Monday 10 November 2014

A E I O U and sometimes...

I wrote a song a couple years ago for my kids called "Starting Today". I was in the middle of a songwriting experiment to write/record and shoot a music video for an original song each week for a year.

Ambitious? 

Hell ya. In fact, after the 4th week of making mainly live videos with some text, I started to up the production value and try to best myself each week. 5 hours of work soon turned into 40 hours of work...all for a fun little project I thought of taking on. Along the way, I forgot to ask myself a very simple question.


I knew what I was doing. I knew where I was going to do it. I knew how I had to put it all together. The when was obvious because my deadline was seven days after the last one. The who...well...me of course. but the Why? Why this?

According to Simon Sinek, Why is the center of the "Golden Circle". The reason we get out of bed in the morning to do what we do. And in fact the majority of people focus primarily on the what, the when, the where and not the why. Think of the question when you first meet someone..
"So...What do you do?"

Simply changing the question to "Why do you do what you do?" creates an internal thought that can lead you to the center of your beliefs, and in truth can instigate a paradigm shift that changes the way you think about your world forever. And although that thought might scare some...it excited the hell out of me.

As a musician, there are many goals we set out to achieve. After the initial marriage with our instrument of choice, we fall in love with the idea of achieving something great with it. Someone in our past, close to us, tells us how good we are. That we could really succeed if only we (blank blank blank)...Oh, take your pick on the blanks.

"You should try out for THE VOICE, American Idol, America's got talent"
"Have you sent your stuff to radio?" I know a guy who knows the president of Sony Records"

Now don't get me wrong...these are good intentions, but sometimes I see other peoples "Why" trying to tell mine what to do, and a great deal (close to all) have not identified that very thing inside themselves. Over the years, parents have pushed their why's on their children instead of helping them find what makes them tick. "you should be a doctor...a lawyer...an accountant.

So where is my why, and what do I do to find it? 

Start from the inside out. Take a pen, a keyboard, a smart phone or an ipad and begin writing down the things you look forward to the most. Things you have found yourself doing when the clock doesn't even seem to exist. Sleep could be chasing you but your passion keeps you miles ahead of it. You know what I am speaking of...but if not...


Maybe it's writing a book, 


















                              Or making a movie

















  Playing an instrument
















Creating something others just have to have  









Or maybe inspiring others to reach levels they never thought possible. 


For me, I revisit the thought of why I do what I do on any given day. I think of my kids and the hope that they will find a purpose at the core of their beliefs. I think back to the song that I wrote in the middle of my challenge and it all seems a little clearer.

Till next time...


North Easton is an award winning songwriter who has composed more than 1000 songs and collaborated with artists all over Canada. His songs have been played on radio, t.v. and in independent films across the country. With 5 full length albums (Garrity and My Favourite Tragedy) including a completely original christmas album, North continues to write daily in search of the hooks that not only are timeless, but get stuck like gum on the shoe of your brain and never let go. (read more)






















Monday 3 November 2014

CONNECTIONS - OTTAWA REGIONAL WRITERS GROUP (session one recap)



Thank you to all who attended our first session of the Ottawa Regional Writers Group.
Below is a recap and itinerary of some of the things we discussed.

ITINERARY

The Mission - The S.A.C. Regional Writers Group Program is designed to provide members who live in all areas of the country with a series of specific songwriting lessons and a network of fellow writers, lyricists and composers. The program is also designed to keep members informed about issues and changes in the music industry, while establishing unity among songwriters everywhere.

What to Expect from ORWG : 

~ Collaboration Opportunities

~ Lesson Plans

~ Guest Speakers

~ Sharing of contacts, networks, information pertaining to the writing process from the beginning of an idea to the full production and promotion of material.

~ Monthly challenges to increase writing skills
~ Performance and critique from fellow writers (P.A. provided)
~ Additional Resources and lending library (for S.A.C. members) 

This sessions topic was all about Connections. 

