Let me fill you in on the past year, creatively speaking…

Remember Our Creative Community? And my own personal goal to post 12 recorded masterpieces (humour me…) this year?

No?  Well, seems I didn’t either.

Actually, I did…I was just ignoring it…

It all went so smoothly for about 5 minutes.  Then I decided to go and produce our church’s first worship album, and it all went a little haywire.  Great excuse huh!

The last song I posted here was back in May.  MAY?!?  Where did the last 6 months go?  Wait, I know exactly where they went.  Lots and lots and LOTS of hours in a recording studio with the awesome worship team from Awesome Church.  It’s a sacrifice I’ve been glad to make, though Diane and I have definitely felt the strain too.  The album is very nearly done though, and this is a good good good thing.

Anyway…

About a month ago, I did a post over at my good friend Jenni Clayville’s blog telling a bit of my story, because like everyone  … I have one. Or two. Maybe more.

In the comments, Jenni’s amazing husband Brian requested a song for his birthday.  Now, he may have been joking (I really don’t know – I never asked – it’s not like I haven’t embarked on this personalised song thing before), but it was the impetus I needed to write something of my own again and see if I could remember how to do this.  I’ve been writing and recording congregational music all year, which involves a very very different process to how I approach my non-church music, which mainly comprises mini electronic pop epics (poptronica).

So I wrote this. You now have your own song, Brian.

And Jenni, I still want to re-do yours properly as a thank-you for sending me the audio file of Brian’s snoring that inspired this.  I’m just looking for a big band… who’ll work for free…

Gotta say though…my snoring is WAY worse than Brian’s. Though the only time it’s been recorded I had sinus and a completely blocked nose, so…

Back to the song…

Lyrics: as usual for me, it took a long time to get the lyrics to happen. Music = easy peasy, but lyrics…no. Except when I’m writing church music, when the lyrics often come first and suggest the melody, etc.  In this case, as for all my commissioned “song-for-a-friend” works, I try to dig up plenty of dirt from significant others, but usually most of the good stuff comes from Twitter and Facebook stalking anyway.  Add in some inspiration from a great post on Brian’s blog, and we have a song that combines Biblical truth, snoring,  fishing for sharks, gas and twittering…amongst other things.

Music: again, as usual for me, it’s crammed too full of ideas because that’s pretty much how I roll all the time; always lots going on.  I love the production side of making music, even though this isn’t produced as well as I’d like it to be, purely due to time constraints.  It also has a few of my now trademark twists, which are therefore not twists because it would be a twist to do something straight.  I may be the M.Night Shyamalan of poptronica.

Love Endures (Snoring) by dg4G

Waking everybody with a sound
That’s been likened to sawing
Some call it snoring
All the best husbands do it
So our wives have something to tweet about

As if the bobbleheaded conversation
sprinkled with some speculation
covering the sanitation habits of the generation
that we’re raising all across the nation
…wasn’t enough

(some choral wailing)

Kids are upside down in nearly
Every single family picture
It’s probably better that way
Definitely better than attempts
to fish for sharks from the car

I wonder whose genes he got?
Should this be rhymed with bergamot?
Maybe, but probably not
Though citrus-scented gas
Might be a winner

(some more choral wailing)

(Love)
Love never gives up, never looks back
Never gives up, never looks back, never gives up…
(endures)

(Love endures)…

Waking everybody with a sound
That’s been likened to sawing
Often called snoring
And if I’m not sleeping through life, you’re not going to either.

**Could I have possibly written a more tongue twisting bridge? Why yes, I could have. This abridged tongue twister (ha!) was the compromised version… It was also much harder to sing at 12.30am than it is now at 10.00am. Hmmmm…  Did you hear the stumbles in there?  I might as well have sung “dup nebber dip dup”…

• It’s Thursday, July 2, 2009.  How did that happen?  I might have tweeted about our financial year on the day, but I didn’t get anything on here… Slacker
• We think we’ve found where we’re moving to.  We even have a back-up plan if this one falls through.  We hope it doesn’t though, ’cause we love the place we’ve found.
• Hillsong Conference 2009 is next week!! YAY!
• My dad is coming to stay with us this weekend.
• We will be moving during the week after Hillsong! Anti-yay … to the moving process…
• Hyper-yay if our desired house is where we’re moving to.  And just mega-yay if it’s the backup plan option.
• I’ve been writing lots of half-finished songs (read: electronica soundscapes), but I’ve nearly finished one I’m really happy with.
• It’s been a few months since I did a proper song.  And yes, I count ‘Asian Cowboy‘ as a proper song.
• My Our Creative Community commitment for June has slipped by.  Hopefully this song happens so I can stay vaguely on track.
• The next recording session for our church album is coming up soon too. I thought May was busy.
• We had an all staff meeting following our annual stocktake.   First time in over 6 years.  Yep.  This is some of the change I’m driving, and it’s great to (a) see it happen and (b) be appreciated.
• The next song we’re recording for the album is one of mine.  It has a simple complex I-think-it’s-simple sequenced introduction and line which runs through half the song.
• I need to wrap this up and get on with writing employment contracts, enjoying enduring end of financial ‘fun’
• Now I’m really late for LifeGroup Online … oops!

