When A Tiny Idea Is Shared With The World

When a Tiny Idea Is Shared With The World
Written by: Kim Moodey Chief Officer of Operations: TOP Sound Gallery Events


About two and a half years ago, my friend Christine Macdonald shared her idea with me over Skype. Maybe even then it was more of a glimmer of hope than an idea, but she said that she wanted to build a platform where her original composition could be played live to an audience. And not just her music, but music of her colleagues from University as well. When she explained this idea to me, I immediately knew I wanted to work on this with her. It was one of those moments where you feel you've caught a big fish, you can tell by the tugging, and all you know is to not let go of the pole. This is going to be a big one.


Christine and I were best friends from the moment we sat next to each other in Music class at UCSD. We just work effortlessly together. After we graduated from college with a B.A. in Music, she moved to England and got married to her college love and I moved back home to Orange County. Not able to find work within our fields after school (like most of us nowadays) Christine found work at an Economic firm and I starting serving tables at please don't make me tell you where. This wasn't what smart, fresh out of college students should be wasting their time on! We were talented for crying out loud! But who would acknowledge that?? That's where are Skype conversation came into play. It happened in one night, when a tiny idea became shared with the world.


We thought to call ourselves the Transatlantic Orchestral Productions. We were the group of composers and musicians talented and fresh out of college, putting together events where our music could be listened to and enjoyed while raising money for charity. After coming up with this idea we knew we had to make it happen, so I flew out to stay with Christine in London January of 2011. We organized our event at a venue in East London called The Rag Factory. We served beer, wine and cookies to about thirty of our friends. I composed music as well as artistically edited videos to use as visual backdrops for Christine's piece, Andrew Carroll's piece and a few other pieces for our friends from UCSD. Without knowing what we were doing that night, we had succeeded in so many ways. We had raised about ₤200 for the Clarity Foundation, brought our little community together to enjoy our art and we had people asking us, “When and where will the next TOP event be?” We had found gold. This gold is where our passion lies.


After our event in January we brainstormed for awhile of where TOP could go. Christine remained in London where she began finding more and more opportunities with local musicians and venues and I ventured down to Paris. By fall of 2011, we fully became transatlantic when I decided to take an internship that would further my skills in video editing and where I could successfully organize an event for TOP on Californian soil. Andrew Carroll is an incredible composer and a close friend to both Christine and I. Andrew was the first composer I asked to be a part of the first US TOP event. Without hesitation, he agreed to another event with TOP . And not only that, he had an immediate passion for what Christine and I wanted to build. It was in the Fall of 2011 when the three of us became one: The Transatlantic Orchestral Productions.



Throughout the course of 2012, Christine organized events all around the UK and Andrew and I worked on events throughout Southern California. As each event grew bigger and bigger, we eventually realized we had formed a loyal and steady following of fans. We had become not only a place where young, talented students and fresh out of college professionals could find work, connections and opportunity, but we had become a community of hope. A community of support for people living in their own passionate world of art.



By the end of 2012, we were able to incorporate ourselves as an LLC where each of our events provide paid work opportunity to our helpful staff members and to our extremely talented and passionate quartet. When we began our tiny little idea, we knew it would become great enough and important enough to share with the world.


Sound Gallery Events aim to build contacts and job opportunities for students and post graduates within the arts. Long live a beautiful world, a beautiful world filled with passionate people.


The Transatlantic Orchestral Productions is an LLC and organizes events known as Sound Gallery Events. Join us this Saturday June 29th 2013 at the Artspace Warehouse for our Sound Gallery Event: Los Angeles. Tickets are still being sold and are $20. You may purchase them on our website at:
TOPSoundGallery.com Or at the door upon arrival. Proceeds go to furthering opportunity within the arts and for future Sound Gallery events and community projects. Event starts at 7pm and purchase of a ticket will buy food, one free drink from our full bar and a seat to TOP's movie premiere of The Captain. Directed by Catherine Wolf and scored by Andrew Carroll. Other entertainment includes music by Brandon Thomas de la Cruz, Kim and Hannah, Groove Monsters Alex Yoon and Kyle from the Donuts as well as photography exhibits from Jeff Tang and Bobby Lee. Fully catered by Christopher Carroll.

Since I've been home...

