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.

I wrote this song in the basement of my parents house (where I was living at the time)…and I approached it the way I did most songwriting attempts back then. I sat down at my piano, cleared my mind, and started playing a random assortment of chords/riffs/notes until I found something that “felt” right. Knowing what “feels” right is sometimes difficult, and it’s hard to describe…in this song it ended up being the guitar intro right before the first verse (keep in mind I was playing that guitar part on the piano). The verses and chorus flowed quite quickly from there. Within 20 minutes I had all of the lyrics for the two verses, pre-choruses, and chorus, and a melody to accompany each. I also had a musical interlude for the bridge (which is similar to the recording), but at the time, I never had a lyric or vocal part for it…that came much much later when recording the first demo vocals. I knew there was something special about this song from that first writing session; it just felt right to sing and it quickly got stuck in my head (which in pop-music world is a good sign).

When people ask me what inspired this song it is really difficult to pinpoint a specific person or situation as being the primary influence. At that time in my life I had left school to pursue music (a move which was supported but very much questioned by my parents/family) and was dabbling in dating and learning how difficult it can be to remain an individual within a relationship. I also felt surrounded by young people chasing after finding happiness within someone else instead of being able to find it within themselves. These types of themes essentially culminated into a song about overthrowing those external forces and pressures within your life in order to chase after your own dreams and identity, and not allowing yourself to become someone else’s perception of who you should be. Probably a bit deep for a 3 minute pop song…but what can I say? I always over-think things.

Despite having written the song in 2005, recording it didn’t begin until the summer of 2007. I was now back in school, had taken a bit of a break from music and was starting to get anxious to record new music again. Given the state of the industry and the costs of recording music outside of a home studio environment, I decided to move to Toronto for the summer and “intern” at Creighton and Dan Leblanc’s recording studio. I knew that I needed to start learning how to track and produce my own songs if I wanted to be able to continue making music. It was one of the greatest summers of my life. I lived with my best friend David, worked two crazy jobs in order to save up and buy a Mac and recording software, and spent a couple days a week at Doane Leblanc Inc. working on my music. I knew I’d likely only get through one song in a summer given my schedule, so I chose “Someone Else’s” as it was a longtime favourite. Up until that point, “Someone Else’s” was very much envisioned to be a big rock anthem. It wasn’t until that summer when David exposed me to a lot of dance and electronica music that I began re-working parts to include more dancey elements. I think those choices were well made; they suit the song nicely, giving it a current feel while also maintaining more of an alt-pop edge.

By the end of the summer I had the demo for the song finished, and I was quite proud of it (although listening to it now it sounds really weak). Over the following two years I added and built onto the demo as I started recording the other songs for “Signals and Goodbyes” and got a better feel for the recording software and for song arrangements. I added some new vocals to it in the Fall of 2008 and then I did the final mixes with Creighton in March of this year. Even after those mixes were done, I envisioned more tweaks and changes and finally just had to give in and know it was time to stop and let the song live as is.

So, needless to say, even after its first demo, the song continued to grow and evolve…but I think that’s the case with any song overtime. The songs evolve with you as you grow and change as a person, songwriter, and musician, and I find that to be overly fitting in an industry where change is the only constant. So there you have it, a (somewhat) brief history of how this song came to life. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I do.

(i am young)
(i am young)

you think you know me
but you don’t know
what you’re in for
no it’s not blurred memory
you don’t see
what you saw before

‘ever changing
never with a warning
then i’m out the door

but i am young
i don’t want to wish my life away
i am not gonna settle for someone else’s dream
i am strong
i can be who i want to be
i am not gonna settle for someone else’s dream

so you may have had me
but time goes by
and i’m moving with it
i need to chase the things i see in me
not ready to be
what you need

‘ever changing
watching your heart breaking
as i close the door

but i am young
i don’t want to wish my life away
i am not gonna settle for someone else’s dream
i am strong
i can be who i want to be
i am not gonna settle for someone else’s dream

you can judge me if you want
(still not your idol…)
but i’ll still end up on top
(…i don’t want to be)
because i’ll always follow heart

(i am young)
(i am young)

Listen to “Someone Else’s” on my Bandcamp site, buy MP3/FLAC/WAV etc. files, and download the radio edits for free.

Download “Someone Else’s” on iTunes.

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