CONNECTIONS WITH EACH OTHER - 2 min Introductions - 
Each attendee introduced themselves and talked about their experience. We also shared thoughts on what each member was looking for from the group. Please keep in mind, that writers off all experiences are welcome in this group. Even if you are just interested in writing for the first time, or have won awards, you can benefit from the Regional Writers Group.

CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR INNER WRITER
Writing from the heart (songs that have to come out..raw)
Crafting a song 
alternate methods of inspiration
the process
structures
rhyming schemes
chord progressions
literary terms (metaphors, similes, alliteration, personification etc.)
tapping into the senses


*We will continue to touch on all of these topics as the upcoming months unfold.

  
CONNECTIONS WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY - (we spoke briefly about)
T.V. and Film. Other artists singing your songs. Radio play. Mentorship and connecting with other successful people in the industry. Recording studios vs home studios. Stage performance and more.

*This will be a topic that will continually be spoken about at each session as interest levels increase. 

CONNECTIONS WITH THE FANS
Social Media (youtube, facebook, twitter, sound cloud, reverb nation, blogging, website etc)
At a live show 
Email campaigning
The good ole telephone
Skype
Snail Mail


4. SONGWRITING CHALLENGE - One of the primary goals of this group is to encourage the writing of songs, so, each month, we will put forth a songwriting challenge to share at the next session we have. Being that this first session was all about connecting, we have chosen this broad topic of our first songwriting challenge. 

Examples:
Writing about someone you just met or someone you are going to meet.

That look you share across a room with a stranger 
(interest, flirting, challenge, someone that just rubs you the wrong way)

Connections within the world (a story song about people who may have connected along the way…a firefighter rescuing someone to a faithful companion who never leaves your side. )

You could write about something that connects people, like a book that has passed through the hands of many and the impact it has had on each one. 

People who have shared in a common event (from the extreme, like a car crash - to the witnessing of a baby being born..anything goes)  

The intention is to get the creative juices flowing, providing a goal or a deadline to encourage more songwriting action. Do what you can, a verse, a chorus, a bridge if you so desire…and challenge yourself to do something no matter what. 

You may perform this live at our next session, or make a recording to be played in the room in the event you would rather not perform. 


If at any time throughout the month you have any questions about songwriting, the group or the challenge set forth...please feel free to email me directly.

CLICK HERE TO EMAIL NORTH

I look forward to everyones challenge, and spread the word to other writers you know and encourage them to join the Ottawa Regional Writers Group. 

Till next time. 
North Easton
THE NEXT SESSION is November 25th from 7pm-9:30pm at the Sandy Hill Community Centre


North Easton is an award winning songwriter who has composed more than 1000 songs and collaborated with artists all over Canada. His songs have been played on radio, t.v. and in independent films across the country. With 5 full length albums (Garrity and My Favourite Tragedy) including a completely original christmas album, North continues to write daily in search of the hooks that not only are timeless, but get stuck like gum on the shoe of your brain and never let go. (read more)



Monday 7 April 2014

Great Experience from a Great Experience. (SAC CHALLENGE 2014 Wrap up)



Finding a clear spot on a desk filled with scraps of paper and coffee cups is no easy task. Like the mind, the desk is jumbled, messy, begging for simplicity but the rain of chaos keeps crashing down upon it. Anxious eyes scan words on a screen searching for the inspiration that will make a hand reach for that old guitar hanging on the wall and rise to the challenge set before him. 

Six songs in six weeks. 

When the email came in, I got excited. Hell, I felt like a kid standing in the cereal aisle with the green light to grab whatever I wanted.
And each week, like many of my fellow songwriters, I pushed the clock, searched my mind and heart, and managed to come out the other side of the challenge...not only a better songwriter, but I made some friends, found some co-writers and added a few new songs to my existing catalogue.

The challenge within the challenge was finding the time each week to complete a full song to a level that would leave me smiling at the end of the day. 

