New song of the week! Check it out!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Another day
So I am starting work a little later today. Working on a song called Creeping at the moment. Need to finish it up, still a bunch of beat programming to get into and other nonsense. It's definitely a fun song. Just got the master to Snake in the Road today which will be released today as well and it sounds great! Phew!
One of my closest friend's mother died this morning and it's definitely affecting me. We were extremely close as families growing up. Our parents knew each other right around when they got married. So we grew up together. Both of their parents have died about a year apart from each other. It's just incredibly difficult. It was a brain cancer.
Hope you enjoy the song today
XO
One of my closest friend's mother died this morning and it's definitely affecting me. We were extremely close as families growing up. Our parents knew each other right around when they got married. So we grew up together. Both of their parents have died about a year apart from each other. It's just incredibly difficult. It was a brain cancer.
Hope you enjoy the song today
XO
Monday, August 23, 2010
Coffee Time
So I had to get up at 7am today and somehow pull myself out of bed to finish up this song today. Last minute as usual for me. The lyrics have been very difficult. It's sort of a cryptic song which is the hardest thing. Writing about a few things at once, personal and universal, and looking for patterns within the words. Every song has a strange geometry to it and it takes time to land upon the shape of it.
So I had to get up at 7am so my voice would be ready around 11a to sing some last tidbits.
Ah the life of a wandering musician...
So I had to get up at 7am so my voice would be ready around 11a to sing some last tidbits.
Ah the life of a wandering musician...
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Why the singer shouldn't mix his own song
So I am pulling another rather late night. We just finished the mix for Helium which I am releasing tomorrow. Things are always down to the wire lately and I have to get a bit ahead because all this last minute stuff is making me a little crazy. But I am happy we took some extra time with Helium, it's much better for it. Going to get the song mastered at 6am by Nick Moon up in Oregon. He's going to studio super early to make it happen - which I am very lucky for.
Mixing has been interesting lately. I am working with Chris Testa, who has been great. He's done a bunch of stuff with a lot of really cool artists including Jimmy Eat World, Mat Kearney, Paul Simon, Glen Philips, and the Dixie Chicks. It's been a different process for me. I am not in the mixing room at all anymore, just give notes on the mixes that I get emailed to me on my computer. I think it works out better in the end this way. I usually nit pick things to death and sometimes wonder if I am ruining the mix in the end. We often used to do too much back and forth. So this way is working out better so far. Less energy and better results I think.
It's easy to get lost mixing a song when you wrote and played most of the instruments on it. You often want to hear all your hard work instead of listening to the song and following your ear. I just don't have enough objectivity at the end of producing a track. I don't think most artists should be in the mixing room actually for precisely that reason. It becomes more about ego than the song a lot of times. Takes an entirely different mentality.
I have a ton of lyrics to plow through this week, which is always super super hard for me. I am always staring at a wall at multiple points during the day, praying for divine inspiration. My lyric writing has changed a lot more this year though. The process is much more wrapped around the piano. I tend to play the song up to a hundred times until I finish the words. Let it come out organically, rather than sit at a coffee shop with pen and paper. I used to spend days at Starbucks trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together basically. Now, it's more around what comes out of my mouth in the moment and following that thread. I like this way a lot more. I think it took a while for me to get my mind out of things and let the subconscious take over - which is happening more and more with the songs. I am working hard to think less and less and play more and more.
Much more fun that way too.
I wrote a few strange dance numbers today that will probably never see the light of day today. I am still playing around with lots of dance beats, trying to find a way in. Determined to. I definitely don't want to try and write something that Britney would sing. It's more about finding out how I relate to the dance beat and what it brings out in me. Have some really cool ideas, it's just a matter of finding the melodies that stick at the moment. Then I can start doing some cool melding of genres etc that I really want to do.
I am toying with the idea of traveling a bit and working with some musicians outside of Los Angeles. I really want to do it, hopefully late fall or in the winter. We shall see.
It's funny at the moment. I have a whole bunch of songs that sort of express whole different sides of me, different genre wise as well. It was freaking me out a little bit, because I wasn't sure how they related to each other per se. But doing this project has freed me up a lot. I don't have to worry about the cohesiveness of an album as much. I can deliver things more stream of conscious like. That has helped a lot creatively and kept things interesting for me too. Each project requires a whole new set of tools. I have to be quick on my feet.
