07/22/2025
WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!
Ok.... I have not mentioned anything about this... but I have been deep diving into song-writing and production for a bit now, and I have finally MASTERED it. At least... I thought I did.... So tonight I put it to the test and played the first song I wrote for a couple.... for the couple.
"How do you define mastery?" you may be asking... and.. that's a great question - glad that you're so smart and curious! Hmmm... let me think....
In my visual arts career I have internalized the skills of storytelling, image creation, and seeing deep into a person's soul to know who they are... That's why my paintings so often cause tears, because they resonate so hard. It's not a painting, it's an experience, and a lifelong memory.
So... transfer all of that into music now.... I took this couple, their story, and I peeped into their playlists to know what music they've sent one another during their relationship, and I analyzed that from every angle possible. I figured out how many songs from each genre, what's the themes, who are the singers, what styles (not the same as genre), and many other things.... And so,, not only were the lyrics so custom for them, but the feel and style of the song were custom engineered to be a perfect match for them.
As I was saying in paragraph one, I got to play it for them tonight. Despite being exhausted from unpacking boxes all day, they stood there and listened. And... As I felt with certainty would happen, there were tears!
Funny enough, here's something that's kind of strange to say. The above-mentioned tears were not mine.... *but* while working on this, there's a new pattern for me. When something is a keeper, regardless of my mood, etc, I start crying! So... yeah- I've been sobbing all weekend as I kept improving their masterpiece.
Tears as a compass.... It's the weirdest thing... but it certainly makes it easier to choose between versions, etc 🙂
Reach out If you're interested in your own custom song, I'm considering doing a few more commissions.... But I'm not certain that I'm going to make this actually be a thing that I do commercially. Paying my bills with my paintings has caused me much grief... Rick Rubin speaks about this a lot in his book "The Creative Act".
The motivation for a creative to create is the challenge, the growth, the passion. Changing the motivation to an extrinsic thing (such as money) changes the reward, and can cause a lot of resentment and pressure onto the art, as well as a loss of the passion one once had for the craft.
It is a great honor to get to use my abilities to create something that becomes a prized possession.... A tool to amplify peoples' love. It's this kind of stuff that makes me feel like I'm walking the right path, living my correct purpose.
🙏
