It's All About Momentum!

Day 13. Yesterday was a real challenge. Between teaching, eating, getting my workout in and running some errands, it suddenly was 11pm; in panic I stared at the screen, pulled up the track, looked at the time and all I heard was a little voice saying..."you're not gonna make it today. There goes your 31songs in 31days".

I threw some first instinct vocal ideas on it, kept listening to the music, looking at the time and slightly freaking out again. Thankfully, it was a collaboration, I just needed vocals and lyrics. Hahaha, JUST...the voice kept saying "You're running out of time, don't have a clue what you're singing about" and for a second I wanted to accept the fact that I didn't make it, telling myself I could write two tomorrow. I did NOT listen to that voice.

I took a deep breath and started to tap into my subconscious mind, allowing myself to JUST BE and DO what FEELS right instead of thinking if it's good or bad or what time it is.(as long as I stick with the 2 hour time frame)

Melodies are easy for me. I can do 10 songs a day if I had to. (I really can)  But WORDS is a different story. The trap you fall into when writing lyrics by yourself is that you tend to keep re-using some of your favorite words. Listen to some albums and you'll notice that many artists do this. Not all but many.

I decided to NOT worry about it and just write. Over-thinking, over-analyzing leads to writers block.

Once you let it go, think about the scene, the theme or title, the words start flowing. Are they final? Most likely not, writing is all about re-writing. What's important is MOMENTUM!

I must say I was truly amazed with myself. I was tired, frustrated and slightly panicking. I claimed writers block for such a long time while finishing my album ARC OF A DREAM. Looking back, I call it bullshit. Subconsciously I was stalling completion in fear of disapproval, failure or maybe just pure fear of completion?

As songwriters who take their career serious, we have to learn to write, start to finish, than re-write, start to finish and let it go! And repeat! Things are always way simpler than they seem. Life is good. Feeling accomplished! Cheers!

PS: Soundbites are coming next! Stay tuned!
xoxo
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!
;)