Now that this brilliant word is so common around the interwebs, and along with numpty is now regularly getting a workout in my office – since my staff are so awesomesauce.

So it obviously needed its own song.

Yes…you read that right.

It’s worth noting that I was introduced to the wonders of this word by the fantastically awesomesauce photographer Joshua White, and I give him the credit for such startling creativity in the word invention department, but please note he doesn’t have to take any of the rap for the song…that’s all my (poor) idea.

Anyway, here’s my May track for Our Creative Community. I realise this one is little more than a novelty track – but remember how I said I’d need some laughter back in this post? Well, this is a great way for Diane and I to laugh together. A lot.

Hope you get the odd chuckle out of it too.

Firstly : Transition Phase Update
Stage one : completed at 7.34pm Thursday EST (Aust) ;
Emotions : primarily excitement…at the moment…

So, continuing my posts on stuff that has influenced and helped me, here’s a recent “stuff”…

When I was unemployed last year, I came across Worship The Rock (WTR).  I posted about that back here.

I met a bunch of great worshippers, and eventually found my way onto (into?) Twitter, where I’ve subsequently met the vast majority of you guys, o wonderous blog readers.

One of the first WTR friends I met is a multi-talented guy, and just about the time I joined WTR, he posted a new song there as well as on his blog.  It’s a rough, 4AM kind of demo, but the lyrics really resonated with me and what I was going through during that period.

For a few days, I listened to it over and over. I’d be lying if I said it was my style musically, but the imagery of the lyric and especially the chorus, the passages of Bible that it led me to, made me want to take this further than passive listening. So I asked Nate if he had the chords written down.  He didn’t, but I sat down and worked them out which is not something I would usually consider doing.

Then I recorded it myself – my first cover. Ha!  And the second thing I ever did in GarageBand.

So now, here it is for you…both the original demo, and my – uh – somewhat “altered” rearrangement. I’m also including this as my April song for Our Creative Community – with other things going, I’ve not finished anything new, though I might have something relatively early in May for you. Yes, I know I didn’t write this song, but … oh … whatever …

Lyrics and some Biblical inspiration are here too…and thanks to Nate for allowing me to post his demo. You’ve been a huge blessing to me Nate, and to many others as well

Ephesians 4:22-24:
Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires (the ‘mud’), to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self (His ‘clothes’), created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Your Clothes

I’ve walked away from those awful things
I’ve closed the door on all that before
I’ve poured the shame and poison down the drain
I have repented – how many times will I hurt You?

Father I just want to make you proud
Every time I stand I fall down
These are Your clothes, no one would know
I have covered them in mud
Holy Father wrap me in your arms
Tell me how to be more like you are
These are Your clothes, no one would know
Lord please wash away the mud

Lord I have turned to you
I have learned what is right
Guided by Your light
I’ve found my way, so Lord if I stray
I will repent – how many times will i hurt You?

CHORUS

You’ve called me to be more like You
Lord help me be what you want from me ‘cos
I just want to please You
I just want to please You
I just want to please You Lord

CHORUS

Your Clothes – David Goodwin

You’ll remember a few weeks ago I posted my first “write-a-song-for-a-friend” song.  Well, here’s number two.

This time though, I have intentionally made it double up as my monthly song for Our Creative Community.

There’s stacks of ideas packed into the four minutes (including some crazy imagery in the lyric), but I’m especially excited about Diane’s vocal and arrangement contributions.  Oh, and the fact Crystal likes it, of course.

No cover art yet, but I’m sure that won’t be too far away.

