International Lover: Marcus Scott Goes to Australia

  

  Beautiful Nights and Purple Funk (Australia) have teamed up to throw the ultimate Prince party.  

  W2AUS: The Prince Anniversary Party will take place 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. May 31 at The Hi-Fi, 125 Swanston St., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Marcus Scott, of Beautiful Nights in Chicago, will be the host. DJ Phil K and special guest DJ Philvester will be featured on the turntables all night long. Tickets are $25, plus a booking fee (AUD) and this is an 18 and over event.

  The night's theme will celebrate the one-year anniversary of Prince's Welcome 2 Australia Tour stop in Melbourne. Highlights will include, songs, concert footage and music videos from Prince and related artists; special cocktails; a “Sexy MF” contest (with three categories including “purple,” “Princely” and “sexy”), with prizes donated by Seattle Artist Troy Gua and a special performance by Scott.

  “This is a purple night that you are never going to forget,” said Party Organizer Sofie Hendrickse, who has been a Prince fan since 1981. “So 'let's get crazy! Let's get nuts!”

  The event was the brainchild of Hendrickse and Karen Parrish, both of Melbourne. The two met last year in Parrish's “Princepirations” Facebook Group which she started in May 2012 after seeing Prince on the Welcome 2 Australia Tour. This will be the first Prince party hosted in Melbourne, according to the pair.

Sofie Hendrickse

   Hendrickse said the idea was formulated when she made a comment on the page that she thought someone in Melbourne should throw a Prince party, as a way for local fans to “cope” with only seeing him in concert intermittently. She added that he has only been to Australia three times in the last 20 years: The Diamonds and Pearls Tour (1992); World Tour (2003) and Welcome 2 Australia Tour (2012). 

  She said Parrish, who has been a Prince fan for 33 years, joined in the online conversation and assured her that they could make it happen. The two had never met in person, but, not long after that exchange, they were on the telephone brainstorming and discussing ideas. They launched Purple Funk (Australia) as a business venture and “the rest is history.”

  Hendrickse added that his last stint in Oz left many fans with what she called “P.P.D.,” or “Post Prince Depression,” especially since he started touring the United States earlier this year.

  “Australia just can't get enough of Prince and...I was, and still am, on a 'purple high'” Parrish said. “I felt the best way to bring back the Prince magic was to gather our purple family together for one special night...”

  “Melbourne went into a frenzy” when Prince had his afterparty at the Hi-Fi last year. More than 5,000 people lined up to get inside, but, only 900, including Hendrickse, got in. While he did not perform that night, he did DJ for a bit (with DJ Rashida) and she got the chance to meet Cassandra O'Neal, who was then a keyboard player in Prince's band. When the ladies approached the club with the idea for a Prince party, the booker was very interested, Hendrickse said.

  They have promoted the event through the W2AUS Facebook event page, Twitter, the Purple Funk (Australia) Web site (purplefunk.org) and press releases to radio and print media. There has also been strong word of mouth in their local Prince community.

 In addition, there has also been a whirlwind of planning including hiring DJs and a photographer, selecting music videos, concert footage and music for the party, arranging accommodations for Scott and much more,said Hendrickse, who has past experience as an event manager.

  Parrish said it has been “months of hard work, late nights (and) networking,” but, that the response has been “fantastic.”

Karen Parrish

  As of this writing more than 580 people have responded to their event page to say they will attend the party and that although that figure does not represent everyone who has already purchased tickets, sales have been moving “very nicely,” Hendrickse said.

  "The fun part has been interacting with Prince fans on our event page, witnessing their excitement and feeling appreciated,” she said. “It's exciting to know that we are bringing everyone so much 'purple pleasure.'”

  The ladies met Scott online when he joined the Princepirations page, around the time he was planning the very first Beautiful Nights Prince party in Chicago, hosted by Maya and Nandy McClean, better known as The Twinz, who originally hail from Australia. The three began talking and they asked him if would be interested in hosting their Prince party in Australia. He readily agreed, Hendrickse said.

  Scott said he is grateful and honored that he was asked to host this party. He arrived on May 23 and will spend two weeks in Melbourne. He is looking forward to meeting a lots of new Prince fans at the party and sharing music and stories with them. He will perform a couple of times during the course of the night, but, that it will be “nothing extravagant.” He will focus on answering questions and taking pictures for anyone who is interested. His goal is to be a “respectful American representing Chicago.”

