'Stalker' music video by Jim Batt

Please leave comments on the youtube page and share everywhere you can think of: facebook, twitter, blogs...

Directed by the incredibly talented (and imminently patient) Jim Batt.
This video was shot in one day in the middle of winter in Melbourne, Australia. The spunk (that's Australian for total babe) I'm stalking is Mojo Juju, an amazing musician and performer here in the land down under.

The house belongs to Frankie Valentine, Mojo's partner.

My dress was found at a vintage shop and the rest of the costume was provided by Rose Chong Costumes in Melbourne.

That little nightgown was FREEZING cold. I also had no idea how see through it was until I saw the footage.

Big thanks to: Mojo Juju, Frankie Valentine, Jim Batt, Anthony Cleave, Rose Chong's, Tim Tam's, Murray Lorden, and whiskey.

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And one other thing: MY ALBUM COMES OUT DECEMBER 15TH!!!!!!!!!!

Sparkly Things and The Terror of Sleep

I am about to have my very own makeup line! Sweet Libertine and I have concocted a new line of colors - two eyeshadows and one glitter. To launch on December, 15th with my album!

Go here for the Sweet Libertine official announcement:   www.sweetlibertine.com

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I've been working hard with Molly Crabapple and Jim Batt on our animated music video for The Organ Donor's March - that song will be released on my album on December 15th. The video will come...later.

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I have so many cool merch things coming up. Interesting, odd, amazing, lovely. Yum!

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As the date approaches - December 15th - I get more and more anxious. Today is a good day so I write a blog. But man! The stress! I woke up in the midst of a full blown panic attack - sat bolt upright, unable to breathe, feeling like my insides were trying to be my outsides, as if my whole body was trying to purge itself from itself. When I do sleep I have nightmares. One nightmare featured sleep itself trying to kill me. Sleep was like a jealous lover, angry that I wasn't paying enough attention to it and beating me because of this.

Today though, I woke feeling rested, got a good email first thing, then set some fancy meetings regarding my release. Then I thought about my upcoming Australia plans, my animated music video, my album, my family, my friends, and felt like I actually have a really great life. When I sleep, things go much better.

Time for a nap?

Nope. Workworkworkworkworkworkwork.....

Love!

K

Quite Possibly Impossible

T-shirt HERE

The Impossible Girl is being...... difficult.

Today the manufacturing plant called to say there is a problem with the master audio disc I supplied them. I should tell you, I was not very nice to them. This is their fault. They should have checked the files weeks ago, when they said they were checking the files.

Every day there is a problem. Things that should be simple, easy, rote, are difficult, awkward, late, broken, corrupted.

I've put out several CDs with my band. I know how this is done. The manufacturing plant makes tens of thousands of albums every year. My mastering engineer is one of the very best. It isn't like we all just woke up and decided to make a CD. We are professionals performing the crafts we have been perfecting for years.

This isn't a crisis, this doesn't change the release date of December, 15th. It's just very stressful to get phone calls every day with new problems.

But maybe this is part of the story of The Impossible Girl. My own journey to her wasn't easy, so why should her journey to me be any easier?

Travis Louie, who drew the amazing cover art, told me he started the painting three times. I've watched him work, he's amazing, everything he does looks perfect. I can't imagine anything he does being not good enough. And he told me how strange it was to have to start this piece over and over.

The first song of the album, Impossible Girl #1, is an incantation, the sound which calls her forth into the world. I implore you to sing it with me. In your head, in your room, in your local coffee shop, at work, at home, at a glance. Sing it loud! Play it loud! Share it loud!




Pre-order the CD here:

Next album will be called, The Easy Girl....

Important News - New Release Date

In the fashion of many beautiful and difficult women, The Impossible Girl is late. Not terribly late, but late enough that I am pushing back my release date to December 15th. Sometimes art takes longer than you expect. Actually, it almost always does. But also, sometimes, it exceeds your expectations. And taking the time to make it great pays off.

 

And, well, The Impossible Girl will not be rushed.

 

As you can see above, the art by Travis Louie is amazing; the design by Jim Batt is wonderful.

 

She looks great. She sounds amazing. She's totally impossible. We wouldn't have her any other way.

 

The new release date, and the date you can expect to have your CD packages by is December 15th. In time for that holiday. And better for the wait. Believe me. It is beautiful!

 

Order the album here. You can also order additional discounted copies for friends, family, attractive strangers, strange attractors, stage actors, staid acts, stacks and stacks of them - the album that is:    ORDER HERE

 

Thank you. So much. For being with me on this journey.