Asian Cowboy

Picture a girl, with once pink hair
Making her way through life with vicarious fascination

She shuts the door, the freakin’ front door
Enters the world wide web where she can stalk Asians

And avoid strawberries

She’s riding gazelles, and watching Carrie Bradshaw
Though she’s seen them all before, it keeps her mind off

Diet Coke and bottled water…

Crying girls as the Backstreet Boys
Fall through the roof of the honky tonk bar
Wrapped in snuggies, meeting Leo
Lazy typing left Tinky Tiny

She shuts the door, the freaking front door
Enters the world wide web so she can stalk Asians

She rides gazelles, and watches Carrie
Sex and the City

Picture a girl, a pink haired girl
Making her way through life with
Elvis and cowboys
(Velvet Elvis, Asian Cowboy)

This post is part of the spring challenge over at Our Creative Community to share our various creative processes.  So after you’ve read this, head on over there and check out everyone else.

I’ll be honest, when OurCC left us this challenge, the very first thing I thought was “well, that’s one post for the week I won’t need to think much about then”

Except…that would be wrong.

Defining my creative process proved more difficult than I had imagined.  I also wimped out on being truly creative with my blog response; I should have done a vlog, but didn’t want it to be just a little talky, unedited one…and…and…and… :/

Anyway, here’s what I came up with.  All things considered, this took ages to write :

What ignites that flame inside you to create?

Quite apart from the fact I feel like being creative nearly all the time, I get inspired by others’ creativity.  A play, a song, a sculpture, a book, a solution…a tweet, a blog post.  Etc. I think it’s at the root of my being, which makes sense since God is there, and He’s the Master Creator.

What sparks that passion inside you?

I kinda answered this already above didn’t I.  Actually, is this really the same question presented in a different way?

How do you channel your creativity into a finished product?

With great difficulty.  I often get into the middle of something and divert over to something else.  Being part of this community and having some clear goals has helped me be more focussed and target oriented.  Learning Garageband and therefore having more flexibility in how I present what I do has been great.  I can’t believe I had a Mac for over a year without touching it!

Still, not knowing how to play any instruments well is annoying.  As is my concern for my neighbours, which therefore restricts how much I’ll let myself go with my vocals.  I know I can do a lot more with my voice – I do it at church on Sundays, and have done in choirs for years…so I might need to find a place to let rip that’s soundproof.

And, importantly for me, the creative process of songwriting includes the recording and production.  It’s not just a song, it’s how it sounds, what synth is used, what bass sound, how many different drum tracks.  It’s all part of the process.  At the same time, I love how someone else could pick up the raw ingredients (music, lyrics) and create something entirely different in their interpretation.

What do you do when you struggle to create?

Usually this means I’m over-tired and need to step back and recouperate.  At one time, I’d push through.  This never yielded results, so I’ve learnt from that.

How do you celebrate your wins?

I’m not sure I really know what wins I’ve had.  Putting something out there that is enjoyed is a win I guess.  But a bigger win in my book is being satisfied with something I’ve created.  Coming back to it later and not wanting to change anything.  I’ve done that a couple of times.  Not many times, but it’s been done

Do you enjoy your creative process?

Yes.  If I wasn’t enjoying this, there’d be little point in doing it.  I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have my creative process and my income stream intersecting; some fatigue would be bound to set in at times.  However, it’s less likely to be an issue than when you feel your income earning is pulling you away from your creativity.

At the moment, I am blessed with a better crossover than some people I know…but I’d still rather be able to create all day than have to work.  So come on benefactor, I’m waiting

How do you share your creative elements with others?

For my congregation friendly songs – in church.

For my electronica & other noodlings – on my blog.  And it’s pretty diverse.  I gotta say, I’m really enjoying the self-imposed challenge of writing songs for/about other people.

Hopefully combining the two at some point by doing some video-clips which can be played at church of the songs I’ve created which are currently only on the blog.  Though probably not the ones I’ve done for/about other people.  Or my “25 Things” song.

The ones I do for church are going to be recorded for our first ever worship album over the course of the year too.  V.excited about this

This is even later than my January song for Our Creative Community.  At this rate, I’ll be posting the December 2009 song in July 2010.

I’ve had 4 songs on the go this past month – and by on the go, I mean in various stages of recording, not just ’song seeds’; adding those would be exponential.  As time ran out, I decided I should finish just one.  Or pretend to finish one.  Even that didn’t go to plan, but I won’t bore you with the details…I’ve done that enough already in other recent posts.

My love of both electronica and choral music has long been something I’ve wanted to see combined.  My January song  (which Diane tells me she will make a video for…once she’s got Adobe CS sorted!) started me on this journey of creating armchair techno with some choral elements.

