There's Reading Then There is "Confusing the Seasons"

I'd consider myself a pretty avid reader. Well, the interest in reading comes in waves I guess. I'll get in these crazy kicks when I pick up a book and get totally sucked into the story and then I try to pick up another and I can't seem to get through the first couple of pages without my mind wandering. I always felt that reading would have a positive effect on my songwriting simply based on the fact that it put words through my brain and gives me ideas and "experiences" to draw from.

As much as I'd like to be reading right now for the improvement of my songwriting I seem to be in one of those little funks. But of course, this is following one of those spurts where I busted out a few books that I couldn't put down. This particular spurt lasted a little longer than most others including 3 books that I got for Christmas: "Micro" by Michael Crichton (a posthumously released novel), "11/22/63" by Stephen King (my favorite author) and "Confusing the Seasons" by Dan Cavallari (a new author to me).

The burst was all started by "Confusing the Seasons".  I've always felt that the mark of a well written story is how easy it is to put down. I had a lot of trouble. In the span of the couple of days it took me to fly from cover to cover, there was many a time where I stretched my break at work a little too far just to see what was going to happen on the next page. I was really engrossed in the characters and the narrative kept dragging me in and tugging at my heart strings. Being from Maine and reading this story about a Maine family going through some really messed up times made me feel even more involved in the story.

I highly recommend "Confusing the Seasons" by Dan Cavallari to help out a new author and get you going on your own reading kick that hopefully lasts much longer then mine did.

Inspiration In Simple Places

When it comes to writing music I don't think it's necessary to stress out about the lack of inspiration. Ultimately, inspiration (The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative) comes when you least expect it and is actually best served as a surprise. Sure, it's a great feeling to do something with the intent of poking at that creative area in the brain to get something moving and it actually works. But for me, I like just going through life and letting that inspiration hit me in the weirdest places and sometimes some of the most obvious places that I wouldn't even think of looking. Whether it be a magazine article, a news broadcast, a simple sentence that my wife speaks or a song on the radio. Even that painting on my friend's wall or the piece that I hung in my own creative room.

I mentioned in my last post ("Only Apart," Still One of My Faves) about one of my favorite songs that I've written "Only Apart". I had my wife recreate the page from the lyric book of the original lyrics of the song. (I didn't have the heart to cut it out of the actual book.) I then got a float frame so I could see both sides and hung it in my creative room. My intention was merely give the room some decoration and an artistic feel while also reminding me of accomplishes past, but I never thought it would be a rich source of inspiration. With all the scribbles and crossed out words that plaster both sides of the page from top to bottom, this lyric page is exactly what I like to see in my lyric book when I write a song. A messy scrawl of thoughts and even doodles is the ultimate proof that a song has been thought out and toiled over for a good period of time. You can actually leaf through my book and pick out all the songs that have died or stalled and the ones that have been become finished pieces pretty easily (with some rare exceptions).

It's not very often that I get to see a physical representation of my music and it's time like these that I can actually "see" my music as a piece of art instead of just hearing. It might not seem like much but having that lyric page on the wall here behind me is a great source of inspiration just for the sheer fact that I want to make more lyric pages that look just like that and songs just like that one of which I can be just as proud.

So whenever I need a little push when I'm struggling on a song I just sit in my creative room facing that frame and I float away into thought. Really, that was the whole intent of the room anyway with it's orange  walls and comfy feel. It looks like I accomplished what I was going for even in the places that I didn't intend. Rock on!

"Only Apart", Still One of My Faves

Out of all my songs, "Only Apart" is still one of my favorites to listen to and perform. I wrote it more than 4 years ago (it feels like longer than that) and it was actually one of the last songs that we worked on as a group in my band Now Transmission. We never quite finished the full band version before we parted ways. As a band it had some cool things going for it but I'll always have a fondness for it in the raw acoustic form. I recorded the video below about 3 years ago but it still pretty much holds the same basic form today.

I've always been really proud of this song and I even framed and hung the page of hand written lyrics on my wall here in my creative room. It really adds to the creative feel. Sometimes I just take it down and look at it. Is that weird? Rock on!