As we get older life gets harder. But as long as we live our lives for the desires of our hearts and we keep the ones that keep our smiles stretched from ear to ear, our lives will be filled with purpose and beauty....

From Kenya to the Orange County coastline...

So here I am sitting in a cozy condo living with my brother and our friend Joe. I haven't spent time on my blog website since I was camped out in the middle of the Great Rift Valley, but after weeks of thinking about starting to write again I finally brought my computer to my lap and the keyboard to my fingertips. My original plans for travel after I graduated college was to take place over a span of a year. I wanted to really experience culture and make life-long friends. Instead, I ended up changing my plane tickets to come home early in order to keep the music in my life constant.

You see, this was my life before I decided to leave the country- I studied music composition at the University of California: San Diego. I worked as a bartender at this pub called Wits End in Hillcrest to make extra cash and to save money for my traveling adventures after graduation. I played in a fun indie-pop band called Team Abraham and I was finishing up a year long project of writing for a string quartet for the Conrad Prebys Music Hall at UCSD. Out of everything I did with myself leading up to the last days in San Diego, I have to give a lot of my happiness credit to Team Abraham.

The birth of a life long friendship: During my last year in college I met Abraham at Wits End and immediately became friends. He was the Monday night DJ at Wits while I served drinks. At the time, I was a lounge singer at Hotel La Jolla while he played in a new band called Team Abraham. Every Monday night we would try to get each other to come to each others shows for support. Finally one Saturday night I was convinced to see this new band of his play at the Whistle Stop in South Park and since that night my heart has been with Team Abraham. Before I left the bar that night I walked up to Abraham to tell him how much I enjoyed his bands music and he immediately said to me, "Cool. When are you gonna be a part of the band?" Quickly I responded with, "When are you going to let me be a part of the band?" and from that point on I was a part of the team. About a month later Team Abraham and I opened for Blitzen Trapper at the Casbah in San Diego. Months after that night we toured the country, came out with a 10' vinyl as well as a debut EP and had all become great friends.

The beginning of summer 2009, I was ready to graduate, I was ready to leave my home of 23 years, and I was ready to live in Kenya. The only thing I wasn't ready for was to leave the music. I couldn't imagine myself leaving the excitement or my band... but I did and as my previous blogs have stated, it was absolutely incredible. It was so wonderful, in fact, while abroad I almost began to forget about my life back at home until I received an e-mail. While sitting on my bed under the stars in Olkerii, I read an e-mail from Abe about how we were nominated for Best New Pop Band in San Diego at the 2009 San Diego Music Awards. Not only that, but the band made plans to record an LP first thing in Fall then travel to Washington on a West Coast tour. As happy as I was for the band, my heart sank. All of this was so exciting for my old band. I only wished that I could enjoy all of these exciting adventures with them. What made my heart ache even more was another e-mail two days later from Neil (our bass player at the time and still good friend) telling me how different the band was without our original team and how things were different. It was then that my heart and instincts gave me the right-of-way to return home and continue my life writing and working with music. I changed my tickets to come home early and let me tell you, it wasn't cheap. Careful about your airlines.... anyway. I moved to Orange County since that is where my family lives. I thought that since I would be figuring my life out from the cleanest slate possible, I might as well be around the support of my family. Besides coming home early from traveling to pursue a life in music, being consumed with family has been one of my best decisions yet because things haven't been easy.

So I came home. I got to go to the 2009 San Diego Music Awards. We recorded and toured. I couldn't have imagined doing anything better.

I understand what music means to me and I understand how it influences my life. Everyday I open my ears to the sounds and pieces created and composed by other people. I'm constantly inspired. You know how there is a part in each of us that wants to do something monumental, something life changing at some point in our lives? Like some of us set out to protect the rain forests in South America while some of us bring awareness about hunger in America or AIDS in Africa. I have a similar desire to help throughout my life. The truth is, I really just want to inspire and bring beauty to people with my music in the same way that others have brought inspiration and beauty to me through theirs. It's taken me years to be able to say this but I do believe in my music. I believe in its honesty. And, I want to believe that I can touch at least a few peoples lives with the songs and pieces that I write. This is the new adventure I am aching to embark on as of today.

I guess the real reason behind me starting to blog again is to allow myself to reach out to readers who are interested in my music as well as my life behind the creation of. I've found that music is one of the greatest tools to connect complete strangers and to continue on the exploration of life.

