After many late nights in Talbot College 345a with producer Alex Lam, I’m happy/excited/nervous/proud to present my second EP, Foundational.
The goal this project was to incorporate a diversity of my musical influences and dive deep into introspective lyricism, in hopes of making sense of the last two years of my life. I wanted to make a statement that shows where I've been and how I've grown since my last EP, but also provides a foundation for me to continue to move forward.
Overall, I would say it was a success - it’s tough to look at your own art objectively, especially after listening to each mix an innumerable amount of times, but I feel that I’ve done my best. With the CDs in hand, it’s clear to me that all the blood, sweat, and tears were worth it. I hope that by sharing these experiences through music, I can affect others the way my favourite music has affected me.
In celebration of the EP release, I wanted to do a little write up on each track to highlight some of the inspiration behind the lyrics and musical elements.
Ambition:
Independent musicians have a lot to do. Rehearsing, writing, editing, promoting, playing live, etc.
I wrote this song after realizing that trying to be a great musician/songwriter/performer was taking away from other priorities, particularly certain relationships in my life. “Ambition” is a half apology, half reminder to myself to value what’s important. My favourite lyric: “We both got dreams but time don’t want us to”. I think it’s important to remember that everyone struggles with this, and we’re all fighting against time to accomplish what we want.
Musically, I really wanted to write a short and succinct song, similar to a lot of Pinegrove’s early work. I fell in love with how addicting their two minute tracks are and wanted to try my hand at one.
Doubts:
About two years ago I went through a period of writer’s block. It went beyond not being inspired, I was questioning why I even bothered making music in the first place. I came to a point where I decided that I would have to face these doubts and feelings of inadequacy at some point - so why not now? From there the song sort of poured out of me. The song didn’t magically cure me of my self-doubt, but it serves as a reminder to me that I’m capable of overcoming them.
The opening/closing line is among one my favourites - “My creative license, my artistic indecisiveness stifles me"
Honeymoon Phase.
The first time I fell in love.
I unashamedly love the guitar part on this song - I’m still surprised that I wrote it. Alex and I collaboratively came up with the string part for this track and I think that it's perfect.
Passenger’s Side
This song was recorded at OIART after I was approached by a student recording group. I’m so happy with how this turned out, they killed it! We mic’ed up a grand piano and I still can’t get over how great it sounds.
The song is about defying the feeling that the best days are behind us. I had this feeling as I approached the end of fourth year at university, seeing everyone I know go on bigger and better things. This monumental transition had me feeling many things at once, and Passenger’s Side came out of it. Essentially, it’s about moving forward, hopefully with someone special, as we all go on our own separate roads.
Foundational
For the last two years, I lived in a house with 4 other musicians, and everything about it was great. After a couple months of living there, being the moody songwriter that I am, I started writing a song about how much it was going to hurt when we inevitably had to move out. I started to think of all the other places I've lived in and moved on from, and Foundational was born. We finished mixing the song right as we actually moved out of the house, and it was an emotional experience for sure. This song will always remind me of where my foundation lies.
Listen to Foundational now!
Most of this O-Week can be described by green pants and smiles
Having a moment with Max.
FMO was incredible.
Smiles with Braden, a great friend and a great musician.