Not Even Close To "Done With This"

I'm continually writing new material and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. Sometimes I feel like I've only just begun. But occasionally I can't help but look back at old material and bask in my few but very pride filled musical moments of my past.

I will always remember the story behind the creation of my song "Done With This" very well. It was my senior year at the University of Maine, the last week of finals before the end of the fall semester. It was getting down to the nitty gritty of my core business classes, final projects, long papers and extremely boring group presentation sessions that everyone was required to attend. In the last presentation of the session in one of the biggest lecture halls on campus I could barely stay concious. The only thing keeping my nodding head from drifting off to dream land was my pen as I wrote down every angsty feeling that flowed through me at that moment. The more I wrote, the more I woke and the more I woke, the more I just couldn't stop.

The rest of the session flew by in a sea of words and a rush of inspiration that almost carried me all the way to the neighboring town of Old Town where my guitar waited in the small upstairs bedroom of the house I was renting with some friends. Quickly a guitar a riff floated into the air and the lyrical melody soon after. It couldn't have been more than hour after I got home when I had a rough version of "Done With This" recorded on my computer.

 I don't know how many times I've told this story but no matter how dull it may seem to anyone else, it never gets old to me. Recalling this moment in my songwriting history makes me think of why I love writing music in the first place and why I don't think I can ever stop for as long as I live.

Rock on.

The Best Laid Plans...

You can't say that I didn't have good intentions. You can't say that I don't have the skill or the desire to create. But you can say that I don't have the absolute go-getter attitude that gets things done.

In my post, It's About Time To Let The Music Flow, I mentioned on online course that I was pretty excited about that I was sure was going to get the music flowing once and for all. Honestly, it started out great. I spent the first 2 weeks jamming out a half hour of ideas everyday. With the Garage Band running I just played, not really thinking about what I was doing just basically going with the flow and letting my unconscious mind send those notes down to my fingers to be played and recorded. It was a little frustrating at first but as the sessions added up the ideas became more complete and more interesting.

By the last session I was feeling good with the amount of original material I created as well as the quality of that material. But when it came to listening back and picking out those ideas the momentum quickly faded. Those ideas that I was so excited about were few and far between and even the ones that I was most interested in still seemed dull and overall uninteresting. At that point I felt like the last 2 plus weeks had been wasted and the album that I was going to have to show for all that work wasn't even one song closer to being in existence.

Since then, things have changed a bit. I've continued to write like I always have before, letting the ideas come as they do and building them slowly into a somewhat cohesive piece. I currently have 2 or 3 songs stuck in that oh so common phase of mine that involves me playing what I've completed over and over again until it makes me sick only to be perpetually stuck without a bridge, a solid ending or an interesting enough hook.

It seems to be my curse and overall I feel like it comes down to confidence and the lack of drive to just sit down and get things done. I so badly want these songs to be completed and see the light of day. I want to share them and be proud of them. I want to jam with some other musicians and turn these songs into a complete composition. How I do that is the question of the century.

I'd really like to take a lot of these principles from the course and run with them. I already know that they have a major difference in my songwriting by the quality and number of ideas that have been arising even after I kind of gave up on the program. I know I've probably said it a hundred times but I just need to do it, as insanely hard and idiotically simple as that is.

It's About Time to Let That Music Flow

Yes, it's about time for some music creation to hit the front burner. I've always wanted to be super productive and create music that I'm proud of and people will enjoy, but I've never really put in that true commitment. Now is the time. I'm taking an online course that is going to jumpstart this brain of mine and the music will soon follow. I can't wait to get rolling.

One of my first exercises is to fuel my unconscious brain. To do this I've simply been listening to music. For starters I stuck in my favorite album "Clumsy" by Our Lady Peace. I strapped on my Bose headphones, laid down on the couch and pressed play. It's an amazing feeling to just lay back with nothing else on your mind but the music that is pumping into your brain. You notice all of the little details that you might never have noticed before. You feel the emotion, you picture the raw sound behind your closed eyes. Such a great feeling, especially when it's your favorite album. You truly get lost. It was like Raine was pouring out that signature falsetto just for me and as Big Dumb Rocket had it's turn, it took all of me energy to stay relaxed and lay there, just appreciating my favorite tune and not rocking around the room belting the lyrics.