With Christopher Ward steering the ship, and a whole crew of Canadian songwriters aboard, I knew I was in for a pretty cool ride.

 Week # 1 had us creating 5 opening lines, song titles and themes that truly inspired us. I draw your attention now to Mr. Matt Gerber.  Title: "A perfect world." An interesting melody gliding over unique chord changes reminiscent of great Beatles songs.


In week # 2, our challenge was to grow our antennae. Have a look at the outside world and pull a song from something we saw or witnessed.

The tragedy of loss is one of the hardest things we as human beings can ever go through. Knowing that we won't see that familiar smile from someone we knew and loved is haunting, and it follows us for our entire lives.  Sharing the pain of that experience is something that some people never have the ability to do. When I heard Lynn Mantles week #2 song, I stopped. My heart slowed down. I felt the pain in her voice and the memories in her lyrics. This is songwriting in its truest form...emotional and impossible to contain. Thank you for sharing Lynn.



Week #3 had us thinking outside of the box. Switching it all up for us.  "Just Go With It" by Jesse Weeks...is a great example of a song not following all the rules of songwriting.  Not only does it have some extremely unique instrument choices, the chord progression and lyrics leave me hanging on every corner of it waiting to see what comes by next.



In Week #4 we were challenged with spinning a cliche in a different direction. Taking the obvious and making it much less so. In all the blogs I read and songs I listened to that week, it was Allister Bradley who caught my attention.  Not only for his song...or his brilliant voice...or the way he tickles the ivories, but his blog captured what the challenge was all about. A great job. I am providing a link here to his blog and you can play his song "It's a Thin Line" from there.

Week # 5 and the world is spinning. Some of us were not only charged, excited and slightly overwhelmed by the challenge, but this was a week where we were able to let go of what was building up  inside our heads. The subconscious.


From the first week when I heard Scott's introduction song up on the SAC Facebook site, I knew this guy had something pretty cool. Great voice, some great guitar skills, good feel and some interesting perspective on songwriting.



We closed everything out in a collaborative effort in week #6. In that experience, my limits were tested, I opened my mind to others ways of working and learned more than I thought I would in this challenge. Thanks to my co-writers, Robert Campbell, Kristine St. Pierre and most certainly Rosanne Baker Thornley. Rosanne truly pushed me the hardest to expand my horizons...and after our sessions over skype, we had a song that would carry itself further than this challenge and into the eyes and lives of many more people.



As a songwriter who thrives on the heart and the honesty of a great song, this experience has not only made me a better writer, but has given me a new outlook on the landscape of Canadian Songwriters. Thank you Songwriters Association of Canada, and Lily Cheng for doing what you do.

Till next time
North Easton

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Prison, Superman and the Open Road


You know that moment when you bite into a fresh slice of pizza. The smell of the baked crust as your fingertips cradle that precious triangle like a lizard on a hot rock lifting its feet every couple seconds to avoid the burn. You can feel the heat on the skin of your face as you bring that long awaited deliciousness to your watering mouth. There is a quick light that flickers in your brain...a warning light perhaps? A memory you just can't seem to grab hold of as you are lured by the distraction of melted cheese hiding delectable sauce over cooked dough. Your mouth opens wide as you ease a corner past your lips and over the tongue. Like an anxious puppy getting ready for a walk, your teeth slam down and your eyes roll back for the moment has finally arrived and the reason you are here...on this day...was to eat this very slice of pizza.
But, it's too late. The damage is done. The scalding melted cheese welds itself to the roof of your mouth, your eyes tear up, your nose pushes air out and the previous width of your jaw pales in comparison to the desperate plea for cold air as you breathe in quickly to minimize the pain. The cheese won't let go. Your teeth cannot cut it, so in that moment you are forced to pull more lava into the opening of your face as your eyes scour the room for those who may bear witness to this incredible feat you have just embarked upon. Its a kitchen dance gone bad as you hop from foot to foot shaking the contents of the inside of your mouth back and forth working up the courage to bring that fire down your throat and rescue you from the horrible ending your pizza dream should have seen coming. 

