Kuba Oms - Olympic Village Performance ft. Wayne Gretzky

Live at the Olympics (Interview)

My Olympics: Day 1

I played my first solo show on Wednesday in the Whistler Athletes Village, which incidentally has the highest security in the whole Olympics. It was a real treat to meander around the grounds with the athletes. In this crazy, unpredictable world we live in, this is probably the safest place on earth right now.

There are some very cool uniforms and tracksuits.  My favourite thus far has to be the American teams’ white vests made by Ralph Lauren as seen by the American Luger Team above.  France’s coats are pretty sick as well.

I have a few concerts specifically for the athletes where I hope to inspire them to perform at their best. This first concert, I was scheduled to play as the IOC and International Media toured the village.  At around 2:30 pm, 160 of the Int’l media came swarming in like bumble bees.  I‘ve got to confess that this was massive exposure. I’ve never seen so many TV cameras and journalists in one place at one time.

The IOC distributed 7000 condoms in the village and they’re already gone. I thought athletes were supposed to save their chi until after their event is over. It dawned on me, that after their events are finished, they’re all going to want to “share their chi.”

Our prayers go out to the family of the Georgian Luger who tragically passed away today.

Never Meant To Hurt You: Live in the L.A. River

Kuba Get's Blo'n

Hollywood Hostel_PPP

Peak Performance Project (PPP)

I'm writing this from my room in The Standard Hotel in L.A right now reflecting on the past few months.

I returned from tour in June fresh off a showcase at Toronto's NXNE where we secured our distribution with Warner. I was very unhappy with my performance as I didn't prepare properly and my guitar was inadvertently left at the hotel! I was lucky as the cat from Mother Mother loaned me his acoustic and we did well enough to impress. I actually thought the guitar may have been stolen at the time, it threw my groove off. The band witnessed how hard on myself I can be over the proceeding 24 hours. I was ultra pissed. You bring the band all the way across Canada only to find yourself behaving in less than professional manner. It's not like me. Sometimes you need something like this to happen to really help you focus. I'm pleased to say we've been on our game ever since... big time;)

After this 'successful' trip, we returned to find out we had been selected as one of 20 emerging artists in The Peak Performance Project. The timing couldn't have been better. With the incentive of 150k to market and tour the new record, I dug in deep on this new and unprecedented initiative that is funded by the hip new Vancouver radio station 100.5 The Peak.

 One of the rules of the PPP was that we had to attend a 1 week long 'boot camp' in the interior of B.C. I rebranded it through a series of video blogs as 'band camp', because quite simply that what it was. It was a bunch of musicians goofing around at a high end camp with bunk beds and the whole deal. The PPP brought in mentors to teach us the in's and out's of the game. This was good for me as the music industry has been in a state of flux for some time now, and it's gearing up to rise from the ashes. 

The criteria for the contest  judging placed the most emphasis on the live performance element. This was a good thing for us. It then challenged us to develop our online marketing and over presence. This is how the industry is making it's come back. The world has changed and the power of traditional print like newspapers and television are diminishing by the day. Everything is going online.

Whoops, I've got to go. Here's the point and mark my words!

The eyes of Canada will soon be on B.C and very possibly the eyes of the world. The PPP's faculty, in their inaugural first year, had the ability to adapt and any adaptations were always with the artists in mind. The guidance and friendly competition pushed the artists to build their respective brands exponentially over a mere 3 to 4 months. Guys like me  are just warming up. The PPP is the best thing to EVER happen to the music community B.C.

Nice work.

ko

Amazing Show W/ Justin Nozuka At The Commodore Ballroom

The Commodore is the bomb! I love playing there. As a singer, you really appreciate a room like this. My voice fills the room and I can do whatever I'm feeling with non of the constraints that you often find in a small club. They have the best stage sound and front of house sound that you'll find anywhere in the world. This is testament to the crew. Awesome. 

I played the first half of the set solo acoustic, beginning with "Beautiful Uncertainty" with all the lights down except for a spotlight on me. Troubadour stylings. The audience was exceptional. They were so into it and open to hearing a new artist. Check out these blogs, "Stomping on Eggshells", Malicious Mandy's Mind. I felt comfortable up there in my new suit... I recommend all you boys get a suit custom made for you;)

Half way through the set we to ripped it as a trio. It was a cool way to close. The light's came up just as the boys hit their first notes and we dropped into a disco version of This Heaven (Velvet Mix). We proceeded to sell out of our CD's and it was nice to meet so many lovely folks during the autograph session afterwards. I've never had so many compliments on my hair. I guess it's a good thing I stopped cutting it myself;)

I hung backstage with Sam Bradley, who came on next. Cool cat with a cool band. Really nice people. Over my years playing music, when you meet kind people you enjoy their music so much more. And if someone is a dick, you tend to hear their music in in a different light.

Justin is as cool as you get. He is that "special something" that is still discovering himself. Stay tuned. Justin Nozuka will eventually sell out Thundebird Stadium. His humility will guide him.

xo

ko

New Photo's

Shot some photo's yesterday at a sick loft/studio in Vancouver. Thanks to Gordan Dumka, the top photographer in the country for hooking a brother up. He's so good he can even make me look alright. We even had a stylist... I know, l know, I should be able to dress myself. I'm just not a shopper. I find it a little boring going through the racks and checking sizes. I'd rather be at the beach. Kelly, you're a sweetheart. She pulled clothes from Boys' Co. and I just chilled in the back with a coffee saying "nah", "too Euro" "sure, I'll try that", "oooh, that's cool", "are you crazy lady?!" Overall it's a great store with really helpful, friendly staff. Photo's will be posted tomorrow;)

xo

Music Is Living In The Moment

Along my personal journey I've found several things that help me to stay in the present moment. None more profound than music. Playing and writing music is the closest thing I've found to to being totally present. When you're in the music, you're nowhere else. You're mind is off and you just are. Any surprise I'm a big fan of Eckhart Tolle? For me it's a place of bliss. I've played music for my whole adult life and and I feel very blessed to do this for a living. But you don't have to do this for a living in order to play! Just play. Don't play to be a rock star... just play man! I recommend to everyone to pick up a guitar, to sing and play that piano at your mom's house. Play the drums man, I know you want to;)

It doesn't matter if you sing out of key (although it's always good to know when you're out of key folks;) It's expressing yourself. So crank the tunes in your car and let it rip baby! Try to sing those harmonies. Have fun with it. After all, music is fun! It's international language of communication baby! AndI love it;)