Off the Record - October Edition

Hi there! Off the Record is a newsletter that helps independent artists transform ideas into amazing records.
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It’s never been easier to be a songwriter.

We have all the tools we need, and more. We can record demos at home for a couple hundred quids. At the click of a button, we can access lists of rhymes and synonyms. We can even use loops and samples to start us off if we’re not feeling particularly inspired that day.

But most important of all, we don’t have to write records anymore.

Singles are all the noise. While they always were an important part of the music industry, they are all the rage nowadays. Most artists release single after single after single. We’ve circled back to the ‘60s.

Some genres are different, yes. But if you’re making pop music, it will be a while before you actually need to put out a full record. You’ll do an EP. And most of the time, it will be a compilation of your most successful singles.
That’s not an EP in my book.

Full-length records have become a luxury reserved for the established artists.
After you’ve shown you’re for real, attracted some noise, did some touring... maybe you’ll qualify.

Writing good songs is hard enough. But shaping them into a brilliant record is a whole other story.

You can release an average song: with a bit of luck, it might work. If not, it will be forgotten fast. But an album needs to stand the test of time. That’s an art within itself. It needs a mood, a direction, colours, a natural progression… It’s plenty hard.
I know coz I’ve been trying for years, both by helping others and with my own endeavours.

While today’s industry requires you to come up with banger after banger, try to look past that. Try to think of a bigger space in which your songs could live.

Picture a little house. That’s your record.

Each song is a room, or a piece of furniture. And you have to find the balance within that house. Not everything needs to match or be from the same IKEA line, no. But it needs to be coherent as a whole. Otherwise, it won’t feel good to live in.

The same applies to a record. And while you may not need to write one soon, keep that image in mind when writing a batch of songs. See if one could be your sofa, your kitchen table or your beloved coffee maker.

Ask yourself, where could I put that weird-ass lamp I found on the street corner?

But then again, what do I know...

What is the most important thing in a recording studio?

If you replied “the gear”, you’re way off, pal. Gear doesn’t matter.

The couch? True, a comfy couch is important. Make it a dark shade, it will hide the stains much better.

The live room? Okay, I like that a lot better already. Acoustics are super important, especially if you’re going to track drums or strings.

But the answer we’re looking for is: the people.

Collaboration is the single best thing that studios brought to the table.

Even if you were as green as linden leaves in May, you were surrounded by a team of professionals. A bunch of blokes who had been doing it day in, day out, for years and years. Decades and decades worth of experience in one single room.

Every artist needs guidance. Especially in this weird, analytical environment that is the recording studio. Bowie didn’t become Bowie by himself. Nevermind didn’t happen in the tracking room of Sound City by accident.

Almost every album you love and grew up listening to was made with a producer in the room. Do you still think it’s a coincidence?

Make It Out Alive

This is the title track from Nico Vega’s new record, coming out November 8^th . I stumbled upon it by accident, but both the theme and the production hit me hard.

In an ocean of pop music where everything sounds the same these days, this was quite refreshing.

Hit reply if this one resonates with you, or if you’ve heard something awesome lately.

Fare Thee Well

What a peculiar year.

They’re getting stranger and stranger, I swear. No? Just me? Alright moving on.

As much as I try to have it all figured out and send out a neat little letter each month, it’s not that perfect. What’s going on behind the scenes is always a mess. Never forget it. I’m like you, I only want to show the end result.

Yet I do like to see my heroes fuck up. It doesn’t make me mean. But there is something very reassuring when someone you admire struggles. It’s not a perfect try from the start. Everything takes time, hard work and dedication.

It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock’n roll. And there’s plenty of potholes down that road. Of course we stumbled along the way. Too many times to even count.

So if it does happen to everyone, where’s the shame?

P.S.: if this newsletter has left you feeling inspired, do me a huge favour and forward it to a friend.