 He also said he's not going to the party to “be Prince” and that he hopes people don't expect to see him in ruffled shirts, high-waisted pants and a purple jacket. In fact, he has another role model in mind for the night's party --James Bond-- and said that watching a 007 movie recently inspired him to likely wear a tuxedo to the event.

  “I want to be a smooth operator,” he said.

Marcus Scott

  To add to the festivities, Scott will be celebrating his 36^th birthday May 25 and the ladies arranged a gathering for him at the Blue Diamond to celebrate.

  He said that he is thrilled to spreading the Beautiful Nights message across the globe, but, he wants to let his stateside fans know that he hasn't forgotten them.

  “Since we had the first (Beautiful Nights party last November), I've been in high demand,” he said. “I'm going constantly going to all these different parties. I tell people they will just have to wait (for another Beautiful Nights party). There's only one me, (but), I haven't forgotten about the Chi.”

  He added that he hopes this bash will lead to more Prince parties in Melbourne.

  Parrish, on her part, hopes that this event will have even far more reaching effects.

  “This party will be so loud and so funky it will wake (Prince) in his boots wherever he may be,” she said. “We hope he hears us and returns to Oz. We are waiting!”

Tickets are still available at thehifi.com.au.

Visit the W2AUS: The Prince Anniversary Party event page at www.facebook.com/W2AUS.

Stay beautiful, Kristi

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Lead photo courtesy of Purple Funk (Australia). Design by Troy Gua.

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Life o' the Party: Beautiful Nights Goes 2 Hollywood

 
  Beautiful Nights is going back to Cali.

  Marcus Scott, of the Beautiful Nights Facebook Page and Prince parties, based in Chicago, is headed to Southern California next week to assist with "Welcome 2 Paisley Park in LA," a HEAD party hosted by Myles Gullette, better known as DJ Myles Matisse, at 9 p.m. Jan. 26, at the Palms Bar, 8572 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. This is a 21 and over event and there is a $10 cover charge.

  The night will include music and videos by Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and associated artists and there will be several giveaways courtesy of internet radio station lodoun247.com, which specializes in hip hop and R&B. Matisse also said he will decorate the space "from floor to ceiling" with Prince and Minneapolis Sound-related album covers, photos and his own original paintings which will give the club a visual flair that is missing from many other Prince parties. There will also be a "Princely" drink menu, where the cocktails will be named after songs from the night's featured artists.

  Partygoers will also get to see some very special surprise guests connected to the world of Prince, he added.
  "Just expect the best, most complete experience that you've ever had at a Prince party," he said. "One full of funk and the Minneapolis sound. Expect to have your senses rocked in every way."

Courtesy of Myles Matisse

  Matisse, the self-described "producer/host/dj/vj/designer" of the HEAD Prince parties has hosted between 15 and 20 events at the Palms Bar since 2008. Maneca Lightner, best known as the model on three album covers for Prince's jazz-based Madhouse project, even hosted one of the parties.

  However, the parties have had modest turnouts-- about 75 people attended to the party Lightner hosted -- and approximately 25 people went to the last party in December 2011. He said the LA Prince fans are a tight-knit group and that the word of mouth on his parties rarely spreads outside this community. He tried other methods -- such as handing out approximately 400 flyers outside the Los Angeles Forum during Prince's last stint there in 2011-- but, attendance did not significantly increase.

Courtesy of Myles Matisse

   Tamiko Umoren, originally from Chicago and now an LA resident, is an acquaintance of Matisse and Scott's friend. She was the one who first suggested bringing the two of them together to help increase attendance at the HEAD parties. She said she got the idea after attending the first Beautiful Nights party last November in Chicago and Purple Funk SF's New Year's Eve party in San Francisco a little more than a month later. After seeing the crowd's response whenever Scott walked into a room, she approached him at the party in San Francisco to see if he would want to work on future HEAD party. He said he would.
  She sent Matisse a Facebook message to gauge his interest and he also agreed. Scott, in turn, got in touch with him to discuss helping with promotion,-- including increased advertising on the Beautiful Nights and Purple Funk SF Facebook pages-- and bringing in special guests. The collaboration quickly grew from there.