Currently my music life has been saturated with writing. I just played a show in January with Team Abraham and debuted a new song called "Kate Said" which I wrote in November after having a conversation with Aunt Kate about making choices and listening to gut instincts. Team Abraham has played "Kate Said" for a few different shows including Club Congress in Tuscon, AZ. All of which the audience has made great comments about. There is a great video that was taken at the Echo in LA of us playing the song on Youtube. If you're interested, just type in Team Abraham Kate Said and it should pop right up. There is also an acoustic version of me playing it on Youtube as well. Instead type in Kim Lynette Listen to the Pull. If you're interested, of coarse. I've been writing other songs recently as well. My friends Kellen and Taylor are helping me put bass and drums to my new stuff. I'm planning on professionally recording my very own stuff sometime in March. Once that victory is reached, I will be able to finally get my music out there. I'm so excited to see where it goes!

If you have made it to the bottom of this blog then I have to thank you for your interest. This blog was so long and drawn out but I really felt like I needed to give some background. So... thank you.... I'll keep my blogs updates with new information behind the music that I find, write and love. So keep reading and feel free to subscribe to my blogs so that you get the updates. I'll keep them coming!

Bye for now!

Holy Sh*t to Nth Degree

I've never really been the type of person to take my life for granted. I've always considered that my life could end at any time on any day and that a long life is never completely guaranteed. Although, like any person, I do think of death sometimes but today I thought I smelled it right under my nose. I hate being over dramatic but I thought I was cat food today. Serious cat food.

Today was a great day of relaxing and catching up on e-mails. Marc and Margrit went off to the workshop with Philip and Katy stayed in the office working on the business so I stayed in the kitchen area keeping a watch on Duiker. By the time it was 6pm I felt like I needed to go out and get some fresh air and walk around so I told Katy that I was going to take a quick walk down to the river by the bottom of the hill. I told her I'd be back in about an hour. So I grabbed my ipod and gracefully glided down the mountain toward the river listening to my music and happy as a clam. I passed a thicket of trees to the side of me on the way down and I thought I heard a snarl type roar but I didn't think twice because I assumed that predatory cats don't travel this far up the mountain. I thought they stayed closer to the bottom, so I didn't think twice about the noise and I automatically assumed that the noise must have been caused by something else. I made it to the river and enjoyed the green ferns and fresh, cool water for a couple of minutes before turning around to head back home. The sun was setting and I didn't want to get stuck in the wild in the dark. It is easy to stay on the trail that takes you up the mountain and back to camp but at times it gets a bit faint and since the light was quickly disintegrating I decided to take my headphones off to really pay attention. While passing the same thicket of trees I definitely heard a roar. It was loud and it was from some kind of large cat. Dead in my tracks I stopped. I am positive that my skin turned the whitest of white and I was immediately light headed. It was a cat but I couldn't see it, I didn't know what kind exactly but it didn't matter. I stood there, petrified, thinking if I should turn around and go back to the workshop where the Maasai live or if I should keep going up the mountain toward home. I only had about 15 minutes to go before I reached camp again but that would have been plenty of time for a lion or wildcat to gracefully murder me and have me for dinner. I don't know why I decided to continue on my path past the trees but I did. I just started walking toward the top of the hill. I think this exact moment takes the cake for being the best 'Holy Sh*t to Nth Degree' moment of my life. The cat snarled at me a couple more times while I walked past it on my trail. I kept looking around to make sure it wasn't coming toward me. And the fact that I wasn't able to see it actually made me feel better. I felt like I was actually getting away from it. After a minute or so I couldn't help myself and I gunned it full force up the hill, the fastest I've ever run. I could've won a medal. I ran so hard that my mouth began to taste like metal. I know that’s really strange but the taste was overwhelming. I was absolutely petrified. After 15 minutes of sheer terror I finally reached the road where the entrance to camp was and I soon after ran into Katy. I hate being overly dramatic and I thought perhaps I was too paranoid; the sounds were in my head. I didn't want to come off as a schizo so once I walked up to Kate I tried to pull myself together and I asked, "Are you sure there aren't any wild cats or lions around here?" She asked why and I explained my story.

