Dhoom 3: Back In Action, starring Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif, is an action thiller film. The Hindi language movie is the 3rd installment in the box office hit series. They started filming in Chicago in early August and they are scheduled to continue filming here thru late October – early November 2012.
Since the movie hasn’t been released in theaters, I’m not at liberty to tell you what happened. However, here on BTSCelebs I give everyone the opportunity to have their own Bollywood experience!
The extras casting call may be over, but extras casting for the series is not!
BTSCelebs Insight: The day I worked, the crew and casting company reps were very business-oriented and informative. I recommend working on this production to anyone who is an experienced actor or who is truly passionate about acting.
Psy‘s“Gangnam Style” may be all the rave right now, but “Electric Shock” took Asia by storm this summer!
SM Entertainment‘s resident five member girl group f(x) returned to the K-Pop music scene this summer with their Asian hit “Electric Shock”.
The production team (from The Netherlands) behind the catchy tune recently spoke with BTSCelebs about their work on the girls’ album. Next week, you can read their responses to the following questions:
How did you get your start in the music industry?
What made you choose the K-pop industry to work in?
How did you get the opportunity to work with SM Entertainment on f(x)’s album?
Walk us thru the recording and production process of the single “Electric Shock”:
From the time you recorded the demo to the finished product, how long did it take to complete “Electric Shock”?
Is there a tour planned? Any places f(x) plans to stop?
Does this have any relation to “Electric Lights”? **
Is it a revamped or remixed version of “Electric Lights?”Do they have any plans for a full album, if any? **
You can’t wait that long?
Ok, here is one question and response to get you thru the week:
BTSCelebs: How did you get the opportunity to work with SM Entertainment on f(x)’s album?
Future Presidents: Our publisher already had several successes with SM placing songs and he sent Electric Shock there about two years ago after we had just written it. We didn’t hear anything regarding the song until a couple of months back when SM let us know they wanted F(x) to record it.
A Special Thanks to Future Presidents for the quote and photo
**A BTS Thanks to BTSCelebs Team Member Kevin for his interview questions**
Do you dream about joining the K-pop or J-popindustry? Well, Producer Steven Lee gives BTSCelebs a glimpse inside the recording studio!
You love to sing the songs, now find out how your favorite hit tracks are made. Discover the semi-hidden world of the Asian music industry thru one of the industry’s finest.
1 – BTSCelebs: How did you get your start in the music industry?
Steven Lee: I started playing piano when I was 5, and was in a punk rock band in high school playing guitars. Music always has been part of my life. When I was 17, I entered “Star Search” audition in Los Angeles and won as a Music Producer. Then I started to work in legendary Studio56 in Hollywood where Elvis Presley to Christina Aguilera recorded their hit albums.
2 – What are the steps in creating a hit song?
When I write a song, I write melody first and then track comes after most of time. I don’t mean that backing track is less important…but I believe a good melody lives forever. That is why many artists remake(cover) songs from the past by using the same melody more often than backing track because it is what listeners remember. I always had a small recorder with me since I was in high school, so I can record melodic ideas immediately whenever it comes to my mind. Then I go back to the studio to start writing music with a basic instrument such as a piano or a guitar first. My method in creating music is, I build a strong foundation first with a catchy “hook” and then I start to build backing track.
3 – How many people are involved in the process of creating one song? What are their roles?
Most of time, I pretty much do everything by myself from writing, composing to mixing for a demo. There are many important people involved in final products which people listen to (CD, DVD, Radio, TV). It’s important to have the best result with professional recording engineers, mix engineers, mastering engineers, vocal directors, artist managers, and sometimes many session players (A full orchestra, Guitarist, Bassist, Drummer, etc)
4 – How long does it take to compose and complete an entire album?
