Over the past few years, New Jersey-born, Los Angeles-based sisters Destinee and Paris Monroe have entertained millions of people all over the world by opening for diverse artists such as Lady GaGa, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Stevie Nicks,The Backstreet Boys, Lionel Richie, and scoring a slot as the official opening act on the Cheetah Girls’ “One World” U.S. tour. They’ve also sung their soaring version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a variety of major sporting events. They’ve participated in such events as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Grammy Awards, the Kids’ Choice Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, the American Music Awards, and the MTV Movie Awards. They’ve also performed on NBC’s The Today Show, and have had their songs featured on So You Think You Can Dance, a song featured on the AT&T Team USA Olympic Soundtrack, The Bratz Movie Soundtrack, and most recently the Despicable Me Soundtrack with super producer /artist Pharrell Williams. Sounds like the career of a couple of seasoned performers, right?
Destinee and Paris are indeed seasoned performers, who just happen to be teenagers. They may be young, but the songs the two have delivered on their upcoming U.S. debut album, Heart of Mine, will appeal to anyone with an ear for irresistible, uplifting pop songs about life, love, and friendship. “We want to appeal to everyone.” Paris says. “We want to be defined by our music, not by our age.”
Displaying a maturity beyond the girls’ years, Heart of Mine is a showcase for their considerable songwriting and vocal talent. Aside from a sparkling dancefloor update of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” and the album’s first single, “Pretend,” (written by Polow Da Don and Esther Dean), Destinee and Paris co-wrote every song on the album with noted hitmaker RedOne, and his songwriting team. “Red is amazing to work with,” Destinee says. “Some producers tell you how to sing, but he trusted our talent and let us sing the way we felt, which helped us make an album that truly represents who we are as artists.”
Heart of Mine is the realization of a dream the sisters have had since they were toddlers growing up in verdant Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. The girls would travel to New York City everyday for years doing Theatre, TV Commercials, Voiceovers, Print Work, and Modeling “We’ve always loved entertaining people,” Paris says.
Inspired by Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and BeyoncĂ©, the girls entered a singing competition at a local mall in 2001. The seed was planted and the girls begged their parents for vocal lessons. While training in voice and dance, the girls performed everywhere they could. In 2005 Destinee & Paris attended a Backstreet Boys concert and met the group at their sound-check. “Everyone got to ask the guys questions and our question was, ‘Can we sing for you?’ Paris says. “They handed us their mics and we sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and they were literally bowing down to us, it was hilarious.”
Meanwhile, Destinee learned to play the guitar while Paris continued studying the piano, the girls began writing and recording their own songs. The girls’ father- a guitarist, producer, and sound engineer- built a recording studio in the family’shome for his daughters to record a professional-sounding demo. That ten-song collection found its way into the hands of executives at Interscope Records. In January 2007, the family flew out to Los Angeles for a meeting with friend Vincent Herbert, (Executive producer for Lady Gaga, JoJo) Jolene Cherry, Doug Morris and Jimmy Iovine, “basically, we never left,” Paris says. Destinee and Paris, along with a childhood friend, signed to Interscope in 2007 as The Clique Girlz. They recorded an album, Incredible, which was released in Japan in 2008. Not long after, with creative differences the band dissolved. They decided to go back to their roots as a sister power pop duo.
In July 2009, the girls received word that “red”-hot producer RedOne was interested in working with them. They traveled to Amsterdam to record with him— a session that yielded the melody-minded album gems “Sweet Sarah,” “It’s Over,” and “Heart of Mine.” Next, it was off to Sweden to record the Lindsey Buckingham-penned classic “Go Your Own Way,” which the girls fell in love with for its warm acoustic guitars, shimmering harmonies, and intense lyrics. “We’ve always loved Fleetwood Mac, and when we heard the song, we felt instantly connected to its story,” Destinee says. The rest of the album was recorded in Los Angeles, including “Pretend,” which was produced by Polow Da Don (Fergie, Usher, and Christina Aguilera).
“’Pretend’ is about a girl who’s seeing this guy, and he doesn’t know that she’s seen him flirting with other girls,” Paris explains. “She doesn’t want to lose him, so she pretends she doesn’t know what’s going on.” Adds Destinee: “We wanted to record it because we thought the song was really relatable. Not only is a great song for girls our age, but it’s really heartfelt. We loved that about it.”
