I’ve been talking about it for quite some time. Now the day has come to really do it.
No one said it was easy
I am going to reveal my first steps writing songs for the next album by the Alpha Boys. Not that anyone has asked, but I want to make sure you are informed about the difficulties I have to face putting together this stuff: Children and grown-up family members shouting in the background, friendly people saluting me in the streets, Underground trains breaking noisily. How could YOU concentrate in this mess?
It used to be so simple
Oh, how I sometimes miss those lazy times, when I could spend whole days in my flat just strumming a few chords. Looking back, I must have been so bored with myself that after a while something had to happen.
Status quo
Today the situation is nothing like it. It seems that every second of the day is planned down to the last detail. Between waking up the offspring and tiredly crushing into the sheets 18 hours later is a list of todos that can never get completed. I don’t want to sound bitter, I love all this (hello family), but in order to still maintain some creative results I have to totally change my act.
Status mobile
One thing I do is I try to have my mobile phone with its digital audio recorder at hand all the time. In my situatuion no invention is too small to record.
- Whenever I realize I am singing something to myself that is not being played on the stereo, …
- Whenever a close-to clever phrase crosses my mind,
… I simply push the record button and preserve the moment (may it be worth it or not) for eternity. At the moment I like to take these first songwriting steps in the morning on the way from kindergarden to the train station and on the way back in the afternoon. The snippets with guitar were more likely achieved at home. Anyway, let’s just think of the recordings as very very very raw diamonds that need a lot of polishing.
The Plan
I will post five memos each Wednesday in the coming weeks until the well is dry. Some notes will be added helping me to remember what made me push the record button in the first place. Have fun or just skip this one.
And Then
Later steps will include offering different text versions and getting together an arrangement. Hopefully in the end you will have the complete picture of a complete recording. It’s a long way to go.
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