Song Canvas: “Someone Else’s”

“you think you know me
but you don’t know what you’re in for”

Someone Else's Single Cover

Of all the songs on “Signals and Goodbyes”, “Someone Else’s” is the oldest. I wrote it in January of 2005, just a few months after my first album “people will believe anything if you whisper it” was released. Given its age, the song has benefited and evolved from the “live” experience. I first played it at the Bluebird Cafe in February of that year (yes, a few weeks after writing it), and since then it became a staple at all of the shows I played promoting “…whisper it”. It is one of those songs that is extremely empowering to sing, and I became attached to it very quickly. Creighton Doane (who co-produced “…whisper it” and mixed “Signals” with me) once told me it’s usually advantageous for a song to grow in a live setting before you record it, as you gain a better perspective on how the song should sound, and you work through and re-write the less interesting parts as you develop a sense for how the audience reacts to it. I couldn’t agree more. Had I recorded “Someone Else’s” back then, it would not sound the way it does now. For example, the piano intro and the “I am young” parts evolved out of improvising at live shows, and I consider them to be crucial now to the songs structure and melodic impact.

New E.P. “Signals and Goodbyes”

Album Cover

After just over five years of not releasing new music, my new E.P. “Signals and Goodbyes” has now been at digital outlets worldwide for just over two weeks. A lot has happened to me since “people will believe anything if you whisper it” (my first album). I finished my degree, got a “grown up” job, and started quite an interesting life for myself.

Music has always remained present however. For the two years following “…whisper it” there was random gigging, radio play, various music opportunities, and of course, many promises that fell through from an industry that was crashing and has since crashed. Out of those experiences I developed a new perspective on the process of creating music. I began learning how to record and produce, and maintained a fairly constant flow of writing new songs. That is the new reality of the music business. It’s now, more-so than ever, driven by the artists and those who support them, and really…what could ever make more sense than that?

This E.P. is essentially a challenge I issued to myself in order to see if this new do-it-yourself world was for me or not. It’s the “introductory course” to home recording, but I’m okay with that…everyone needs to start somewhere. I knew I had to just jump in and try it and learn from whatever resulted from those experiments. I’m very happy with the result, and I already have plans in place for improvement and growth, which is all anyone can really ever do.

It’s funny how when you put so much time into something, you begin to love every piece of it – perfect or imperfect. When I listen to the songs now and I hear parts that don’t totally work or something that could have been tweaked better, I don’t really think to myself – “damn it, I should have done that different.” I find myself amused and appreciative of my flaws, for I know that the only reason I can now be objective about those parts is because my ear has developed from the process I spent creating them to begin with. It’s so easy to know better in hindsight; and that really can be said about anything in your life.

So after two years in the making (keeping in mind that a lot of other stuff was going on at the same time), my simple five songs have come to life and are ready for your ears if you so desire. I do hope some people out there in internet land enjoy ‘em, but I can’t complain either way. I accomplished round one of what I set out to accomplish, and what will be will be.

Listen to “Signals and Goodbyes” on my Bandcamp site, and buy MP3/FLAC/WAV etc. files.

Download “Signals and Goodbyes” on iTunes.

For those who are interested, stay tuned for more entries on the E.P., the songs, new songs, new music, and other stuff I have planned. Thanks for reading.

xo

m