So I made it to camp alive. Right after getting back I took a shower and then sat on my bed and started laughing. The whole thing seemed ridiculous to me and still surreal. After changing and getting clean I went out to the fire pit area where everyone was sitting. The fire was lit, the moon was out and there was plenty of red wine for us. I grabbed a seat and Katy told me that there is one well-known leopard that lives close by. The Maasai say that it is one of the largest leopards they have ever really seen and Kate assured me that it probably lives in the area that I described. Kate and Philip both told me that the leopard was probably warning me not to get too close. The leopard does eat very well living in this area so he probably was not interested in eating me tonight, although I walked through his home exactly at dinnertime.

I couldn’t be happier saying that I'm thankful for having such a delicious dinner tonight instead of being a delicious dinner.

GOODNIGHT!

Sleeping with the simba...

I am now back at Olkerii sitting on the veranda with Chit-chit on my left and Duiker (pronounced dyka) on my right. These are just some of the animals that live here with Katy and Philip. Chit-chit is a little bird (called a Familiar Chat) that occasionally comes by to rest in the kitchen with us and Duiker is a baby duiker that some of the guys found yesterday. When I say guys I am talking about the Maasai men that live on the same land as Kate and Philip and occasionally help out around the house. Duiker was alone and we don't know what happened to her mother. She still has a bit of her umbilical chord connected to her stomach so we know that she is only about two weeks old at most. Philip built a place for her to sleep in a box with hay and Katy feeds her a couple of times a day with a plastic syringe filled with a warm milk mixture. She looks like a tiny tiny brown and black baby deer with the most adorable brown eyes and eyelashes. We welcomed her into our home last night after we returned from camping in the Maasai Mara.

Monday night of this week, Philips good friends Marc and Margrit came to visit Olkerii. Early Tuesday morning, Marc, Margrit, Kate, Philip and I loaded the cars and traveled to the Mara. Moi, Boniface and Mutisya (pronounced ma-te-see-ah) joined us to help set up camp, cook, fix cars, etc. It took us about five hours to get to the Mara and then we set up our campsite right along a serene river. By the time we were finished setting everything up it was about time for the sun to set so we started a fire and drank a few beers. Marc and Margrit are such sweet and funny people. Marc grew up in Africa and has an incredible ability to perfectly emulate animal’s sounds. We knew we had set up our campsite along a river that housed a couple of families of hippos and at least one pride of lions but we had yet to hear any of them. Within 15 minutes of sitting and drinking beers, Marc had everyone in fits of laughter. He began demonstrating how a lion sounds when he feels protective of his territory. I'll have to emulate the sound to you guys when I get home. It is a bit peculiar but Marc did it perfectly. So perfectly that one of the lions close by began responding. Our laughter stopped immediately and silence came over us all. We sat there and waited for another call and sure enough there it was... the lion called out to us again only from a closer distance. I, being a city kid, didn't know what to expect but everyone assured me that the lions eat well in the Mara and that there isn't a thing to worry about. We went back to laughing even though the lion continued to investigate our campsite. I was told that the lion wouldn't come up to the tents until we all went to sleep so there was nothing to worry about. However, I was told to always keep my flashlight with me just in case. Katy pulled me to one side and gave me the lowdown of what to expect and how to act in the Mara. Whenever Kate tells me that things are ok then I truly know that things really are ok. Although the lion never stopped calling out to us that night I still felt at ease. Once everyone went to bed I climbed into my tent expecting not to step foot outside until morning. Lying there in the dead of night in the middle of the Mara was an experience truly indescribable and unique. It sounded like a war zone of animals, birds and insects. I laid there for about an hour just listening and sure enough the lion came up and walked all throughout our campsite. He wasn't afraid to be vocal about it either. Not only did the lion claim his territory but also so did the hippos. I felt paralyzed in my bed, unable to make the slightest of movements with some fear that they might hear me. I wanted to look and watch them up-close because I was so excited and so intrigued but I was so unsure of what not to do so I stayed lying on my back. I usually fall asleep listening to my ipod every night but I couldn't break away from the music that was in my real life that night or any of the nights we stayed camping under the stars. All three nights offered music to my ears that I never thought I would hear.

