works for Clear Channel radio, she is a DJ, a morning radio girl, and she is feeling it tough even on that end. As a woman in the music business getting a fair pay rate, being able to play the music she wants to play, because it is a male dominated industry.

I have to admit that I feel a little bit despondent about the future of the music business, and I am unsure. On one hand I am really excited because artists can drive their own career, but on the other hand there is still this control and it’s an almost minimal way of being able to express ourselves. It’s like if we don’t get on MTV, or on the Top Ten of Clear Channel radio, then we are not going to be known.

I love that the Internet gives us the opportunity to get out there, but really it’s still about needing a lot of money. You still need the pull of the three or four majors that are still dominating. I have never been against signing a major deal, I mean you are going to have to play with the big guns if you are really going to go big. It’s sad because you have to still play their game. But there are other games to play!

I am actually upset about the audience and the listeners, because they are all getting so used to squashed MP3’s and Itunes, downloading singles into their little Ipod nanos, and it’s like, what happened to buying the concept, the adventure, the album, looking at the artwork, enjoying the artist experiences, and listening to the CD in it’s totality? I hope there will be a place for that still, because I am not into the downloading, squashing, mixing up, and then spewing it out kind of listening. Downloading from Itunes, no one wants to buy an album anymore, they just want to but the song, and it’s only the song they have heard on the radio station, and so radio still plays a major part.

DIY: Do you think that touring has also waned because of that? Since now that you can download, maybe bands don’t have to tour as much to promote themselves and people aren’t going out and listening to as much live music?

GM: Yes. I think that’s true for the big artists, like you don’t see Jennifer Lopez going to L.A or anywhere to do a show, but there are artists who will. Seal is an example, but I am talking about the Top 40 kind of artists. Seal has just finished a tour. I just bought Paul McCartney’s album today and I really like it. , For Paul McCartney, to be honest, it’s nothing really extraordinarily new, nothing groundbreaking in production. It’s just him singing his songs, and it’s kind of refreshing to see that even Paul McCartney isn’t doing an album that is just hit after hits, and they aren’t all hit songs, because they aren’t produced in a way that is supposed to be in the Top Ten. They are kind of quirky songwriter songs and I like that. If Paul McCartney can do that then we can do that. He’ll tour, and I think touring is essential for any artist. I also wish that music videos would come back to MTV. Isn’t that why they built the music station? To play videos? You don’t have to tour but you still have to be seen, and I love the concept of all different kinds of mediums to come out of, but when they start turning MTV and VH1 into reality shows then it gets boring. Give us music.

DIY: So, now that you have covered every area of the arts, what words of advice can you give to artists whether it be writers, musicians, singers, actors? What piece of advice that you might want to leave them with?

GM: The advice is this. Be passionate about what you do or otherwise don’t be in it. It’s a lifelong journey, so take your time, and don’t feel like your time is going to run out. It doesn’t matter how old you are, because in this day and age you can find a market for what you are going to do. Three, is be creative and find your competitive advantage, which means be unique and don’t just try and conform with what is out there. Be an artist, which means to do YOUR ART. Break boundaries, explore, and experiment. That is what we need,… we need something new, not just the same tired old norm.

No matter what it takes, whether it gives you a million dollars or ten dollars, it’s not about the money. We didn’t go into this business, sorry we didn’t even go into business, and we didn’t go into artistry because we want to make money. If you did then you are lying. Like when you said to me how did you get into singing/songwriting, your first question, I was like I didn’t get into it or anything I just started writing songs and got this inspiration, but it was a good question to answer because then one can say - it’s just about being expressive, we want to get out there and we want other people to listen to it. Period. Then you start these steps of what is now called the music business, which is not about music but it’s about business. You have got lots of people that want to hear and then of course the money comes, that is the by-product of it all, but it should not be the goal.

DIY: It should be more of a life long work. Well just speaking with you was inspirational, so thank you so much for doing this interview.

GM: Thank you too…