Caution, Men At Work!
I get really crazy by the end of the week, more psycho babble . . .
Things are really cooking now. We got work going on in three studios - Mine, Jimmy's and our guest Drummer - Mike's, down in San Diego. Making lot's of progress. Momentum is back up. It's still surprising to me how long things take to get done. I'm not used to that, but that should tell you just how high we've raised the bar on ourselves here. Our standards are ultra high. We'll all be thankful for it in the end . . .
Thursday, while taking a shower and getting ready to start my day of recording, the portal opened once again and transmitted a song to me. We're not trying to really write any more songs right now, but I certainly wasn't gonna say no.
The new song is called "I Am Now". It's about not living in the past, nor looking too far ahead, but living in the present. It's a real positive message. It's also about making no apologies for who you are and being the best you can be 'today', so tomorrow will take care of itself. It's gonna be a great song, especially for these troubled times we're currently living in. The general melody, some of the lyrics and all of the music hit me like lightning. I even knew exactly what key it was in and what chords were in the progression. Everything. Maybe it's the shampoo I'm using. lol
As soon as I got out of the shower, I wrote the whole thing in about a half an hour. It just poured out, a lot like "Wounded" did a couple weekends ago. I've already begun recording it. Lyrically it still needs a little work, as does the vocal melody. The music and arrangement is done. When I wrote it I was really excited and thinking that I may have just written a guaranteed million seller. Now, I'm not so sure, but that's normal for me.
I now it's good, I'll put that way. It's uptempo. It probably has the fasted tempo we've got so far.
Completely different feel from all the other stuff and a different angle through life's lens for the record. It's just what we didn't know we needed. There will probably be more of those great, late comers as we go. From both Jimmy and I. Those nice little surprises. I've read it probably a million times, where an artist will say the biggest hit off a particular record was either the last song written, or that it came in the 11th hour of production. When it happens, you absolutely have to let it in . . .
While working on the recording of our song "Unreachable", I had a flash of brilliant inspiration. I kept thinking - This is a long song and it's gonna have to build and introduce some interesting things along the way. As a result I came up with a fabulous Piano part that comes in about half to three quarters of the way through the song and it just makes it shine. I have to pat myself on the back for that one, it's one of my best parts. It's perfect. It's only dominant in the last half of the last verse and then again for two quick licks going into the guitar solo. The rest of it is background and subtle. There's going to be some harder edged guitars by that point.Then when it gets to the last choruses it really adds some spice and excitement to it. Makes it more dramatic and even sort of funks it up a little, which is a nice touch as we close the song out. It will all work really well with how I envision some of the other parts in the song. We'll see how that turns out in the end.
It's kind of amazing really. I've been playing guitar for 33 years (Self taught). I've been singing pretty much my whole life, but professionally since '91. I've been trying to write songs since I was three years old. Seriously! I wrote my first set of lyrics and melody at 10 years old. My first complete song at 12 years old, even before learning an instrument. It was basic, on a guitar that was my dads. I couldn't tune it, or properly play it, but I still managed to write a song. Then when I started to seriously learn the guitar at age fifteen, instead of learning everybody else's stuff, I immediately began writing my own songs and have ever since. Hundreds upon hundreds of them.
So here I am much later and just about two and a half years ago, I decided to seriously teach myself how to play Piano. Good enough to do it professionally. Now, I've tinkered with it here and there over the years and have even written songs on it from time to time. I could've never done it professionally though. But now, two and a half years after setting my mind to it - I'm as good of a piano player as I am anything else. And that's really saying something!
I just reached a point where I really just loved the instrument and was bound and determined I would do it and quickly rise to the level of everything else I do. I think I have a natural understanding of the instrument, but it also helps having mastered other instruments like guitar, bass and vocals too. It also helps to have a strong base knowledge of music theory too, I guess. Mainly, you got to be as strong willed and focused as I can be. There's probably nothing I couldn't quickly learn how to play proficiently. A friend once said of me - "Don't leave an instrument at Bret's house, because when you return - he'll be playing it better than you!". I used to laugh at that.
Whatever the reason for it, I can tell you I'm truly grateful for it. It might seem I'm on an ego trip, but I'm really not. It's just kind of a miracle to me and I can't really believe it, but the stuff I write on it would blow me away if someone else did it. It's pretty damn cool. I'm very happy and thankful for it.
My chops and performance level improves leaps and bounds as I go. I guess I just never thought I'd ever be able to write and play like that on the Piano, even with as motivated as I was.
I'm sure I have my own style and I don't know if it's correct, or where my limit will be on it. I just know when I hear it that it sounds good. I've nothing really to compare it to. I've only learned one song on it from someone else and that was Elton John's "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word".
It seems like I know what I'm doing. We'll see when everyone gets to hear it. I'm quite sure I'm no wizard at it, nor at anything else, other than songwriting - which has still yet to get me anywhere real.
Well, anyway . . .
I know our reading audience is low, but I do know we have an audience who finds these post' mildly entertaining, at best maybe? A few of you have let me know you like them.
I don't know why I'm so dedicated to doing them. I guess it's cheaper than therapy and since I'm gonna talk to my self anyway, I may as well include the two of you who are interested. Right?
I think Jimmy's given up on this being anything viable as a connection between our fans, or potential fans and us. I don't know.
I don't take it, or myself too seriously. I have no illusion that anyone is hanging on my every word, or waiting anxiously for the next post. Still, something tells me to do it anyway and eventually the audience will grow. There's an audience for everything isn't there?
I look at it as possibly the advance selling of records. If people get to know you a little. Get to feel a part of something. Get to see what goes into it, or some insight into it, then maybe they'll be more interested in the record when it comes out. Maybe the enjoyment of it will be more because of this. Maybe not. but nothing else has sold our records so what could it hurt? lol
I'm having fun. Maybe someone will enjoy these and enjoy getting to know us a little. Maybe we'll give you a record actually worthy of buying, owning and listening to.
Who knows? I'll get no answers on here.
Have a great weekend! . . .
- Bret
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