Courtesy of Myles Matisse

 "I figured it's gonna be a perfect match. Why not give it a shot?" Umoren, who has been a Prince fan since she was 7 years old, said. "(Scott) and (Matisse) made it happen. Needless to say, on (January) 26, I think we're going to turn it out."
  However, Scott said he wanted to make it clear that he was brought in to assist and that he will not "take over" the night's events. He even compared their team effort to a Chicago Bulls combination of the 1990s: with Matisse being Michael Jordan to Scott's Scottie Pippen.

  He added that there have already been results from the increased promotion: there will be people coming in from Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area and other places just to attend the party.

  "It's already getting a lot of buzz and I'm just doing my part," Scott said. "It'll leave room from a lot of great parties in the future."

Courtesy of Marcus Scott

  Matisse, originally from Kentucky, said he heard Prince for the first time in 1981, while he was attending a baptist private school, and he has been a DJ since 1984. He attended Eastern Kentucky University, where he hosted a campus radio show devoted mostly to Prince and associated artists, before dropping out a year and a half later to join the Army.

  In 1986 he began to DJ at military clubs and civilian bars. During his stint in the military he moved to Germany and began DJ work there in 1988. He later moved back to the United States where he spent some time in Texas, before attending Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. to study theater (with a minor in film studies) in the early 1990s. While there, he also produced 10 episodes of "The Max,"--named after Prince's 1992 song-- for the campus TV station that featured music videos and, again, was largely dedicated to Prince and associated artists.

  "I don't know any other artist who has such a passion for music and has such a large musical family that he has touched," Matisse said.

  He said he moved to California in 1995 to pursue work in acting, film production, writing and as a DJ. Once there, he was able to secure work filiming concerts and live comedy shows. He said he became inspired to start the HEAD parties a few years later after he went to events that claimed to be "Prince parties," but, by the end of the night would be playing songs by completely unrelated artists. He said he wanted to create a place for himself and other fans that "sticks 100 percent with Prince, (Jimmy) Jam and (Terry) Lewis and related music" and he also wanted to appeal to the dedicated fans by playing concert footage and unreleased songs at the parties.

Courtesy of Myles Matisse

  Matisse said that now with the collaboration of HEAD and Beautiful Nights he hopes he gets the chance to share his vision with even more people: old fans, new fans and people who may have "forgotten" about the Minneapolis Sound.

  "Just expect to have a beautiful night, a wonderful night, a Princely night," he said. "Ultimately, it's a night that would make Prince or anybody (associated with) the Minneapolis Sound happy."

  Tickets will only be available at the door. Also, all guests will receive one raffle ticket for the night's giveaways at entry and additional raffle tickets will be available for $1.00 each.

Stay beautiful, Kristi

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Lead photo courtesy of Marcus Scott.

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Party Like it's 1999: Beautiful Nights meets Purple Funk SF

  

  Marcus Scott, of the Beautiful Nights Facebook page and fan parties, will bring some Chicago flavor to the San Francisco Bay Area this New Year's Eve.

  Purple Funk SF, a group dedicated to celebrating Prince's music, will present an end-of-the-year bash, "1999 New Year's Eve Dance Party" at 9 p.m. Dec. 31 at Rassela's Jazz Club, 1534 Fillmore St., San Francisco. The cost is $19.99 and the night's theme will be 1999, in honor of Prince's 1982 breakthrough album. The event will be hosted by DJ Miguel "Hightop" Fonseca.

  Special guests include Scott, who is traveling from the Midwest and Jeff Harris, a local DJ best known for his work with the Prince vs. Michael Jackson parties. The party will feature mainstream, as well as unreleased, songs, music videos and a special performance by Scott. Christophur T will oversee art direction and Evol Knight will be the event photographer.

  “It will be a beautiful purple funky night,” said Christophur T, of Purple Funk SF.

 Courtesy of Willie Adams, aka DJ Spooky Electric

  The group consists of Fonseca, Christophur T, Willie Adams, aka DJ Spooky Electric, Evol Knight and Monya K. The idea was born after Prince made a stop in Oakland for the Welcome 2 America Tour in 2011. Not long after, Fonseca approached Adams about reviving all-Prince parties in the Bay Area, in the spirit of now defunct Prince fan groups like the Dream Factory and Bay NPG (New Power Generation), Adams said.

