Music & Words

It's a little hard to keep on top of all the different music swirling around me. There's the stuff that I'm actively trying to listen to - a pile of albums based on recommendations and reviews and just gut instinct that I will like the sound. It's pretty much ever-growing, and sometimes a little thankless - some of the stuff just doesn't appeal to me, and it's not too often that anything will blow me away anymore. I've heard a lot of different styles and methods of playing metal (and some other genres, too) and it takes some superb execution to catch my ear these days. It's kind of unfortunate that I am perhaps jaded - but, on the other hand, I can find enjoyment in really small sections (10 seconds, 30 seconds, whatever) of good music, even within bad songs. Often, these are songs I listen to the most; sometimes it's the anticipation, the wading through the muck, that makes those 10 seconds so worthwhile and awesome.

There is also the music that I'm working on with Mark. I think there are maybe a dozen ideas that we're actively considering right now, and probably 30 or 40 just out there that we can use. I've been recording random parts and writing down snippets for as long as I've had a guitar, and it's built up into quite a mass.

And then there's Sarah's stuff! She's currently finishing up writing "And Nothing But The Truth," a musical based on her father's novel. With our simultaneous projects going on, it's been a lot of fun to compare notes on what has been working for us and what has not been, and to pass back and forth things that we've just created...and maybe tips on how to make them better. I have to say, she's been giving a lot more of the tips. I wish I had always had an Ivy-educated music composer to help me out with this! It's eye-opening, and actually talking with someone who has studied composition and theory in depth just adds so much more to the view you can take of what you're writing. It's important to have as many perspectives as possible (at least for me) because getting stuck is something I do a little too well.

Despite that fact, I've actually been getting a decent amount done and am liking what I am writing more and more.

It seems that the game plan is to basically conjure up about half a dozen complete songs and then demo them up; maybe sometime within the first three months of the new year. I'm starting to write out some lyrics for a few of them, since vocal lines are beginning to appear - and I may have to make use of Sarah's musical contacts for vocalists, as neither Mark nor I are wonderful singers (though I hope to do a little bit of it with him for one or two of the songs).

All in all, it sounds (ha!) like 2010 is going to be really fucking sweet.