Jean Mazzei and Flying Venus: Dear Diary

HI Steve---

First off, a big shout out to all the friends I made on Vashon
Island!

Second, big apologies to anyone who tried to see me at World Cup
Espresso. I arrived at the venue around 4:30, only to find a big
CLOSED sign. I peeked in the window, and it looked pretty desserted,
so I went next door to the German deli, and the ladies informed me
that it had gone out of business 2 days ago! There was no internet
nearby, so I couldn't warn y'all. the upside was that i got a head
start on my drive back to Portland, and got to hang out with my cousin
Bill and his wife Kathleen, who opened a fantastic bottle of Oregon
Pinot Noir!

My new cd is out called "Breathing Under Water." Not only does it have some heavy hitters playing on it - Ian Sheridan (jason Mraz), Victor Bisetti (Los Lobos) and GE Stinson (Shadowfax), but the arrangements are awesome thanks to Ronan Chris Murphy (Veneto West). It'll be on CD Baby soon - just in time for Christmas presents.

Why the title? Well, like all my cds, i like to use a title from one of the songs. Why this particular song? I've felt like there have been times where i needed to know how to breathe underwater in order to get through all the stuff I got myself into. There are songs about rain, pain, nothiing about Spain, but there is a song with a plane.

I'm in the final stages of releasing a solo cd. what's it sound like? well, it's not like ANY of the other stuff cuz i wrote totally for myself. i love it. so will you. Been working in LA with Ronan Chris Murphy at Veneto West. Players on the cd are GE Stinson - fallen new age luminary and founder of Shadowfax on electric guitar, Ian Sheridan - bass player for Jason Mraz, Jay Terrien - another great bass player, Victor Bisetti - drums, played with Los Lobos for about 10 years, John Wicks - another great drummer, currently playing with Money Mark from the Beastie Boys, Ronan Chris Murphy - electric guitars and a resume too long for this page, and finally lil ol me. I'll let you know of the release date and where/how to find some pre-release cuts.

well, it's almost Valentine's Day and i haven't sent any holiday cards, new year's greetings, or whatever else I could have done to thank all the important people in my life. I suppose that sometimes ya gotta let some stuff go.

after the whilrlwind of 2005-2006 - and what a wild ride it was! - i think i'm backlashing a bit and taking some time to get back in touch with my creative self, so i've been holed up writing new songs, reflecting on the meaning of life (mine that is!), and basically withdrawn from public appearances thus far. I'm getting ready to emerge from this self-imposed cocoon, stronger than ever, with great songs, great attitude, and just your basic "it's wonderful to grab life by the balls and pull hard!"-ness. questionable image? well ya gotta be there i guess.

just wanted to let y'all know that we're still here and we still care about you!

Wow! Last night we had so much fun playing the Little Fox Theater in Redwood City, CA. We had our biggest turn out EVER, the sound was GREAT and we kicked ASS! (if i do say so myself!) thanks to all my yoga people, and john's genentech people for helping make the night! We felt like rock stars.

Just to keep you updated, we just got back from our whirlwind tour to Phoenix and Long Beach. It was a gas, and in spite of the fact that our van was packed to the gills, we laughed the whole way! We had our own comedy show, and wish we would have videotaped a rockumentary.

FAce of a Nation is coming out. Got a new bass player, Clinton Day. He totally rocks! So we're taking the band on tour! We'll be hitting So Cal and Phoenix, then when the weather gets bad enough, we'll go north! Less birds that way...

