So you're the next hot producer / beatmaker, songwriter, engineer or whatever; and you're struggling to find studio usage at a decent and affordable price, what do you do when you feel like your options have run out...?
Let me answer my own question with an answer some may consider, but deem way too hard.
SPEND LESS TIME EXTERNALISING: SPEND MORE TIME INTERNALISING.
Okay, let's just get one thing straight. I used to be the person who was naive, doey eyed, with a fire of passion that burned well in to 100 degrees centigrade. Was I respected? Not as much as I'd have liked to have been? Why was that? It's because I was a talker... I would talk the talk, but didn't know what follow through meant.
The amount of b.s. I had to endure to make me in to the man I am today goes without saying, I am a far better person for the experience. However, I thank one thing of many to that, I spent less time blaming others for my shortcomings and more time focusing on the things I should be appreciating, yeah I may have had a small car as my beginner, but I appreciated it cause it was £30 road tax for the year, cheap to insure, £10 would get me from London to Peterborough, and the interior was comfortable and had an orange finish... what did I have to complain about?
Perhaps it's your environment affecting your perception. Perhaps it's the company you keep - bringing you down, perhaps the weakest link ------IS... YOU!
You have to see life as a challenge - not a problem, see short comings as opportunities to improve and see motivation as the bi-product to success.
Referencing the initial question you could either save up and buy one (studio)... or you can talk to me for a wicked deal. I'm calm either way people :-)
Let me know how you get along because I want to see if anyone actually benefits from this piece I have written.
Saturday, 7 June 2014
Monday, 16 December 2013
Smart Versus Hard Work
What does hard work really mean?..,
Put simply, when you work hard, it means you put every essence of yourself in to that moment in time; making sure you give it your all.
Who remembers that number crunching machine from year 3 it went: Number --> Calculation Tool --> Number --> Result. Simple mathematics really.
My manager (whilst working in banking) taught me to work smart, not hard. I do it as 75 percent smart work --> 25 percent hard work. As there is no reason to bust your guts trying to solve a problem by overexerting your workload and brain capacity.
When you are ignorant and unaware of the solution, typically you will work hard trying to achieve the end objective, this means you waste endless kilo joules on a topic. Why not; Take a breath, think about the end goal and work through the steps in achieving it, clear your mind of anything unrelated and get it done?
Why stress for no reason? Why put yourself in a position of self doubt and frustration, when really the answer is easier to find than you think?
I have composed three instrumentals (over the course of a week) based from a simple concept; due to the fact that mistakes along the way inspired me, but listening to the 2 following tracks you would never notice. When I sit down with a song in mind, I speak from experience and the notes accent what I am trying to convey, people that are touched are normally ones that have had a similar experience.
Remember the simple method 75/25 and you will never need worry again!
Put simply, when you work hard, it means you put every essence of yourself in to that moment in time; making sure you give it your all.
Who remembers that number crunching machine from year 3 it went: Number --> Calculation Tool --> Number --> Result. Simple mathematics really.
My manager (whilst working in banking) taught me to work smart, not hard. I do it as 75 percent smart work --> 25 percent hard work. As there is no reason to bust your guts trying to solve a problem by overexerting your workload and brain capacity.
When you are ignorant and unaware of the solution, typically you will work hard trying to achieve the end objective, this means you waste endless kilo joules on a topic. Why not; Take a breath, think about the end goal and work through the steps in achieving it, clear your mind of anything unrelated and get it done?
Why stress for no reason? Why put yourself in a position of self doubt and frustration, when really the answer is easier to find than you think?
I have composed three instrumentals (over the course of a week) based from a simple concept; due to the fact that mistakes along the way inspired me, but listening to the 2 following tracks you would never notice. When I sit down with a song in mind, I speak from experience and the notes accent what I am trying to convey, people that are touched are normally ones that have had a similar experience.
Remember the simple method 75/25 and you will never need worry again!
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Thank You To All Of My Supporters
I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude...
Waking up everyday is a blessing to me as I am grateful for the life I live.
I am surrounded by people I can call family whether blood related or otherwise.
So many people have shown me a ton of love, respect and admiration and all I do is be myself through and through. It fortunately happens that the person I am, is a person that people can identify with and connect to.
Looking back on my younger days, I felt I had a lot to say, but could not create the right avenue to express my words. I used to get faces of confusion and discontent when I would speak and I understand; a message conveyed, is not always a message understood.
Through sales training, social interaction and fight / flight situations, I have become the person that you all have come to know. My interactions with a lot of people I have met face to face and online have added to my life experience and changed me in some way. I can do nothing but appreciate and respect those that have given me time and even those that gave me none: for they are truly people who inspired me to pick up the pace and do something about my life.
I am entertainer, a teacher and a student. My destiny is to convey an honest message to the world whether liked or unliked, the truth is a necessary burden we all carry.