Anyway. I am watching Galaxy Quest while waiting for the final mix at the moment. I love the movie. I think because I am a closet Trekkie. Not a huge one. but I did love The Next Generation growing up and Voyager. There is something ridiculous and wonderful about it all.
Yes my inner geek is showing a bit :)
Sending LOVE
Mixing has been interesting lately. I am working with Chris Testa, who has been great. He's done a bunch of stuff with a lot of really cool artists including Jimmy Eat World, Mat Kearney, Paul Simon, Glen Philips, and the Dixie Chicks. It's been a different process for me. I am not in the mixing room at all anymore, just give notes on the mixes that I get emailed to me on my computer. I think it works out better in the end this way. I usually nit pick things to death and sometimes wonder if I am ruining the mix in the end. We often used to do too much back and forth. So this way is working out better so far. Less energy and better results I think.
It's easy to get lost mixing a song when you wrote and played most of the instruments on it. You often want to hear all your hard work instead of listening to the song and following your ear. I just don't have enough objectivity at the end of producing a track. I don't think most artists should be in the mixing room actually for precisely that reason. It becomes more about ego than the song a lot of times. Takes an entirely different mentality.
I have a ton of lyrics to plow through this week, which is always super super hard for me. I am always staring at a wall at multiple points during the day, praying for divine inspiration. My lyric writing has changed a lot more this year though. The process is much more wrapped around the piano. I tend to play the song up to a hundred times until I finish the words. Let it come out organically, rather than sit at a coffee shop with pen and paper. I used to spend days at Starbucks trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together basically. Now, it's more around what comes out of my mouth in the moment and following that thread. I like this way a lot more. I think it took a while for me to get my mind out of things and let the subconscious take over - which is happening more and more with the songs. I am working hard to think less and less and play more and more.
Much more fun that way too.
I wrote a few strange dance numbers today that will probably never see the light of day today. I am still playing around with lots of dance beats, trying to find a way in. Determined to. I definitely don't want to try and write something that Britney would sing. It's more about finding out how I relate to the dance beat and what it brings out in me. Have some really cool ideas, it's just a matter of finding the melodies that stick at the moment. Then I can start doing some cool melding of genres etc that I really want to do.
I am toying with the idea of traveling a bit and working with some musicians outside of Los Angeles. I really want to do it, hopefully late fall or in the winter. We shall see.
It's funny at the moment. I have a whole bunch of songs that sort of express whole different sides of me, different genre wise as well. It was freaking me out a little bit, because I wasn't sure how they related to each other per se. But doing this project has freed me up a lot. I don't have to worry about the cohesiveness of an album as much. I can deliver things more stream of conscious like. That has helped a lot creatively and kept things interesting for me too. Each project requires a whole new set of tools. I have to be quick on my feet.
Anyway. I am watching Galaxy Quest while waiting for the final mix at the moment. I love the movie. I think because I am a closet Trekkie. Not a huge one. but I did love The Next Generation growing up and Voyager. There is something ridiculous and wonderful about it all.
Yes my inner geek is showing a bit :)
Sending LOVE
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Return to OZ and electro-rock
I'm pretty tired at the moment. Just finished my legwork on Helium for the mixer tomorrow. Had to add a bunch of background vox and it took a bit to get things working. Spent a lot of the day working on some new music. I've been getting more and more into electro-rock and even techno. Really want to see where I can take that world. It's been an experiment. Working with various beats and dance synths. We'll see where it goes. Might never see the light of day or it could be a whole new thing :)
Other than that. I am going to spend my remaining 30 minutes before bed having a beer and eating cottage cheese. For some weird reason I decided to watch Return to OZ. Don't ask why. I remembered that scene where she has to find her friends that were changed into inanimate objects. She had like 3 chances or something to pick the right objects. Anyway. I felt like watching it :) Very random.
Other than that. I am going to spend my remaining 30 minutes before bed having a beer and eating cottage cheese. For some weird reason I decided to watch Return to OZ. Don't ask why. I remembered that scene where she has to find her friends that were changed into inanimate objects. She had like 3 chances or something to pick the right objects. Anyway. I felt like watching it :) Very random.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Helium
It's been a bit of time again since I've blogged. It gets hard for me to do this for some reason. The process has been tough and challenging of late. I'm dealing with a lot of songs that are almost there. It's like 7 or 8 of them and I think I am just dealing with some fear of finishing. It's a normal thing. And I have to push through. It's the point of this whole project really. To push beyond my fear of letting things go.
