I have loved music since I was young, and I always wanted to write an album.
In one of my songs titled “Commandments” from my upcoming EP (or album - though, I'm a bit hesitant to call it an album at the moment), I said this:
> “Compiled 6 years of rough ideas into 10 tracks within 2 weeks.”
What I said here is a fact, and it is not an exaggeration. At the very end of December last year, I decided that if I don't do this for real in 2025, it will never come to be.
So, starting January 3 this year, I allocated 20 days until January 23 to write whatever comes to mind, with whatever notes that I have written for the past 6 years. It's a little tricky to compile them all, as I needed to find them all back from different sources: I have handwritten some notes in a notebook back in 2018 that I am so glad I never threw away. I also had some notes on my Notes app on my iPhone from many years back that I am glad weren't deleted, as well as a ton of notes in my Trello app that I've written during Covid.
I also told myself that once I'm done writing, I can never regret the content that I write, in case I feel my writing isn't up to par in the future. I told myself that once this is done, I need to be proud of myself for achieving this.
I knew that I wanted to write 10 songs, as 10 signifies completion. And so, I would have 2 days to write a song, which would take 20 days in total. However, I managed to complete the words within 16 days or so. So, the line was true - I did compile 6 years of rough ideas into 10 tracks within 2 weeks (16 days rounds up to two weeks, you know..)
Once I finished writing the 10 songs, I told myself that I could not stop now, or these songs would be a waste. So, I've learned how to create music in Ableton from scratch, just by watching a lot of YouTube tutorial videos. One song led to another, and I've created the instrumentals for all 10 tracks by the end of March.
In April, I had to learn how to record vocals. I am not a singer, but I always loved learning other artists' raps (I do shout them out in some of my songs). However, I've never recorded myself rapping or singing. When I first recorded myself, I wasn't sure if that was how my voice should sound. Plus, I do not have a studio, so I had to learn to record myself with a DIY setup in my own room based on YouTube video suggestions. So, I had no idea if my voice wasn't that nice by default; or if it actually sounded good, but it just needed a good EQ and mix; or if my microphone was bad; or if the position of the microphone was horrible - I still don't know these, to be honest.
I've completed all vocal recordings by the end of April, regardless. I had to convince myself that it's okay if my voice isn't up to the "music industry standard". I'm doing this because I want to do this for myself, to see how far I can go from scratch without any prior experience.
When May kicked in, I started looking for a producer who could go through the songs I've recorded as demos and tell me what's next. I've found one who is nice to help out! So, my songs are being additionally produced, mixed, and mastered as we speak. On the side, I've also been learning about song distribution, building a website that I started back in 2022, website-related programming (you'll understand why if you're got yourself too involved with the website), etc. Just gaining the overall knowledge of being an artist.
I plan to release this EP on July 21. The reason is that July 21 is my birthday, and I want to personally feel that this EP concludes the first chapter of my life - from a baby to an adult. Hence, I've included tons of “easter eggs” and references to games, movies, songs, bands, experiences, etc. that I've loved since the beginning of my existence.
So yeah, this is really happening, indeed!
And, I'm doing this on a “speedrun”, and other than hiring a producer to improve the songs, I mostly did them all by myself. I don't usually say this to myself, but for once, I do think I should feel proud.
:)
