A SONG A DAY

Going STRONG! Finally made time for a long overdue BLOG!  As I've been working on making this "song a day" a habit; I must admit that it can be challenging. Besides the obvious, the songs need to be produced, mixed and mastered which sometimes can take longer than expected. (lyric/vocal tracks)

Here are a few things  I've discovered on my journey so far that I'd like to share. ( and really, it applies to anything you do) 

#1 CONSISTENCY

-Do it everyday! Just do it. 

-Give yourself a specific time and time frame. (2pm-4pm) If it's on your to do list, there's no panic or the "I don't have time" excuse. NO interruptions. 

#2 PURPOSE

Why am I doing this? Speaking for myself I do it to:

-Get better and faster at my craft

-Treat it as a job 

-Structure, discipline and self-motivation

-Up my production and writing skills

-Build my catalog

-Train myself to write wherever, whatever, without having to wait on inspiration. 

Inspiration is everywhere. Once you start, once in the zone and amazed what comes out.

#3 CONCEPT

-Think albums

-Specific genres

During my 31 Songs in 31 Days challenge, I was writing full songs with lyrics and vocals. I gave myself two hours. The goal was to write a complete song, start to finish. I didn't think too much about a specific genre, I let myself write whatever I wanted which was very liberating and fun. Now that I have the 31 songs, as I finish them one by one (production) I'll find them a home, some will be on my album, while others will go straight to a library. 

For Instrumentals. I think of it as making compilation CD's for music libraries. Specific themes and genres. Either Holiday (Halloween, Christmas) or Drama, or EDM tracks. This way, the end of the month I have 30 tracks to submit. It just makes sense and it helps to focus.

#4 EXPAND

-learn and experiment

It's easy to go to the same Virtual Instruments, (I do it all the time) while it is extremely helpful to have a go to Instrument if you need to write fast for a specific  request, force yourself to use just one instrument for example, write the entire piece in Massive, next day just use FM8 or Omnisphere and so on. The point is, we do want to expand and learn our instruments. Most of us have a ton of toys we hardly ever use or don't even know how to use.

#5 LISTEN

-Educate yourself

-Learn the genre you're in (or a new genre you're interested in)

-Stick out while still fitting in, be different from the rest

If you do library tracks, go to the high end libraries sites and listen to the genres you do, compare where you stand out yet still fit in. Same goes for songwriting, listen to the new releases on Itunes, 

As an Artists we do want to sound unique, different and fresh but we still want to know what's going on out there and stay current. Obviously, if you do vocal tracks for libraries, you do want to be able to make sound-alike tracks, you need to know what that artist sounds like. And it can inspire you to make it your own.

#6 KEEP ORGANIZED

-Find a system that works for you

-METADATA

-Register your songs with PRO

-Create Song Inventory to keep track

As you keep writing more and more music, it can get pretty overwhelming. I make folders for each month. (Sept. 2014) Inside that folder each song gets their own folder , I name the songs "Sept.1st, Sept. 2nd and so on" I also have a MIXES folder inside main folder where all the mixes go from all 30 songs; this way I don't have to go to each individual song folder if I need a track. Make wav and mp3 files. Vocal and Instrumental tracks.

Metadata, so important to have all the info about the song, like bpm, name, genre, artist info, description etc. It will make submissions way easier if you have it all in one place rather than having to listen to each track way after you worked on them.

Have a track inventory of all tracks, where the tracks are, (what libraries) non-exclusive or exclusive. (That just seems a blog all by itself) It can get overwhelming quickly.

#6 HAVE FUN & STAY FLEXIBLE

While it seems like a lot of work and  requires lot's discipline, we are doing it because we love it. We do it because we want to work our creative muscle. Not every song has to be the most amazing thing you've ever written. It's not about that, it's about putting it out to the universe that you are living your purpose, so your subconscious mind knows that this is what you are meant to do. It's so that your catalog grows, as well as you as an artist, composer. singer/songwriter. We only get better by doing.

There might be a day or two where you don't write, it happened to me a few times, I wanted to beat myself up but decided to just acknowledge that life happens, things come up and throw you off balance a bit. You go off track, you get back on. Write two the next day, make up for it. Laugh it off.

#7 READ

Read reviews, interviews, articles that catch your interest, use it as inspiration for lyrics and themes.

#8 COLLABORATE

While I personally love writing alone, especially instrumentals, I LOVE collaborating, it's expanding, fun and magical with the right person.  Together you'll come up with things you would've never done alone. It's easy to get stuck doing what you always do. Collaborators are great teachers and often become great friends and inspiration. Find collaborators that will care about the song as much as you do and help shop the song as well. There's power in a TEAM! No one succeeds doing everything alone.

#9 MOMENTUM

The more you write, the more creative you'll get. The more you hit the gym , the firmer your body gets, the stronger you become. And your CONFIDENT grows.  Confidence is very attractive! Successful people love confident people. Do not confuse that with arrogance or cockiness. Stay humble and keep living your purpose!!!

Past The Finish Line! Onto The Next!