Fucking With Your Flow was something that really took a lot out of me that last 2 weeks. I felt like I was wringing a rag as tight as I could to get the last few drops of water out. There is that creative well that you can't just expect to supply exactly what you need all the time. Making something is tricky - it's never logical. It rarely comes when you want it to. And sometimes you have to roll with the punches, even if you aren't sure if you are going to get exactly what you think you want. I think the whole thing is - you have to be willing to jump into an abyss when you are being creative. You have to wander. And a lot of times, I like to decide what a song is before I've recorded it. So there is this whole process of unlearning the song so I can get to the end. And that's where things can get painful.
I need to do something that has nothing to do with music that is more than just watching a movie or drinking a beer at home :) I need to refill the creative well somehow and I am not sure what that is yet. I am also really wanting to start some new fitness regimen. I like doing things dramatically - if you can't tell :) And I like taking on really big fitness goals too. Was thinking about doing some sort of boot camp thing - cause I've never done anything like it. Really need a stress release that is healthy and positive. Things have been very tense with the work load and my constant mental back and forth with the songs.
I am working on a song called Helium at the moment. I've had it for a long time. More than a year actually. And I have all the lyrics and almost all of the music ready to go. It's just that I still have to track my final vocal and I am shying away from it. Which always gets me into trouble. Vocals always take a bit to get into. You can't just expect it to come in an hour. Sometimes it does and you expect that it should always be that way. But it's always when you think it shouldn't be a problem when it bites you in the ass.
I need to just sing though :) at the end of the day I feel the song is there ready to be brought out. I just have to let it go and be what it wants to be.
The promotion angle has been getting to me pretty hard. I really want the music to get out there and there is some sort of block with that. Not sure exactly what it is. Honestly. There is a hesitation that I have always had to present my work to the world. I always tend to hold back. I really love making music and I hate having to deal with the public at large. There are many times when I wish I had someone to help take care of the whole mess and do it really well. That someone could sort of just magically fix it. But the real issue is that I am holding back. If I am honest. I am holding back from letting people to really see the music. Still sorting that one out.
What else? My dogs are the best thing. Every day they are just happy to see me, and having a ball. And it always brings me back to center. They are the biggest stress release.
Anyway. I should get back to Helium. Wish me luck. Sending LOVE.
Fucking With Your Flow was something that really took a lot out of me that last 2 weeks. I felt like I was wringing a rag as tight as I could to get the last few drops of water out. There is that creative well that you can't just expect to supply exactly what you need all the time. Making something is tricky - it's never logical. It rarely comes when you want it to. And sometimes you have to roll with the punches, even if you aren't sure if you are going to get exactly what you think you want. I think the whole thing is - you have to be willing to jump into an abyss when you are being creative. You have to wander. And a lot of times, I like to decide what a song is before I've recorded it. So there is this whole process of unlearning the song so I can get to the end. And that's where things can get painful.
I need to do something that has nothing to do with music that is more than just watching a movie or drinking a beer at home :) I need to refill the creative well somehow and I am not sure what that is yet. I am also really wanting to start some new fitness regimen. I like doing things dramatically - if you can't tell :) And I like taking on really big fitness goals too. Was thinking about doing some sort of boot camp thing - cause I've never done anything like it. Really need a stress release that is healthy and positive. Things have been very tense with the work load and my constant mental back and forth with the songs.
I am working on a song called Helium at the moment. I've had it for a long time. More than a year actually. And I have all the lyrics and almost all of the music ready to go. It's just that I still have to track my final vocal and I am shying away from it. Which always gets me into trouble. Vocals always take a bit to get into. You can't just expect it to come in an hour. Sometimes it does and you expect that it should always be that way. But it's always when you think it shouldn't be a problem when it bites you in the ass.
I need to just sing though :) at the end of the day I feel the song is there ready to be brought out. I just have to let it go and be what it wants to be.
The promotion angle has been getting to me pretty hard. I really want the music to get out there and there is some sort of block with that. Not sure exactly what it is. Honestly. There is a hesitation that I have always had to present my work to the world. I always tend to hold back. I really love making music and I hate having to deal with the public at large. There are many times when I wish I had someone to help take care of the whole mess and do it really well. That someone could sort of just magically fix it. But the real issue is that I am holding back. If I am honest. I am holding back from letting people to really see the music. Still sorting that one out.
What else? My dogs are the best thing. Every day they are just happy to see me, and having a ball. And it always brings me back to center. They are the biggest stress release.
Anyway. I should get back to Helium. Wish me luck. Sending LOVE.
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