Mooooooooooooooooooooooo! ok yeah, it's a california cow kinda day. aside from the fact that the alliteration in that sentence was famooosly fantastic, i gotta tell ya, they make me laugh. as well as the fact that it's thanksgiving, and we're having tri-tip. i ususally cook a huge bon appetit spread: turkey (organic) with all the traditional trimmings, plus a couple of desserts - my mom's pumplin pie, and then some extremely rich decadant choc thing like choc, caramel bourbon cake, as well as a few gourmet side dishes (wild mushroom risotto, winter squash, corn, spinach and bacon) and then appetizers galore: camembert with blue cheese and a fig/port wine sauce, not to mention tons of wine. i love to cook, or used to before i traded my huge kitchen in for a san francisco broom closet, so this is the one day where i indulge my cooking creative fantasy, pretend that i'm a celebrity chef, make tons of dirty dishes, and commit 5 days (2 before, the day of, and 2 after to make turkey soup - i cook the carcass for 3 days. makes a damn great soup and stock!) to kitchen life, grocery shopping, and spending lots of time, money and love to show my appreciation and gratitude for my friends and famiily and all the blessings of life that i've been given. i'm tearing up a bit here - yeah, in spite of my exterior, i'm quite the sap, (maybe maple syrup is my next big project) but i mean it. god gave me so much, and continues to do so. and yeah, i whine about not being famous, or not having a limo driver, a platinum album and a tv show, but hey, I'm alive, i've got a house, a wonderful husband, great friends and family, and i've been blessed with many talents, so if one stops working for me, there's always something else. i don't have all my creative eggs in one basket. so yeah, i probably was too much of a renaissance woman to become famous, but hey, i'll always be an artist cuz that's who i am. and for that i am thankful. and for you, who read my ramblings. god bless you - whatever god is to you (even the absence of god is god in my opinion, but that's another discussion for another day. enjoy, remember - "if you're not having fun ---WHY???"

(this blog can also be found on the interactive chat blog on Myspace


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Flying Venus will be appearing LIVE on the Bruce Latimer Show, Pacifica cable channel 26, on Wed, Nov 9, at 9pm. Tune in and request your favorite songs!!!

Whew! Have we been busy or WHAT??? We've been gigging our asses off for the past few months! There are some new live shots in the photo gallery, taken by Pete Gascoyne of the Groovy Judy Band. And that's just the beginning. More new pix to come.

And congrats to our bass player, Xav, who has a new job at Borders. He's excited and so are we. Next, I had a wild hair to get some new songs done in time for the TAXI Road Rally this year - which is the first weekend in November, plus it would kick off the new CD. Shore enough, John, Dori, Fred, BC and Xav all said "OK let's do it!" So we did. There are 4 new songs up for you to listen to on the music page. John and I will be making the pilgrimage to LA to spread the gospel of Venus.

We don't have any gigs slated for the rest of 2005, but hey, ya nevah know, and we're focusing on finishing the rest of the 16 songs we laid bass and drum tracks for. Who knows what songs will make the final cut...

peace!

Hey dee ho!
First off, I'd like to thank Kolora, Charly, Troy and Terry for signing the guestbook! Since your entries don't give me an email address, I can't thank you personally. If you want a personal note from moi, you can sign up on the mail list, wait for the note, then delete yourself. We're here to serve...

What kind of person would i be without mentioning Hurricane Katrina? Natural disasters could be our biggest teachers. It's something that we can't control, and reminds us of our transit place on this planet. Bottomline is if Mother Earth lets us stay and if she wants to kick us off, she most certainly can at anytime. So I guess it's time to respect the big mama! I'm always one to look for a silver lining, and I'm encouraged by the kindness of strangers (Scarlett O' Hara reference intended). You know what's weird? My spirtual teacher told me 10 years ago, that we'd all start becoming telepathic and clarivoyant, and that synchronicity would become more and more "normal." Well, a few days before Katrina hit, Neil Young's song "Like a Hurricane" would not stop running through my head. I hadn't listened to it for years! There's my 2 cents.

Peace!

Hi! First, thanks to Rosty for signing the guest book! I don't get your email address from that, and i just want to say - rock on man!

This September we've got 4 great gigs! All shows are all ages, so now's the time to bring the kids. You know, the ones who love our music desparately and keep begging to go to a Venus show! 3 of them are during the day, and the other one is at 7 pm, so you can be in bed by 9. We're getting more T-shirts made, so if you've been begging for one, we'll have them.

oh - between you and me, i want to record another CD. I haven't even talked to the band about it yet. It's going to be alive and rockin' - the real deal. not that the others weren't the real deal, they were back then. times change and so do we!

love to hear from you, so sign the book. lay down some cool ideas, express yourself!
jean

Yo! We just had a baby! Her name is Julie and she'll be the cute chick with the cds at all the gigs. We also gave her free reign to give out other little perks, like free drink tix for the next show, specials on t's, cds, etc... Yay Julie and welcome to Venus!