 

Humbly, and with great gratitude,

Kim Boekbinder
The Impossible Girl

www.kimboekbinder.com
www.theimpossiblegirl.com
www.twitter.com/kimboekbinder

Chapter Three

Photo and design by Jim Batt www.jimbatt.com

Track #2 is probably not safe for work.

Here we are again, release day! Chapter Three of The Impossible Girl is up and out and ready for download.

Rainbows and Unicorns by Melissa Dowell: www.melissadowell.com

Lick My Love Pump by Ryan St. Germain www.ryanstgermain.wordpress.com

Impossible Girl #3 by Rita Burkholder (a.k.a. Helen Keller's Ukulele)

helenkellersukulele.bandcamp.com

He Said by Justin DeVine (he's too cool for a website.)

Impossible Girls Collide

On September 14th I checked into a rented room in Brooklyn, NY. The room was in a warehouse complex of studios, filled with artists from around the world working in different mediums who were all staying for varying lengths of time. On the desk I found an informative sheet that listed everyone who was staying and what they were working on. The first thing that caught my eye was: theimpossibleplace.blogspot.com - "Hey," I thought to myself, "I'm impossible, that sounds like a place for me." So I checked it out. And that is where I found The Impossible Girl. The (other) Impossible Girl is a 36 part melodrama about a fashion designer and her rockstar boyfriend. Which has deliciously painted art and has just been published into a book.

The Impossible Girl (that isn't Kim Boekbinder)

My brain did this really neat thing then that felt like collapsing and expanding all at the same time. As though suddenly everything made sense and stopped making sense at once. As it comes together it falls apart. KABOOM!

Ok, look: "The Impossible Girl" is a good name, I'm totally willing to share it with other creators. Of course other people will think of these things, and have, and will again. But there are two Impossible Girls, one is a book, one is an album, and they are both being launched at the same time. And their respective creators - from different places in the world - all ended up staying in the same house in Brooklyn at the same time. 

Of all the gin joints in all the world in all of the universes and all of the time lines....you had to walk into mine. 

There are differences of course. But damn. And SHAZAM!

I started to write an email to the creators of the story but then I felt really strange; like I was a fictional character writing to my authors. Suddenly unsure of how to proceed I abandoned the missive and just went for a lie down while my brain did laps around the universe.

A few days later I met one of my authors on the rooftop garden. Nikki, the writer, was delighted and took me down to meet her partner, Chris, the painter. We walked into their studio where he was engrossed in painting a large canvas.  Nikki announced, "Hey, I've brought The Impossible Girl."

Chris turned slowly from his work, said, "Yeah...right..." Then looked at me startled as I handed him the postcard with my album art that states clearly who I am. And he looked a little bit like his brain was doing what my brain had been doing when I first discovered his art.

Then we drank vodka. And they came to my NY show and I went to their book launch/art show closing party and we all marveled at the world and talked and had a lovely time. They're off to Mexico next and I'm off to Berlin. And I may never see them again. But we're linked in our imaginations. We both dreamt up the same girl.

And she is me. And not me.

She is The Impossible Girl.

**

And The Impossible Girl has RAD t-shirts!

In pink or green ink on black organic cotton, for girls and boys and everyone else too!

Buy them HERE

My first music video with Jim Batt

 Vimeo: Watch full screen HD!

Or Youtube: Watch full screen HD!

In July I flew to Melbourne, Australia to work on music videos with the wonderfully talented Jim Batt. This is the first of five videos we shot in July. We're also working on an animation for "The Organ Donor's March" with Molly Crabapple.

Collaborating with Jim has been a wonderful experience and I am incredibly happy with our first public outing, "Impossible Girl #2." I'm looking forward to the continued collaboration and new art expeditions.

There are no computer effects in this video, all the magic happened as it was shot. Nature conspired with us that day and made some extra swirly things happen. The wonderful matador jacket came from Rose Chong's Costumes in Melbourne.

It is always helpful and wonderful to have comments on the video pages. So leave your thoughts on youtube or vimeo if you please. And, as always, sharing is caring.

Love,

K

The Impossible Girl - Chapter Two

Chapter Two is out today with wonderful art for each song and a music video by David Westway!

Downloads of Chapter Two come with high quality copies of all this amazing art. And there are t-shirts!

Stalker

Art: Tim Smith - www.uniqueink.net

This art is also available as a T-Shirt - order on Bandcamp

(Video for "Stalker" by Jim Batt will premiere on October 6th)

Impossible Girl #2

Art: Kate Rannells www.katerannells.com

(The song is inspired by Kate!)