The next two days we spent driving around with our Toyota Land Cruiser on safari looking at all the animals. Philip drove us everywhere and showed us no sign of weakness when it came to getting in front of the animals. Kate and I spent most of the time up on the roof of the car. Some of my favorite parts of the safari came when Philip questioned if he could make it up and over a mountain of rocks while Kate and I stayed clinging on for dear life on the roof. Trying not to fly off was so much fun. The first day of our safari adventures Philip found a family of elephants hanging out in an area of trees. He drove right up and stopped the car dead center of the entire pack. Once he turned the car off, the entire pack starred at us and seemed a little uncertain. Kate told me to stay perfectly still until they become relaxed around us. Once they began eating again I was able to take some really great pictures. There was a mom and baby right next to us so Philip made sure he respectfully stayed at a far distance from them not to threaten them too much. I'll show you guys the pictures once I get back.

On our way home from the Mara we had a bit of an issue with both of the cars. The batteries are very weak in both cars and we are only able to start the cars by parking them each on a hill and having people push them to get a running start. It is a bit comical at times. We stopped for a picnic on our way home from the Mara but one of the cars didn't start right away after we pushed it and unfortunately it rolled too far into a ditch. So Kate had to pull it out using the other car and we tried the pushing method again. Good thing we had Moi, Boniface and Mutisya to help. We got home fine after that.

That night Kate and I sat with the new baby duiker and laughed about our day. We woke up at our campsite in the Mara, drug our car out of a ditch by lunch time and nursed a baby duiker to sleep by nightfall. It's been great to say the least.

Mariam and the chivalrous Nguire

I tried to blog last night but the words that I kept typing felt so ingenuine and too polished. I'm starting over this morning. I've been having the most incredible time out here at Olkari with Katy and Philip. With my days I have been meeting and getting to know the Masai, hiking through the most surreal of places and getting to see the workshop where Katy and Philip have been running their impressive business. During the nighttime Kate, Philip and I relax under the stars and in front of their fire pit drinking box wine and tusker beer. The discussions are what I favor the most once night falls because we have seemed to talk about everything together. The stories that they tell me are insightful to hear. Both Katy and Philip are so young but still so incredibly wise. The words of advice that they each tell me seem as though they have practiced saying before they even knew I was going to ask. My travels have been really fun like I knew they would be but the thing that I have been eating up the most has been my discovery of people’s lives. I am so thankful to have spent time with everyone because I have fully been able to understand their world. That has been one of my most favorable discoveries yet.
The Maasai are great! They are some of the most gracious, happy, beautiful people I've ever met. Driving from camp to the workshop I see young Maasai boys herding cattle every time. They can't be any older than six. Six years old and they are already able to take care of an entire group of cattle as well as be able to defend themselves incase something happens. I'm so impressed. The other day I went with Katy and a group of the Maasai men to collect wood for the Leakey Collection. Sabit's son, Nguire who is 12 years old, wanted to come along for the ride. The six men stood in the back of the truck while Katy drove Nguire and me. The two of us shared both the middle and passenger seat. While the men worked getting the wood into the back of the car, Nguire and I went off to take pictures, look at animal tracks and talk. He pointed to the ground explaining each animal track to me, "elephant," "giraffe," "wild pig," and then he gasped and stopped... "lion." It was funny but should I have worried? Nguire seemed to ignore worry so I decided to follow along with him. His dad Sabit has raised him to be very knowledgeable and smart toward nature. He has also taught Nguire to be very chivalrous and helpful toward women and this is how the Maasai are raised. They are raised to be kind hearted and instantly you will know that at first impression.
Once we all got back to the workshop Katy thought it would be fun if Mariam and I had a chance to meet each other. Mariam is a Maasai girl who is my age. Mariam and I were so excited to meet each other that we sat for about an hour just talking about our lives and enjoying a coke from the bottle. She speaks English very well so it wasn't too difficult to converse. The two of us sat under the roof of her patio a few steps away from the workshop. She was draped in beautiful, bright colors and I sat in black capris with a simple tank top. By our appearances it was plain to see that we both came from two entirely different worlds but once our conversation began it felt like a group of old friends. We talked about our love for cooking, our interests in life, our families and our religious beliefs. It was fascinating. She told me she loved to bake, I told her that I was spiritual, she explained her love for school, I talked about my family and she explained everything there was to know about the Muslim faith. Talking about her religion perked my interest the most. I don't know that much about the Muslim religion so it was wonderful to hear her explain it to me. She asked me if I had any Muslim friends at home and I had to say no. She looked at me and said, "Well, at least you know that you have a Muslim friend here in Kenya." I couldn't stop smiling after.
Tomorrow I am traveling with Katy, Philip and two of Philips close friends to the Maasai Mara to camp for three nights. I am so excited because this is the place where the animals live drought or no drought. I probably won't bring the computer with me since I won't have a place to hook it up and it is extremely dusty while driving but I'll be back on Friday.
Bye for now. Love you (0:

