Sketching Songs

Anyone reading might know that I decided to record an EP.

Well, recording is hard. I love performing, and I love the creativity inherent to the recording process. Doing stuff like holding a shrieking baritone guitar up to an amp in hunt of just the right kind of feedback is fun. It’s the precision of recording that gets to me. The lamp of perfectionism shines bright and calls each gnat of insecurity to the party until the whole thing is abuzz with frustration, and I can’t sleep for the sound of the zapper. Indulge me.

Perfectionists know that sometimes progress is a matter of exposure therapy. I’m very much getting therapized right now. But it’s good. I’m doing things like playing to a click and looping and letting just one harmonic idea wash over me for a while, exploring it, letting myself spend time on the whole process. This isn’t something I’ve done before, being previously far more focused on the quality of the whole rather than reaching through one idea to the next and the next until maybe they form a whole, or I end up with just one thing I like, or I get tired and go to bed.

What’s the point here? Well, it’s where I’m at. I’m in the very early phases. I’m learning an atrocious amount. With the determination to make a project of this EP over the fall and winter, I’m finding my songwriting developing in unexpected ways. I’m finding a process for dependable creative output. I’m feeling my inspiration come in waves that aren’t at all reliably stacked sets, but they always come.

All that is to say, I suppose, that I’m sketching. For someone who’s never really had an interest in drawing, painting, or any other visual medium, the idea of sketching songs is only something I’ve just started to come to grips with. I hadn’t even recognized it as a valid process until the past year or so. But watching people I respect iterate on their own musical ideas has really unlocked this whole thing for me. I like it.

I settled on five songs for the EP. I’ll update the EP page with some audio clips once they’re ready. I should have a couple of idea posts with little snippets soon, too.

Follow the full recording journey on the EP page. Enjoying following along? Support the recording →