Moodring

From Urapopstar
Jump to navigationJump to search
Moodring
300px
{{{Caption}}}
Background information
Formed 2008
Origin United Kingdom
Genre R&B
Pop
Years active 2008-Present
Label Fusion Records
Associated acts
Kirby L. Avalon
Just Ginger
Emily Henning
L.E.X
Taylor
Vanessa Flowers



Beginnings[edit | edit source]

Moodring consists of Cassandra "Cassie" Garcia (b. 30 August, 1986), Brittany "Bre" Washington (b. 15 February 1980) and L'mondrea Brown (b. 20 June, 1986). Past members include Maria "Mia" Rose (b. 8 October 1985). Cassie, Bre and Maria met as they were all songwriters for other acts. When working on a song in late 2008 the trio clicked and decided to form a group.

2009-2011: Mood Swings[edit | edit source]

The Mood Swings project began in February 2009, and before commiting to the album and band they decided to asses the public's reaction. A promotional single, Alive is what they used to do this. The song peaked at #25 on 5th April 2009, which was considered a success for the band as they had done limited promotion, and they agreed to continue and planned a full single. The band were set to release this single, A Dangerous Liaison but founding member Maria Rose left the group and was replaced by L'mondrea Brown later in the year. Moodring went back to the studio for the rest of 2009 to both record new tracks and rerecord old ones with L'mondrea's vocals. They returned to the public eye in January 2010 when they announced A Dangerous Liaison would be released on 1st February, and then continued with heavy promotion. The single was played for the first time on local radio stations around the UK on January 18th 2010, the video shot the next day. The track was pushed back a week and released on February 8th when it peaked at #9, which was considered another success for Moodring. During the promotion for the single, Moodring signed promotional deals with both Cook's Chicken and the WWF, Ironically selling chicken and saving animals at the same time. A third single, Dirty Dirty was slated for a May release, along with the album, entitled Mood Swings. However, the opportunity to compete in the fourth Tango Challenge(officially titled Tango Challenge 4: Blind Date) arose, and Moodring decided they wanted to compete.

The group performed a brand new song at the Tango heats, "Fantasy" and it received a good reaction from the public, and got them through to the challenge. The pairs were announced March 15, 2010, and it was announced Moodring were to work with Kirby L. Avalon who Cassie had also started a romance with. The pair wrote and recorded another new song for this single: Hey Lady (Why Don't You?) which dealt with the issue of domestic violence. The song charted at #8 and became Moodring's highest charting single to date, despite worries it would flop. Moodring's forthcoming album, Mood Swings almost leaked on to the internet in April 2010, in its original form. This would have leaked several songs from the completed album, however many of the tracks on the original have been changed or not included. It turned out to be Bre's ex husband Robert Washington who leaked the promo on ebay and it was promptly taken down. It was announced in April that Moodring would be supporting Emily Henning for the first leg of The Only Human Tour. The fourth single from the album was the planned third single, Dirty Dirty and was released on June 14, earning the band their highest chart position yet: #2. Dirty Dirty also went on to be Moodring's highest selling single. The band also fronted a new promotional campaign, this time for Bio oil, with group and individual magazine ads and billboards. The album, Mood Swings was also be released on the same date, debuting straight to #1. On July 5, Moodring signed to Elite to the dismay of Bre, who would rather stay independent. The song managed to chart at number 19 on both airplay and downloads a week before its release. Moodring also feature on a remix of a song by rapper L.E.X entitled Nothing Of Me. Although they do not feature on the main version of the song, they sing lead on a remix and Cassie stars in the video.

Moodring announced on June 12 that I Know That I'm Sexy (Don't Tell Me) featuring Taylor would be the fifth single, with a release date TBA. On June 28 it was announced that Gonna Make You Beg featuring Vanessa Flowers would be released too, as a AA side. After a break of writing and supporting Emily Henning on tour, The songs gained their radio premiere on July 21 to positive reviews. The following day, Moodring signed to Fusion Records after the closure of Elite. This will be the first single released on that label. On July 30, Moodring discovered they were rated at #9 in URAPS RATE 14. The last rate they were in only saw them reach the lower reaches. The video for I Know That I'm Sexy (Don't Tell Me) was filmed on August 3. The video for Gonna Make You Beg was filmed on August 5 and August 6 in both Los Angeles and Kenya and premiered to positive reviews. Moodring announced that they were releasing a single in Japan in October, entitled Stars. The single debuted at #2, Moodring's second single to reach that position. On September 12 Moodring officially announced that Fantasy would be the next UK single, released October 25. Stars would continue as the Japanese release, released September 23 in Japan only, however it can still chart on downloads. Stars charted at #7 on downloads in the UK and reached #12 in Japan. The video, which was shot in May, premiered on October 3rd. The girls were praised for their dance routine in the video. The promotion for Fantasy included several one off concerts including one off gigs in Camden and Manchester. These gigs were largely acoustic due to Cassie's pregnancy. Fantasy finally charted on October 31st, giving Moodring their very first number one single. It also brought their album Mood Swings back to the top. Alive was released in Japan a few days later, whilst Moodring embarked on the Fusion: Live tour.

