My first release, put out on the day I turned eighteen.
A sort of doo-wop single.
This is the first 'full' song I ever wrote- that is, with a melody and lyrics, as opposed to just instruments.
It was based on an experiment I did one day, where I tried to make music using just things that were on my desk (having a kazoo on my desk may have been cheating a little):
I came back to the above sketch a few months later and after working out some fairly simple chords, I wrote some lyrics for it expressing my nervousness at starting sixth form- seeing the road to 'adulthood' laid out in front of me. I was stressing out at the time because I felt like my time as a child was running out, but I also had to put on a brave face and get on with learning.
Once I had the chords and the lyrics, I attempted to improvise a melody, with some interesting results. By a process of keeping the good bits of lots of takes, I eventually put together the tune, and gave it a couple of goes over the next few days, getting time in one of the mini studios at the Sixth Form College whenever I could.
After taking it down a semitone (should have gone further) and re-recording everything, I completed the song just in time for release on my eighteenth birthday, which had been a goal for a few months.
The video was a rushed affair, as I'd left finishing the song quite late. I managed to collect a load of pictures of me (and sometimes my wonderful brothers) making music from over the years, and put them all together in chronological order, which made my Mum cry.
The end of the song shows me singing the actual take in the little booth/mini-studio, where I'd later record a whole bunch of other things (mostly kazoos). The bit of video after the song was taken on the train home the day after I finished the song.
The cover art is a screenshot from a video of trees taken from inside the train which took me to college every day, with the 'Vintage' filter from iMovie applied to it, and some text with the song's title added in Keynote, of all things.
Upon a re-listen (July 2023), it's not as bad as I remember it being in some ways, and worse in others. I was super naïve while writing and recording this, and used naff lyrics, incredibly simple chordal and melodic ideas, as well as much less mixing. This makes it rough, but really free-feeling compared to stuff I've written since, where I've tried to be complex, unique and 'interesting', rather than just fun to listen to and play. The process was easier, and the result has fewer stressful memories attached. Something to learn from, I reckon.
Available on Spotify, YouTube, and Bandcamp.