So this month, The Matrix takes it further by not really having much in the way of  ‘pop song’ melodic elements.  This is partly because making a choir from one person is rather time-consuming.  It’s probably a somewhat logical extension of Unchangeable Truth, but that’s in my mind, and we’ve discovered how hard my mind can be to work out in the past few weeks.

As usual, rip it apart.  I live for the carnage.

Oh yeah, some of the lyrics are in contemporary Latin (as opposed to Latin Vulgate). Of course.  It’s all based around Isaiah 49:1-4, specifically the NKJ translation.  It has nothing to do with the movie trilogy, or mathematics.

Or does it…

Um, no…it doesn’t.  And, just in case you were wondering, I do have lots to say about it, but since I shared mine upfront last time, I’m keeping my mouth shut until you go first.  One thing I will say is given how late this already is, the mix is messy as I didn’t spend any time playing with it like I would usually do.  It’s all about time ‘n’ that.

Yes, I know it’s February already…I missed it by just over a day, so you’re gonna have to extend me a little grace.

Here’s my first “submission” for the Our Creative Community accountability club (or whatever we are Thankfully, the showcase post where this will be linked to isn’t there yet, so I’m in the clear for the moment – haha! EDIT: it’s definitely there now, so head on over and share in the creativity!

For the few of you who actually know me, you’ll know that this song doesn’t really fit with much that I’ve done before…but it is probably more the kind of thing you should & would expect from me. That includes anyone who’s found my music lurking on Worship The Rock or MySpace, or (years ago), on radio in Australia and a few web stations from time to time. What’s been posted there doesn’t really prepare you for this I don’t think…though there were pointers along the way

For everyone else, including those who read my worship blog, who knows what you expected?!? Probably not this in any case…

Musically, it’s much less complicated that I usually go for…perhaps lacking in variation. The mix is also lacking a bit in bass it seems. It had way too much in an earlier version. At least it’s less muddy vocally now…

Lyrics are below, and most of you will probably recognise that they are drawn from Genesis 1 and John 1, specifically the Amplified Bible (which I read quite a lot as it’s the translation I chose for my phone). It was originally inspired by Ecclesiastes 7:8, which paraphrases to “the end is better than the beginning”. But that didn’t end up in the song anywhere, and neither did the title, which was the starting point for the song. I thought about calling it “Unchangeable Truth”, but I like “In The Beginning”, and it’s even more appropriate considering it’s the beginning of this creative accountability lark.

So, let me know what you think…the good, the bad, the ugly – even if you don’t like the genre, etc, I want to know because it’s this critiquing business that helps us (me) grow and become greater at what God’s put in our (my) hearts to impact His kingdom!

When earth was formless, when all was darkness
Life hovered, brooded o’er the waters
The Word was spoken, and all creation, was made through Light
This has been and will always be unchangeable truth

The Light shines on in the darkness
The Light shines on in the darkness
For the darkness has never absorbed it
The darkness cannot absorb it
This has been and will always be unchangeable truth

The Light shines on…

EDIT: after having some sleep, and then getting the comment from my wonderful sister Cee (nearly typed your name…lol), I’m convinced of good reasons to rename it “Unchangeable Truth”. Do let me know if you think this was a silly idea

In Australia, when you’re crossing the road you need to look to the right first because (clearly) we designed it based on being seated at the right hand of the Father to ensure you always look right first…or not, but it sounds good, hey!.

When I tried this on my first visit to New York about 15 years ago, I was nearly bowled over by a big yellow taxi. Never mind the fact looking left had the same result

Back on topic though

…if you look to the right of this post, you will see a funky new badge for Our Creative Community. It truly deserves being described as ‘fabulous’.

Click on it and you will be taken to far-away and mysterious land where people who were somehow lacking in stuff to do decided to commit to doing more in areas that really matter to them, and remain accountable to others for that commitment.

And yes, I’m one of them.

AGH!

Since this is what I was referring to in my last post, I thought I’d post to let you know that this is actually serious – we have a badge now!

Update 20 Feb 2009: now that I’ve changed my template and moved to WordPress, the badge is now in my page footer.   This may change again, but for now, looking to the right just won’t work for you…

**UPDATE: since I merged both my blogs when I moved to WordPress, the contents of this post are a little redundant – oh well…**

This week, I’ll probably not be posting here very much.

There is one thing I need to post which should happen on Saturday, and that’s because I signed up to the accountability/goal thingy over at inProgress.

For the rest of the week though, I’m posting daily at my Worship+ blog, which you can get to by clicking on the logo below. You should read it every week in normal circumstances anyway – it’s dead good.