I always wish there is more time to complete an album. In reality, most of major signed artists are very busy with full schedule. They don’t only work for the album, but also many other activities such as: TV shows, concerts, CMs, promotions, etc. Therefore, the actual time they can spend for the recording is very limited. In this case, I have to follow the artists and record company’s schedule.
For example, I had to finish SS501’s “De5tination” album within 10 days from all of recordings to final CD mastering. During this time, I lived in the studio working 24/7 drinking energy drinks with only couple hours of sleep. It was challenging but I enjoyed it a lot! I think the longest time I had for an album was Kim Hyun Joong’s 1st album “Break Down” I spent one full year to finish this album, plus, I also finished half of his next album “Lucky” at the same time.
5 – With the recent global phenomena of K-pop, what are the odds of an foreigner getting their song material on a K-pop album?
Last year, I traveled to England and Santorini Island in Greece for a Songwriting Camp and met many talented European songwriters and producers. While I was working there, I was surprised that many of them were already working in K-Pop/J-Pop market, or were trying to get in to Asian music market. I personally think recent global phenomena of K-pop brought a lot of foreigners to try to get into Asia and it made competitions higher, but I think it’s good. Record companies and publishers can have more great songs from around the world, and these songs could destroy the cultural gap between western and eastern music scene. For example, recently, 2NE1’s show at Kodak Theater in Los Angeles was completely sold out, and Psy’s “Gangnam Style” now got over 181 million views on youtube. This is something that I could never expect before.
6 – What is the first feeling you have when you hear your song on the radio? **
I feel very blessed! In fact, TV and radio are only sources where I listen to my songs because I usually don’t play my songs myself after they’re released. It’s probably because I’ve been listening to them over and over many times during the sessions of recording and monitoring. (haha)
7 – Who do you want to write music for the most? **
I’m trying very hard to write songs for more artists in the US. I’m pretty sure most of the songwriters/producers in the world are the same.
8 – What is your favorite time of day or night to compose? **
I’m totally a night owl. All of my musician friends work at night. haha
9 – What is in your CD player right now? **
Let me check…. It’s a new CD with unreleased new demo songs. As I mentioned above, Ialways try to listen to them as many times as I can and fix until it achieves perfect sound.
10 – If you could take any Kpop act and make them famous worldwide, who would it be and why? **
The first Kpop band that crossed my mind was Big Bang, but they’re already famous worldwide. They always have their K-Pop elements in their music which gives more originality, but still keep new fresh sound. Big Bang’s music video production is amazing and I think they have such a great choreography.
Adam Cappa debuted with his album “The Rescue”in March of 2012. The 10 track worship filled project is perfect for the world family. The stand out tracks to me were “The Rescue” and “From The Inside“. I loved the message the lyrics conveyed , as well as, the perfect music accompaniment. The album is spirit filled and Adam’s voice is truly anointed.
“The Rescue” is a MUST BUY!
Check out my complete review below:
The Rescue – This song is about asking God to rescue you. Life can get rough and impossible to maneuver thru, but that is exactly when we all need to just stop and ask God to rescue us. It’s never too late (or the wrong time) to ask God to deliver us from hardships, confusing circumstances, bad relationships and the like.
All I Really Need – If you need a sweet love song for your motion picture soundtrack, this single is for you. It is suppose to be about someone so infused or on fire for the Lord they can’t help but share it with the world. Only God can satisfy.
Washed Over Me – A pure worship song. It describes the true spiritual cleansing from being born again. Adam talks about having his sins being washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. The slow and dramatic musical accompaniment is the perfect track to use at the beginning of a church service.
The Only One – Who can you trust in this world? There is only one answer…. God. This single is about only relying on God for everything. The world may be deceitful, but God is always there for us to run to. A great up-tempo fast paced tune to listen to anytime of the day.
Sail Away – How much strength do you have? When you have done all you can and things still seem to difficult to achieve…. just rest in God. Adam’s slow ballad tells listeners to turn to God because He is the only one who understands. God can renew your strength if you trust in Him.