Here I am, glued to the computer, working on graphics for our new press kits, submitting to festivals, working hard to get us to the point where you'll be able to tell your friends - "I remember when we were, like, the only people at their show, and we all did shots of Patron on stage with them!"

Yeah - that's what it's all about isnt' it? Knowing we're all in this together, and when we win, you win, and vice versa!

Have you checked out our new pix yet? Italo Ganni is the man with the cam (www.italoganniphoto.com), and he is amazing! Italo has done all of our pix for the last x number of years (the bathroom shots were not his, just to make it clear), and he's going to be shooting a music video.

If you happen to be reading this for the next week, bully for you, cuz "Darkness" is available as a free download! I'm not letting the email list know, it's just for you, the person who likes to visit. Well, thank god for you, so here's a gift. Leave a note in the guestbook saying you got the download, and you might be getting something else in the mail! (of course, we need you address to get it to you. wait til we email you back - make sure we can - and you can give us your address and we'll send you some cool free stuff).

so call me crazy. I am.

nitey nite.


PS - did you hear about the free drink tickets you can get when you come to our shows?? Just checking....

We've got a cool electronic press kit. Check it out!

View Flying Venus's EPK

Hi-
So 2004 is sliding into holiday season, and FV shows are over until 2005. Thanks to everyone who makes our rock and roll dream a reality!

You may be wondering what we're doing until January. Besides holiday shopping and other family things, John and I are going to the TAXI Road Rally the weekend of Nov 14 to make some industry contacts. Steve is editing the video from Girlz Who Roll. We plan to have some copies to sell/give etc... in 2005. Kate is going gangbusters on booking us some great local and regional gigs. I'm also looking to do some out of town tours to spread the love.

But mostly, I'm going into my writing space. Some call it a black hole, I call it the Zone (not the diet!), whatever it's called, I'm cleaning up my psychic space to wait for the muse. John and I are also going to co-write some songs. The band is still rehearsing - we're going to have some new great tunes to add for 2005. The face of Venus is constantly changing, evolving, as we rise to the proverbial top of whatever we're on.

So, keep me company, OK? Write in the guest book, buy some CDs, order some t-shirts, or call the radio stations and request your favorite FV songs. And let me know what I can do for you...

love
j

Yes folks, we are the band that's been banned! Apparently, we have a mystery person following us around to coffeehouses and complaining that they don't want us to play there anymore because of the lyric references to "shooting up." What song is that anyway? What is surprising is that they don't care that we say "ass, fucked up, fuck, slut, bitch, hell." Mystifying... So yes - we are BANNED from Starbucks 44 Montgomery and Starbucks Mariposa. Hey, you can complain back! Tell them you won't come unless they bring back Jean Mazzei and Flying Venus! Or ask them for a clean needle. You decide.

Note: we were banned from Simple Pleasures as well, but for different reasons. Apparently we sing too many of the same songs...

Well, I just spent a day at Foothill College for my 3rd West Coast Songwriters Conference. I saw fellow musician buddies Groovy Judy, Pollyanna Bush, Jimmi O, Courtney C. Patty, Joan Martin, and more!
Apparently FV has more fans than we knew about! I made some great connections with industry peeps and peddled 2 new songs, "Darkness" and "Who." And if that's not enough, I performed for Derek Sivers (cd baby meister) and Carla DeSantis from Rockrgirl! If that's not enough, I'm so excited I'm writing this at quarter to 1 n the morning on 3 hours of sleep, knowing I have to get up and teach an 8:45am yoga class tomorrow. No drugs, caffeine, just the creative buzz! Also, John and I finished "Where is Dick" and it's up for you to check. Have big fun and give me comments in the guestbook!
RAWK!!!!!!!!

On this website! Check out the new song - specially made for this season. Give me your input in the guest book!