Next I picked another album from my cd shelf. I dug a little deeper for this one. I searched for a disc that I hadn't spun in a real long time but still had that way of tugging at my internal rock strings. I came across "Lemon Parade" by Tonic and knew I had to give it the treatment. Man, was it worth it. You tend to forget sometimes how good music is when you haven't listened to it in a long time. As Open Up Your Eyes, Mountain, and Wicked Soldier blasted through my headphones and drove it's way into the pleasure centers of my brain I was taken back to high school when this album was on constant rotation in my cd player. The heavy guitars, full acoustic strums and soaring vocals had me floating in musical bliss. No offense to Tonic, but I was so relaxed I even fell asleep for half a song. Considering how loud it was in my ears I see that as a compliment anyway.

The third and final album of this exercise is going to be something a little different. It's going to be an album that I've never heard before from a genre that isn't usually my cup of tea. I combed through Grooveshark for a few minutes and decided on "Hands All Over," the newest album from Maroon 5. I enjoy their radio singles for the most part but their music has never really driven me to keep listening. Hard rock has been my thing ever since I picked up "Sunburn" by Fuel and "My Own Prison" by Creed back in my high school days. But I'm excited to give it a shot and feed my brain with something that I would never listen to otherwise. I'm hoping moving to another genre and taking in the music for the experience of doing it will truly be a good step in making my own music that much better.

So now it begins. I can't wait to get this program going and get some music pouring out of my head, hands and throat and out into the world. I don't think I've ever wanted anything so badly in my life and there is no stopping me now. I mean come on, if my current homework is just chilling and listening to awesome music how can I complain? I can't, that's why music is so incredible and I'm itching to make some of my own. I look forward to giving updates of my progress.

Rock on!

Like A Broken Record

My songwriting goes through quite a few stages. Some of the stages are consistent while others come and go depending on the song. But no matter what, every song I write goes through this specific stage that I call "the broken record." I'd say it is the most frustrating step of them all, even more difficult to overcome than working from the original idea at the birth of a song.

Basically, this step in the process involves playing a completed section of a new song over and over again. And I mean over and over and over and over again. The drive my fiance insane give myself blisters kind of over and over. For example, I'm working on a new tune called "Set You Off." I have a concrete main riff on the guitar, a first verse and a chorus. I have been looping this section over and over again in it's entirety day after day, week after week.

Logically, I'm replaying it to eventually add on and complete the song. Some of my best ideas have come while just playing and fumbling upon something.  Yes, there's always the option of recording that clip and listening on my headphones, in turn, not pushing my finance and neighbors into madness with my incessant strumming and screaming. Even though I always do record my progress, it's never really worked well for me to write without my guitar sitting in my lap.

The most frustrating part of this stage is not knowing how long it will last. Sometimes a song comes together in a day or a few days without having to play the riff into oblivion. Other times, like this new song, weeks go by with the same riff, the same melodies, the same lyrics going unchanged, rolling on like a broken record from hell.

Especially lately, things have been working out for the best when it comes to this monotonous stage of my songwriting as I've written more songs this year so far as I did all last year. (Good songs that I feel confident and proud of to boot. Like "Forbidden.") Really I just need to push through, concentrate and continue to do what I love doing, not worrying about what people think. In fact, right now it's time to stop typing and grab the guitar and play this riff a couple hundred more times before bed time. This song isn't going to write itself. Sorry honey, I'll try to keep it down.

Making Money In Music Production

I've been writing a lot and I've been working a lot. Those are the two things that are on my mind constantly these days. Most of the time, thoughts of music tend to win out. I find myself humming melodies and jotting down lyrics during the work day while having the overwhelming feeling that I need to get home to my guitar before I lose that precious inspiration.

Whenever there's actual thoughts of work that clog my head, those thoughts wander toward getting out and doing work that I would enjoy in the long haul. As much as I've been writing music lately, the idea of making a career in music production haunts me, whether it be making music in a band, writing songs for other artists, or working in a studio helping other people create music. Where I would even begin is mind boggling and how to make a career out of it seems beyond fathomable. 