  Adams then tapped Christophur T to come on board, since the two had collaborated in the past to throw Prince parties in the Bay Area, the last one being held in 2008. The Purple Funk SF group held their first party in June 2012, which featured a live Prince tribute by The Scoundrels.

  “There (are) a lot of Prince groups all over the world,” Adams said. “But, we wanted to distinguish ourselves and represent the Bay (Area) and give it that Bay (Area) flavor.”

Adams and Christophur T both met Scott when he traveled to California in June 2008 to attend one of their parties in Berkeley. Christophur T said that he had mistaken Scott for another well-known Prince fan Sir Jack based in Santa Cruz, Calif. and greeted him as such before realizing his mistake. However, the two connected that night and have periodically kept in touch, via Facebook and by telephone.

Courtesy of Christophur T

  Adams recalled another meeting, also in 2008, when Scott attended a party where he was the DJ in San Jose. He said that after he was done playing, Scott told him he liked his style and gave him a copy of “21 Nights,” a coffee table book featuring Prince, that had just been released at the time. He said he was “blown away” by the gesture and never forgot it. He has not seen Scott since that last meeting, but, they have also kept in touch since then.

  When Scott started Beautiful Nights, he reached out to members of Purple Funk SF and they in turn, invited him to collaborate with them on their New Year's Eve party. They have been in talks since the Beautiful Nights team was planning their first party, which took place in November 2012, and featured Maya and Nandy McClean, better known as The Twinz, who have worked extensively with Prince, Adams said.

  “It just made sense for us to come out to support each other,” he said. “It was really just out of a spirit of collaboration and appreciation for the music and the culture.”

  Scott said he is looking forward to visiting the Bay Area again for the first time in more than three years, performing at the party and meeting new people. He said he hopes this party will bring the focus back to Prince's music and uniting fans from all walks of life.

  “We need to set an example for the new generation of Prince fans,” Scott said. “If everybody just supports each other, we could have the ultimate Prince party.”

  Adams said he wanted fans to know that this will be a one-of-a-kind event and anybody into the “purple culture,” will not want to miss it.

  “Get ready a for a night that you will never, never forget,” he said. “If you're a Prince fan, this is the place you want to be.”

Stay beautiful, Kristi

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Lead photo courtesy of Purple Funk SF.

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For You: An Interview with Alexis Wofford

This is Part II of a four-part series featuring the Beautiful Nights creative team:

  Alexis Wofford wants Beautiful Nights members to know that everything the group does is for the fans.

   Wofford, of Chicago, is a part of the team behind the Facebook page and parties, dedicated to Prince and associated acts, along with Marcus Scott, Bemaji Tillman and L'Quita Sanders, all of Chicago.

  The group held their first party Nov. 24 at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Chicago. The event, hosted by The Twinz, Maya and Nandy McClean, also featured DJ Maurice Ice Culpepper, and had a turnout of between 150 to 200 people.

  “It was a very nice turnout, it was a revolving turnout,” Wofford said. “If there were people who came early and left, someone (else) was coming in.”

  Wofford, who is in her early 30s, is executive producer of “Stats and Stilettos,” a sports-radio show that airs Sunday nights on WVON 1690 AM. The show focuses on showing sports from the point of view of both sexes and targets a younger demographic. The show celebrated its one- year anniversary in November of this year.

  Her first on-air interview was when she interviewed The Twinz about two weeks ago to promote the Beautiful Nights party.

  “What a way to crack a mike,” she said.

  During a recent telephone interview with “Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s,” she discussed the moment she fell in love with Prince, her feelings on the fan response to Beautiful Nights and bringing the party to a city near you.

Courtesy of Alexis Wofford

 ?: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background. How long have you been a Prince fan? How did you get involved with Beautiful Nights?

  AW: [I] graduated from the Illinois Center for Broadcast last November... I have a love for entertainment and arts and radio and music overall. Music is a passion of mine. (Scott) is a good friend of mine. We met about a year and a half ago and we just clicked. He sent me a text message about a meeting at his house...  When I got to his house, he and (Tillman) were there. When he said 'Prince,' I was on board. They said 'we want to give back to the fans and reach out to the protegees.' It was an honor for Marcus to (ask me to) come aboard...

