The Guitar and Yoga-Centered Artist Monica Ott
January 7, 2011 1 Comment
Introducing:
Monica Ott
Home-base: NYC, but born and raised in Baltimore, Md.
Where do you find your writing inspiration: I find a lot of inspiration from big events that happen in my life. I am 28 years old and at the age where things around me are constantly changing-Family members are getting older and some have passed away, my close friends are getting married and starting their own families, and things are shifting in our society. My outlook on life keeps evolving because of this and my writing has definitely matured. I also find inspiration from movies that I connect with. Since movies are much more dramatic than everyday life, it’s easy to pull ideas from and turn them into songs.
Do you write to find lyrics or music riffs first? I usually play around with the music first. I find it much easier to write when you have a rough version of the music already in place. To me, the music is the foundation, the skeleton, and the lyrics are the meat of the song. Sometimes a phrase or a word will pop into my head and I think “I need to use that in a song!”
First gig you ever played: I played a couple gigs in college (I went to Muhlenberg College) with my roomate at the time. We played at a few school events and at our local pub. My first “professional” gig was at CBGB’s the year before it closed and it was the most nerve racking gig because it was just me and my guitar…and my sweaty fingers! Although I look back on it and cringe a little bit, It definitely helped me build confidence and makes me realize how far I’ve come. Plus it’s amazing that I actually got to play at CBGB’s. It was a huge deal at the time!
Favorite song/most inspirational song as a kid: I’d have to say the whole “Jagged Little Pill” album by Alanis Morissette. I listened to that album non-stop and memorized every lyric and how she’d manipulate her voice at different parts in the song. My brother took me to her show, which happened to be my very first concert.
First song you learned to play: I don’t remember which song exactly, but my dad bought us a Beatles songbook that had every Beatles song ever written in it. We would play a different song each week at my guitar lessons. Songs that do stick out are “Norwegian Wood” and “A Hard Day’s Night.” To this day, Beatles songs are some of my favorite covers to play.
Artist you’d most like to be on stage with: I would love to play and sing with Dave Matthews. He is an amazing performer/guitar player/singer and it would be a surreal experience to be on stage with all that talent. It’s so fun to harmonize to his songs. I always think “If he only knew who I was, I’m sure he’d want to sing or write a song with me!”
Things you are juggling: I manage a yoga studio during the week so I try to find the balance between everything music related (writing, voice lessons, marketing) and my love for yoga. A lot of people ask my why I don’t train to become a yoga teacher and I have to tell them that it’s very difficult and time consuming to focus your energy on more than thing, especially since music is my number one passion. I actually have brought music into the yoga studio and we started having live music every wednesday night during class. It has been pretty amazing combining my 2 “jobs.”
Biggest challenge about being an independent musician: Getting myself out there! Marketing, being persistent, trying to win people over. It’s such a difficult industry to break into. Some people will argue with that because we have many different platforms for music (ie. facebook, myspace, online marketing, etc.), but I think it’s even more difficult because there’s so much more music out there than ever before! For me, it still seems to be about who you know and not being afraid to let people know what you want.
Best thing about being an independent musician: Being able to produce and distribute my own album. I can go into any studio (for the right price) and create anything I want. I absolutely love the studio because your mind becomes filled with an endless possibility of ideas. I work with my band in the studio and it amazes me how a song can come to life. What started off as a simple song I wrote on guitar becomes a song with a huge sound. My band will come up with parts to a song that will make it sound like something I never even imagined. Creating a song is like putting a puzzle together. Piece by piece your goal is to create a larger picture. Some pieces fit cohesively and others don’t, but when you finally finish it, you understand how everything fits together. It is an extremely euphoric experience to create a piece of music that you’re truly proud of.
Gear you use: I play a Martin guitar. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. It’s the SW00DB model from the sustainable wood series and it was designed by Martin’s “Women and Music Task Team.” It’s an amazing, earthy sounding guitar and it’s the first thing I would grab in fire other than my cat.
Dream gear?: I have a Larrivee guitar that is a little too big for me, but one day when I’m rich and famous, I want a custom made Larrivee. It would need to have a smaller body (since I am a small person) and any kind of beautiful inlays that they make. Larrivee guitars are some of the most beautiful guitars that I’ve ever seen or heard.
Anything else you’d like to add? You can purchase my debut album “Only Human” on Cd baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/monicaott2 and itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/only-human/id320823200. I also have a YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/timezflyin. I play live every Wednesday night at 6:10pm at Bamboomoves yoga studio in Englewood, NJ: http://bamboomovesenglewood.com/
I have followed Monica since her college days (since my son married her college roommate!!) and she also sang (beautifully, I might add) at their wedding. Great article, new insights and congrats to you Monica!