Today was one of those days that I truly had to get out. I left my job as a screen printer early today in a haze of toxic solvents and exhaustion wondering what I could possibly do to get out my rut and take a leap toward doing something that I would love to do instead of just being content. I've thought about dabbling in video production. My mediocre knowledge of computers aside, I've always enjoyed making videos that involve my music. I don't see any money in that at the moment, more than anything it would be a chance to branch out and try something a little more creative. Though it steers away from my music a bit, I've also thought about things such as voice over work. I've always felt I had a really decent singing voice but the main challenge with doing voice overs would be becoming more confident in the sound of my speaking voice. 

Overall, I'm getting more confident every day in my skills as a songwriter. Turning my love for music into a career would be a dream come true, even if it only played a supporting role. Anything would beat how I feel about my current job sometimes and I definitely look forward to taking the risk. For now, with money tight and a wedding in the near future, money is my focus. So as long as I can keep writing my songs in my free time, I am content with being content, getting paid and daydreaming about all the things that could lead to a career in music. 

Taking The Vocal Cords For Granted

I stayed home from work today, not something that I like to do, but considering I can still barely get an intelligible word past my lips from my seemingly destroyed vocal cords, I thought it was fitting. Especially being a musician and singer, it's beyond explainable of how frustrating it is not to be able to sing let alone talk. You never truly realize how important something is to you until you don't have it anymore. That goes for so many things in life, but when it's something that you dream could be your livelihood someday, it makes it even more unbearable.

It's not that I haven't had laryngitis before in my life. I can remember two occasions quite clearly that overtake this one in a heartbeat. The first occasion was during one of the first shows my former band Now Transmission played. Only a few songs into our set my voice completely gave out. Mid song, out came nothing but a high pitched squeal and nothing but silence no matter how hard I tried from then on. It was a pretty embarrassing moment, and luckily I've been able to relive that moment over and over as the performance was being recorded.

The second time was due to sickness rather than strain although it did have an adverse effect on the band as it was only a couple of years later. We had signed up to play a battle of the band in Boston, quite a big deal for us as we didn't travel to the big city very often because it was quite a long trip. My squeaky voice box forced us to switch up the lineup a bit; our bassist moving to vocals, our guitarist playing bass, and me playing guitar. We only played one song, actually made it past the first round (due to a couple of bands not showing up) and played the second round in the same configuration a couple of days later. It wasn't the most successful venture ever, but it definitely could have worked out a whole lot worse.

That brings us today. I'm not in a band anymore, just writing and playing music on my own. But especially now, as I'm trying to write and practice as much as I ever have, not being able to do simple things that I do everyday like practice my new songs in the living room, sing in the car, yell at the guy who cut me off, or talk to my fiance is maddening. I'm sure my voice will probably come back to me in the next few days, it's just moments like these that make me realize how much I take things for granted sometimes. As if I wasn't motivated enough to work on my music before, now, once my throat heals, I want to be busting out the music like my life depended on it. 

Who knows when you could lose that thing you love for good, you have to appreciate it while it's here. Cheesy, of course, but oh so true. Rock on!

Down the Dark Stairway

Maybe this post is a stretch or just a poor excuse to create a metaphor, I don't know. Maybe it's just an excuse to write something in this sad example of a blog that has seen posts few and far between. Maybe I just saw this picture, which has been sitting in my phone for a couple of months and it flicked a switch in my brain, somehow reminding me of all things that I've wanted to do and haven't; that I want to do but can't seem to get started.

I took this picture leaving a club on a cold, November night. I don't go out much so it was kind of a big deal for me. It must have been, I don't know, 11:30. (Whoa, party animal.) I looked down the dirty stairway that led directly to the street and it seemed a bit creepy. Narrow and dark, walls covered with posters and pictures; bent metal and matted carpet on the risers. There's nothing really special about the stairway, just an ordinary, if not a little too steep, set of stairs. But being the cell phone photog that I profess myself to be I was drawn to the view and just had to snap the pic.

That leads to today, the second week of 2011 and I happen upon this picture in my phone while sitting in front of the TV, wasting away another perfectly good night that could be spent doing something useful. It's like I'm stuck in my head, waiting at the top of the stairs, looking down, not exactly sure why I don't dare take those 20 or so steps down to the street below.

