SamChristie.me

a blog by sam christie. former home of "12 Months of Stuff"

Tag: Music

4 Quick Steps To Make Pursuing Your Passions Easier

peanuts 12-22

I’ve discovered that I suck at recording. I’m good at writing, playing, and all that other music stuff. But I’m just god-awful at recording. It’s not that I can’t plunk down in a studio for 10 hours and come out with something great. It’s that I can’t spend 20 minutes here and there trying to get my garbage apartment studio operational and expect to create a masterpiece.

If you slog through the 9-5 and don’t have time for what you truly love, what are you doing with your life? When are you going to make a change? I’m lucky to have a job I enjoy, but that doesn’t mean I want to give up every other part of myself. I love everything about music and I need to create it, listen to it, and play it. Full stop!

I’m through feeling like I don’t have time to record, when maybe I do, but maybe I don’t. I’m through screwing up guitar tracks because I’m sliding off the edge of my bed trying to keep the spacing from the mic equal throughout the whole song. This month, I’m recording a Christmas EP, but I’m also going to crack the code on bedroom recording and figure out a way to make it less unbearable.

Here are the steps I plan on taking.

1. Write down the entire recording process, from turning on my computer, to tuning my guitar, to playing the tracks.

Each piece is a step toward the end goal of a completed song. If I can document each piece of the process, I should be able to figure out pieces that I can streamline to save myself time. And to re-iterate, it’s not that I don’t have the time, it’s that these steps create the illusion of not having time.

Write down the process for doing what you love. What steps can you combine or what can you tweak to make it easier and less time consuming to get started?

2. Time the process, and write it all down.

What I think takes 15 minutes may only take 3. I’m going to time myself setting up, recording, and breaking down to see how much time I’m actually spending doing the things I feel like take up a lot of time. Then I’m going to write down those times to make them more ‘real’ in my brain. It’s easy to estimate “15 minutes for this, 15 for that, next thing you know an hour is lost”. But if those 15 min are actually 30 seconds, that’s a huge mental block that needs to be squashed.

Time and write down how long it actually takes you to set up your water colors, assemble your fishing pole, or do whatever it is that you feel is holding you back time-wise. What time have you gained by looking at the actual minutes taken vs. what you are estimating?

3. Make a new plan, and go for it!

After considering steps 2 and 3, I’ll have a general idea of what needs to be tweaked to be more successful at apartment recording. To put the tweaks to work I’m going to create a step by step list of the process so that I’m not running around from room to room looking for a pop filter.

Put your findings into action. What is the new process that will enable you to follow your passions without roadblocks (whether mental or otherwise)? Practice it, rinse, and repeat. 

Bonus step 4.

Meditate before and after the process. In other words, relax.

I can’t stress how much home recording bugs me out. It is such a pain in the ass. I need to meditate or relax and tackle the new processes with a calmer state of mind, or else I know the confusion and anxiety will come through on the recording, for better or worse.

Remember to stay cool throughout the process. What can you do to relax before taking on what seem like stressful tasks? 

I’m off to finish a Christmas EP for the final 12 Months of Stuff project. What can you do today, in the next 5 minutes, that will enable you to pursue your passions?

MusicMakesYou.com is Live!

It took basically the whole month, but I’m happy to be able to slide this release out into the world just before the end of June. I’m hoping to keep up with this blog and to continue to use it to house my opinions on the dopest tracks, albums, and artists I’m listening to. Here is an excerpt from the first post on Narcolepsy by Third Eye Blind:


Narcolepsy eases you in with the opening dream-sequence space-walk riff.

“I’m on a train / but there’s no one at the helm. And there’s a demon in my brain that starts to overwhelm” The last word echoes as you’d expect at the start of a movie montage, flashback, or otherwise hazy sequence.

At the end of this line, the guitar slides in, beckoning the demon, or signifying its subtle yet distinct entrance.

— http://musicmakesyou.com

Follow the blog on Tumblr at http://musicmakesyou.com for more updates on what I’m rockin’ out to, and be sure to keep an eye out for July’s announcement.