“Some of the songs on our album are about our own experiences, sometimes dramatized, we also like putting ourselves in other people’s shoes.” Paris says. The sum effect is an appealing portrait of these two talented sisters who have everything ahead of them, including the release of Heart of Mine and an upcoming tour. “We just want to make people happy with our music” Paris says. “This is what we love to do, and if we can make a career out our passion, that’s something really special.”
Thanks everyone who told me about this (:
20 comments:
I don't like how they referred to Ariel as a "childhood friend". They could have at least acknowledged her more.
^ well she was a childhood friend. I don't know what else they could have said in place of it. They did acknowledge her as being part of the group. I don't think it would sound as professional if they mentioned her by name, because the purpose of this kind of biography is to sell them. You wouldn't name another artist trying artist in something that is meant to sell you.
^ I don't know. I mean, Destinee and Paris are mentioned in Ariel's biography. Yes she was a childhood friend but it makes her seem so unimportant like, "oh yeah she was in our group a while ago but WE'RE the ones who sing so well and WE got signed, nevermind her, she didn't help with that at all"... so I agree with whoever said this before, it seems sad. But I also know that the bio is meant to sell D&P, and that saying how they lost a friend and member of their group, plus mentioning another person, wouldn't help with that. But it wasn't just Destinee and Paris who started their career, Ariel was a big part of that. Just as much as they were. =(
^ I don't think it sounds like that at all. It gave a brief history of the Destinee and Paris, and in that history yes, they had a band that was signed to Interscope records and yes, their childhood friend was in that band with them. I don't think anything else is needed to know. I don't think they need to go into detail about who they were, when they are focused on who they are now. If you look at any other solo artist that was once in a band, or even someone who joined another band after leaving their original band, they never go into detail about the previous band. At the most, they state the name of the band they were in and that's it. Justin Timberlake from *NSYNC, Eric Dill from The Click Five, Ashley Parker Angel from O-Town; none of them mention anything other than the name of the band they started in. That's the professional way of doing it.
"well she was a childhood friend. I don't know what else they could have said in place of it"
They could have simply said Ariel Moore. I'm sure Destinee and Paris still support Ariel 100%. I think it would have been more respectful to put her name instead of saying "childhood friend". Like the other person said, it makes it sound like Ariel was unimportant to the group. But after all, she is the one who helped the girls get signed to Interscope in the first place so they could at least acknowledge her.
Yes, I agree. and let's not forget she decided to leave the group and everyone has moved on. so lets all move on. I'm sure D&P and the label aren't interested to promote the past or someone who left as it was a large investment that was lost. they are all interested in promoting an investment not a loss. Ariel naming D&P in her bio only helps her because of D&P's professional position in the industry. I'm sure its not personal its business.
Yes, I agree. and let's not forget she decided to leave the group and everyone has moved on. so lets all move on. I'm sure D&P and the label aren't interested to promote the past or someone who left as it was a large investment that was lost. they are all interested in promoting an investment not a loss. Ariel naming D&P in her bio only helps her because of D&P's professional position in the industry. I'm sure its not personal its business.
Agreed. I almost said that, but I was afraid it would be taken the wrong way. Ariel chose to leave the group, it's not like the girls kicked her out and then pretended like she didn't exist. She left; the girls acknowledged her as being part of the group; the end.
"well she was a childhood friend. I don't know what else they could have said in place of it"
They could have simply said Ariel Moore. I'm sure Destinee and Paris still support Ariel 100%. I think it would have been more respectful to put her name instead of saying "childhood friend". Like the other person said, it makes it sound like Ariel was unimportant to the group. But after all, she is the one who helped the girls get signed to Interscope in the first place so they could at least acknowledge her.
They did acknowledge her. In a biography such as this, you don't name other trying artists. The point of this is to sell you as an artist, not people from your past. Her name is irrelevant in this write-up; therefore, it's not given. It doesn't make her sound unimportant, but the fact of the matter is The Clique Girlz altogether, is unimportant for this. Period. End of story.
True. It is definitely more professional and that is what people do. But on a personal level, it seems wrong. All though the entertainment business doesn't really focus on personal stuff like that, and D&P are just being professional, and that's good and everything... I still just find it sad. Like, I totally understand why they wouldn't mention her, but since they were friends for so long, it just seems so weird to not even mention her name. I understand that it makes sense and that it's professional and it's what people do, but none of that makes it good or respectful, just usual. And as a person who is part of entertainment and who has been in situations that Ariel, Destinee, and Paris have been in (not nearly as drastic, but similar...), I would want to mention my past stuff (don't really know how to phrase that) because I would just feel wrong not doing so.