Will I trip on the first step and tumble down the narrow stairway, smacking my head on each step along the way? Will I get halfway and realize down those steps is not the direction I want to go? Or will I get to the street just to get caught in a torrential downpour, to get mugged or hit by a car, or simply not know which direction to turn?

That dark stairway taunts me daily. Some days I take a few steps down, look back at up to the top and retreat. There have been days when I've made it to the bottom step, only to smell the sour scent of rain and car exhaust waft through the doorway making me turn heel to the stench of failure and stale disappointment.

You'd think it would be easy enough to just go down those stairs and do what I need to do. Unfortunately, it's not. But maybe it is just that simple. Stop over thinking, take the stairs two at a time, burst out into the street and pick a direction, damn the consequences. No one ever got anywhere without taking that first step. But they also got nowhere from taking that first step and failing to take the next 19 after that, and the next 100 after that, and so on.

I really don't know what's going to happen down the stairway, if I make it down, if I make it through the door, if I get the chance to turn and walk away from the dark stairway, but I think I'd rather find out instead of waiting at the top, worried what will happen.

Metaphor, complete. Let's write some songs quit being an excuse creating procrastinator and get on with life.

3 Weeks And Counting!

It's officially 3 weeks (yesterday) to the big show. I think I'm getting a little more nervous with each passing day but that will happen when you haven't played a real show in about 4 years!

I finally busted out a set list, 10 songs, originals mixed with covers, that I can hopefully cram into 45 minutes. I don't think it will be a problem. Now it's just down to playing that set list over and over and over and over and over. That and I kind of have to finish a song that I've got in there as well. It's a song that I have tentatively called "U Can't/I Can". It's on the heavier side of the scale, as far acoustic music goes. The song is more or less the basis of what I'm trying to do with my music these days. If I could just get a band together and fill this stuff out we'd be in business.

My current sound is also based around one of my older tunes called "Lost In The Fray". I'm definitely going to jam that one out on October 10th. After all these years the song has been around it's still one my favorite original tunes to play. Feel free to take a listen. I'm off to rehearse. Rock on!

I Need To Get Out of Here!

I know I've said it before, but this place is not working for me...musically anyway. If this makes any sense, I feel like I'm trapped in a music killing cage where everyone can hear every single sound I make, see every move I make, while hating me for every second of it and poking me through the bars for good measure.

Is there any real reason to feel this way? Not really. None of the neighbors have complained. KJ doesn't mind the guitar playing and singing. Even the dog has gotten used to the extra sound. This feeling just emanates from inside of me, killing my focus, concentration and creativity.

I have so many ideas, none of which I can articulate into the full songs that play in my head as I doze of to sleep or daydream at the computer while typing a blog post.

What I think I really need is a sound proof studio. A simple set up with a place to relax with my guitar, my book and a pen along with a computer to catch those song ideas as they come out so forgetful me doesn't lose them. Or maybe just a simple, kind of out of the way practice space that I could rent and be alone with my thoughts and sometimes hideous noises that accompany my early songwriting stages that could compliment my intense lack of musical confidence. Heck, I'd settle for my own house, forget the soundproofing or the studio in general. Just a place that felt even remotely private, far away from the prodding, probably for the most part, non existent ears that judge and ridicule from all sides.

Perhaps this is just a bit of an overly dramatized dramatization. How many artists out there truly get there own safe haven isolated from the world to work on their masterpieces? I can imagine most of them don't. Though, a guy can dream can't he?

Overall, I'm just so antsy to get some of these ideas down and not sure how to do it. Any thoughts?

One At A Time, Please

It's nice when things get rolling creatively. I really can't complain. Sometimes I'll go months without writing down anything significant in my book or weeks without jamming out a riff on the guitar. But when the gates truly open, there tends to be a flood and I'm helpless to stop it.

In some ways the creative avalanche that rarely comes my way is just as bad as no idea coming at all, mostly because I can never lock anything down. I'll be lying in bed and a great melody comes bouncing through my brain for one song. The next day, the bridge for another song hits me like a ton of bricks and I have to get it down.

