2022: Plans-Goals-Wishes
First, a quick look back at the past year: 2021
With the help of medication & therapy I started getting a handle on my life long, and worsening ADHD. That worsening ADHD got bad enough to cripple me from making music for about 23 years. I’m finding my way back. In April 2021 my first completed new song in 23 years, “It’s All Crazy” was released to the world on all the major digital & streaming platforms. I followed that up with the release of “Halloween Party” October 1, 2021. I will be writing a new BIO which will include details of how I used to make music. For this post let me just say I had to learn a whole new way of doing things to produce music in 2021. I’m sort of keeping myself accountable, and motivated by releasing my new songs once I get them to a certain level of completion. Music doesn’t pay the bills, and I’m not independently wealthy, so I don’t have nearly as much free time as I wish to do this. I have a lot to learn, and it takes a while to create, play, and produce all the parts to make a song alone. Two songs in one year isn’t much at all, and yes, I know those first two new efforts are not perfect. However, after 23 years dormant, and having to essentially start from scratch with new technology; I’m pretty damned proud to have made it happen! I want to welcome everyone to follow me on this journey. I hope that with each new effort I will show I have learned more, and that I’m getting better. I feel I’m getting better not just as a music producer, but also as an artist. I hope most of you can appreciate that even if it’s not part of your own life experience. This is a journey, and I intend to be on it for the rest of my life learning, growing, getting better, and increasing my value to other people along the way. As to be expected the responses to those first two songs were mixed. On the positive side I seem to have fans! I have been told that my music reminds listeners of a time of music discovery when they were younger, and that they look forward to whatever I do next. I have heard my songs sung back to me casually. I have listeners and followers from surprising locations around the world. I have heard that even though my music is not a style that some people usually go for, that they dig what I do. I am incredibly humbled, and feel unworthy when I see & hear what I do compared to ICONS like David Bowie, Devo, Oingo Boingo, Gary Numan, and others. I love to hear that. It’s like catnip, but I doubt I deserve such comparisons. On the other hand I have received some fairly harsh criticisms. Some of these criticisms are to be expected, but in some cases it strikes me as surprising. In this new adventure I do pay attention to the critics, but I also try to understand where they’re coming from while placing value on the critique. This in at least in one case has proven to be a challenge, but it’s usually pretty easy to understand. I welcome helpful suggestions to be better at what I do. If someone has a fundamental problem with what I’m doing; I’m learning to see that as more their problem. I have no time for haters, or anyone trying to tear down what I’m trying to do. I am an artist with a need to create, and a newfound ability to do so. I want to continue to be better, but if being better means not being true to my vision; I’m not interested. I will admit that after the release of “Halloween Party” I had my confidence shook by sharp criticism by someone I previously trusted on such things. That caused me to second guess much of what I had started after producing “Halloween Party”. Fortunately I have had numerous other music producers, and musicians give me positive feedback, and suggestions over the past couple of months that has been enough to encourage me to continue this journey. So, what’s next?
The Agenda
Since the release of “Halloween Party” October 1, 2021 I started writing 3 new songs. I didn’t get very far with them. I started downloading Stems & Tracks of classic hit songs by other artists from years ago to practice music production by remixing those songs. That has been ongoing, and it has been fun. It’s been good exercise, and helpful in developing my knowledge of working with my new studio setup. I started working on a cover of a song that was a hit in the early 1980s. On top of all that I also have been working on a new version of one of my earliest songs originally written back in early 1987. Almost by accident, weeks ago I also started work on a new version of a song I wrote in the mid-1990s. I now have little interest in the 3 new songs I started, and unfortunately, I lost all the little production work I had done for one of them. I’ve thought I could possibly pull the 3 ideas together into one song, but after listening to what I have minutes ago, I just don’t feel the inspiration. I got off track over the past 2-3 months, and now I feel ready to get everything back on track.
So, it is my intention to release at least one new production by March. What that will be? Not sure. It may be that cover I mentioned. It may be that new version of that song from 1987. It may be a re-work of the songs I started months ago. It may well be something entirely new that I haven’t even started. In the next few weeks I should have a more solid vision for all of that. After the next release it is my intention to start rolling out new music more often. I hope to have at least 5 new releases by the end of 2022. It would be great if I can do more. We’ll see.
Stay tuned!