California Adventure
July 2011 | betsielarkin

I had such a nice time in California at the beginning of this month. Combining vacation with work seems like a drag, but I came back from this trip feeling like I got the best of both worlds. I started the week in Northern California, mostly enjoying myself. San Francisco has been my dream place to live since I went there when was I was eight years old to visit my oldest sister. The cool/dry air, choppy water in San Francisco Bay, hilariously steep hills, and European-style cafes and facades have always made my head swim with nostalgia.

From NoCal, I packed up my bags and drove down to meet my friend, Matt and his friend Tim in Apple Valley. Tim and Matt are accomplished aerobatic pilots and Tim owns a hangar at the Apple Valley airport filled with a collection of planes. This was the location for the music video for the second single from my solo album, "Chasing" produced by John O'Callaghan. The concept was inspired by Matt's offer to take me up in his plane with HD cameras strapped to the glass cockpit and nose of the airplane while filming me singing along to one of my songs. Since "Chasing" is about holding on to your sense of adventure, I couldn't think of a better song to pair with his idea. Christopher Andrew, the director for my first solo music video, "All We Have Is Now," took the idea and ran with it. He called a talented crew in the LA area and scheduled a full day of shooting in Apple Valley. Tim and Matt were on-site aviation experts and a constant source of good conversation. To say we couldn't have done it without them, would be a huge understatement. The second day of shooting was, un-chararacteristically for music-videos, easy-going. DP, Chris Bauer, and I jumped in a black convertible Porsche Boxter and cruised the Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon while filming some car-singing and B-roll of ocean and mountains. We revisited the place where I wrote "Chasing" while I was staring up at a hill thinking about how the "unknown" is what keeps life interesting. On the third day, Matt and I jumped in his airplane at Torrance airport, and flew through the clouds with the soon-to-be setting sun at eye level. Matt took me on my first barrel rolls (a.k.a. upside down flips) while I was singing along to the track. Hard to keep a straight face under the circumstances - I'm pretty sure I didn't :)

I finished my California adventure in San Diego for a show with Kristina Sky, Georg Bissen, and Victor Dinaire. Amazing people and a fun show at Onyx Club. Look forward to seeing these peeps again.

I hope you're enjoying the Summer months wherever you are. I'll keep you posted on the "Chasing" single which is planned to come out with my full solo album on Premier/Black Hole.

xo,
Betsie