What does this have to do with songwriting?

Instead of picking someone to collaborate with this week...as given to us in the challenge...I took a big bite of hot pizza and ended up collaborating with 3 SAC songwriters. So my blog will be long for those who wander through it.

The three writers I worked with are Rosanne Baker Thornley, Robert Campbell and Kristine St. Pierre.




Song # 1 - TURN written by North Easton and Rosanne Baker Thornley

 This is Jack. He is 41 years old. He was arrested for drug trafficking 8 months ago and he has 3 years and 4 months left in his sentence. The words surrounding the wall behind Jack are his own. A letter to his younger self. A plea of sorts to urge the younger Jack to make better decisions. To stay true and not be swayed by the pressures of those he shares company with. Taken from the letter he wrote to himself..."Get to work Jack, get clean and avoid the madness because you are good enough to live your dreams and not just have them in your sleep"

When I received an email from fellow songwriter in the SAC challenge (Rosanne Baker Thornley) containing a link to Jack's picture and many other prisoners...I was captivated. Drawn in. Our first skype session was a discussion on the idea of writing a song based on the letters these men had written to themselves.

Writing songs is no easy feat. There are so many components to consider in the journey from the music, to the melody, to the words on the page and how they all tie in to a common point in a matter of 3-4 mins. Finding rhymes that aren't expected, using imagery that captivates the mind and pulls the listener into the setting of the song itself, and then the process of building the audio vision and the presentation afterward.  Music is a place where creativity stands hand in hand with formula and patterns, and its in the recreation of these patterns (words, chords, and melody) that original songs are born. I suppose that's why I love it so much. It is a challenge every time. And the challenge began in the first session me and Rosanne had. Our styles, our rhyming patterns, our thoughts on how to convey an idea. In fact, after our first session, I took to the guitar, climbed inside my studio and sent her back an almost completed song. Both of our ideas were in there...in my mind anyway...and I was truly excited about what I had created. Anxious...I sent it off to her...attached the lyrics and waited patiently for her response.

She wrote back"Hey North...Um...I like the first line in the pre-chorus."

My first thought..."This is not going to be as easy as I had hoped" but the challenge is the collaboration. So meeting number 2 over Skype took place. And we both felt that tension and apprehension as we both mentioned our intentions. We battled back and forth and finally like a crunched up ball of paper (my first version)...I slowly opened up to some of her thoughts and ideas and experienced the true magic of what songwriting collaboration is all about. With the barriers down, everything seemed to not only move quicker...but feel great. Each line got stronger as we analyzed it. The song unfolded and when we added the final polish, we had something not only unique and special, we had captured a little of what challenges these prisoners face every day of their lives.

For those of you who have had a chance to listen, or read Rosanne's lyrics...you know she has a great way of putting things together. All of her songs in this challenge have been fantastic and she truly is a pleasure to work with.  It looks like we are also going to carry on and write another song together.

The Turn for us, is the moment you make a decision to go the other way.

Have a listen:

VERSE:
At 17 a boy don't know bout living smart and moving slow
18 notches on the wall...carved em all
Once a year i mark the day 
I should have turned and walked away.

I had the hopes that young men do
not the strength to see them through
I followed blind, across the line, 
took the fall in  someone else's shoes
If I could go back, back to me I'd say.

Chorus:
Look before you follow, Think before you choose
Its not what you gain, Its in everything you lose
Don't forget your feet, you don't have to stay
You can always turn..... and walk away

In the shadow of my youth
I didn't care about  truth
I was desperate to belong
I could've put it right...but I did it wrong.
And the hardest part in the empty dark
is the quiet pain and the fear I face 
If only I could just go back and say

Chorus:
Look before you follow, Think before you choose
Its not what you gain, Its in everything you lose
Don't forget your feet, you don't have to stay

You can always turn... you can always turn...and walk away


My second collaboration session was with Robert Campbell from Nova Scotia. We bounced some ideas back and forth and had sort of settled on a topic in facebook messages and email. We brainstormed on it for a little while and nothing seemed to be clicking the way a song should...in my opinion. Finding the creative words to explain the subject we had chosen...and then Robert mentioned the word super hero. I know...i know...there are so many super hero songs out there.