(Video for "Impossible Girl #2" by Jim Batt will premiere on September 22nd)

More and More

Art: Mary Larsen www.marylarsenart.com

(Video for "More and More" by Bri Olson coming soon!)

Sex, Drugs, & Nuclear Physics

Art: Jim Avignon www.jimavignon.com

Video for "Sex, Drugs, & Nuclear Physics" by David Westway:

Chapter Three releases on October 15th.

Full Album releases on November 15th.

And here is the full photo taken by Lauren Goldberg of Fairytale Vegas

My First Music Video

Open/Avocado, directed by Brianna Olson, is so fancy! Watch it full screen!

Loopy and layered and wonderful.

Also on youtube. Share, comment, like...you know how it goes!




p.s. I hear if you watch through old style red/green 3D glasses it looks extra nifty. Haven't tried yet because I don't have any!

In the Woods, in the Bath, with a Bottle of Whiskey.

Outtake from music video for "Impossible Girl #3" by Jim Batt

Videos are on their way. Being edited. Being made extra amazing. I'm so excited. Just watched a rough cut of the video for "Open/Avocado" by Bri Olson and I LOVE it! Can't wait to share it. I was worried I would hate it because I'm in it and I haven't been feeling so great about me lately. But I still love it. Any director who can make me enjoy 3 minutes of my own face is very talented indeed.

Actually I have been depressed for the past week. No reason.

Nothing is wrong.

But that's the problem with depression. Nothing.

And on top of the depression I felt a guilt (or if there was a feeling it would have been guilt) because actually my life is really amazing right now. And I didn't think I had the right to feel bad. So mostly I just stopped listening to myself. I took a walk. I dug a hole and pushed the nothing into it. Felt the coolness of the ground seep up into me. Washed my hands in the ocean. Wrote "Impossible Girl" in the sand and watched the waves swallow her whole, take her out to sea where her heart flies. Sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty.

Today I feel better. Been getting things done. Playing with a two year old - mostly teaching her how to swear and run with scissors. (We finally got in trouble for jumping on the furniture.)

Don't you wish your big sister was a rock star? Yes, yes you do.

The songs are still going strong. 12,000 plays now. Has slowed down after last week's flurry of famous author mentions, but there seems to be a slow burn. Even if you aren't a famous author it means a lot to me, and really does help, when you mention my music on the internet. Twitter, facebook, myspace, blogs. All of it helps. As does using your mouth to tell people. I like that one too.

http://bit.ly/TIGch1  - copy and paste that to share.

And one last thing: Your homework assignment for the day/week/year/life

Take a moment to think about the person or people closest to you. Someone you might take for granted. Think about something they do really well. Maybe it's the way they cook, or sing, or make art, or smell, or look, or snoozle, or wrangle ocelots, or travel through time....could be anything.

And now tell them.

Today: pay someone a compliment. Because we take people for granted. All of us. And even if we know how great someone is, we often forget to tell them. Because we think their greatness is so self evident that to mention it would be redundant.

I think you're great. I do. I really like the way you read my blog.

Love,

K

Molly Crabapple Strikes Again

I just got this beautiful Molly Crabapple poster of 'The Impossible Girl' paper doll printed and it is SO GORGEOUS!

Holy hell is that woman talented!

You can order this poster (includes download of Chapter One of my album.) here: http://music.kimboekbinder.com

I also added signed postcards to the album download page - if you already pre-ordered my album for $10 or more you will be getting a signed postcard already - so no need to order one!

I will be adding more merchandise as I go, packages, t-shirts, stickers, and more. Here we go!

**

Day four and my album has been listened to over 8,000 times. I am very pleased with this and now just need to figure out how to keep it going strong. Every mention helps! So blog, tweet, repost. Bandcamp gives you lovely 'Share' options - you can post a little player to almost any site on the web. 

It feels so ^*&@&^#^!!! good to finally have songs I am proud of out in the world. The recordings are fantastic. Producer, Sean Slade, and engineer, Benny Grotto, did such a good job at giving my songs the right amount of production.

Hurray!

**

And...San Francisco show this Friday, August 20th at The Independent (such a great venue!) with The New Orleans Bingo! Show (such a great band!) I play at 9pm. 

Get Tickets

Exceptions, and Random Movie Times

Zip. Zip. Zoom. Trying to keep up with all the emails. Falling behind.

Getting some lovely buzz on my little EP/first chapter of my album.