  I was probably six when I started to like Prince. My mom used to play music on the record (player) all the time...On the weekends she would play Lady Cab Driver and Controversy. One day I picked up the 1999 album and looked at the insert (with Prince lying across a bed with a sheet pulled up halfway across his body) and thought 'oh my God, this man is beautiful' and this is at six (years old)!. Instantly I knew what type of man I was going to like...

  My mom would take me to Loop records in Downtown Chicago and I would buy a 45 every Saturday. The very first Prince record I bought was When Doves Cry with 17 days as the B-side... and I knew this going to my favorite artist for life.

  

Courtesy of Alexis Wofford

?: What area of expertise do you bring to the parties?

  AW: The creativity. I also keep people calm. I work in that area to where if there are any loose ends, I tie them all up... I make sure all those ideas are perfected. Also, I work along with [Sanders], making sure the numbers are done... I make sure I figure in the most accurate information...

  ?: What has been your favorite part of this experience so far?

  AW: The planning is definitely the fun part and seeing the ideas we have come to pass. [Also], meeting and greeting all the people...But, seeing everything we put the effort into coming to life is what satisfies me the most.
?: What would you like to see improve about the next party? 

  AW: Just time management, so that we can ensure that everything is summed up and punctual... I like for everything to run on a schedule.

  ?: What has been some of the reaction you have received so far about the Beautiful Nights party and the Facebook page? What has been some of the criticism?
 AW: I'm amazed (at) the reception that we're getting, being a new [Facebook] page. Sometimes, people don't know who are you are (and) people don't respect what you're trying to do as a group. It's been overwhelming, (but), people (are) accepting us into the Prince group... To be honest, I haven't heard any criticism. Beautiful Nights is going to tell you exactly who they are (and) they are bringing (the protegees) to you. The people from Prince's camp are on that page, too. There is nothing more that Beautiful Nights can ask for. We can only go up from there. I will not ever miss my 'Cirque du Soleil moment'. But, the fact that they (Tillman and Scott) both wanted me to be apart of it means a lot. The group that I work with, I'm thankful for.

  ?: Who would you like to see host a future party? Why?

  AW: Prince. That's self explanatory. That is the status I want to get to. The reason we're throwing this party is because of this man...the reason I fell in love at six. Even if he doesn't talk to anybody at the party, even if he just waved...We would know that we put our stamp on the hearts of our fans, but, also, on the man we're trying to honor.

Courtesy of Alexis Wofford

  ?: You can tell a lot about a Prince fan by who their favorite protegee is. Who is yours and why?

  AW: Sheila E. is my favorite protegee. She's talented all around. She plays an instrument (and) she can captivate an audience...even if she doesn't sing. She is bad.

  ?: What is the most unique piece of Prince Memoribilia you own or have owned in the past?

  AW: A couple things, actually. When I went to the Musicology concert (in 2004), I actually bought a Prince teddy bear (with a Prince t-shirt)...(Also), I have a symbol necklace I found on eBay. (It is) a gold necklace, with Swarovski crystals with teardrop diamonds and matching earrings. I found one of the crescent earrings that (Prince) wears and I wore it to the Beautiful Nights party. If you come to my house, on my coffee table...there is a spiral notebook, that actually has the Prince cover on the front. It has to be special, whatever I write in there...

  ?: What would you like to see happen with Beautiful Nights in the next year?

  AW: I would love to take this show on the road...offer Beautiful Nights to different cities... [T]o where [the group becomes] a charitable organization that gives back... [I] would love to be able to incorporate this into the community, not just (give back to) the fans and the protegees, but, the people who need help. You see a lot of promoters who are out here for personal gain, but I want to separate Beautiful Nights from that.

  ?: What is your personal message for Beautiful Nights fans?

  AW: Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the support for the love you've show Beautiful Nights... We'll do our best to make sure that each beautiful night is more beautiful than the last...

Check out Stats and Stilettos on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StatsandStilettos, on Twitter at (@StatsStilettos) or at www.blogtalkradio.com/statsandstilettos.

Stay beautiful, Kristi

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Lead photo courtesy of Alexis Wofford.

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Much 2 Hot 2 B Cool: K Nicola Talks 2 The Twinz

   It takes two to make “A Beautiful Night.”