In love & stuff,
Sam

Watch my drum cover of “Knock Knock” by Mac Miller!

“Knock Knock” is basically one part ode to Pittsburgh and one part Mac Miller talking about how great he is. I know this because my favorite hockey team, the Philadelphia Flyers, used this as their in-room victory song a few seasons ago. A few of my steel city friends were quick to remind me that there were numerous western PA references, it shouldn’t be our victory song, blah blah blah. I stopped listening after a bit because A) it’s hilarious that we adopted a Pittsburgh rapper’s Pittsburgh-laden song for our Philadelphia wins and B) I enjoy the song, so I don’t really care what it’s about. Of course I had to rub it in a little bit and wear all the Flyers gear I could find, because the prospect of grating on the nerves of suburban Pitt tween trolls makes me smile.

Watch my drum cover for “Knock Knock” below and let me know what you think.

I’ve done covers of Woo Boost by Rusko and Bonfire by Childish Gambino, so check them out if you haven’t seen them yet :).

Watch my drum cover of “Woo Boost” by Rusko!

This is another drum cover that has been cookin’ in the ol’ Sam Christie drum oven for a long time. “Woo Boost” by Rusko is one of the first songs that introduced me to the wonderful world of EDM. While I’m not a neon-wearing EDM festival fiend, I do enjoy it any time a scene kid pivots successfully. No-vox electronic wubs and flubs have provided the soundtrack to many of my most productive days.

If EDM doesn’t click with you by the end of this video, you may never understand it*. *It’s also highly possible I have no idea what I’m talking about. Anyway, take it from a guy who covered “Woo Boost” in a banana suit. You’ll enjoy this one way or another.

Missed last week’s cover of “Bonfire” by Childish Gambino? Watch it here.

In love & stuff,
Sam

 

Watch my drum cover of “Bonfire” by Childish Gambino!

For April’s Month of Stuff, I’m doing four drum covers – one per week. First up is “Bonfire” by Childish Gambino. I’ve been sitting on this cover for at least a few YEARS (yikes) and I’m glad to finally record it and get it up to kick off April’s Stuffly* endeavor. (* yes I made this word up.)

This song is dope. It’s got some rough language, so if that’s not your thing, you’ve been warned.

Let me know what you think! Have a song you think I should cover? Comment below, tweet, post on my wall, or comment on the YouTube video. Thanks for watching and remember, if you want to get to where you wanna be, it starts with that first step.

Here’s What My Songs Mean…

I love music and often times I’ll take it at face value. What it means to me isn’t going to be what it means to everyone else. But I always enjoy getting inside the head of my favorite songwriters, whether it’s via their own explanations or something like Rap Genius.

So, hot on the heels of my recent lyric videos, I’m posting song meaning videos over the next few days so listeners can get inside my head.

Remember, the Young Professionals split EP is available now on all your favorite services, including:

iTunes: http://bit.ly/1wjSDHb
Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/18hphyC
Spotify: http://bit.ly/1acEaTv

–If you haven’t heard, I’m tackling a project per month for a year and calling it 12 Months of Stuff. Subscribe to my newsletter for monthly updates as well, and follow me on Twitter. Use the hash tag #12MonthsOfStuff to let me know the small steps you’re taking to get to where you want to be.

-Sam

Listen to my split EP “Young Professionals” now!

My split EP with A Day Without Love, Young Professionals, is out now on all major services. Please give a listen and let me know what you think. Stay tuned for more video content this week.

iTunes: http://bit.ly/1wjSDHb
Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/18hphyC
Spotify: http://bit.ly/1acEaTv

This EP is a big deal for me. It marks the first music I released formally in 3 years and I got to do it with one of my good friends, Brian Walker of A Day Without Love. We mixed it up on this EP – my songs are acoustic and his are electric  – but there’s still something for everyone. 

