One of my favorite things to do when creating new songs is to use my “looper.” A birthday gift from Dmitri. With my looper I can add layers, harmonize with myself live, and even add effects (if I choose to.)
Last week I was commissioned by Manchester DJ and Producer Oliver Furness (check out his details here http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/olifurness) to sing on a track. He sent me his version without vocals and also a version that contained a sample of a woman singing. Now, normally I am all about the creative process of writing new lyrics every time, but this time Dmitri suggested I stick to the theme and simply add to it. I chaged the melody and Improvised some adlibs during my practice session. Once I figured out my basic version of the song, I started to add elements with the looper. Dmitri challenged me to make the song crescendo and have some dynamics with only those 4 words. Even though I am only saying one line over and over, with the looper I was able to add a sort of chorus and sing over it.
After a scratch take we layed it down and D sent Oli the accapella track. Great beat, beautiful day, and the best engineer a girl could ask for. What could be better!?
Saturday morning usually begins at 7:30am in our household. That’s sleeping in for us, believe it or not! We are not the types to let a day pass us by. Especially when there are things going on in the world that need to be sung about. This particular Saturday started off slow for me, however. I was feeling self conscious and unmotivated. Luckily, I have the greatest boy friend and studio partner ever. Dmitri began his usual pep talk and I snapped out of my funk. He began to turn on his beasts- the synthesizers, drum machines, etc. I sat down with my “handy dandy notebook” and began looking back at songs I had already written. Most were about love and heartache. I started to sing one I wrote a couple years ago and Dmitri noticed the negative tone I was presenting. “Next!” he said. I’ve realized that the music I put into your ears and your brain (obviously) ultimately resonates into your life, as well as mine. So if I am singing about some guy that broke my heart you will feel that pain and possibly carry it with you throughout your day, and we all know that feeling sucks. So, I moved on from those quickly. Next up, songs about everything but heartache? Sure! I found a blank page in my book and started from scratch. Three different songs and many breaks later we figured it out. We want to send a message to our listeners but we don’t want to confuse people or make it lengthy or too wordy. Let’s keep it simple. Dmitri suggested and we soon decided:
Evolution, struggle, resistance, change.
While Dmitri was playing with the words in the music and kind of swapping them around I suggested Satyagraha in the place of “Resistance”. We both agreed it fit perfectly!
The life and actions of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi are a huge inspiration to us both. “Satyagraha (loosely translated as “soul force” or “truth force” is a particular philosophy and practice within the broader overall category generally known as nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Gandhi was a pioneer of Satyagraha. It was his primary tool in winning struggles against oppressors.
Our main hope for this song is that it will spark something in you. Perhaps you will want change as much as we do. Perhaps we will shed light on the dark parts of the world that need to evolve. Perhaps you will see that we all struggle to get to happiness. Perhaps you will see that the only way out of the darkness is to change.
Evolution is unstoppable. Struggle is a part if it. Resistance when done in the form of Satyagraha causes Change. This has been proven by the Mahatma.