And some really good ones. Five for Fighting (it's not easy), Crash Test Dummies (supermans song), 3 Doors Down (Kryptonite)...But at the very least it started the creative juices flowing. We visualized superman staring down at the world wanted to hang up his cape and just lay on some beach somewhere. Grow his hair long...maybe pickup the guitar. But no matter what the song metaphored...the idea itself was as basic as the desire for "THE SIMPLE LIFE"
And then lyric after lyric seemed to find the paper. The verse, the chorus, the bridge, the melody. Robert has a great thought process. He brainstorms well and seems to be neck deep in music. Much respect... And despite our many disconnections through Skype...we collaborated well together and turned out a pretty neat little song in a very short period of time. 

Give it a spin.


THE SIMPLE LIFE written by North Easton and Robert Campbell

Verse:
Maybe I'm just another superman
Standing on the edge of the world looking down
I don't wanna fall, when the fear gets too much
I don't wanna crash into the waiting crowd.
Im tired of facing the same old situations
Gotta get there in the nick of time
I wanna day, give me some space
I wanna sleep straight through the night
Chorus: 
If I had the simple life
I'd sit and celebrate
And in the quiet I would close my eyes and drift away
I'd spend my time in the sun
I would always be young
If only i could taste the simple life

Verse: 
IM sick of chasing those higher expectations
When I never reach the finish line
I'd settle for less, if the rest of the world 
would see that we'll never make it out alive (chorus)

Bridge:
If I could just take off this cape
Give myself a break
Take my time and Save the world another day
But I wont...no i wont.. damn i wont

Chorus


My third collaboration session was in person with Ottawa SAC member Kristine St. Pierre. Kristine drove twice out to my studio in Rockland (25 mins out of Ottawa heading east). We knew of each other over the years as the Ottawa Music Scene is not huge. 

When we sat in the get to know you part of our collaboration, we stumbled upon a common thread between us. A friend of ours. A woman who we both have known for years. I taught her children guitar, she watched over my little ones before as well. She truly is a remarkable person with a great spirit and beautiful heart. There was also another thread between us all as well. We had all lost our mothers.  There is a place in the mind that all of us go to in the hard and trying times of our worlds. Its a place where we lean upon the words and actions of others. They give us energy, advice, hope, belief in something bigger than the everyday. When your mother is gone...that place is harder to find sometimes. I know for me, thankfully, that songwriting allows me to not only feel and see my mother everyday, but it also allows me to share her world, memories and more with my children and as many others as I can. 
Our common friend, walks. She walks for more than just the exercise. Their is a purpose to her steps. Perhaps to find solace in the beauty of nature. Maybe its to breathe in the air from the country side or to raise awareness for causes such as the afflictions that take our loved ones far too early. 

How could this not be the subject matter of our Collaboration. 

When you know what you are writing about, words flow much easier and the song took shape quickly. It is not a song about pain, or pity...It is intended as an inspiration...a song to empower the faith of the lives we live and where we come from. And no matter what happens to us, no matter how hard we are pushed, or how much suffering we endure.. the words that keep pushing back against the challenges that try and knock us down....I'm Still here!


I'M STILL HERE written by North Easton and Kristine St. Pierre

Intro:
Alone on the road in the rain
And she walks with the light again
I'm still here

Verse:
And the sound of the city, Somewhere behind
And all the crowded cars, scream by
In a blinding race, Every step I take

Up comes the dust, Down comes the rain
Fight through the fire ,Calling her name
And suddenly she's, SHouting out...