Shortly after Fantasy was released, Moodring announced that Loving Me To Death, a new track would be the next single. This track would be the first song to be released from the reissue of Mood Swings, both out December 27th. A demo version of the song was performed throughout November on the Fusion:Live tour. The final version due to premiere sometime during the first week of December. A video was shot between 21st and 26th November and premiered shortly after. The video and song showed a new, more "mature" side to Moodring with an artistic video and mellow sound. The single charted at #2 and the album rerelease brought it up to the number 3 spot. In January it was announced that the second song from the Mood Swings reissue would be Heart Of The Matter. The track features Hailey and was originally on the Enter The Ring Vol. 1 EP before being upgraded to the album. The song choice continues the more mature sound to the band, and the song is a Don Henley cover. The video was shot the week of the 7th of February and continued with the artistic theme of the last video. Due to negative media attention, Moodring decided to take an extended hiatus, mainly so the othe girls could spend some time away from Bre. They also lost their promotional deals with Bio Oil and After Eight thanks to this attention. As Heart Of The Matter is closing the era, Moodring have decided to release a box set including all the tracks released from the Mood Swings era so that they are all in one place for the fans, there is also a deluxe 3 disc edition of Mood Swings released on the same day, February 28th. This reissue saw the album climb back up to #2. Heart of the Matter became Moodring's second number one single.

2012-2013: Soul & MTV Unplugged[edit | edit source]

In February 2012, a year after Heart of the Matter was released, Moodring announced that they had a comeback single ready. On April 11, the first clip of Broken came online. It premiered in full three days later on April 14. Soon after, the band's second album, Soul was announced. Broken was released on May 28 and reached #3 in the charts, their lowest position since Hey Lady (Why Don't You?). However, despite this, it became their second biggest seller behind Dirty Dirty. Soul was released a week later, charting at #2. The sounds of both the single and album represented an evolution in Moodring, with both highlighting a more mature, uniform sound. The album was accompanied by their first either UK headlining tour, which took place throughout August 2012. The tour was used to promote the second single from Soul, Burn. Burn was a mash-up of two tracks from the album, Burn Part I and II. Due to the nature of the single, as well as the cinematic video that accompanied it, it was described by fans and critics as an "Epic" single. It also formed a landmark for the band as it was their 10th single. It was released on August 13, reaching #3. Burn went on to be Moodring's biggest selling single, adding to it's "Epic" status. The third single taken from the album was Diamond Tears which was released as part of an EP Queen of Diamonds, a duet with Morris David Cat. This was released on 12th November and also reached #3. The EP consisted of four tracks, including Moodring's "Diamond Tears", Morris' "The Queen of Everything" and two duets: the title track "Queen of Diamonds" and "Everything Tears". On 10th November Moodring performed at MTV Unplugged where they sang acoustic versions of tracks from both their albums, along with a cover of Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap.

On 18th December Moodring announced that the fourth single from the album would be Spaceman which is to be released on February 4th 2013. A video for the song will be recorded with a live audience on New Years Eve 2012. The day before, on December 30, the Tango Challenge 2013 pairs were revealed. Moodring were drawn to compete with Dr. C and the Predicates, a band they have been linked to before due to Bre's brief romance with lead singer Max. The announcement of the Tango Challenge single, which will be released on March 4, 2013, means Moodring had to start to promote two singles at the same time, which they have not had to do before. On January 18th, tickets went on sale for the first date of Moodring's outdoor/festival tour for 2013. Soon after it was confirmed that Moodring were to support Syd Wolfe on the North American leg of her world tour. Promoting two singles wasn't an issue however, as Spaceman became Moodring's first #1 single in 2 years and Shout It Out, their single with Dr. C and the Predicates landed at #3. The song was a retro throwback, merging genres of rock and soul.

