Follow the series here:
• The mission to release...
This series is a lifetime in the making.
After a few years thinking about it I finally got the confidence to try and get some of my songs released.
I'm a middle aged man who lives in a van and bears the label of PTSD/CPTSD. I've been playing guitar and writing music since I was about 14 and I think I have some strong songs.
So the mission is on. Get 4 songs out as a streamable and downloadable EP, maybe even on a USB stick or something, with a bonus track and promo videos for all 4 songs, in 3 months. And vlog The whole process. Not too much to take on then.
The songs are there and even though I say it myself, they're good. Everyone says it about their songs but I really believe in them. They are true heart on the sleeve punk rock songs. My mixes of 3 of the 5 songs got some airplay on the brilliant West Coast Sounds show in Cornwall which was hosted by my now friend, Craig Freeman. Thank you Craig, your belief in me then is yielding some actual effort from me now!
Life happens in wonderful and mysterious ways and it's taken till now for the calling to become so strong that I literally can't ignore it any more.
With the very kind help of my friend The Abominable Phenomenon the tracks are right now being mixed and mastered to a standard I could only dream of achieving on my own. Mr Abominable is a prolific producer, you can find his awesome tunes here:
/ the-abominable-phenomenon
He's also a member and producer of the band, The Mighty Will Fall, whose debut album is available to stream here:
open.spotify.c...
Thank you Mr Abominable, I'm touched that you'd do this for me.
A few vocal retakes aside my musical work is done and to say that I'm looking forward to hearing the finished mixes would be summat of an understatement. I can't wait!
But there's all the other stuff to get on with too. And most of it I currently know next to nothing about. Branding the 'act' for a start. Do I stick with '7foot STUDIO' as the name or go with a new one. Bands have logos. 7foot STUDIO has a logo, it isn't very good....A bio needs to be come up with and accompanying pics taken. I want a pretty lyric sheet too dammit!
Once that's done and I have something to market, it needs marketing. Social media, approaching the press with the music and the story....and....producing 4 promo videos. Yes 4. If you were to go back through the channel you'd see that I'm very much still learning camera work and editing. I have some ideas for the videos but pulling them off on my own will be nigh on impossible. So I'll need help! Help! Please! If you are reading this and would like to get involved please do message me.
The videos can obviously be hosted on KZfaq but the EP will need hosting somewhere for download and streaming. I'll need to set up a Bandcamp page for sure, maybe the streaming sites too? I know nothing about how folks do this nowadays and need to research. A lot.
I'm a skint old school narco hippy punk with questionable mental health who's written what I think are some great tunes that deserve to be heard. I was diagnosed as having PTSD in 2015 but it became clear that it's CPTSD that I live with. Last year it was quite authoritatively put to me that I may also be on the autistic spectrum, which would actually explain a fair bit. Though it was news to me, it didn't seem to be news for those who know me. It caused no small amount of anger and anguish as I tried to work out who "I" am, what's me, what's trauma and what's this new thing...It's slowly been assimilated as just being the way things are.
My hope is that this project will help me to focus and maintain a clarity of purpose that I sometimes lose. I also hope that it opens up a dialogue with others and that through being open with each other we can bring on World Peace and make sure every kid has a guitar.
The song writing and guitar playing I can do and have done. The video work I'm learning to do and loving. The rest of it I currently find daunting. It's a mountain of learning and work that blows my mind if I try to look at it as a whole. Especially those promo vids. That will be many hours. Fun hours I hope but many, many of them.
If you got this far, thanks for reading and please do say Hi in the comments, it would be great to hear from you and to hear your thoughts and stories. I hope you enjoy the series.
#nomad #musician #ptsd