Chorus:
Im still here


Verse 2
Hard Thoughts, hit me like a brick wall
never let the pain get through from a memory
and everything in front of me
Is like a gun shot, loaded and going off
Fight back but i'm still drowning in honesty
Draining my energy

I'm still here

Bridge:
When it comes to the heart and the courage it takes
All the fear and the worry you faced
And the words that I still hear you speak

And in the dark when i feel myself break
its the road where I go and...You save me

I'm still here..

As the snow slips into the drain pipes on the broken streets, the grass and the trees start waking up from a long winter slumber. The Birds, and the squirrels, and the feet of people everywhere breathe in the outside air...and sadly...because of the turning of the seasons...that little nasty flu bug sidelined my co-writer this morning and the song we intended on releasing took an extra day.

I look forward to sharing it with you all...and many more songs as the challenge to write a song a week continues for North Easton. I have enjoyed this challenge immensely, and the people in it are truly an inspiration to me and the future SAC songwriters.

I will post "I'm still here" tomorrow.

Till next week
North Easton


Monday 24 March 2014

One Night - SAC Challenge 2014 Trusting the Subconscious

      Trusting the subconscious.


There is so much happening behind the curtain of our conscious selves. From blinking eyes to beating hearts, the breath that fills our lungs to the yawn that takes us over when we see someone else do the same. It's true that we can play around with trying to control these functions of our bodies...but they don't need us meddling in the everyday actions of their routine. If we were truly aware of every experience we undergo, every conversation we over hear, every little detail we unravel in our memories...there is a good chance we would all be lost in the labrynth of our minds making communication in the outside world almost impossible.

The subconscious songwriter is a pretty magical thing. I am sure I am not the only one who has sat down with a guitar or at a piano and wrote an entire tune as if someone was dictating what to say. In fact the first 100 songs I wrote primarily came out that way. I was protective of them, as if they were works of art that someone had painted and to change them or touch them in any way was against the laws of nature. I do miss those early songs, and the simplicity of how they came about.


The week before music became my life's passion, I was sitting in my video game store. I had purchased it a few years before and during the days things were kinda slow, so I sat in the back staring up at the monitor just in case a customer came in. On the desk in front of me was an open book. Empty pages waiting patiently for me and my guitar to write something new. In this challenged state, I spent 2 hours writing a song called "Broken". My defeat and lack of joy behind the counter of a store when all I really wanted to do was play music, was captured in a song that my brain had put together over the last couple months. The song was in a minor. It was slow...and heartwrenching, and when I reached the end of its creation, I was at the bottom of the ladder. I needed something to pick me up. It was in that moment that I had decided to sell the store and pursue music full time. I spent the next 25 minutes writing a song that would not only be on my first album, but be the lead track, win me the Bear's Rock Search and soon be charting across Canada. 
I was much younger than...for those that know me now. This was filmed in 1998...and well..youtube didn't come out till 7 years later. 


Now back to the subconscious. I am a firm believer that much of what we say, and almost all of what we write is coming from the subconscious. Put together nights, weeks, months and even years before. Its the reason it flows out of us sometimes. It has already been written.

This weeks song came to me out of an actual experience and as I reflected and took part in daily writing...I tapped into all kinds of things from this week and the past that related to the idea.

ONE NIGHT - is the title.

Sometimes we only need to catch up on sleep to put everything back together. I say it to my kids when they wake up in a bad mood...I feel it in myself when I burn the candle and push too hard. The brain is no different than the physical effects we feel in forms of aches and pains...and like our muscles and joints...it needs to not only recuperate...but reprogram and file away the thousands of events that happen to us everyday. If we push to hard, our brain like our bodies and cars need fuel...and coincidentally...this weeks song was written after I ran my vehicle out of gas.


