Saturday, September 25, 2010

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.



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


















Thursday, September 23, 2010

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

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Impossible Girl - Chapter Two



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


<a href="http://music.kimboekbinder.com/album/the-impossible-girl-chapter-two">The Impossible Girl - Chapter Two by Kim Boekbinder</a>



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


Saturday, September 11, 2010

Pants are Heavy



Chapter Two of The Impossible Girl will be out on September 15th! Rejoicing!

**

While checking my bag at the airport I was asked to remove something so it would be under 50 pounds (sequins + gear = big bag.) I took out an item of clothing which bumped me down just below the line.

"Pants are heavy!" I blurted, with far more volume and enthusiasm than the situation warranted.

Awkward silence surrounded me.

But pants. They're heavy.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

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!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

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

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

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.