On March 25, Moodring announced that there would be a final single from Soul, their cover of Delerium's Innocente was set to be released on May 27th, alongside their album MTV Unplugged. The single would be released as a sort of AA side, with both a radio edit and the live version getting single treatment, with both a music video and a live video.

Band Members[edit | edit source]

Cassie Garcia
(Main Article: Cassie Garcia)

Cassie Garcia (born Cassandra Diane Garcia, August 30 1986) is an American singer/somgwriter best known as one third of R&B girl group Moodring. She is the youngest member of the band but probably the most accomplished songwriter, writing many tracks with other artists. Cassie gave birth to her first daughter, Emily Snowflake, in December 2010. Cassie is the only Moodring member not to rap, and has the highest voice, with critics stating it sounds "fresh and young"

Bre Washington
(Main Article: Bre Washington)

Brittany Washington (born Brittany Tenitra Mowry, February 15 1980) is a British singer/songwriter born in London, UK to a African-American Father, Raymond and an African-Japanese Mother Monique. She is credited as Bre Washington in any songs she has written, as this is the name she used for most of her fame. She is the oldest member of Moodring and has three children. Bre has the lowest voice of the group, which has been described as "mature" sounding. She also raps in quite a deep tone.

L'mondrea Brown
(Main Article: L'mondrea)

L'mondrea Brown (born L'mondrea Sh'quoiya Brown, June 20 1986) is an American singer, rapper, songwriter and producer best known as one third of R&B girl group Moodring, she is also the only member of Moodring to have a successful solo career. She produces the majority of the bands songs as well as remixing and writing for other artists. Within the group, she has the most midtempo voice, which is described as "slightly husky".

Former Members[edit | edit source]

Maria Rose (born Maria Rosamunda, October 19 1984) Was a member of Moodring from autumn 2008 to September 2009. In August Mia was questioned about a mass homocide which involved a family of 4 being slaughtered in their beds. It was then revealed Mia had a criminal record. Although she has not been found guilty, she is still on bail under suspicion. She was sacked from the group in September because of the bad publicity and was replaced by L'mondrea Brown who, ironically also has a criminal record. Mia returned to the public eye in May 2010 after Bre stayed at her B&B for her honeymoon, stating she was cleared of all charges. She returned to the band briefly on June 19 2010 to replace Bre during her arrest and toured in support of Emily Henning in Bre's place. She announced a solo career on August 24 2010, but then on September 23 2010 it was announced she was to take part in URAPS IDOL: Second Chance.

Discography[edit | edit source]

Main Article: Moodring Discography

Singles
Albums

Awards and Nominations[edit | edit source]

Urapopstar Awards 18
Best Urban: Nominated
Best Comeback: Nominated

Uraps Video Music Awards 2010
Best Video by a Group (Fantasy): Nominated
Best Hip-Hop or R&B Video (Dirty Dirty): Won

Urapopstar Awards 19
Best Single (Dirty Dirty): Nominated
Best Album (Mood Swings): Nominated
Best Group: Won
Best Urban: Won
Best Promotion: Nominated

Urapopstar Awards 22
Best Group: Nominated
Best Urban: Nominated

Urapopstar Awards 23
Best Group: Nominated
Best Urban: Nominated

URAPS RATE PLACEMENTS
URAPS RATE 12: 112
URAPS RATE 13: Not Eligable
URAPS RATE 14: 9
URAPS RATE 15: 2
URAPS RATE 16: 18
URAPS RATE 17: Not Eligable
URAPS RATE 18: 36
URAPS RATE 19: 6
URAPS RATE 20: 20

Moodring
Members Bre Washington · Cassie Garcia · L'mondrea Brown
Albums Mood Swings · Soul · MTV Unplugged
Mood Swings Alive · A Dangerous Liaison · Hey Lady (Why Don't You?) · Dirty Dirty · I Know That I'm Sexy (Don't Tell Me) · Gonna Make You Beg · Stars · Fantasy · Loving Me To Death · Heart Of The Matter
Soul Broken · Burn · This Time · Diamond Tears · Spaceman · Innocente
Extended Plays Queen of Diamonds
Other Singles Shout It Out
Featured Singles Nothing Of Me (Kwamé Remix) · Ain't No Mountain Hai Enough
Tours Fusion: Live · The Soul Tour