  The team behind the Beautiful Nights Facebook group, a page dedicated to Prince and associated artists, have tapped Singers/Dancers/Choreographers Maya and Nandy McClean, better known as The Twinz, to be special guests at the group's kick-off Prince party, “A Beautiful Night,” at 10 p.m. Nov. 24 at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4701 S. King Dr., in Chicago. The two will host, meet and greet with the fans and sign autographs. The party is being thrown by Marcus Scott, Bemaji Tillman, Alexis Wofford and L'Quita Sanders, all of Chicago. The event will also feature DJ Maurice Ice Culpepper.

  “We got connected (with Beautiful Nights) and we thought it would be a cool, fun event,” Maya said. “We're definitely looking forward to mingling with the fans.”

  The pair is best known for working with Prince since 2005. They performed with him during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLI in 2007,  did a six-month residency at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas starting in 2006,  there was a historic 21-night run at the O2 Arena in London and were featured in 21 Nights, a coffee-table book released in conjunction with the London concerts. They were also featured with the artist on American Idol, Saturday Night Live, the videos for his singles “Fury,” “Guitar” and “Chelsea Rodgers” and a Verizon Wireless TV commercial, according to a press release.

  “It was a big chain of events,” Nandy said. “It just started working one right after the other.”

Maya McClean, courtesy of Coastal Connection Group

  They have also worked with Chris Brown, Rihanna and LeToya Luckett. For the last two years they have fronted the urban pop-rock band Heroine December-- the group name being a combination of a suggestion from Prince, who noted the word “heroine” in one of their songs and the fact that the band was formed in the month of December. The group released the promotional single “Weekend,” in April 2011, which is available on iTunes and they working on a currently untitled album, which will be released in early 2013.

  They also teamed up again with Prince more recently in 2011 for his 21-night stand at The Forum in Los Angeles and the Welcome 2 Australia tour earlier this year, according to The Twinz' Facebook page.

  Before The Twinz hit U.S. soil they were well known in their native Australia. They both auditioned for Season 2 of Austrailan Idol, in 2004: Maya made the Top 30; Nandy did not. They created a sensation when Maya withdrew from the show to continue pursuing a career as a duo with her sister. They continued to work in Australia doing commercials, theater, fashion shows and movies, appearing in Moulin Rouge, starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor, according to the Prince Vault Web site.

  The next year, they relocated to Los Angeles to further their careers and quickly found the break they were looking for. Their third audition was for backup dancers in a music video in a revue reminiscent of Ike and Tina Turner, featuring Tamar, an artist Prince was working with at the time.

  Nandy said they later heard that when Prince saw the audition tape, he saw one of The Twinz dancing and said “she moves in an interesting way.” Then the camera panned out and he saw that the dancer had an identical twin who moved the same way and that's when he made his decision.

  The music video eventually fell through, but, Prince tapped Maya and Nandy to back up Tamar on her tour, which he eventually ended up joining himself after Tamar's original guitar player dropped out. This was after being in America for a little more than six weeks and they said things took off from there.

Nandy McClean, courtesy of Coastal Connection Group

  They said they have two moments they consider career highlights: performing for their childhood idol Michael Jackson in Las Vegas and performing with Prince at the Super Bowl. Maya described the moment when she was waiting to begin the halftime performance and was in a position looking up at the sky. The sky was changing as it began to rain and there was a moment of reflection. She said it was a “really peaceful gratitude moment”.

  “The Super Bowl, that was amazing,” she said. “Especially when it started raining. That was a whole different ball game – literally.”

  On the night Jackson attended one of the 3121 shows at the Rio Hotel, they said their hairdresser did not tell them that Michael was there until after she finished their hair, because she did not want them to “bolt from their chairs” before she was done.

  The first chance they got, Maya said, the two checked the set list and saw that they did not have to go on stage until the third song, which gave them nine minutes to talk to their idol. The girls found him backstage and talked with him for as long as they could before they had to go to their places.
  However, this was not the first time they met Jackson: He came to Sydney with the HIStory Tour when The Twinz were 16 years old. They ended up visiting his hotel room for three hours and were able to speak with the artist and a chorus of children who accompanied him when he sang “Heal the World” onstage. They later auditioned as backup dancers on the ill-fated “This is It” tour in 2009, but were not chosen. She said they were both very emotional when they heard he passed away later that year.

