Yeah-um, so…
It’s taken me a lot longer to get back to this than I intended. I kept sitting down to write and…nothing. BUT, it gave me the idea for this post so here goes.
Looking at the songwriting process for the new album, which is what I want to write about here, I noticed a similarity to my inability to blog. It’s the starting that is sometimes the most difficult part. Starting, the word, then made me think of what that meant. When is a song started?
I have been working on the songs for the new CD since roughly January. Saying that makes it seem like a lot of time, but if I think of the time that actually has gone into the ‘physical’ part of the process, meaning playing an instrument, writing words, or actual recording, the time is much much less than 8 months. Actually when I finally sit down to record, it goes surprisingly fast. I can knock out a demo with 2-3 guitar part, 2 vocals, drum track and bass in under an hour. I know this because a week ago I was telling my brother about a new song I was excited about but hadn’t started yet, (there’s that word again), and I told him that I would e-mail him an mp3 in an hour. I did it. So this brings me back to ’starting’.
I sometimes read about artists/musicians in other countries. In other countries you can get subsidised by the gov’t to record an album. Yup. Canada. Sweden. Oh I know that you can get ‘grants’ here for artistic things, but their programs are different. They are paying you to produce whatever it is you come up with. Feist did it. The Hives did it. Check it out. Anyhow, this is a great freedom to most musicians. To have the time to create.
Most of the ‘work’ of songwriting for me happens, kinda whenever it happens. A two word phrase will occur when I’m working out. A chorus harmony idea will come to me when I’m taking my dogs out. The realization that it’s not chords in that part but a broken run of notes will hit me standing in line at the grocery store. Most of my job is to pay attention to these moments and remember them, which is half the battle sometimes. One rule I’ve always had is that if I have the idea, whatever it is, I’ll go over it in my head or on the guitar or keyboard etc a few times then put it aside. When I come back to it the next day, if I don’t remember it, it wasn’t a good idea. If I do, I start fleshing it out.
So there are two distinct phases for me for the most part. The actual physical work part, where real sounds are made and recorded and put together, and the other part which is like daydreaming almost. But it’s more focused. But it’s usually not on purpose. But it’s not just walking around all spaced out either. I understand it because it happens to me. I hope the description makes sense.
There are times when they happen together. As I wrote last post, some songs just ARE. They appear out of thin air and a couple hours later I haven’t been able to rip myself away from the song and it’s mostly done. I’ll record it as it’s coming out of my thoughts. This trust me, is very very very cool. Most of the time though, there is a tiny part of an idea and it takes time to go through all the ways it could go and what should be added, more importantly what shouldn’t be added, and does it really need a solo, etc and on and on. This is when the two phases get all mingled up together and it’s hard to remember which came first. Did I imagine this particular melody before I played this guitar with it? Or did this guitar inspire that melody when I played this chord in this rhythm? Of course after that has happened, I can tell you which parts fall into place first or later. But when is the start?
I’ve been thinking about this lately because I think I have finally gotten the songs filtered down to what’s going to be on the album. This happened only after the demo I made last week to send to my brother. I just kinda felt relaxed finally and it hit me that now I had all the choices I would need to make the record. Prior to this, even though I have been writing a lot of songs, I somehow felt it wasn’t done or ready to be finalized. Not that the songs are bad, I love them. I’ve found that I need to feel I have that song that just either holds all the ideas on the album together, kicks it into new territory, or is just a great opener, to feel satisfied. Oddly enough, this last song is not like that. It’s a great song in my opinion, but I feel done now with the searching part of the journey that is making this album. Now I can ’start’ the finishing.
Another reason this has been on my mind is that I had hoped to have the record out for the summer. Obviously, I missed that dead line. Also, I have set up a system of ‘not forcing it’ for this recording. I only ‘work’ when I really feel it. This, I hope, will help me get the best performances and ideas and creative space happening for me instead of sitting down ‘because I have to finish the damn CD’. So I’ve had some moments of beating myself up for not being productive and feeling guilty for not ‘working’ or ’starting’. But I’ve come to realize that I’m always doing the work. That’s how I can demo a song in one hour. I already know it because it has drifted through my brain so many times it really feels like I just have to play what’s already there. Which is cool.
I was watching Charlie Rose a few weeks ago and Neil Young was on. He was mostly talking about his battery operated car, which is very cool-you should look up what he’s doing-but they got into music a bit. He said that the best thing for him in his life is that he recognized very early on that he just needs to ‘be there’ when ‘it’ happens. I paraphrase but that was the gist of it. He was talking about song writing. It really hit me when he said it because it made SO MUCH SENSE to me in what I had been doing all this time. (I’ve also felt a lot better about my process since I heard it. Hey if it’s good enough for Neil…)
This is also why I’ve never been good at ‘regular’ jobs. Where you’re required to sit somewhere for x amount of time whether you have done your work or not, hit your goal or not, are being productive or not. Don’t get me wrong, now that I have the songs I’m focusing on I am looking forward to some very long days and nights recording and getting the songs to have their own life. I work very hard. It’s just that I kind of work best in concentrated bursts. The first part is what has been happening the last 8 months of collecting the ideas and beginning the demo process. Now it shifts into recording good parts and arranging, producing, mixing, album art consulting, finishing lyrics, trying to sing in tune. I think the whole world would work better if people could take advantage of this type of cycle. Just because you’re at a job for 45 hours a week doesn’t necessarily mean you are getting more done. For most people I think.
So the starting has already started I guess and now I start a new phase of starting. Then there’s another starting when the songs are recorded-mixing. Then starting the mastering. Then starting the promotion. All of which I’m already thinking about too. Which I guess means it’s started.
I hear a lot of people complain that they don’t have time to do what they want. What if you do? I hear them say, ‘I’ll start next week.’ ’I'll start when I have enough money.’ ‘I’ll start when I know more.’ What if these are just reasons NOT to start? Or what if you started already? Just go do it. I’ve found lately that worrying about whether I did, have or can start has held me back more than the actual doing. Because I already had started. It feels great. Because look, here’s a whole blog post which happened after I started writing, but I probably started in thinking the last couple weeks. : )
I hope to have another demo up soon. Check back.
till next time.
peace