But no matter how much work I get done, the constant song hopping is always my downfall. Before I know it I have a lyric book full of a scribbled mess of pages (the scribbled part for me is good, it's means I've been writing and rewriting and putting down lots of thoughts) but also a GarageBand folder on the computer packed with random recordings which in the end, never make much sense.

So what's my problem? I think it's focus. At the songwriting stage that I'm in, I feel I should be able to sit down and work on a song (one at a time) and bust it out. I've done it before. But here especially, there's always a distraction. Whether it's the dog needs a walk, I get an email, the tv gets turned on (the World Cup has me hooked), I think of a blog post idea and feel guilty for not posting in a month (like right now) or I simply don't feel comfortable playing as loud as I want in my apartment building.  (I get a little self-conscious,  most definitely in the early stages of songs when half the time I'm screaming nonsense words and fumbling on the guitar to get melodies and rhythms down.)

I have some ideas of how to be able to focus more and concentrate on one song at a time so I actually accomplish something, the most notable being getting out of this apartment. But otherwise, I'm not sure what to do. I really want to get these songs rolling. Anyone have any suggestions pertaining to focus and concentration, whether it be for songwriting or any other project you need to get done?

Rock on!

In With The New, Out With The Old?

As much as I like to recycle, there's always a tipping point. And I speak of music here of course. Last year, I wrote of reusing old tunes in my overall effort to rid the world of musical pollution in my post "Going Green By Recycling...Old Tunes." But lately, I've been cruising through my old Moleskines and my tried and true technique is feeling a bit over tried and a lot less true.

It is true that a lyric I wrote down 5 years ago might not have worked back then yet fits perfectly with a new riff that I pumped out yesterday. But overall, I've found that I was in different place in 2005. Not only do I now live half way across the country, but I hang with new people, I've had a myriad of experiences, and maybe most decisively, I'm not going through a colossal break up.  I bet you can imagine how depressing, boring and whiny every line of these books feels today.

Life events like break ups give major inspiration. Some good tunes come from them but from my experience, it's mostly just cry baby drivel. Who wants to hear that? I don't. And I don't want to perform it either.

So where does that put me? It makes me a regular Sly Sludge, reveling in my skills to pollute and plunder, leaving a trail of unused, discarded lyrics and guitar riffs in my wake. (Keep up with the random Captain Planet reference.) But you know what? I'm ok with that. The last thing I want to be remembered for is being that guy that people couldn't stand listening to because of his outdated, unimaginative lyrics that just made everyone want to shoot themselves. I've decided that picking a line from here and there to get things moving isn't a bad thing, but I also have to live in the now and work with events going on around me in 2010. There's no shortage.

The hardest part is giving up all that work from back then. But since I'm looking for new as well as more fulfilling lyrics in my writing, good riddance. Here's to upbeat and rockin' songs that don't make people cry. Unless that's what I'm going for of course.


Rock on!

Scales, scales, they're good for your skills...

...the more you play, the more it kills.

Scales are one of the major building blocks of playing any instrument. I remember having to memorize and play then in high school band as warm ups every class...and I hated them. Scales are just so boring and I wasn't very good at memorizing them.

I couldn't get myself to play them when I was tooting on the trumpet back in my high school, brass rockin' days, and the same applied in my transition to the strings. Being a self-taught guitarist, I always figured learning scales were one of the best ways to learn the fret board, to strengthen my fretting hand, and to work on my alternate picking, among other things. Unfortunately, it never caught on. I skipped to the fun part, searching the internet for guitar tabs of songs I wanted to learn and strumming away.

So here I am, close to 9 years since I first picked up a guitar and the scales are coming back to haunt me. Still running with the self-teaching philosophy, lately I've been disgusted with my lack of knowledge with what I'm playing. (That and learning other people's songs. I know Good Riddance by Green Day yet I don't know some of the most basic theory!) I've written dozens of songs, I've been in a band, I play my guitar most every day, but if you were to ask me what I was playing, beyond the basic explanation of, "this is a G-chord", I'd probably talk like I just picked up a guitar yesterday.

