AI RUINED my album artwork! Photoshop Generative FAIL

AI RUINED my album artwork! Photoshop Generative FAIL

Creativity Letterbox Process


➡️ I got excited about using Photoshop’s new Generative Fill tool to make AI versions of my album covers…then things got weird.

Browse my back catalogue here please and thank you xo

➡️ READ: “AI Is a Lot of Work” on The Verge

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I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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Let’s talk ROBOTS // Tea & Empathy Ep 002

Let’s talk ROBOTS // Tea & Empathy Ep 002

Creativity Letterbox Process


➡️ Let’s talk about my side project Obey Robots, answering your questions about how our album “One In A Thousand” was written and telling the story of the band name – Potsdam! Bike tour! Ghastly snappers with selfie sticks! I also unbox my awesome new microphone and show you some other exciting bits of post.

Shop music and merch direct from meeeeee

➡️ This is Episode 2 of “Tea & Empathy” – watch the rest here

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I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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Why being yourself is ALWAYS the best choice! Du Blonde x Penfriend // Creative Spaces 003

Why being yourself is ALWAYS the best choice! Du Blonde x Penfriend // Creative Spaces 003

Creativity Letterbox Process


Welcome to episode 3 of my Creative Spaces series. Strap in for some big laughs, and bear in mind…there’s swearing.

We talk about Beth’s essentials for recording albums from home, how painting the walls with pink cow print affected their creativity, and how much we both absolutely adore fielding unsolicited comments from internet people with no music credentials. Hi, Jeff2789!!

Explore Du Blonde’s world here.

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I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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UNBELIEVABLE. Solidarity with Billy Nomates / Tor Maries // Tea & Empathy Ep 001

UNBELIEVABLE. Solidarity with Billy Nomates / Tor Maries // Tea & Empathy Ep 001

Creativity Letterbox Mindfulness


AKA how not everything is for you, and how music criticism is different from bullying. I share a few thoughts on the barrage of abuse Tor aka Billy Nomates received for doing THE JOB SHE WAS HIRED TO DO by Glastonbury Festival / BBC 6 Music on the weekend. She earned that slot!

This is the first in a new series called “Tea & Empathy” – use the comment section to send me any questions you’d like answering, or topics you’d like to suggest for future episodes xo

PS yes, I suppose this first one is “Beer & Empathy” – it was too hot in Paphos for tea!

NEXT

I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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How selfies fixed my self confidence (gear + how & why to)

How selfies fixed my self confidence (gear + how & why to)

Creativity Letterbox


➡️ Not every person you see on the internet is super confident – I’m certainly not! A few years ago I decided I wanted to make a change, and taking self portraits using my camera, a tripod and a wireless shutter release button connected to my phone has made a HUGE difference to my ability to share my thoughts online.

I made this video to encourage you to at least think about giving it a try yourself: I talk about the mindset behind it, list the basic equipment you need and show exactly how I do it!

Life is too short to let our perceived visual imperfections get in the way of sharing our voices to help others, so please leave a comment with any questions you have about anything discussed in this video.

You can do this!

Love, Laura xxx

PS click through to YouTube to get links to my friend Jane’s book plus all the equipment I talked about

NEXT

I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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I waited TEN YEARS for this!

I waited TEN YEARS for this!

Creativity Letterbox


➡️ I’ve been livestreaming solo music performances for 10 years, using lots of different setups. Some worked well, some were a nightmare. It’s hard to focus on your performance and find time to experiment when things aren’t plug-and-play – enter the Boss Gigcaster 8!

🎶 Get Gigcaster 8 / 5 here.

I was super excited to try this out, and I’m thankful to Roland/Boss for sending me this incredible piece of gear as a gift. Please note: I was under no obligation to say anything nice, or anything at all, and my opinions will always be honest.