Perfect – Adam interprets God’s message to Christians thru this track. This powerful enlightening single expresses God’s feelings towards believers. It doesn’t matter how much you judge yourself… you are perfect to Him.
From The Inside – It does not matter how perfect you look on the outside…. is your spirit at peace? Adam’s lighthearted feel good tune digs a little deeper with the message that you will never be a positive influence or good role model without being saved. Christianity makes you “effective”.
Only A Glimpse – All of the blessings Christians receive in this life is only a glimpse of heaven. God’s faithfulness to believers on earth is only a fraction of what is to come. This is the second pure soft rock worship song. A great addition for worship leaders’ playlist.
What’s At Stake – It’s Christians’ job to witness to non-believers in the world. This a song about witnessing to the people around us. Eternity is coming one day and Adam expresses his disappointment in the selfishness of Christians lives. We need to stop wasting time and win as many people as we can over to the Lord. This a a mellow tune with a powerful message.
How Worthy – This is the third pure worship song on the album. It reverences and completely praises God. Adam praises God for His ultimate love. He anticipates the amazing gift of heaven that is promised in the Holy Bible. The song has very little music accompaniment, it is the closest to a acapella song on the album.
Fast forward to September 7th, 2012, former J5 member Brittany Hargest shared a photo of the group (via her official Facebook page) with Lesley and her baby girl. Check out her caption to the photo above:
“J5 reunion!! Meet our very first lil jumper”
Lesley and Daniel Sawyer’s baby girl was born on June 26th, 2012.
The man behind hit K-Pop artist Kim Hyun Joong’s “Break Down”, “Lucky” and “Heat” albums has arrived to BTSCelebs virtual studios!
The K-Pop megastar Behind -The- Scenes not only works with Japan’s number one selling K-pop recording artist of 2012. He is one of the industry’s finest go-to music men. Check out his introduction to BTSCelebs below:
“Hi, my name is Steven Lee, founder of STUDIO NES music production and a music producer/A&R at Essel Music Publishing. I’ve been working in J-pop/K-pop music industry as a music producer, and have worked with numerous successful artists in Japan & Korea such as; KAT-TUN, SS501, Hey! Say! Jump, Kim Hyun Joong, SHINee, Super Junior, Kis-My-Ft2, V6, TVXQ, Takizawa Hideaki, A-JAX, Sexy Zone, Wheesung, US5, Johnny’s Jr, W, Aikawa Nanase, Van Tomiko(Do As Infinity), Heo Young Saeng, Varsity Fanclub, Ian Thomas, Park Yong Ha, Biyuden, Lee Joon gi, Rainbow, 4Minute, Rain, Girls’ Generation, and many others. Please visit my production website www.studio-nes.com for a full discography information.”
Next week, you can read his responses to the following questions:
How did you get your start in the music industry?
What are the steps in creating a hit song?
How many people are involved in the process of creating one song? What are their roles?
How long does it take to compose and complete an entire album?
With the recent global phenomena of K-pop, what are the odds of an foreigner getting their song material on a K-pop album?
What is the first feeling you have when you hear your song on the radio?**
Who do you want to write music for the most?**
What is your favorite time of day or night to compose?**
What is in your CD player right now? **
If you could take any Kpop act and make them famous worldwide, who would it be and why?**
A Special Thanks to Steven Lee for the quote and photo
**A BTS Thanks to BTSCelebs Team Member Anna for her interview questions**
Veteran producer and Trophy Entertainment’s newest addition talks K-Pop (part 2) with BTSCelebs! Find out what K-Pop hits he is currently working on as he walk us thru the recording process and much more.
