WHY IS IT SO HARD TO MAKE A RECORD? IT TAKES A LONG TIME! [steem lifeblog #012]

Making an album moves as fast as molasses...

At least I can feel the momentum on this current record, with about 7 demos done! It has not been easy while working two jobs, and I am proud of myself for getting here without even going too crazy in the process.

In this episode I describe some delicious stuff happening at the oyster restaurant where I work, then I go deep into the mindset that it takes to stay sane while working on a large music project.

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_{This is my new daily Steem Blog, now in beta mode!}

INTRO

My goal in life is to start a new genre. To inspire and invoke a new form of art into the world, sending ripples of creativity out into the universe for generations to come.

Right now I'm grinding out the early stages, working two jobs, starting an anarchist art collective, and recording + rehearsing a ton of new music. This daily Steem blog brings you the most useful lessons and ideas that I'm able to extract from each day of my crazy life.

It's kind of like a motivational blog, but with a lot more angst and confusion. Call me the anti-Tony Robbins. Lets do this:

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_{art from my first album, bloomer}

May 26 - 9:30

Sunday is the day to be exhausted.

After working a late-night service industry double on Saturday night, I rise early to my cell phone alarm* to go to work Sunday brunch.

_{*rare for me}

There are a few principles to pulling off the “clopen” aka close&open, when you have less than 8 hours between your night shift ending and your morning shift beginning.

Principle #1) Don’t drink any alcohol during the clopen. Your body is compromised enough already.

Principle #2) Make time to get coffee/food before the opening shift if possible.

If you open somewhere super early, #2 might not be feasible. It works well for me since my brunch starts at 10am. Sometimes I go to a coffee shop/diner and have breakfast an hour prior to the shift. It puts the day into my own control and gives me a lot of time to wake up.

Brunch at St Roch - 10:00

Brunch today is a slow service — a nice change of pace after our slammed brunches the last few weeks. It was slow at the bar (Neptunes) last night too. It’s because everybody leaves for memorial day weekend.

I do have memorial day off tomorrow, but it is a coincidence, not due to the holiday.

The specials board at St. Roch is popping off today. They’re slinging soft-shell crab, caviar oysters, fried frog legs, and preserved clams. I ate some of that crab and caviar last weekend with my folks, it was incredible.

Seafood is good, St Roch is good, things are good. I run food to a few tables, plate some raw oysters on the half shell... the "Newport" oysters from virginia have been looking great lately. They're medium sized, with a thick shell and a strong brine smell.

There isn't a ton to do. I am able to sort silverware and polish it before the end of brunch service.

With work being uneventful, I get home by 14:00.

Home - 14:00

This is where the fatigue sets in. I always have ideas for things I could do with my Sunday afternoon — but when the time comes, I want to sit on the couch and relax.

Maybe with better nutrition and exercise, I can boost my endurance to have more energy on Sundays.

Or maybe it’s a good time to be lazy.

In The Home Studio - 14:30

I just want to keep making progress on the demos. There’s a song (“into the sunset”) that I want to hear at a different speed, so I’m re-recording the whole thing to hear the alternate sound. The first demo was at 76 bpm, the new version is at 72 bpm, so it is a ~5% difference.

Does that mean I am turning into a perfectionist?

Recording lots of live instrument music (as opposed to electronic music) is renewing my obsession/love of making music. Many new options for sounds are opening up. There are so many ideas that I want to hear and now I know how to make them happen.

Ryan Yancey @yancey is going to lay down some guitar harmonies on “into the sunset” tomorrow — that’s one reason why I want to finish this slower version of the demo ASAP.

In this version, I am going to try singing the vocals down an octave. It’s harder to do but seems to work better if I can pull it off.

All my guitar tones on these demos have been shit so far — I’m just recording directly into my interface. Ryan on the other hand has a bunch of nice guitar gear, including an amp & pedals. It is exciting to be finding out how that translates into the sound on the record.

Mindset -- The Epic Journey / Albums Take Forever

Making an album moves as fast as molasses.

You can't be too motivated by the end of the process. It takes forever. It really is a 12, 18, even 24+ month process to make a single record. Some people are workaholics and can do two or three bands at the same time, but even then you're not going to put out more than one or two records in a year if you are doing a lot of the work yourself.

The only way to get out of the anxiety state is to appreciate the process of making records. For me it is a spiritual sort of practice, like what other people might get from going to church.

I don't want to ever grow past this stage of making music, if anything I just want to clear out more time and resources to invest into making the music. This keeps me feeling young and motivated to create, making stuff for its own sake, not for the sake of eventual success.

At least I can feel the momentum. I want to crush a few more demos before I try to work on any other projects.

20:00 - sleeeeeeeep beckons 💤💤

On account of being so tired, I try and fail to record guitars for the new demo. This part of the song is really hard, I need to be awake to get it right. Instead I’m puffing on my vape pen, eating dinner, watching youtube videos, entering snoozeland.

In the middle of the night, I wake up to the neighbors jamming on Jason Mraz. It’s not my ideal 3am jams. I counter with Gorguts from my studio-quality monitors.

All in all, I survive the singalongs outside my window and manage to get 10 hours of high quality sleep. A big sleep!

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BITE-SIZED FUN STUFF

What I’m Listening to Today: Gorguts - art of Sombre Ecstasy, the

Website I'm Using For Easy Emoji Access: Emojipedia

Roguelike Video Game I'm Enjoying Lately: Brogue _{noob friendly by roguelike standards}

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