  “He was beautiful, really generous,” she said.

  They cited Mariah Carey as a another professional influence and said their favorite associated Prince acts are Sheila E. and Andy Allo, respectively. But, there is only person who they said inspired them from the very beginning, their mother Maureen Gwendolyn Moseley, who passed away in early 2012.

  “She had a huge heart,” Nandy said. She was a symbol of unconditional love. Just her energy... she was always happy.”

 The Twinz were born in a remote area of Northern Australia to Hughes, who did charity work with underprivileged children, and Bruce McClean, a musician from Trinidad. They had an interest in the arts from an early age. They would learn the choreography from music videos and perform the routines in their bedrooms. They later moved to Sydney and studied singing, acting and dancing at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium of Arts and Brent Street, a performing arts school, according to a press release.

  Nandy said that in their private lives they are both pretty outspoken and really honest. The two declined to give their ages and said jokingly that they were “as old as they looked”. They added that they do not drink or smoke and they are committed to being healthy. They are at a point in their lives where they are more self aware and conscious and try to encourage others to feel the same.

  “You're as old as you feel,” Nandy said.

  In the next year The Twinz want to release an album, books shows-- especially one at the world famous Roxy nightclub in Los Angeles--, start their own entertainment company and work on getting a record deal. They are also very interested in using their talents for humanitarian efforts and donating to charity. Some artists they said they would like to work with include India.Arie, Bruno Mars, Rihanna and, of course, Prince.

  They said they are really looking forward to seeing one thing in particular Saturday: impersonators. They said they have heard about a "Prince impersonator" (Scott, who will be performing that night) and are particularly looking forward to seeing their own “impersonators,” another pair of twins who they discovered while looking through the Beautiful Nights Facebook page in a picture with Scott,  where the three re-created a famous shot of the The Twinz and Prince looking at their reflections in the mirror.

  “I definitely want to connect with them,” Maya said.

  She also had a personal message for all the fans of the Beautiful Nights page:

“We'd love to give them a shout out, give our love to them, tell them to get dressed up and look fly. We look forward to meeting as many people (as possible).”

For more information about The Twinz and Heroine December visit facebook.com/heroinedecember, heroinedecember.com and twitter.com/thetwinz.

Stay beautiful, Kristi

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Lead photo courtesy of Coastal Connection Group.

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U Got the Look: An Interview With Mr. Marcus Scott

This is Part I in a four-part series of interviews with the Beautiful Nights Creative Team:

  Beautiful Nights fans can now meet the man behind the “face” of the group's Facebook page.

  That's how Marcus Scott, 35, of Chicago, refers to his position on the creative team responsible for “A Beautiful Night,” the group's inaugural Prince party being held from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Nov. 24 at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4107 S. King Dr., in Chicago, that will feature DJ Maurice Ice Culpepper and Dancers/Singers Maya and Nandy McClean, better known as the Twinz, as special guests.

  The foursome launched their Facebook fan page last month –which has now has more than 700 members-- and includes Bemaji Tillman, Alexis Wofford and LaQuita Sanders, all of Chicago.

  Scott, who has a background in sales, said that the team designated him the “face,” or official spokesperson of the group, because he has facial profile, which, to many is remarkably similar to Prince's, that people respond to, in person and on his frequent Facebook posts.

  He said he has been an avid Prince fan since 1992, when, as a teenager, he heard the Symbol album for the first time (although he cited Sign o' the Times as his favorite album) and the first concert he attended was at the United Center in Chicago and he “hasn't missed a beat since,” traveling across the United States and abroad --including Montreal, Brussels and London-- to see the legend in concert.

  In the ensuing years, he has become a major fixture in the Prince Community, including being a regular attendee at the now defunct Sunday-night Prince parties at Berlin nightclub in Chicago and briefly taking over as the party promoter after the original promoter left) and is familiar to Prince fans from around the world.

Scott agreed to a telephone interview for the launch of “Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s,” where he discussed his favorite associated Prince act, meeting other Prince fans and how “A Beautiful Night” came to be:

  ?: How did you become involved with “ A Beautiful Night”?

  MS: When Prince came to Chicago [for a three-night residency at the United Center that started Sept. 24] and I threw a house party and everybody came from all over including Tuna from Tokyo. I'm very popular and I appreciate the fact that people show me so much love. It was flooded with people.

