Recording the Soundtrack of our Lives - Day #2

I was aiming for a 9:30am start. Nice and leisurely. 

My motel neighbours didn’t get that memo. I’d hazard that the 4:30am wake up knock rattled the doors of many unappreciative rooms. 

I probably the needed the extra time anyway, I did have to walk 15 seconds up the road to the servo and grab a toothbrush. Thankful for the opportunity to rise early, I suppose. 

I tried to go back to sleep, I meditated, ruminated… plotted revenge… I got there eventually but restful it was not - so I celebrated with a Bacon & Egg McMuffin. I’m not a quick learner. 

Two International Roasts later and I was rueing my morning’s dietary choices but at least I was on the road. 

6 hours is not a lot of time to finish an album plus a newly written song it turns out but we squeezed every available moment from the time. The saving grace is that some of these songs are piano songs. No, I haven’t learned to play, I just needed a new way to write and get some of these songs out. The performances on the record will be of a much higher quality than my demos. 

Some of the songs we tracked on Day #2 probably give off a certain mood - “Death Bed” and “Fallible” come to mind, but there’s optimism beneath the skin. The thing I found strangest was recording songs that belong to the midnight hours at 11am. “Fallible” in particular is one of the most vulnerable songs I’ve ever written, yet here I am bouncing into a beautiful studio, warmed by a host made (great) coffee and proud of what I’m putting down, it requires quite a mindset shift. 

But you know what, we got it done. 11 - yes, 11 songs - in effectively 1.5 days. The whole experience, from when I started writing 18 months ago to the final take on “The Last Song” (I’ll rename it, don’t worry), has taught me so much. It has taught me about making music but also about me. There’s more of me than in any other record. More truth. Or more accurately, facing up to truth. More love. More wonder. 

I’m really looking forward to giving these songs to you.

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