Neil Gaiman's tweets helped steer some people my way. And today Warren Ellis blogged about The Impossible Girl. Fun times!

I am now sitting in bed - though sleep is many hours away (I also call bed, "the office,") under a pile of sequin dresses. Fun times!

I'm staying in Carmel, CA with my father. My two year old sister is very excited to see me. She 'helps' me cook, and type; she tries to take my pants off while I stand in the kitchen; she sticks her hand down my shirt (after looking down it to see what's in there;) bites my thighs; sticks her finger up my nose; and squirts herself in the eye with Windex. Then she laughs as I hold her under the tap to rinse her eyes out. Fun times!

I taught her how to pounce on people. And how to jump on all the furniture - a skill which has helped me get as far as I have in the world today.

I'm not really a "kid person" - as a general rule - but she's a pretty fantastic little person and I make exceptions for the exceptional (smartest thing I've EVER said.)

**Random Movie Times**

This is a short silent film clip I made with Jim Batt while I was in Melbourne, Australia last month making 5 music videos. This clip is for Jim's Ghostlight Project which is a collaboration with four other artists of various mediums - it's really good.

Every day of the week, Monday through Friday, a new post gets added. Monday's are the days that Jim adds a new silent film clip, Tuesday is music, Wednesday is a photograph, Thursday is a graphic of some sort - usually a film poster, and Friday is a written piece (a scrap of script, a journal entry from an insane actor...) The project is really interesting and I was very excited to be part of it. Jim is very talented, as evidenced. Kim is very silly, as evidenced. Enjoy!

The Impossible Girl - Chapter One

Photo by:  Heike Schneider-Matzigkeit

Wow. Chapter one of the album is out in the world, being downloaded, listened to, talked about, loved. What a momentous, amazing thing. What an undertaking. And it's just the beginning! 

There is unique art for each track of the album. Chapter four features the amazing talents of: 

Teetering Bulb

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Katelan Foisy

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Dax Tran Caffee

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The videos are coming soon!

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I decided to release the album in chapters because it is such a big project, so many songs, styles, so much art, so many video plans. I didn't want to release the full album, all 18 songs, and have them be lost amongst themselves. I want each song to have room to express itself without having to clamor for attention above the din of 17 siblings. Four songs at a time seemed like a much more listenable experience. Just enough to get excited about, but not so much that each one can't be fully enjoyed.

It also gives me more time to collect great art for each track, make fancy videos, and design a nice package for the physical CD.

It will be a constant stream of music, art, and videos!

**

When the album came out on Sunday I put a minimum price of $1 - but let people add more if they chose to. It was important to me to value my own work (and I do!) and also to honor those of you who pre-ordered the album by valuing your contributions and not just giving it all away for free.

Half way through the day I decided that I would see what happened when I didn't put a minimum price on it and lo and behold, suddenly people were giving me more money for it. Instead of $1, $2, and $4, I started to get $4, $8 and $15. Some people still only give $1, and many people are downloading for free, but at this point I want people to have my music, to know it, love it and support the art when they can.

So I think I will leave the album up with no minimum to download...for now. I'm making it all up as I go along. And it's just me, with a laptop, and some wild schemes. No managers or minions. Getting a little swamped under a mountain of emails, but in a good way. So good.

There have been many mentions of the album on the internet. Thanks for that. Keep it up, it really helps when people post about it, talk about it, tweet about it. 

**

In the past few days a few people have told me they are proud of me, then they seem to catch themselves and say something like, "But not in a condescending or patronizing way...maybe it sounds corny...but I'm proud of you."

And I just want to say: It's ok be proud of me!

I worked really hard. I'm still working hard. I'm just winging it out here on some random current of creativity that seems to be keeping me afloat (ish.) And I'm going to keep doing it. 

Yeah...I'm proud of me too!

And I'm proud of you, for taking a chance on The Impossible Girl. For believing in art, for following through. Yes. You.

Eat a cupcake!

**

Life still has it's ups and downs. Sad days, bad things. But overall I am very happy with where I am, and what I am doing, and who I am doing things with. I have a great network of creative friends, and my art is getting better and better all the time. I can't wait to release Chapter Two on September 15th!

And I'm looking forward to playing at The Independent in San Francisco this Friday, August 20th. May be my only California show this year...unless it sells out, and then I'll have to come back.

Get Tickets for Friday, August 20th

**

Thank you for making The Impossible Girl possible. 

Love,

Kim Boekbinder

The Impossible Girl