I express my thanks to the most high, my mother and family and all those that have supported me in some way, shape or form (you know who you are)! You are special despite what others may tell you and I stand behind your growth wholeheartedly.
Much love to you all!
Sunday, 8 December 2013
Time In The Studio
Yesterday was a good time in the world of music, believe you me...
I'd been speaking to a rapper/ songwriter by the name of Chappa The Micologist for a while now and learned that he is a person with spirit and a love for music, which I haven't encountered in a long time. I had the pleasure of hooking up with him and working together.
South based, he is a veteran in his own right, works hard at his craft and spends time perfecting and rewriting bars to ensure his listeners get the better result.
I don't him blame him, music is an art form, so rightly, as an artist you have a love and appreciation for the craft you put down. You want people to embrace your writing and performance, to speak to people that have been through a similar situation to yourself; even opening the minds of others that may have not gone through such things.
When I listened back to the track we all worked on yesterday - (see the links to the contributor's work at the bottom).
I was impressed as it showed how far we have all come in music.
My road dog and business partner Slickums went in on a different level with superb flows and attacked the mic from a tongue twisting angle; but both Chappa and Slickums stayed on topic with tenacity.
It's crazy when you're in a position to witness music in the creative stage, the point when everyone is adding input to make the final result a masterpiece. You know you worked with special individuals who put their all in to the track.
I was highly surprised by the way everyone connected and interpreted the instrumental, the sounds spoke to them in a variety of ways. It's interesting how a person flows to sounds, it gives insight on the mentality of the person who performs.
https://www.facebook.com/thaboy.sunday?fref=ts - SAVAGE - SOUND ENGINEER
https://www.facebook.com/chappa.themicologist?fref=ts - CHAPPA THE MICOLOGIST - RAPPER / SONGWRITER
https://www.facebook.com/romeo.davince?fref=ts - SLICKUMS - RAPPER / SONGWRITER
https://www.facebook.com/dbledgedep?fref=ts - DBL EDGE - PRODUCER / RAPPER / SONGWRITER
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDEP - DBLEDGEPRODUCTIONS - PRODUCTION COMPANY
Thursday, 5 December 2013
For Real?
Really? Really? I mean... Really?...
Do you remember growing up and watching those saturday morning cartoons, and your favourite superhero would smash on to your tv screen with a loud, catchy opening theme tune and title sequence?
Whether it was Ironman, Wonder Woman, The Avengers or even... Captain Planet for that matter, it makes no difference.
The essence remained the same, we all wanted to be these people as they invoked the protector and fighter within us all!
Superhumans are exactly that: Super - Human beings.
We all thought it was mysticism and magic when we had grown up, but most of the people we idolised were human in appearance with maybe a few spikes / claws / tendrils, but the face. body and mannerisms were all relatable... they were human.
To me, magic is a personification of the word belief. I believed I was Wolverine when I would playfight with my friends and I had a healing factor, makeshift claws and a potato sack for an outfit. Little did I know that this was a way of my subconscious making my thoughts a reality. One day I am going to own a Wolverine outfit, cause to me, Wolverine represents my idea of what I grew up thinking what a boss was.
Let's admit it... Wolvie was not the official "leader" per se of the X-Men, but there were moments when he was in command or led his own team of vigilantes. He is a G in every sense of the "word" or letter!
When I go up on stage, I become Wolverine. I attack the microphone and kill the beat as best as possible with a disregard for any possible hecklers, I go in and out, clean and concise.
Everyday I live my dream because I don't allow myself to get held back.
...I...am...Wolverine!
Do you remember growing up and watching those saturday morning cartoons, and your favourite superhero would smash on to your tv screen with a loud, catchy opening theme tune and title sequence?
Whether it was Ironman, Wonder Woman, The Avengers or even... Captain Planet for that matter, it makes no difference.
The essence remained the same, we all wanted to be these people as they invoked the protector and fighter within us all!
Superhumans are exactly that: Super - Human beings.
We all thought it was mysticism and magic when we had grown up, but most of the people we idolised were human in appearance with maybe a few spikes / claws / tendrils, but the face. body and mannerisms were all relatable... they were human.
To me, magic is a personification of the word belief. I believed I was Wolverine when I would playfight with my friends and I had a healing factor, makeshift claws and a potato sack for an outfit. Little did I know that this was a way of my subconscious making my thoughts a reality. One day I am going to own a Wolverine outfit, cause to me, Wolverine represents my idea of what I grew up thinking what a boss was.
Let's admit it... Wolvie was not the official "leader" per se of the X-Men, but there were moments when he was in command or led his own team of vigilantes. He is a G in every sense of the "word" or letter!
When I go up on stage, I become Wolverine. I attack the microphone and kill the beat as best as possible with a disregard for any possible hecklers, I go in and out, clean and concise.
