Nightlife - Michael

If you can't work the dream, you have to dream after work. The creation of this musical isn't my full-time job, and besides the musical, Ben and I are also involved in other music projects that require our time. We'd like for music creation to be our bacon, but right now it's our scrapple--the leftover stuff that we have to work toward during our "leftover" time. Yesterday's a case in point:

7:00 a.m. -- Wake up.

8:30 a.m. -- Arrive at work, a one hour Metro ride away.

5:00 p.m. -- Leave work, your basic tedious 8.5 hour day.

6:00 p.m. -- Arrive home. Jump in the car and leave for Ben's, during rush hour, over an hour away.

7:20 p.m. -- Arrive at Ben's apartment. We record a parody for an e-column I write. Re-record the vocal track for a commercial we were hired to do, then master it. Receive Skype call from Chego, that singer in Venezuela. Tells us he's healthy again and better than ever. (AWESOME.) Chego sends us a new version of him singing one of our songs, and Ben and I go over it wirh him, asking him to adjust his accent here and there. He nails it. We send him money via PayPal (now that's trust) and with it, he'll be recording his OFFICIAL vocal track in a professional studio on Monday. It's the best news Ben and I have heard in eons.

11:30 p.m. -- Talk to Ben about plans for next week regarding recording. Leave Ben's. Grab some Taco Bell because I missed dinner.

12:30 a.m. -- Arrive home. Get to sleep about 1:30 a.m.

And that's how it is: One big awesome pain in the ass.

On the way home, we talked on the phone:

Me:  "After dealing with a bunch of setbacks for the past few weeks, it's a relief to have something finally come through."

Ben:  "Yeah, I have a feeling most of the time it'll be like that. But the end result will always be worth whatever shit we have to deal with leading up to it."

He's probably right. Today, "my friends" (as Chego would say, somewhat reminescent of the Dos Equis guy), all's well and lookin' up.

The World at Large - Michael

I was reading several back issues of Rolling Stone today and once again realized that I'm very small. And I have to imagine that's a common feeling to an aspiring songwriter: Everyone's doing everything, and the market is saturated, and why will what I make matter?

I read an article/interview about will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas (among other projects) and he's now considered one of the most preeminent songwriters of our time. He has his several theories about the music industry, and then you flip the page, and there's Jack White, discussing his new Dead Weather album (some brutal blues man, I own it) and talking about the strength of independent labels returning. Then I read about Them Crooked Vultures--a supergroup of massive proportions from grunger Dave Grohl to Led-head J.P. Jones and that Queens of the Stone Age guy. Speaking of which, Mary J. Blige and Steve Vai collaborated on "Stairway to Heaven." Too much.

The world at large is intimidating. Keep your head down. Power through.

Baby in a Stranger's Hands - Michael

I hope success is based on how much you have to overcome first. As we try to get this demo done by the end of May, more and more obstacles get thrown in our path.

One singer believed she wasn’t right for the part and suggested another singer, who, while talented, has been difficult to obtain auditions from.

Most of the singers we audition have wonderful voices...for other styles of music.

Another singer was perfect for one role, so we assumed that he’d be perfect for another. We had him come into the studio, and we were wrong. His voice, while excellent, was not suited for the role. We had to pay him anyway, of course. More time and cash lost.

One of the singers we’re working with lives in Venezuela. English is not his first language, but his voice is absolutely amazing. And now, today, I received an email from him. His tonsils were just removed  and now as a result of the operation, he’s even more sick and will be out of commission for about a MONTH.

Sometimes it seems like this will never happen. 

This is the huge downside to collaboration--you put your baby in a stranger’s hands. Once you rely on other people, your project is no longer entirely in your control.

Michael

Vehicle, Part 1 - Michael

Multi-layered appreciation for a song starts with the top layer. Before casual music fans can appreciate your syncopated minor-under-major bass line, they need something bold and moving to hold their hand and take them on the journey of the song--an idea that's less cheesy than it sounds.

I, amateur as I am, call this concept a song's "vehicle." 

Casual music fans don't understand (or care about) the time, effort, or life experience it took to make your song. The fact that you made a conscious decision to use digital delay set to dotted eighth notes for the second chorus's background mandolin means nothing. Oh wait, your lyrics only seem dumb, but in fact, they're wittily alluding to Zager & Evans and should be given their due? Nope. Sorry. Unless you've led them from the get-go--the fans are gone.

A song's vehicle is a singular musical device that maintains a listener's interest and carries the listener to the song's next vehicle. This can be anything--a beat, a solo, so long as it serves to connect with the listener and move them emotionally.

This is not the same concept as a song's "hook." Hooks are vehicles, but not all vehicles are hooks. I'll explain.

You have a really catchy chorus, complete with a very cathartic, yet melodically simple "Yeah whoa-oh!" type of thing. It's a fine vehicle. Your song's Corvette, if you will. Fast, flashy, fun. But what's driving your listener between the hooks? Is your second verse so boringly repetitive that your listeners are stuck "walking" to the next chorus?

You say, "Well, I'm not writing for those casual asshats. I want to be respected by my peers. They get me, and their opinion is what matters." Ok. The respect of your peers is invaluable and certainly qualifies for success. But you can't make waves in a bathtub. As a creative person, you likely want a type of recognition that goes beyond respect, and perhaps achieves some level of immortality. To make those kind of waves, you need an ocean of listeners. For me, a guy in a team writing a musical (a form with a very limited market), the idea of attracting people who never thought they liked musicals and changing their ideas about music is too luring not to give casual music fans some thought.

I'm a nobody. I'm not famous. I'm not saying I'm an expert in songwriting. These are just some ideas. Might seem obvious, but they're important.

I have some more ideas regarding vehicles, including some explanation about what I mean by "singular," as well as what works, and maybe an example or two. A later post!

Michael

The Process - Michael

It's been over two years since Ben and I first had the idea for LBM. I call it LBM to avoid having the idea stolen, while being very aware of the fact that it seems pretentious to think that an idea you have is worth stealing. This one is.

It began with a concept and three songs, and over two years later, has amounted to an incomplete musical adaptation comprising 20 songs, with only 3 of them professionally recorded at this point.

Such is the expense, time, and the creative struggle of creating a comprehensive work. Granted, there was a 9 month period of time where Ben and I became a bit disenchanted, and didn't touch LBM the entire time.

Since then, Ben and I started a tiny company called Status Music Design on the suggestion of our lawyer. (Oh, we got a lawyer too.) The business plan is probably the same as your ideal business plan: do what you want when you want and get paid doing it. As our musical is an adaptation of a major motion picture, we've unsuccessfully tried twice to contact the production company for adaptation rights. Once by ourselves, once through our lawyer. A third time is in the works. This time, we're sending a three song demo--something that perfectly embodies the tone and the experience of LBM.

The demo is about 75% complete. And after over two years of efforts, I'm sometimes daunted by the task of taking this project to completion. This blog serves to chronicle all aspects of the process--the struggle to create, the method of writing and recording, the gear used to develop our sounds, and the tribulations of the business aspect of creativity. Also, I hope that by blogging, Ben and I will motivate ourselves to continue, and maybe help/inspire others who may be trying the same thing. (Hopefully not the exact same thing ;-)

Michael