Tag: independent artist collaboration stories

  • Creating “A Perfect Man”: When Simple Songs Say the Most

    Creating “A Perfect Man”: When Simple Songs Say the Most

    A Perfect Man exists

    Something so simple, yet so complex has been created by Claude J Woods Jr and myself. The idea of a perfect man isn’t something new. No. I’m sure there are plenty of women out there chasing the concept of a perfect man.

    Claude and I have done several tracks together and he came to me wanting to do more of a ballad type of song. So I decided I wanted to reimagine the idea of a ballad. Not the typical ballad or power ballad, but rather a stripped down and barebones bare the soul kind of thing. I came up with a very simple yet rhythmic solo electric guitar part that expressed that vibe. Claude responded with a melody and lyric idea that transformed into what you hear now.

    In Claude’s words: “The song turned out to be an introspective of being a man basically in charge of his world. Where he’s not egotistical enough to think that he is invulnerable or infallible in his endeavor to be the man that he was taught to be. He’s able be strong in his conviction and responsibility, while still keeping his self esteem and self confidence. This man has a strong desire to be good whilst at the same time staying honest and humble.”

    For me, it became about how a man could be put on a pedestal by his significant other. He realizes he’s been put there. That he wants to let them know about his imperfections and despite the possibility he might let them down, he’s still there for them, to the best of his abilities.

    The journey of getting the song tracked initially went very different from how I had expected to do it. The simplicity of the guitar part took a lot more work than it what the auditory sound like. I spent a couple of days playing thru various amp and mic combos to get the right vibe with the guitar I was playing.

    Once I had the guitar sound and got it tracked, I fought with my arranger & producer self to keep from putting too many instruments or layers into the production. In doing so, I really had to pay attention to how much emotion was coming thru the minimal amount of parts. A lot of attention to the detail of being able to propel the song forward came in to play. Usually I can throw the kitchen sink at a song and keep it interesting by sheer number of noises and layers I put in. The concept here thwarted that notion and made it more difficult to achieve.

    I gotta wonder if the feelings I ran thru working on accomplishing the goal of simplicity runs anywhere similar in nature to how Apple designs their iconic products.

    It’s my pleasure to present this song to you. I’ve already had some female friends tell me it makes them feel super sentimental to the point of bringing a tear to their eyes. To me, that’s the ultimate in compliments when a song can move a person to such strong emotions.

    Let me know how it moves you. I know Claude and I will appreciate hearing your connection.

    p.s. you can read more about the song here.

  • Burning Up the Airwaves: Urban Anthems and Soundtrack Wins

    A crazy summer to be sure…

    Fox Sports has been making great use of my music in the 2nd half of the MLB (Major League Baseball) season.

    Tracking has finished on two projects. One involving Jesse Stern & Alfredo Herz. The other with Chris Hellstrom. Both projects are in the mixing stage. Pretty soon they should make nice additions to contracts I have in network TV.

    Another track I did with Robert Navarro has been burning up the network airwaves: Not That Into You. Right now Robert and I are working on another project that should be completed by the end of September.

    Love Out Loud, a track I co-wrote and produced for the artist Kavi is now in her hands. Keep an ear out for it. I’ve finished two co-writes with Claude Woods Jr. one is called Keep The Swagg Up, the other is Whipped. Two great Urban tracks that should be burning up charts in the future.

    The most recent film trailer I’ve scored is: Father of Invention, starring Kevin Spacey. It’s a comedy and the trailer is out and about in the wild right now. For Apple users you can see it here: Father of Invention. For non quicktime users you can see it here: Father of Invention. I composed and produced all the music you hear in the trailer.

    To top it off, I’ve been holed up in the studio feverishly finishing over 50 songs for my next release. Pretty soon I’m going to be calling upon you to help decide which of them should be definitely on it. Details on how that will work are coming soon.