Watch my full performance of “Olympian” here
Watch my previous livestream setup video here (Logic Pro X into OBS + tips on how to play to no-one)

📹 STREAM WITH STREAMYARD
Record videos / podcasts with remote guests and livestream to multiple platforms.
+ Get a 14-day free trial with my link

NEXT

I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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How to use a loop pedal. Vocal performance of “Olympian” (Boss RC-30 via Gigcaster 8)

How to use a loop pedal. Vocal performance of “Olympian” (Boss RC-30 via Gigcaster 8)

Creativity Letterbox

➡️ This performance was live-streamed on Saturday 10th June 2023 as a test of the Boss Gigcaster 8 – huge thanks to Roland/Boss for the gift!
➡️ This song appears on my debut album “Disarm”, released in 2010 under the name She Makes War. Browse my back catalogue at http://shop.penfriend.rocks


Subscribe to my channel for more xo

NEXT

I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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Storms don’t last forever…

Storms don’t last forever…

Letterbox Music News

My first Penfriend album “Exotic Monsters” just turned TWO YEARS OLD forcryingoutloud, so I’m celebrating with some vinyl bargains and limited edition rarities INCLUDING this never-before-publicly-shared reworking of three album tracks on vinyl-effect CD, accompanied by a full colour story and photo zine.

Order by midnight on Tuesday 30th May and I will sign your vinyl / CD! Leave me a note at checkout if you’d like me to dedicate it to anyone: https://shop.penfriend.rocks/collections/exotic-monsters-birthday-sale

I’ll also include a FREE monster print in every order, as an extra gift!


3rd April 2020. Four weeks before I launched my new music project “Penfriend” on an unsuspecting world, life felt very different to today.

Do you remember how you felt on 3rd April 2020? It was just the start of it, but none of us could have predicted what would happen next.

That day, I was halfway through recording “Exotic Monsters” and one year into full-time music-making slash whatever-the-heck-this-job-is. With four weeks til liftoff, I was sharing secret weekly blog posts with my members, and I’m so glad to have these stories to look back on now.

As the weeks went by and the lockdowns continued, all logical signs pointed to calling the whole thing off. Who would care about new music at such a serious time, much less choose to support it financially?

With nothing else to do but keep on keeping on, I decided to stick to my deadlines. Half an album is no album, and I was grateful to have something to focus on amidst the uncertainty.

I launched Penfriend and The Correspondent’s Club in May 2020, completed “Exotic Monsters” in October 2020 and released it on May 21st 2021.

On May 28th the album I recorded all by myself in my attic home studio smashed into the Official UK Albums Charts at #24, rendering me speechless with gratitude for independently-minded music fans.

As I clear the decks to record the followup to “Exotic Monsters”, I’m grateful for the opportunity to reflect on its journey.

This collection of songs took me from freelance employment to full-time creativity, gave me a path through a pandemic and is an album I remain immensely proud of. 

I hope you’ll give it a listen.


3/4/20 – secret blog post

Midway through my morning run yesterday I saw the words “storms don’t last forever” pasted up in someone’s window. Linking two cheerful rainbows, the phrase both sobered and uplifted me, burrowing into my brain just at the point I would usually be starting to bargain with myself:

“Walking is nice, you should walk”. “Yeah, but you’re doing intervals anyway, and you get to walk soon – look, it’s only another 20 seconds.” “Sure, but it’s an achievement to do any sort of run, it’s not about speed, is it? You’re not training for anything.” “Shut up, only 10 seconds til you get to walk for a whole minute, what’s the problem?” “Nothing – OH LOOK A RAINBOW”.

I’ve always preferred running outside because of the tangible feeling of progress. Putting one foot in front of the other propels you forward in real time, in the real world. You leave the house, go somewhere else, and then return. In a life made up of numerous ethereal projects where I conjure sounds from my imagination in a completely self-propelled bid to make something that I hope will be of use to a small group of people, spending time on anything with a measurable outcome is a relief.

I’m proud to say I’ve taken myself out for a run twice a week for seven weeks in a row now, and not only do I get the pleasure of writing that down in my bullet journal so I can look at my exercise log and feel like I’m getting somewhere, but I can actually feel the progress I’ve made. I’ve started to increase my running intervals by one minute per week (currently 3 mins run, 1 min walk) and the nasty hill at the start of one of my regular routes isn’tbothering me nearly as much any more.