BTSCelebs: What K-Pop hits are you working on now? Jun Areia: Trophy artists like Andamiro and CHI CHI are my priority right now. As a freelancer, I’m making songs for pretty much everybody from f(x) to Big Bang and Miss-A. Getting those songs produced and released is another story as the higher you get in names the more the competition. Even in small companies there are a large number of songwriters working on songs. Resting for just one day could easily put your song out of the release no matter if recorded and produced. Except original songs, getting official remixes to work with (the upcoming CHI CHI “Love Is Energy” for example) pretty much makes every other remix I’ve been doing look pitiful. The production level, the crystal clear multichannel vocals, the opportunity to get that remix published, listening to the remix with the idols and its original producer… I can even get the idols to record a new phrase of the song just for my remix. After that, it is very hard to go back remixing a song which I don’t have any vocal source and no connection with its creators whatsoever. It has been though the way I reached here and I will never leave my fanbase disappointed. So after releasing the remixes under the “working on” section of my website, I will be attempting to get more official remix releases.
Walk us thru the K-pop recording process:
It all starts with a demo. If it is chosen by the CEO it will be given a chance. The singer will be given a day to practice the lyrics and then will be called in for recording. It is a very hard process that usually takes a while (a day) but it can get significantly more, especially in the case of groups. Directing the session is a nightmare as you will have to bring the best out of the singer. Except that it requires a lot of experience to make on-the-fly decisions about whether the phrase just recorded was good enough since monitoring the last recording seriously disturbs the singer’s pace. Personally, I also struggled a lot with missing Korean vocabulary needed to express all those billions of ways a single word can be sung. After the recording is perfected, there is a lot of engineering work too, involving fine-tuning each syllable pitch and time wise.
I have been interested in working BTS in the music industry, what are the odds of an foreigner (especially American) getting their song material on a K-Pop album? While the music is everything there are two other very important factors that can significantly boost your chances: Understanding of the Korean culture and language and living in Korea. Korea isn’t the most meritocratic society and the production process is usually performed by a “family”-like team. In order for you to make it into the family you have to understand the culture, speak with them in their language and most importantly being here. Sending songs from abroad isn’t that bad but even if they are chosen, just the time and effort required to convey some little information then change it and send it back kills the production process. Your song will be out of production and replaced by somebody else’s, that is actually in the studio and worked out his version already. In addition, the more complete your demo is the more the chances.
Are you a fan of BTSCelebs? Do you think you will be after this interview? Yes ,I will be reading from now on!
From 2002-2007, I was a huge Gilmore Girls fan! (Hence my old blog name) Lorelai and Rory were my go to girls every Tuesday night on The WB. After catching up on all the 2000-2001 episodes via Gilmore Beginnings and ABC Familyreruns, I throughly enjoyed the show with my family year after year.
Today, I discovered that the actress that played Rory (Alexis Bledel) and proud Obama 2012 supporter just joined the Twittersphere!
If you loved her in Gilmore Girls , Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Tuck Everlasting, Post Grad and a variety of other productions, make sure you follow her @AlexisBledel and tell her BTSCelebs sent you 🙂
What did Matt Anderson do for the Labor Day weekend?
According to his tweets, he lived it up in New York City! On August 28th, Matt announced his arrival in the Big Apple.
“In the big apple for the first time…excited to see one the greatest cities in the world with a great friend Evan Patak, #tweetyourfavspots”
What did he do during his stay? Check out some of his tweets below:
“Gr8 walk about the city down to SoHo, thru times & union sq and the NYU campus. Time for lunch @SpringStreetNaturalRefreshment
Chillin rooftop @davidburkestreetoplounge debating lounges to go to for an after dinner drink tonight…
Just had the best steak dinner of my life @striphousesteakhouse
Great dinner @CanyonRoadGrill, heading out for an after dinner drink then off to bed, big weekend of fun ahead of us”
Now, I know you want to see what Olympians eat after the games a over, right? Here are a few dishes the 6 foot 10 inch Volleyball Player shared with his Twittersphere…..
“A little antipasto to start off the night”
“….house salad served in a crisp parmesan cheese bowl pic”
BTSCELEBS 