  July's Mission "31 Songs in 31 Days" ACCOMPLISHED!!!! 

It was fun, challenging and mind expanding. I wanted to prove to myself, that I can focus two hours a day on writing a song start to finish with lyrics, without feeling "Writers Block". It was not about the full production but the fact that if I was to walk into a studio tomorrow to record an album, walk into a writing session or have a library request, I now have 31 songs to choose from. It was about being creative, in the moment and trusting that I can do it. About collaborating, enjoying teamwork and effort. Growing and expanding as a writer. Thank you to those who were part of it. This is just the beginning ;)

So what's next? AUGUST MISSION!

Step 1: I will finish one song a week for 31 weeks, (every single song from 31SI31D challenge). I plan on pulling a collaborator in for every song because 1) it will be faster and 2) another persons skill and talent will make it even better and after all, it's about making a good song GREAT. Knowing that people may flake, get busy...collaborator or not, one song a week to be released every Monday on soundcloud as well as some video clips.

Step 2:  I'll write one song a day but this time, instrumentals only, no longer than 3 minutes. Since I don't have to record vocals and write lyrics, I can do the full production in three hours easily, keeping the track focused, clean and simple.

Ready to bust ass for what I want! Willing to put in the work,  even if it means getting up a little earlier. Think for many of us the challenge is to be productive rather than busy! I know this will not be easy but I know it's do-able and I'm super excited.  PS: I'll let you know how happy or cranky I will be in a few days!

Let's get this party started! Happy August!
;)
JVB

31 SONGS in 31 days!

Happy 1st of July. I can't help but wonder what I did the first half of the year. Setting big goals and plans surely wasn't part of it. I made a tough and hard decision at the beginning of the year;  I let my baby, long time commitment "Otto's Daughter" go. Probably the hardest and most painful thing I've done, and I've done some pretty challenging things in my life.

I felt a lost, not sure what to do next, besides the obvious, writing music for libraries and film/tv placements. I can't stop making music and being who I am living my purpose. I am an artist and need to express who I am not just by writing but through love performance. I'm a performer and need the stage.

So many of us get so busy with life that the one thing we love the most we do the least. Something so painful and sad about this picture.  And time goes by and another year passes. You make money, lose it all but you can make it back, your relationship collapses, eventually you find someone better,  fall back in love and be happy again, all is good. One thing we don't get back is TIME!

Today I decided to challenge myself, to write one song a day for the entire month of July. It doesn't have to be a vocal track, nor does it have to be a completely well produced song. Just a good foundation, first draft that can later be perfected with a re-write and production skills.


The idea is to just write, step outside the box, get creative and allow myself to just be. Pick different topics, genres, whatever comes out. It's about working that creative muscle, making the time and allowing creativity to flow. I'm completely open to collaborating and invite you to become part of this journey.  Does it spark your Interest? Let's keep it simple.

Do

Here are two different ways to go about it:

Option 1) We collaborate in person. Hit me up, we set a date and time and spend 2 hours writing a tune. (Yes, two hours only, trust me this works)

Option 2) Online. Send me a track, an idea. Can be a piece of music or hook or lyric and I'll take it from there (or the other way around)

Important is, that it needs to be done on that day within a certain time frame. No excuses. No over analyzing, criticizing, just writing, letting the creative juices flow)

Many artists feel like they are not inspired, they have writers block, can't write while under pressure, the goal is to work through this resistance by just having fun and not taking it all so serious! Just allow the magic to happen, or maybe even not, and that would make an interesting song as well, lol

We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for! No more waiting for tomorrow for what can be done today! You want to expand, write, create and collaborate, here's my invitation. Regardless, I am committed to go on my "July 14 - One Song A Day in Journey". 31 songs are waiting to come to life!

I will post updates on here as well as on facebook and soundcloud.
Ready Go!
;)

Memorial Day Weekend..it's so quiet

As exciting and fun it is to be a musician, to have a band, the ability to create and do what I love, sometimes it's frustrating the hell out of me. Technical stuff turns my creativity off.

I do love my new laptop, I finally got it to work. I am getting myself ready to go on the road and still be able to write/record music. I've never been the kind of person who just writes and keeps the idea in my head; I've got too many of those and forget them just as easily as they come to me. I have to record them. Funny thing is sometimes I listen to songs I wrote and I don't even remember writing them. Sometimes I'm amazed, like wow, I did that? lol I love those moments and I need those because they inspire me to keep going.

We are in the middle of booking a tour and doing a radio promo. While there's a lot going on, it seems like nothing is happening. But it's the same in a battlefield, you never know when the bombs go off. Right now it's really important to make good use of my time and resources.

Of course there's the JVB solo album rotting in my old computer as well as a concept album...[yes a new OD album] floating in the back of my head. I think it would be wise to use all this very intense frustration to create. I'm kinda tired of the very polished sound and crave something a bit more raw and imperfect. I just have to walk over to the studio computer and get started, for some reason it seems very hard, wtf?...the constant battle of me and myself.

Off I go to feed my soul.
xoxo
JVB