I’ll be blogging and doing videos featuring the lyrics and meanings behind my songs, so stay tuned here or subscribe on YouTube. Throw this on while you’re doing laundry, working out, or driving around. Whichever way you decide to consume these tunes, please give them a full listen :). Enjoy.

If you haven’t heard, I’m tackling a project per month for a year and calling it 12 Months of Stuff. Subscribe to my newsletter for monthly updates as well, and follow me on Twitter. Use the hash tag #12MonthsOfStuff to let me know the small steps you’re taking to get to where you want to be.

-Sam

I’m Posting 3 Lyric Videos This Week (+ more)

This week is huge. It marks the release of my first public tune-age (read: a listenable, promoted music release) since 2011 (!). On February 24, I’m releasing the split EP Young Professionals with A Day Without Love. It’s coming out on all your favorite digital services. 

To celebrate, I’m posting a lyric video per day on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and videos on song meanings from Friday – Sunday. I’ll edit this post to include each lyric video so they all have one cozy post roof over their digital heads. 

Today’s video includes my first song on the Young Professionals EP, and the fourth song overall, “Kim”. This is the EP version (obviously), not the alt version I posted earlier this month. Enjoy, and check this post over the next few days for the other two lyric videos. And hey, this may be a good time to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

If you haven’t heard, I’m tackling a project per month for a year and calling it 12 Months of Stuff. Subscribe to my newsletter for monthly updates as well, and follow me on Twitter. Use the hash tag #12MonthsOfStuff to let me know the small steps you’re taking to get to where you want to be.

-Sam

Hear My Cover of “Pity” By A Day Without Love

On ‘Young Professionals’, there’s a special audio dichotomy that can only exist when two friends miscommunicate. Namely, A Day Without Love’s songs are electric, and mine are acoustic. If you watched the Split Announcement Video you’ll hear me allude to the fact that Brian told me we were doing an acoustic EP, yet he recorded all his songs as full band, in-your-face electric jams. I was initially surprised when I came in with acoustic tracks, but it ended up working in our favor. What we created speaks to how Brian and I are as music fans and as artists — we wanted to create something cool together, so we did. Neither of us feel it’s necessary to release a split with an artist that sounds exactly like you, so we rolled with the miscommunication, and Young Professionals stands tall, half acoustic and half electric.

That said, I decided to take an acoustic spin on the hardest song on the EP, ADWL’s opener, “Pity”. Think of it as what could have been had we gone all acoustic :). Hear my take below, and hear the finished version on February 24th when Young Professionals releases on all your favorite streaming services.

If you haven’t heard, I’m tackling a project per month for a year and calling it 12 Months of Stuff. Subscribe to my newsletter for monthly updates as well, and follow me on Twitter. Use the hash tag #12MonthsOfStuff to let me know the small steps you’re taking to get to where you want to be.

-Sam

Hear An Alternate Version of A Song From the Split EP

Here’s an alternate version of a song that’s on the Young Professionals split EP that I’m releasing on February 24. It’s called “Kim”. 

The EP version is very light hearted and bouncy. There’s a capo on the third fret and it’s much faster than this one. There’s even some parts that may leave you laughing (seriously), but I’m not giving anything away just yet. That isn’t this version. So, don’t be alarmed if you don’t like this alternate take, because it’s nothing like what’s on the EP :).

This version is in standard tuning and slowed down, which gives it a darker tone. Watching the video back, this version of “Kim” is actually pretty ominous and a tad depressing, but I still like it. It’s a much different vibe than the EP cut. The darker tinge and lower octave opens up the melody a bit, allowing me to riff vocally here and there. That’s fun. Plus since the song is slowed down there are some interesting lyrical patterns that I can fit into each verse.

Hope you enjoyed this alternate take of what is usually a happy-go-lucky jam :D.

If you haven’t heard, I’m tackling a project per month for a year and calling it 12 Months of Stuff. Subscribe to my newsletter for monthly updates as well, and follow me on Twitter. Use the hash tag #12MonthsOfStuff to let me know the small steps you’re taking to get to where you want to be.

-Sam

 

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