Preparation

Mindset & A Story

How long does it really take for an independent musician to prepare his/her first release? Even with all the preparation in the world, I don’t imagine I would ever actually feel “ready to drop”. However, one of the reasons I launched this website is because I intend to take you along on the journey with me. I try to share what I experience, anything that I learn, and as much of the process as long as God bids me to. And if I learned anything over these last 6 months, it is that you do best by shooting first, takin’ aim later.

This article has been my cornerstone point of reference when it came to the steps needed to take to prepare the assets behind the track, as well as its actual release. (Available on Soundcloud)

A Story

Damaged

Background

It was the holidays once more, and I was alone within the four walls of a brand-new apartment. I had no tree because, what’s the point? I have no Christmas decorations - there is no space for them here. It also isn’t very pragmatic to carry a live tree up a couple stories that has to be torn down a few weeks later, and I definitely ain’t gonna get no plastic/fake sh*t. Thus, it is just me by myself with incense, a candle, and some studio lights. Of course I have my studio with me, that is the first thing that I unpacked and set up…

I begin reflecting, and I’m not sure what exactly is the source of this reflection (I will find out later as I lay down my verses, and the studio session matures). Before I begin to record, or work-out a song, I like to EQ the beat so I can better raiment it my tastes. Soon I find a beat, and I start to do some warm-ups. I always like to do vocal warm-ups and EQ prior to a session because it seems to me a sort of relaxed meditation of receptivity as the Great Creator allows me to sip from His chalice. Tonight it consists of breathing exercises, vocalizing, and muttering to nobody in particular.

I realize shortly thereafter that I am actually mumbling out loud to myself. Wherefore I decide it is time for me to put on the microphone and start recording, and now I’m actually talkin’ to somebody. I’m not going to delve deep into the actual progress of the session, because I am working on a BTS video scheduled for a later release, and you’ll be able to watch that here.

Conclusion

There is a lot to say about this record, and it holds a special place in my heart, but I will make this brief because I believe the content that I’ve made surrounding it will help to tell the rest of the story.

Damaged (listen to it here) is a melancholic introspection about the scars that a parental divorce leaves on its children whilst going through some of their most precious childhood moments. As I grew up, I might have thought that I was stronger than other children, or that it “wasn’t a big deal”; however it WAS a big deal. And everything was NOT okay.

Children are never “too young to understand”, and that is one of the reasons this song is so important to me. You literally hear the pain unfold as the beat drones on. I was impacted as a child but it seemingly took me until adulthood to realize it. Specifically, it took me up until this song to realize it.