I was so amazed when after about 2 hours, I realized that I just wrote the lyrics to the whole song, from the beginning to the end. And it’s as good as anything I’ve written! I was elated.

Many writers advise trying to write on daily basis — whether it’s good or not. We don’t produce great material by simply turning the switch on. We produce by simply churning out a lot of stuff, and then picking up the best from the duds. I’ll be the first person to admit that most of what I write are generic, boring music. What I choose to release to the public, though, are stuff that are the exception, not the norm.

Plus, I am not a very fast lyrics writer. I can write music pretty quickly — sometimes it takes as long as the song is. Play it once, capture, and there it is. But words come slowly to me usually.

So it was very surprising that I just flipped the switch on and cranked out stuff that meet my standards on the spot. That’s not to say I won’t tweak it in the future — I’m a tweaker with lyrics. I keep playing with words and details until I start committing vocals to tape (and then tweak some more….). But the skeleton and theme and tone are all set. The song went from vague and ambiguous to focused and realized.
I think it helps that I’m “branding” my music for this Aries9 project. This is my progressive modern rock — I put all my heavy, aggressive and complicated music in this bucket, with the lyrics focusing on darker stuff. I know what I demand of myself when I’m making music for Aries9. It’s like knowing exactly what my client is looking for.

It also helps because I’m at a point where I’m not really trying to make a “point” with my lyrics. Some artists consider it very important to communicate a lesson or a moral with their words — and I used to think that way, too. Except the songs I wrote with that kind of intention didn’t age well. The songs that stay with me tend to be abstract collages, assemblies of rhymes and metaphors that tell me how I’m supposed to feel but doesn’t really tell me a clear story or a message. I like swimming among my words, twisting and turning, wondering what they all mean. I sometimes discover a new way of interpreting my own lyrics, years after the song is written. That’s what I love about my songs. Or should I say — that’s the ideal kind of lyrics to me for this style of music. The music is pretty heavy-handed, so if the lyrics get preachy, it can be a real drag.

I can also tell you that I am a writer who adjusts my style to the style of music and who I’m writing for. In the future I plan to release/pursue other styles of music, and they will feature a completely different kind of lyrics. A folk song, for example, is a better vehicle for a more cohesive story with concrete details, in my opinion.

Anyway, it was very gratifying to just sit down and be able to write stuff that I get excited about. Writing songs is fun, fun, fun. I can’t wait to put it all together and share it with you and the world.

Yay!

Most of the songs are written for the album — but I looked at the list and I saw 11. I thought I had 12 or 13? Maybe I’ll have to write more.

But two of the songs in particular are brand new songs that are not finished — so I primarily focused on that. And I was very productive in making progress on them.

It’s nice that I can just turn my switch “on” and write some great music. I can’t come up with a great hook or killer chorus ideas — that, I have to wait for inspirations to come to me. I usually know when I’m “in the zone” to produce something that can stand to be a central material for a song. But everything else — verses, bridges, etc, is more matter of just sitting down and hammering them out.

My MacBook is my new writing mate. I just turn on iMovie, sit in front, and let its built-in camera and mic record my guitar-playing hand as I work out new songs. I can hear it back instantly to see if the idea works or not, and I don’t have to write down any chords or rhythmic pattern or anything. Awesome.

On the other hand, I did realize what a challenge I have ahead of me in setting up my recording space at my current home. We have hardwood floor and all, so the sound is so live here — terrible for recording. I worked out some budgets and audio treatment is going to be a major part of the early stages.

It seems a bit daunting right now — looking at another huge mountain to climb. I wonder how I’m going to do this all and have another product by the end of 2009. I’m amazed that I put together one and put it out the door. This is a lot of work.

But I’ve done it once, I’ll do it again. For sure.