As someone who has never released any music before, the process of creating the EP has been a scary one. Who knew that there were so many things to do? Not me. Before going any further, I’ll throw in a piece of advice that I quickly had to adopt - never be afraid to ask for help!
I’ll admit that before starting this whole thing, I was someone who was determined to do everything on my own, unless the guidance was given to me without having to ask. However, this is not how the world works, funnily enough. To begin, I started the ball rolling on the one thing I knew how to do - the music. I knew what tunes, musicians and instruments I wanted, so this was the easy bit. I coordinated and attended rehearsals, which was not new to me, but now that I’m at the stage of having to think of recording and releasing the material that we have rehearsed, the list of tasks seems endless.
When I read all of the notes under my to-do list, I felt two things. The first was that I was never going to get it done in time. The second was that I felt like I wasn’t experienced enough to be doing this, but I guess we all have to start somewhere. I’ve started making my way through the list, making a budget before emailing and enquiring about various different aspects. Getting physical copies of the EP produced, potential venues for a launch gig, photography for the cover (not necessarily in that order, but you get the drift). These were things that if I had released any music before, would’ve been done months ago. Let’s not dwell on that though, because I asked for help and now I’m on the right track.
I still have plenty of other things simmering away in the background (more information on these will follow when the EP madness has passed) - freelance gigs and teaching, the Emerging Composers project with the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland, social media internship with the Liam Colgan Music Fund, working at the Pipers’ Tryst Hotel and Restaurant, and just trying to eat, workout, water my plants (see above for motivational message), and sleep on a semi-regular schedule. That’s okay though, I’ll learn to let said things simmer away more evenly.
This was just a brief brain-dump of thoughts and feelings, but later this week, Eddie, Lewis and I are having our final rehearsals before we head off to record our noise...wish us luck!
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