Week #3 Update: 11/12 - 11/17

Feliz!

Before I get into this week's events, I should add that these weekly updates may contain SPOILERS. I go fairly deep into the songwriting process, and while I often try to be intentionally vague, it might be worth skipping these if you wish to someday listen free of preconceived notions.

Sunday 11/12

Sunday was mostly a family day but I was noodling on acoustic guitar throughout. I came up with a progression and melody that I would sing jibberish along to. Sage eventually started singing along and would give me a "good job daddy!" every time I finished.

Monday 11/13:

Monday morning I started working on writing lyrics for the acoustic piece I wrote on Sunday. The electronic fire pit has become the go to spot for this. I didn't want to spend a ton of time on it,  just enough to get a quick demo down until I decide whether its worthy. The current version is about 90 seconds long, I wrote a few more parts that would push it into full length territory but I think it makes sense as more of an interlude right now. It's very dreary sounding - finger picked guitar and falsetto vocals - almost too similar to Thom Yorke. The lyrics play around with the idea that existence is a series of beginnings and endings that repeat for all time and "no one's keeping count." That line is repeated throughout in a depressing manner but then it ends on a major chord that changes the perspective in a way that feels like a bit of a magic trick. I recorded a demo by early afternoon... and was already bored with it. I decided to stick a fork in it for the time being.

The other big development of the day was Adam sent me his first pass on drums for "Come Again." They add a lot of depth and really help the song soar. I'm super excited to hear them with his mix.
It's always a tricky thing working the way I do, I'll hear a song a certain way hundreds of times before receiving horn or drum parts. It always takes multiple listens to recalibrate and hear things unencumbered by what was there before.

Tuesday 11/14:

Tuesday I decided to start fresh on something new. After the previous day's attempt, I wanted to try something fun and uptempo. I made some drum loops and started playing around on guitar and bass. I landed on something I liked and tracked it. I built out some of the production with keys and percussion before I started thinking about lyrics and vocals. The instrumental has a pretty strong Talking Heads / Paul Simon vibe in its current state. 'Once in a Lifetime' and 'You Can Call Me Al' to get very specific. 

I didn't know where to go with it lyrically and started writing some weird story about a guy bartering with a gun salesman. I called my wife Clair down to listen and see if she felt things were on a good track (as I often do). She gave her stamp of approval on the music but had some thoughts on the lyrics. She told me that she felt each of the new songs had very clear ideas with strong points of view, but this one felt more detached or meandering. She said that it felt like it shared more DNA with somethings off Heart of Mold or Etc, whereas the other new songs felt like a progression from Swords. It's nice to have a smart wife!

Wednesday 11/15

I had a bit of a breakthrough moment when I played the acoustic track from Monday back-to-back with the new thing from Tuesday and discovered that they perfectly transition from one to the next. They are polar opposites sonically, so I thought it could be cool to explore the same subject matter in each song from different points of view. 

Both are still majorly under construction, but I'm excited to have a clear direction for each. 

Thursday 11/16

Started writing some new lyrics and wrote another section of music on the new song. I only had childcare for the first half of the day and then we had a rehearsal dinner for my wife's youngest sister's wedding, in which my daughter was the flower girl.

Thursday 11/17

Wedding shenanigans took up most of the day. Sage was not a very competent flower girl but she was still a big hit. She dominated the dance floor until 9 pm.

Still no word on Ren & Stimpy. Hoping to learn something next week.

Until then!

Big (and getting exceedingly bigger until Christmas) Nick