Everyday I live my dream because I don't allow myself to get held back.
...I...am...Wolverine!
Friday, 29 November 2013
3 Gigs, 1 Month
There are no words to express how I feel at this point in my life...
Now that may seem a little ironic considering I am currently writing words, to "express" how I feel.
What am I fluffing on about? Everything that has taken place over the years and also in the last month alone.
For you to even begin to see the method behind the madness, you have to take a look at where I came from and what inspired me.
I got in to making music to do something which I was intrigued by. I liked the concept of giving people a message and telling your own story creatively for others to learn from.
To give a different and compelling insight in to your own personal experiences and day to day occurrences.
So I studied effortlessly in to the game: reading books by music authors, insider interviews, secrets, strategies, watched rap battles, watched music conspiracy documentaries, spent time with execs and major and indie owners. This only
I have a fire inside so strong that tells me to act upon my love for my craft, there is no one on the face of this Earth that could dissuade me from my beliefs, I've got the people I love on my side, my team and god to support me and I, they.
Everyday I wake up, my mind is on cloud 99, as I am constantly thinking and planning, to make moves materialise. I have fun however, don't get it twisted, but work is the thing that gets my day to a complete position for me. I had to be selective about the company I kept, which meant saying goodbye to people that I have known for most of my life, but those may have been the best decisions I had made as apart of achieving what I needed.
They say look out for number one, but until number one is accounted for, all the other numbers can get no light of day. Think about that!
Now that may seem a little ironic considering I am currently writing words, to "express" how I feel.
What am I fluffing on about? Everything that has taken place over the years and also in the last month alone.
For you to even begin to see the method behind the madness, you have to take a look at where I came from and what inspired me.
I got in to making music to do something which I was intrigued by. I liked the concept of giving people a message and telling your own story creatively for others to learn from.
To give a different and compelling insight in to your own personal experiences and day to day occurrences.
So I studied effortlessly in to the game: reading books by music authors, insider interviews, secrets, strategies, watched rap battles, watched music conspiracy documentaries, spent time with execs and major and indie owners. This only
I have a fire inside so strong that tells me to act upon my love for my craft, there is no one on the face of this Earth that could dissuade me from my beliefs, I've got the people I love on my side, my team and god to support me and I, they.
Everyday I wake up, my mind is on cloud 99, as I am constantly thinking and planning, to make moves materialise. I have fun however, don't get it twisted, but work is the thing that gets my day to a complete position for me. I had to be selective about the company I kept, which meant saying goodbye to people that I have known for most of my life, but those may have been the best decisions I had made as apart of achieving what I needed.
They say look out for number one, but until number one is accounted for, all the other numbers can get no light of day. Think about that!
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
New Innovations, New Creations
This is where the fun begins...
I decided to start writing a new blog that would be dedicated to writing about my / my company's music adventure, as I wanted to separate my experiences in to manageable and bite sized chunks. We know people have different things they relate to respectively.
This will be somewhat of a story and an original experience, involving people I encounter and work with,
ideas I came up with, places I have traveled to work I and my company have been apart of.
Hopefully I can use this to inspire others to do the same, as everyone has an important story, as silly or insignificant you may think it sounds to others.
I've been apart of music from the age of 12 actively, but I used to memorize lyrics and keep track of the beat in the background. I used to (and still do) break down the song in to smaller bits, to understand the nature of the song and why it was used the way it was.
My mother introduced me to her taste in music, which consisted of tapes by Ginuwine, Missy Elliot, Toni Braxton, Tupac, Busta Rhymes and loads more; so naturally, my initial experience was music created and inspired by black artists. Music is tremendously powerful. beyond human perception in fact, as these artists, in their own way inspired me to do what they do.
I'm going to open up that chapter soon enough!
Keep reading people!
I decided to start writing a new blog that would be dedicated to writing about my / my company's music adventure, as I wanted to separate my experiences in to manageable and bite sized chunks. We know people have different things they relate to respectively.
This will be somewhat of a story and an original experience, involving people I encounter and work with,
ideas I came up with, places I have traveled to work I and my company have been apart of.
Hopefully I can use this to inspire others to do the same, as everyone has an important story, as silly or insignificant you may think it sounds to others.
I've been apart of music from the age of 12 actively, but I used to memorize lyrics and keep track of the beat in the background. I used to (and still do) break down the song in to smaller bits, to understand the nature of the song and why it was used the way it was.
My mother introduced me to her taste in music, which consisted of tapes by Ginuwine, Missy Elliot, Toni Braxton, Tupac, Busta Rhymes and loads more; so naturally, my initial experience was music created and inspired by black artists. Music is tremendously powerful. beyond human perception in fact, as these artists, in their own way inspired me to do what they do.
I'm going to open up that chapter soon enough!
Keep reading people!
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