Another benefit to pavement running is getting to see snapshots of my neighbourhood. This is especially welcome at the moment; these two runs per week have become precious time alone with my thoughts outside the house. When I first started medium distance running in 2006 (training for 10Ks then half marathons before a trailing off of energy/interest and then a savagely broken foot) I always listened to music, but later I found I vastly preferred engaging with the sounds of wherever I was running. There’s a meditative quality to the rhythmic slap of trainers on pavement that makes me feel connected to my body and the earth I’m running on, and I don’t think I’d get the quality of contemplation I get on my sporty jaunts if I was distracting myself with music.

With spring springing at the moment, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying dashing past pretty front gardens, seeing nature bounce back after the grey weather and occasionally being surprised and delighted by the things people are sticking in their windows. The rainbows in windows theme may be aimed at kids, giving them something uplifting to spot around their neighbourhoods during this confusing, scary time – but it’s helping me, too.

I’ve been ploughing on with the many moving parts of my fast-approaching new music launch day by day: recording podcast episodes, liaising with my remote drummer on parts for the new song I’m recording, having Skype meetings with my illustrator, picking a WordPress theme for my new website and getting stuck into that, trying not to get too caught up in the news or feeds, trying to stay reasonably cheerful and pragmatic and feel lucky to have the things I have and not dwell on the scary parts (someone in my street has Covid, I’m not eligible for any government grants, I’m scared for my family and friends – you know, the new usual). But, on Tuesday, a storm hit.

I’ve written many songs in the past about feeling sad, and I’m sure I’ll write many more, and occasionally I am able to take my own advice and just give myself a break. So, for most of Tuesday, I lay prone on the sofa and felt my feelings, cuddled my dogs and made no apologies to anyone. Then on Wednesday, I got up and started again, feeling fortunate I was healthy and housed and in a happy relationship and had interesting creative projects to sink my teeth into, and a group of really great people to write an email to.

Yesterday, when I saw those four words connecting rainbows in a neighbour’s window, I felt grateful to whoever printed them out and taped them up. It’s very hard to reduce this big, messy, scary, painful time into short phrases, and not useful to dismiss everything people are feeling and say the equivalent of “cheer up, it might never happen”. It *is* happening, and whatever our situation and location, it’s happening to all of us.

I don’t know what’s next in all of this, and I’ll always be trying to figure out what my place and purpose is in the world, but I know I can believe in these four words: “storms don’t last forever”.

NEXT

I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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This home recording essential might surprise you…

This home recording essential might surprise you…

Creativity Letterbox Mindfulness Process Productivity

Welcome to episode 2 of my Creative Spaces series!

I met Ryan Hamilton online recently after his album release plan went very wrong…and I thought to balance out the industry kerfuffle we should have a deep chat about creativity, music recording and how your space can affect your work. So we did!

We talk about how easy it is to record your own music, which three things Ryan considers essential for recording, where songs come from and the magic word to use in your lyrics to bump up your streaming numbers 🤣.

Ryan also talks about Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, and the story behind “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”…and there’s even a cameo from Justin Hawkins!

Watch more “Creative Spaces” videos here, and subscribe to my channel for more xo

NEXT

I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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“I’m never trying to make someone *like* me”…

“I’m never trying to make someone *like* me”…

Letterbox

So, how do you get a completely independently made, released and marketed album into the Official UK Top 20? I could keep it all to myself, but that’s not very me now, is it?!

There’s a lot of lying in the music industry, so Joe Sparrow from Music Ally wanted to know if it was all too good to be true. I shared the reasons I do things my way, and the unsexy secrets behind the recent chart success of my new album “One In A Thousand” (a collaboration with Rat from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin).

➡️ Listen to my full conversation with Joe for Music:Ally here
➡️ Get your copy of the album direct from http://shop.penfriend.rocks

NEXT

I’m proud and very thankful to be a fully fan-funded artist, so if you’d like to stay involved and continue to support the making of new music, writing and videos:

🎁 Get a FREE 12-track album + 31-page PDF zine of stories, photographs and artwork here.

🎹 Get exclusive member perks in The Correspondent’s Club (returning soon!).

🤖 Order my new album “One In A Thousand” here.

🎸 Listen to my latest solo album “Exotic Monsters” and browse my back catalogue.

🎥 Browse my YouTube channel for adventures in sound & songwriting.

💬 Chat with me on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

See you soon xo

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