  There is nothing like a good Prince party, but, there's nothing like a good Prince house party... Plastic cups and everything. I always said I would rather go to a Prince party than throw a Prince party, because the better time people are having, the more work on the person throwing the party...

  I said if I throw a Prince party, it has to be different than any other party. (Tillman) said it was a nice touch to have Robin Power [a former Prince protegee who co-starred in the 1990 film Graffitti Bridge with Prince who attended Scott's September party].

(Tillman) approached me about having (regular) Prince parties, he brought in (Sanders) and I brought in (Wofford).

  I wanted the first party to be New Year's Eve with Sheila E., (Tillman) wanted it to be with Tamar [a singer who was featured prominently on Prince's album 3121 and who also recorded an unreleased solo album produced by Prince, both in 2006] Thanksgiving weekend.

  Tamar fell through and luckily the Twinz jumped on board real fast. I wanted somebody currently working with Prince, that would be a good look. Things (are) going very fast. I know it's going to be a bumpy ride, so I'm wearing two seat belts! (Laughing)

  We're not going to have it every month, because I don't want people to get burnt out.

The [Harold Washington] cultural center is like our Paisley Park in Chicago. It's for the community...and it's for the arts.

  We wanted to touch on people that have been apart of [Prince's] life, it's all about Prince, but, we kind of want to branch out. Once we have the party and people start posting pictures I think the page will take off.

  Beautiful Nights is incorporated. It will be a business. I'm the talker, I'm the salesperson. I've been in sales for 8 years, once I talk to you, I got you. Some people want to see what you're working with and you have to kind of show them...So, each party... is going to pay for itself. We're not really taking a profit. The price is going to fluctuate depending on whether the protegee is a special guest or they're performing."

  ?: What will make “A Beautiful Night” unique compared to other Prince parties you've been to in the past?

  MS: [B]ringing in the protegees and the live band at the end [Tillman's band, House of Twang, will hold a live jam session toward the end of the party]. This is going to be cool, because some of the protegees are musicians, who's to say that they won't sit in with the band? I think Mr. Man, Mr. (Prince) Nelson, is going to like that. (Tillman) had albums out, he used to record. I actually did background vocals on some of his albums.

  ?: What area of expertise will do you bring to the Beautiful Nights team?

  MS: I'm the face of the party, I'm the people pleaser (laughing), Mr. Excitement. I don't want to use (the word) mascot. I'm the one that finds the protegees because I've met them over the years and they trip out how much I look like the person they used to work for.

  ?: What would you say about detractors who may accuse you of using your resemblance to Prince to push the Beautiful Nights parties?

  MS: I look the way I look and I like Prince. I'm not using anything. I think it's a good gimmick, but, that's not the reason why (I'm doing this). If it's something you enjoy doing and people love it, let's go with the love. It's more (other) people that be tripping than I do. It's them, it's not me.

  ?: You can tell a lot about a Prince fan by who their favorite protegee/associated act is, who is yours and why?

  MS: "I would have to say The Time, because they are very consistent. Even with trying to get the original band together and going to The Original 7ven [during their reunion album and short-lived reunion tour in 2011, because the group was not granted permission to use the name “The Time” for the venture]. They're still relevant... they still get down."
  ?: What is the most unique piece of Prince memorabilia that you own or have owned in the past?

  MS: The picture discs [Vinyl LPs that have pictures on the entire disc, instead of the standard record labels]. You don't see them around anymore, they are not an every day item that you see. This isn't something you can say 'I'm going to the record store (to get)'. The records stores don't really exist anymore.

   ?: What do you envision for the next year for the “Beautiful Nights” team? What do you hope to accomplish?

  MS: Hopefully we have... many successful parties and a couple them of them (will be) overseas. I'm looking at it like a brand. Or (for) “A Beautiful Night” to become an official Prince party. I think that would be a good look... To have Prince kind of mess with us and say “not bad, not bad at all” and eventually do “A Beautiful Night at Paisley Park” and be like 'Special Guest: Prince.' (Laughing)

  ?: What is your personal message for fans on the Beautiful Nights fan page?

  MS: 1Love. 1Goodtime.

Tickets are still available online at ticketweb.com

Stay beautiful, Kristi

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Lead photo courtesy of Marcus Scott.

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