New York, London, or Gay Parie? Hardly. Stephanie Mae grew up in a small town in rural Arizona. There,  in the rarefied mountain air, she composed many of the tunes you find on her CD, Pokerface.

It started one afternoon while life guarding at the municipal pool. She discovered that the melodic splashing of all the twittering, laughing children somehow instilled in her mind the basis of the tune, “At The Edge.” Then, While washing dishes one evening, she put together a few bars of ” Crazy” to the musical background of pots and pans scraping against the sink. And as a president of the high school Key Club, the tune Poker Face found its way into her assembly while she was listening to the clanking of donations dropping onto assorted piles. On these occasions, she would rush home to her piano and finish composing her new songs while they were still fresh in her mind.

As time went on, her passion for music gripped her so deeply that at any moment, she might set the piano to jumping and the walls to shaking when she pounded away at the ivories. Members of the family would have to flee to the far corners of the house to protect their ears. Are those signs of a genius?

It is often said that music and mathematics are interrelated. And when a person is exceptional in one branch of knowledge, she might do well in the other. So it is true with Stephanie Mae. Her aptitude for mathematics earned her a scholarship at Stanford University where she is currently pursuing, of all things, a degree in Bio Mechanical Engineering! Well, a girl has to earn a living, doesn’t she? But you can bet that she crams in plenty of music appreciation courses into her busy schedule. And she spends quality time with her friends in the Every Day People A Capella choir.

Stephanie Mae is now in her senior year and can’t wait to graduate. She plans to start her own recording studio where in her free time after work, she can sing and burn CDs to her heart’s content. Bravo! We expect to see and hear a lot more of Stephanie’s extensive talents in the near future. That is, unless she plans to go to grad school. Stay tuned.

My daughter, Stephanie, has recently pre-recorded a new song titled, When You Sing, via computer, and I would like to share it with you. You can listen to it by going to her myspace site. This is the kind of music that she wants to specialize in because it basically fits her personality, and it is the kind of music that she can easily do live without needing a band to back her up.

K was asking if she recorded an album for the holidays. The answer is No because she is currently finishing a degree in Biomechanical Engineering that is quite a demanding course by itself.
She will graduate in June of 2009. It is a good thing that engineering here only takes 4 years of rigorous and grueling study as opposed to 5 years in the Philippines. And another good thing is she doesn’t have to take an engineering board exam to be a licensed engineer, which I find hard to believe. Why is that?

March 5, 2008 by Roxna Irani

Pop — Six — Squish — Uh-uh — Cicero — Lipschitz!”

Dorm lounge, Thursday night.

A game of beer pong under way; the persistent sound of a hollow plastic ping pong ball trying in vain to land inside the cup. Two long-lost friends catching up on life, their chatter adding to the indistinct haze of music playing in the background. Another student in a corner working on an essay; the backspace key speaking the loudest.

And then a moment of silence. Unwanted silence. But silence that put that random medley of sounds into a different light. In a unique way, these students were creating a different genre of music. It was their own Chicago Cell Block Tango: Pop — Six — Squish — Uh-uh — Cicero — Lipschitz!

And Monday evening at the Toyon Eating Clubs was the Pop — Six — Squish of Stanford’s own face of music, rising singer-songwriter Stephanie Hilliard ‘09. Hilliard, a biomechanical engineering major from Payson, Ariz., officially released her first CD this week. Called “Poker Face,” it includes songs she composed and sang.

Continue: Stanford Daily

Picture of the CD Release Party:

What: Stephanie’s CD Release Party for “Poker Face”
Where: Stanford Eating Clubs – Toyon Hall – El Capitan (Stanford University Campus in Stanford, CA) – follow the signs
When: March 3, 2008 – 8:30-10pm
Who: Stephanie Mae, plus featuring guest performances by Winston Lofton, Isaac Johnson, Girmay Zahilay, Naomi Andebrhan, Miguel Sugay, AND an a cappella group I’m in called EVERYDAY PEOPLE.

If you’re in the Bay Area, please come out and show your support! It’s gonna be a fun show!! Relax with coffee, tea, and biscotti.

Stephanie Mae – a machinist during the day, and a singer at any other time. She is constructing a laptop board as one of her projects.

You are probably tired of hearing me brag about my daughter but these type of things only come once in a great while and I thought I would document it here in my blog for retrospection.

Anyway, to make the story short, Stephanie Mae has jumped from the bottom and leaped over 9 independent artists and landed on the top of KRIM-FM 96.3, our number 1 listened to FM station in town. Here’s the list:

KRIM 96.3 FM

Kit’s Korner Indie Top 10 list for the week

Based on air play frequency

Finally, the long-awaited CD has arrived. Sorry, it took longer than expected due to the learning curve. Next time, if ever there is a next time (we hope there will be), it will be much faster.

For those who already placed an order within the USA, please go to Stephanie Mae’s site to purchase a CD. Or you can send a check made out to Stephanie Mae for $10.99, (shipping & handling included) and mail it out to:

Stephanie Mae PO Box 1354 Payson, AZ. 85547

For those of you who placed an order from outside the USA, we are still in the process of figuring out the shipping and handling. Those from the Philippines, you may have to wait until we can provide more information on how to market the CD there. Or one option is to wait until I come home.

Thanks for your support!

Anyway, I have been listening to KRIM-FM 96.3 but I haven’t had the chance to hear Stephanie’s songs over the airwaves. Though my husband, Stephanie, and Lexi, on their way over for a meeting with Kit at the station last Saturday to record one-liners, happened to turn in to the radio and lo and behold, Stephanie came blasting to their ear. What a nice gesture of welcome! What other station would do that for an unknown singer? Only KRIM-FM 96.3, and I wish them all the best for giving the independent artists a chance to be heard.

Here is, by the way, the final cover for Stephanie’s CD. She said, she looks more like a young girl rather than a young adult in the previous design, thus, she reverted to the original design.

Please share with me what you think about the design. Thanks!

She made some improvements on the above design and this is what she came up with. Which design is better?

Proceeds of the sales will help defray her college expenses at Stanford U. She has 2 2/3 years left in Biomechanical Engineering.

Update: Remember a couple of weeks ago, I personally brought the computer-burned CD to our most listened to FM station in town and I promised to update you with what the station manager had to say about it? Here is what she said:

Hi Belle!

I took a listen to Stephanie’s CD today, and I find her very very good. The song Poker Face would fit in our format very well, and would like to add it, if that is permissible with you. The whole CD is very nice, but that’s the one song that really stands out! I try to stay away from the Mariah Carey type songs, as we try to maintain the Classic Rock format. If she has anything else, let me know. Also, is she going to market the CD? I just have a problem when people call and want to know where they can buy something, and it’s not available. Thank so much! I invited Stephanie to be on my “friends” list on myspace!

For those of you who haven’t listened to Stephanie’s music, let me direct you to her myspace site. FYI, she composed, sang, played the piano and guitar, sang the harmony, and co-produced her songs. Her producer is the talented Mr Jack Conte, who sings and composes his songs himself.

And thank you to those who already placed an order. Thank you for supporting the independent artist