However, it's very likely that D&P didn't even write that bio, that someone like their manager did and they just okayed it. And that makes sense too, and if that is the case then I find it totally fine that she isn't really mentioned.
Haha wow that was really long. I write too much =/
The girls would travel to New York City everyday for years doing Theatre, TV Commercials, Voiceovers, Print Work, and Modeling “We’ve always loved entertaining people,” Paris says.
What TV commercials did they do? I know how much they say that they've acted and stuff and not to sound rude because I love them but singing is really more their thing. But I'm really curious! Were they in commercials? And did voiceovers? 'Cause I would totally watch that (if that's legit and not just minor embellishment)... that's SO cool!
^ Kristen, you are officially the best drama-ender i know :D
CANT WAIT TO FOR THEIR TOUR!! hopefully they will come in europe <3 i seriously love destinee and paris! they are such a sweet girls! i hate when people say bad things about them! d&p havent done anything wrong! and i HATE how ppl are still saying that ariel left the clique girlz because of dest and par. and thats not true! but yeah i LOVEEEEEEEEE DESTINEE& PARIS MONROE <333
"It doesn't make her sound unimportant, but the fact of the matter is The Clique Girlz altogether, is unimportant for this. Period. End of story." All I was doing was stating my opinion. You don't have to be that harsh.
Anyway... aside from all the discussion going on about Ariel, who else is super excited for Heart of Mine to be released? This album seriously sounds killer! I wish they would name a release date already!
True. It is definitely more professional and that is what people do. But on a personal level, it seems wrong. All though the entertainment business doesn't really focus on personal stuff like that, and D&P are just being professional, and that's good and everything... I still just find it sad. Like, I totally understand why they wouldn't mention her, but since they were friends for so long, it just seems so weird to not even mention her name. I understand that it makes sense and that it's professional and it's what people do, but none of that makes it good or respectful, just usual. And as a person who is part of entertainment and who has been in situations that Ariel, Destinee, and Paris have been in (not nearly as drastic, but similar...), I would want to mention my past stuff (don't really know how to phrase that) because I would just feel wrong not doing so.
However, it's very likely that D&P didn't even write that bio, that someone like their manager did and they just okayed it. And that makes sense too, and if that is the case then I find it totally fine that she isn't really mentioned.
Haha wow that was really long. I write too much =/
I understand where you're coming from, but the kind of thing you're referring to wouldn't be a professional biography for their website. It'd be more of a self-written bio for fun or something less serious than an official website. And they do mention their past, they mention the band, the tours and albums they released as that band, and several shows they did as the band. But naming people that aren't relevant to what they are selling, in this situation, isn't necessary. But I understand where you're coming from. On a personal level, I'm sure they would have named her. But this isn't a personal thing. It's business.
The girls would travel to New York City everyday for years doing Theatre, TV Commercials, Voiceovers, Print Work, and Modeling “We’ve always loved entertaining people,” Paris says.
What TV commercials did they do? I know how much they say that they've acted and stuff and not to sound rude because I love them but singing is really more their thing. But I'm really curious! Were they in commercials? And did voiceovers? 'Cause I would totally watch that (if that's legit and not just minor embellishment)... that's SO cool!
The commercials may be referring to the Baby Bottle Pops commercials. Not sure though. As for the voiceovers, I have no idea lol. They may have done some some of that as children and just never mentioned it before, but again, I'm not sure. (:
^ Kristen, you are officially the best drama-ender i know :D
HAHA Thank you Rose! xD
"It doesn't make her sound unimportant, but the fact of the matter is The Clique Girlz altogether, is unimportant for this. Period. End of story." All I was doing was stating my opinion. You don't have to be that harsh.
I don't believe I was being harsh.. lol. I was just stating that Ariel wasn't being made to sound unimportant, rather the entire band was. It was nothing against her, but the whole group was irrelevant in this situation. I'm sorry if it sounded harsh, but I wasn't trying to offend you.
At this point, I'm no longer publishing any more comments arguing this matter. So don't include that in your comments if you want it to get published. Thanks.
ariel just posted a bulletin about this and said it was silly.
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