The Queen Is Dead

This song was previously posted a few months back from my performances with the Hooligans, but it officially marks the beginning of the next album: The Queen Is Dead!

I'm about halfway through the project now. I recently went back and listened to some of my earlier songs I can't believe how much I have grown musically in the past 6 months. Having to constantly push myself to try new ideas and arrangements is really taking me into new territory. There are times when I think, "What on earth will I do for THIS song?!?!" and I'll have several mini panic attacks while the song rattles around in my head for a few weeks. It's a delicate balance to do justice to the original songs while still making my versions stand on their own as good songs. At some point, the "Ah ha! Moment" happens and the piece quickly takes shape with each idea building off the previous layer of vocals.

Before this project, I had no idea I was capable of this. I'm able to reproduce the arrangements I hear in my head pretty accurately without a single instrument being played. I've been practicing my beatboxing and coming up with new ways to record vocals. I'm incorporating more pitch-shift (down an octave) into the songs, which really opens up the sound field to get more of a fullness that would otherwise require me to hire a whole choir. The Smiths are helping me discover what my voice is capable of and who I am as a musician. In many ways, this project is quite literally changing my life- and you're watching it happen in real time.

So when you're wondering what the next song will sound like, just know that I'm wondering the very same thing.