Mr. Flops and the Great Rift Valley

Right now I type this under stars that shine so bright they act as glitter to a sky of black. The only noise I could ever hear this night are the chirps of crickets singing in the African grass. I finally have made it to Kenya.

First of all I want to say to Claire and Kellen that Paris wouldn't have been the same without you guys. I love you so much. My laughter is endless when I'm around you. Im looking forward to that movie you're going to make me on Facebook soon. Don't comment about this... all I'll say... NO PAULA COLE OR SARAH M. Kellen- your musical taste goes beyond that... Claire- keep a close eye on this.

Anyway, My flight to Kenya was very nice. It was the easiest out of them all so far. Right when I walked out of the terminal I felt like was in a foreign land. Righfully so because I was but just breathing the airport air it seemed very very different. I was so excited by this that I lost my breath. I bought my visa and retrieved my luggage before I was very happily greeted by Kate and Philip. My smile stretched from ear to ear. I was so happy to see them again. It had been too long. I hugged both of them twice before we hopped in a taxi. Our taxi drove us to a gas station where Kate and Philips actual car was parked. There I met Moi. Moi is hired help incase the car breaks down and Philip needs a hand at repairing. Our car is a white pickup truck with a canvas hood covering the bed. As full as the back of the truck was, Moi managed to fit my luggage and himself in the back before we drove away. I sat in the cab of the car inbetween Kate and Philip.

The drive took about three hours starting at 10 o'clock. The road was very dark so I didnt get a great oppurtunity to see the landscape but once we got farther away from the city I managed to see one hyena, a handful of cattle and one feasting giraffe. Yes... the giraffe was rad. Kate and Philips drive way is about a 45 minute long drive up the side of the mountain where they live. The beginning of the drive is very jungle-like with viney trees drapping over the road and rivers for the manual transmissioned car to cross. The road was a bit bumpy and I couldn't help but think of Indian Jones. Thats the best way I can describe it. We finally made it to camp and the four of us (including Moi) were kindly greeted by three of the Maasai men. One of which was Bonaface. He helps around the house and cooks for us. He speaks perfect english and is so incredibly nice. The other two went off to help Philip with things and I will have to meet them later. Kate showed me around very briefly before going to bed. My tent is very secluded as the camp site is very expansive. The paths are made of rose quartz gravel that guide us to different parts of camp and the birds and insects are always singing. For the first time in my life I can finally say that I am so excited to camp.

Sure I'm camping under the stars in the middle of Kenya but it is actually very comfortable and cozy. Kate and Philip have created a world worth living in out here. The only running water is loacted down toward the bottom of the mountain which means the hired men bring up supplies of water twice a day. Other than that there is no running water. Everything is stored in pitchers and is stratigically and conservatively used. My shower is located right up the path from my tent and is only covered by a spiral straw fence made for privacy. There isn't a roof which allows me to admire the acacia-like trees when I shower. Its so liberating. The toilet has a name here and that is 'long drop.' Self explanatory. The kitchen is very elaborate, however. It is made up of your typical appliances (ie. fridge, stove, cupboards, etc) and connects to a lounge area. There are no walls which allows for a breathtaking view of the Great Rift Valley. You can see forever in the daytime and once the night falls the stars really do sparkle. I've seen one shooting star so far. The wish was pretty dang good. All I'll say.

Well, I could go on forever about this place but enough is enough...whatever that means. I do, however, want to say that I met Mr. Flops today and he is very cute. He is the zebra that lives on the property and lets people get amazingly close. All day it is easy to hear his hooves walk around on the gravel while he munches on the grass. His ears are floppier than other zebras so when he bats away the flys you can hear them flop loudly. It is so cute.

This is a long blog so I will get going and find time to write another one later. I hope all is well and of coarse I love you guys... ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS!!!