Meet Marta Woodhull of Singing For A Living & Bitches Britches Music

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marta Woodhull.

Marta, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I came to L.A. from the East coast after a crash and burn in New York City, where I tried to be an Opera singer, but I got adult onset asthma. The doctors said I needed to relocate to a desert climate, so I picked L.A. That was 1983. Then a chain reaction of good luck/make your own luck unfolded. I literally stumbled into a career in the recording industry though it wasn’t the initial game plan. I got my break recording with George Duke creating a children’s recording of “We Are The World” and we got a Grammy nomination. Little kids like Fergie and Drew Barrymore sang on it. George Duke launched me in the studio business. I fell in love with the art of recording and never looked back. I got my AFTRA then SAG card which got me working at another level. I recorded a lot as a background singer for major labels singing with R&B and Rock stars like Jeffrey Osborne and Joe Cocker.

But I was used to being center stage. If you ever saw that movie “20 feet From Stardom” it was like that. What I really wanted was to be a solo recording artist. In the ’80’s and ’90’s that meant one thing only; a major deal or nothing at all. There was no indie way to finance, market or promote a career like we can today, so I left session singing to focus on writing songs and recording demos. That’s where the unscrupulous part comes in. That was a creepy time in L.A. for women in entertainment, and the old boys club who wanted to own us like sex toys. I kid you not. When I tried to go solo I got mixed up with some very bad people and I wouldn’t play their starlet game, so I took a left turn and started my side business as a vocal coach and I supported myself with my intellect and college education. That’s when I created my business, Singing For A Living.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
On the surface, one big challenge has been facing image perception and stereotyping. Ethnically, I am part European and part Native American. I have brunette pix and blonde pix here. I was always a brunette until 2008 when I worked as a SAG-AFTRA background actor. Directors liked me as a European blonde. I don’t know, but crossing stereotypes is very psychologically startling. People treated me very differently. But at core I am an aggressive singer and a rock recording artist, so last year I went back to my core image. The blonde photos below were taken by Gary Leonard just before I switched back. The main photo here is from my album artwork and was taken by Lorraine Day.

Struggles? Well, being a recording artist has been a dramatic ride! There were more obstacles back when the industry was a sexist corporate boys club. There was money and distribution, sure, but I wouldn’t play their game, so I built my own recording studio, stockpiled songs and cut my own tracks. I thought about going indie back in 2000, but internet piracy was out of control. So, I just kept writing and stockpiling material. Along the way, I had some minor good luck placing songs in film and TV. I got a publishing deal and songwriting was my way in as a solo artist. Connecting with film directors and music supervisors is an inside track, quite separate from being a recording artist, but it gets ears on your work.

But I needed a mental shakeup, so in 2013 I relocated from Studio City to a Chinatown loft. It really freed my mind to be out of the Hollywood energy. I built up my international fan base online. I reevaluated my options. The biggest challenge has been changing my mindset as the means of production and distribution have changed. To launch a record label, I had to flip my old-school mentality of “Major Label Deal” over to the indie artist business model. It’s much more work, much less in royalties, but it is completely in my control.

On the service side, launching Singing For A Living – my vocal coaching business – was smooth because of my industry credits as a background singer. Back in 1991, I wrote a book called “Singing For A Living” and all the labels were hot to book me to coach their artists. My first superstar clients were Brian McKnight and Paula Abdul, then along came Anthony Kiedis, Anna Nalick and Lea Salonga. Then when the record business collapsed and budgets shrank to nearly nothing over the last 10 years, I began to focus on actors who need to sing on film. I crash coursed Benicio Del Toro how to sing for “Escobar: Paradise Lost” and I flew to Panama to conduct him live on camera. That was mind blowing. I learned as much from him as he did from me.

Money has its ups and downs, but I didn’t pick the recording business for the money. I picked it for the freedom to be an artist and tell my own stories. I develop and produce new artists because it’s a creative challenge get inside another artist’s head. You have to be very fluid in the music business. I never know what upheavals might let me position myself differently and push me to be more that I have been.

So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Singing For A Living & Bitches Britches Music story. Tell us more about the business.
I have two companies. With my vocal coaching company Singing For A Living, I specialize in highly disciplined vocal conditioning technique for recording modern music and for stamina for live tours and shows. I specialize in multiple languages, with clients from around the world. What I am most proud of with Singing For A Living is seeing my clients sustain long and healthy careers.

At Bitches Britches Music, my publishing company, I am a BMI songwriter specializing in lyric writing. As a recording artist, with my own label under the same name, I write from the story, and those stories take me to different styles. My music tracks range from alt rock to African folk, to electronic. I play piano and keyboards, and I orchestrate in more cinematic ways. What will set me apart at my record label I think will be a return to the album concept – the storyline that each album tells is a complete unique experience. I think in sonic pictures so I also will write screenplays.

I’m launching my record label this summer with my first album, entitled “FACE” and it will be out on iTunes really soon. My producer is John Philip Shenale (Tori Amos, Jane’s Addiction). It’s a high-energy alt rock album I half recorded in the 90’s and half recorded now. You see, back in the 90’s I had a rock band, then life got really crazy, and there was some violence in my life, but that story is too dramatic to tell here. My fans motivated me to revisit that life story and finish the album. So, I recut some vocals and added new songs. It’s an intense mash up of old school analog, 24 track, live to tape studio recording, newly remixed in the digital space and mastered at Capitol Mastering Studio. It’s a modern sound but its authentic 90’s tracks. I hope you enjoy it.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I throw the Runes. I used to throw the I Ching also. My subconscious really needs spiritual guidance and I believe in chance communication from the spirit world. So, in the zone of Luck, around my career, I don’t do Luck. I do Oracles. The Oracles speak to me when I am indecisive and when I can’t make up my mortal mind. I guess I believe in Chance. But I also believe in destiny, spirit destiny, spirt path, and the inner voice. When it comes right down to it, Bad Luck has happened to me a whole lot. You will have to hear my new album and see those liner notes to get what I mean. But I found out that the bad luck I did not create, but I was too porous and too weak to read my inner signs, when it was flying at me, to fight it and push it back. I think good luck is the same dynamic. Great opportunities definitely came screaming into my path but it took being very aware of my inner world and my goals to see that they were there for me and to take them on and own them. In your career, when it’s all said and done, its perseverance and self-awareness no matter the luck. And relentlessness! Utterly relentless to see your vision through.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.singingforaliving.com
• Phone: 818-752-0833
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Lorraine Day
Gary Leonard
Marta Woodhull