Last week I pulled out an on old book, part of the K-I-S-S series of books (Keep It Simple Series...or Keep It Simple Stupid for someone like me.), for a starting point, something to jump start my thirst for guitar learning goodness.  The scales section popped right out at me and now whenever I'm just sitting around I tool with every scale I can literally wrap my hand around; major, minor, melodic minor, harmonic minor, chromatic, pentatonic....it just goes on.

As simple and straight forward as some of the stuff in this book seems, having played for all this time, I think spending some time going over this mind-boggling music theory stuff will do me good. It's not the most fun thing in the world, I mean, let's play some songs! (Write some songs is more like it.) But that's what happened 9 years ago and I think it's time to get a little more serious, no matter how much is hurts.

Commiting To Writing

I was just scoping out the blogosphere and I read a great article about writing. It was pretty straight forward but great advice none-the-less, be committed to writing. It's little things like the advice from this article that make me realize how easy it is to get things going and just do what I like to do, write songs. Screw the inspiration, the time, the distractions, every excuse in the book. It's all about putting the pen to paper or the fingers to the keys and that's it, nothing complicated. It doesn't matter what it is, just as long as it's words coming from my head and into the daylight.

Thanks to the Saphrym blog for the great advice and the great blog. To check out the article, "Writing Tips: Commit", click here.

Rock on!

Word Box Wednesday #5 - It's Been Awhile

So my last Word Box Wednesday was April...yikes. It's a glaringly sick example of how unproductive the songwriting has been over the past year, the year that was supposed to be my most creative to date.

The Word Box (explained here, last January), was always supposed to be my songwriting inspiration. Or maybe not so much inspiration but a little jump start to the ideas that weren't coming to me otherwise. But lately it's just been an old Whitman's Sampler box with words taped all over it. (Although, it does look pretty cool if I do say so myself.)

The saddest part is that I have this feeling in my gut that I really want to write. The insane urge to create good song after good song that I can be proud of and share with the world. The problem is that I just don't know where to go from here. I sure as hell am not going to give up. But where are those ideas going to come from and how am I going to finally put them together to make something worthwhile? Honestly, I have no clue, but I'm going to start by reaching into the Word Box for the first time in more than 8 months and see where it takes me.

So here I go....first I'll give it a good shake. (shaking....) Then I'll take off the cover. Reach in, (some more word shuffling...) and pick out the word:

dirt

How can I use the word dirt in a song? (About a million different ways.) What does it make me feel? (Sad or adventurous.) What does it make me think about? (Death or childhood.)

All good questions, now let's run with it. Rock on!

Getting Out of the Funk and Into the Rock

I once read somewhere that to be a good writer, no matter what form, you need to read a lot and to write even more. Having my focus on writing lyrics, I've also added into the equation listening to a lot of music. In my quest to keep writing and become a better a songwriter I've done quite a bit of the following:

1. I got myself a library card and have been going book crazy. According to my Books on Facebook application (Yeah, it's bad, I'm even keeping track.) I've read 7 books since September 1st and many more over the course of the summer. I read during breaks at work, I read when I get home, I read in waiting rooms, I read on my days off, and whenever I feel I have nothing better to do. (Which is quite often.)

I'm a little proud of this development, there could be worse things to be addicted to, T.v. or drugs for example. I enjoy reading, it passes time and I'm doing it to improve myself. But I can't help but feel a little pathetic at times knowing there are other things I could be doing. We'll get to one of the most important things I could be doing later.

2. I love music, there is no denying that. Lately, I've been on a new music listening frenzy that is only rivaled by my book reading kick. Many of my favorite bands, and some that I just enjoy in general, have been coming out with new music in the past couple of months and I've been eating it up, hence my earlier posts, "Burn Burn" Burning Up The Car Stereo, Those Are Some "Sick Puppies", as well as posts about Green Day, Hinder, and Three Days Grace. Not to mention dropped albums I haven't mentioned like Paramore, Breaking Benjamin and Thousand Foot Krutch.

It goes on and on my friends. And I can't help it. As Three Days Grace would put it, "At night I feel like a vampire, it's not right, but I just can't give it up." It's great hearing new music because for me it's a little bit of inspiration, which leads to the determination to make something better of what I create.

But lately it's only lead to quite a bit of frustration, too much procrastination, along with unhealthy doses of constipation. Not the kind you're thinking of, more lyrical constipation, constipation of the brain. Which leads me to the one thing I haven't been doing much of at all when it comes to the steps to improving my songwriting chops.

