Where's my Recorder??

Just a brief note of advice based on my own stumbling around.  If you're a songwriter you know that inspiration can strike you anytime, anywhere.  Whether just words, melody, or both if you don't have a tool to record your ideas it's quite likely some of your world-class, life-changing brilliance will escape into the ether now and again. The other day an idea came from somewhere and built itself into the first verse of a fun to sing pop song.  I was pumped. I'm always pumped when I'm creating.  There's no other feeling like it.  The only thing better is building on that creation and keeping the process going.  Unfortunately I couldn't find my pocket voice recorder anywhere and failed to find a way to record my latest creation.  I could only look so long for it before I had to be on my way to markedly less creative real job. Of course by the end of the day all I had was a handfull of lyrics and chords with no remembered melody.  I quietly mourned the loss of this nugget for two days, then said to myself "forget it,  maybe it will come back."  Luckily, out of the blue it snuck out of  some hidden file in my mind while I was washing dishes or clipping my toenails or something.

So, I dodged a bullet, but I swear my recorder will only be kept in my laptop bag, or in my hand from this day forward.  That is, if I find it.  It's somewhere floating around with 110 clips  that I'm sure I'll never recall from my memory.  I'll do a recording of this song in progress soon.       .

Finished! I Will Wait for You

Here's a song I remembered while I was working on "Into the Sun".  It has a similar feel to it but a more serious   subject.  I was thinking about what it must be like to wait for  your spouse who serves overseas in the military and remember writing most of it in one short sitting.   I don't know if I captured the correct emotional response of one who waits and I don't know how the wives of our soldiers overseas would react to the picture I  have painted , but at this point I'm fairly satisfied with it.  And by the way, I'm aware many female soldiers serve in volatile and risky combat theatres as well as men.  But I never even thought of writing it from a husband's viewpoint.  That would be an interesting challenge, but I don't think I'm gonna' deal with it.  Anyway, feel free to give me feedback on this puppy and let me know if you think I touched any reality here. Thanks.

Writing "Into the Sun". Final

Well, after a couple of weeks of just plain avoiding this song and getting a bit off track with the subject matter I finally pulled my messy mind together and loped to the finish line of this song.  I realized as I was writing it  that I had a couple of friends in mind who every year look forward impatiently to the warmer weather and time spent readying their cruising sailboat. As I struggled into the second verse I started writing about how nice it is to be able to walk the dog barefoot in the cool grass in the summer. What??  That verse went into the trash and I turned back to the subject I started with, sailing and the change of seasons.  So I mess up the words at one point here, but I swear learning my own songs is harder than learning a cover. Part of that is wanting to put the freshly finished song out of my mind so I have wide open space to start another.  And I'm afraid part of it is some kind of mental laziness.  I promised myself I wouldn't become impatient to finish this song just to get the other new ones that I wanted to have fun with.  So it took a few weeks longer than I thought (they usually do) but I'm glad to be done with it in a happy way.

Someone who inspires me

One of the most important aspects of remaining creative is to be able to define what inspires you.  That, and being careful not too define it too narrowly or rigidly, lest we miss an opportunity to be inspired by something that would normally escape us.  I guess awareness is the key.  I would like to introduce you to someone who I certainly count among my chief sources of inspiration. I only recently became aware of her work, but it affects me daily.  Ulrika Kestere is a creative juggernaut.  She is only in her twenties, but has obviously at a very early age decided to embrace her creative personality and embark on what will no doubt continue to be an exciting life's journey.  I selfishly hope she never decides to stop blogging.

This little video is a presentation of her bachelor's project for design school in Sweden.  She considers herself to be most importantly a photographer, but her illustration work and wood craft are as impressive.  She seems to never cease producing in some creative genre or another. Please check out her blog, .ulicam.blogspot.com.  I will probably post many more inspirational moments from Uli.

See the video here:
http://vimeo.com/40070335

An Idea Generator from Nate Williams

So I recently found the website of illustrator and  lettering artist (among other things) Nate Williams.  Everything about his work blows me away. I have lived  in the world of letters for thirty years via the sign industry and my wife's wonderfully creative lettering and illustrand, but have rarely seen anyone's work as creative as Nate's.  He pointed me to a couple of pages of his that deal with the broad world of creativity and although he wrote them with visual creativity in mind I find that much of what he writes about deals with the same creative challenges and explorations of the songwriter.
     
This article, "Ideas for Generating Ideas" might just as well have been written for a songwriting magazine but any writer, pictorial artist, musician , whatever should be well-fed by his ideas on feeding the subconscious. READ THIS! 
http://www.n8w.com/wp/3242

Elkano Browning Cream - Sugaaaar

My dad would have blown a fuse over this song.  I don't know where Elkano Browning Cream  got their name but they obviously got their funky instrumental creativity from some alien visitation.  Okay, the next thing I write is an instrumental.  Well, maybe.

Writing "Don't Put Your Hands On Me" Part 1

So, the other morning, it's 7:15 and time to get in my car and roll to work and this tune comes into my head and a few words. I don't remember which words as I wrote more in the car.  I hurriedly kissed my wife goodbye, jumped in the car and flipped the recorder on. I didn't get a lot accomplished, but I planted the seed.  I don't know where the song came from, it's kinda' dark and I was in such a bubbly mood that morning.  I do remember hearing "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins and it has a bit of that feel to it.  I don't mind realizing somone elses work influenced mine.  Someone elses work influenced that song I'm sure.  I also hear something of a weird song I heard on the radio and found quite interesting.  I can't remember who the girl singer was, but it was one of the few times I have heard someone's voice autotuned and I didn't feel sorry for them.   I wish I could remember the song because I hear the vocal effect while I work on this song.  Maybe best I can't remember. This video is about six minutes and not too exciting, but still kind of a record of how the song begins.  I'll put up some more later if it goes any further.  In the meantime, I think I have finished "Into the Sun" and will record the whole thing tomorrow prolly. See ya'.