Writing!

The most important aspect of this whole process has been totally neglected and I haven't done anything about it. I rarely put pen to paper or even fingers to keyboard. The pages have been blank and frankly I haven't known what to do to remedy it. Even this blog has seen posts that are way too far and few between. My guitar has been collecting dust in it's lonely corner, the area I like to refer to as the musical black hole of my new apartment.

Am I putting too much pressure on myself to perform? Probably. Am I not going with the flow like I always used to and just letting ideas comes as they come while making sure to jot them down and not take things for granted? Most definitely. Am I full of excuse after excuse why I can't get things done? Absolutely! But is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Yes, there is. It comes in the form of a chorus that leaked out of my brain two days ago.


Once the ball is rolling, who knows where it's going to end up. Keep it rockin', I will!

Down In The Drop D Dumps

As a guitar player, it's always been fun to discover different tunings. Of course, you always start with the standard EADGBE, from top string to bottom. But from there, there is an endless array of possibilities as long as you're willing to experiment.

There's the Admiral (CGDCBC), Drop A (AEADGC), Double Drop D (DADGBD), Fourths (EADGCF), and so on. (Thanks to How To Tune A Guitar.net)

Each tuning gives your guitar a different sound and a different feel. I can't say I've really tried too many but the standard tuning has never really been my thing. I've always looked for something different. (And not too different I suppose, I stick with something that is still pretty common.)

Since I discovered it I've been hooked to Drop D tuning. It's achieved my dropping the low E string down a step to the low D note. (DADGBE) With this tuning it's so easy to play successive power barre chords by barring and strumming the top three strings. It achieves a heavier rock feel which makes little use of the high strings and favors the low end. I've just always loved the way it sounds and how the chords are played.

Within the past couple of years I've been stuck on a tuning with an even darker feel by starting with Drop D and tuning everything down half a step. (Db Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) I just love how the lower notes resonate and how I feel the range fits my vocals. But at the same time, this tuning has gotten me in a slump as far as my guitar playing skills go. I feel that I've been so stuck on these simple barre chords that I haven't been learning as much as I can by discovering what the other strings have to offer to music.

So I am truly down in the drop D dumps. Though I love the sound, I've realized that there is more to playing guitar than just one tuning or one sound. So to standard E I go! Rock on!

Celebretory Green Day - New Album, 21st Century Breakdown

What a better reason to spend some money than to celebrate getting a job. Makes sense, right? Well, it doesn't really need to make sense, cause I did it anyway. It took some personal convincing as KJ and I wandered through Target for some necessities, but after picking up the new Green Day album, setting it down and walking away, we wandered across the expanse that makes up the checkout lanes of Target and picked it up again. I couldn't help myself.

Not that I had any doubt but Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown is definitely quality tunage. You have your straight forward hits like the first single "Know Your Enemy" and "21 Guns" but you also have surprising rockers like "Restless Heart Syndrome" and standard structure breakers like "Before the Lobotomy". And we can't forget those heart felt piano filled tunes like "Last Night On Earth". There are no doubt some awards in this albums near future.

With 18 tracks split into 3 acts (All full length songs but one mind you. You get your money's worth with this album. We're talking $.55 a song for $9.99 at Target.), the album picks up where American Idiot left off adding even more songwriting maturity, political undertones and catchy, rockin' punk riffs that we've come to love from Billy Joe and the gang.

If you're looking for a complete album that rocks your socks off, lulls you into a musical trance, and suprises you with the sheer songwriting genius, 21st Century Breakdown is a great one to cure your fix.

For a sneak peek check out the video below of track #5, "Before the Lobotomy". I figured if you listen to the radio even semi-consistently you're going to be hearing "Know Your Enemy" quite a bit.

Now is time for me to get away from this computer on my last real day off before I enter the work force. Enjoy your day off for those of you chilling out there today. I suggest picking up 21st Century Breakdown for some musical enlightenment and relaxation on your free day. Just don't try to pick it up at Walmart, they've refused to carry it. In case you haven't heard, here's the article about the ridiculousness.

Rock on!