Now you might be wondering, how does one do that. There are warning signs, lights, sounds to remind you. There is a reserve in the tank that should get you to where you are going. And the funniest thing about this running out of gas scenario...its not the first time I have done it. In my life, it has happened 5 times. I have established the primary reason it happens, and a few secondary's. The main reason  is a positive thing. It centers on my belief. I believe I wont run out before I get to the next station. So i push it...to the limit. I'm cocky and think that it won't happen to me...until it does. 

The tow truck that came (i had young children in the car to witness this...lol...proud moment) took almost 2 hours to arrive. I would have walked, but this was on a highway and my kids that were with me are 7 and 9...and for the first time in my life, I had recently purchased CAA. They were hook me up. But two hours? When the guy arrived, I walked up to his Cab trying to speed the process up. You see they give you 10 liters of gas to get you to the next station. As I neared the drivers door, I
saw something quite strange indeed. You see this guy's tow truck was a flat bed. And pinned up against the back on the flat bed itself...scared shitless...was a tiny little cat. On the outside. Shaking, scared...and probably just used up a few of its lives on the 60 minute trip it just took to come and rescue me. The driver was completely unaware that he had a stowaway.

Now what happened next was nothing short of comical. As he went to the compartment on the outside of his truck to retrieve the Gas Container...it was nowhere to be found. This guy travelled 60 minutes to come give me gas...and he brought no gas! 
These are moments when laughter is the only weapon you have. So he hoisted me and my kids up on to the flatbed and drove us to the nearest station.

Even tho, my bad day was nowhere near as bad as this guys...Sometimes staying in bed, seems like a much better idea. Hence the reason for this weeks song.

                            

Thanks for listening, and reading. 
Appreciate it.

North Easton




One Night - North Easton
I don't wanna wait for another bad day to find me
Every time I look there's another closed book behind me
Open up the shutters no I won't get up
Take away my covers but I won't get up
I don't wanna face another bad day
Inside me
One night to clear my head
I'm too tired to make it out of bed
Stuck in the middle of a life that just wont change
One Night to let things go
Too many times I am woah
Stuck in the middle of a riddle I can't escape
Stuck in the middle of a riddle I got, and yes little less thought about the things that make me go.
I dont wanna think about the chase, I dont wanna waste a minute
Focused on the finish line
But everytime i see the same old day after day I stop and
settle for the red light
Roll over but I wont get up
Start over but I wont get up
I dont wanna wait for another bad day to find me.
One night to clear my head
I'm too tired to make it out of bed
Stuck in the middle of a life that just wont change
One Night to let things go
Too many times I am woah
Stuck in the middle of a riddle I can't escape
Stuck in the middle of a riddle I got, and yes little less thought about the things that make me go.
I keep falling..Somebody..catch me. Somebody Catch me
I keep falling...somebody slow me down x2

Monday 17 March 2014

Suddenly Love is - SAC Challenge Week # 4 The Cliche


























There are two kinds of people in this world...

Those who write a cliche into their songs, and those who write many cliche's in their songs. (Check out this collection of TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE movie clips)

An original idea is extremely hard to achieve. Take the image above for example. If you look up love in Google images, you will find countless pictures of silhouetted couples kissing... Although we love great ideas, and new things, we feel comfortable ordering the same food, buying the same clothes, telling the same stories to different people day after day.

My father always told me "That good guys finish last" "You only live once" "If the shoe fits...wear it" "Dont hold your breath" "Quit while you're ahead" "Better late than never" "It never hurts to try"...and "never play leapfrog with a unicorn"

K that last one wasn't his...in fact none of them were, but when I hear or read these expressions, I think of him. A cliche is a very powerful tool in writing, and Christopher Ward "Hit the nail on the head" when he spoke of the importance of a cliche in a hit song. Upon further research...every hit song has a cliche in it...if not many. Think of the ironic cliche of Nickelbacks Rockstar. Nickelback who rose to fame and impacted so many singers with an original voice and great tunes...and then...cliche after cliche song that has turned most of the music world against them. This very song here lists all of the cliches around being a rockstar...which Chad Kroeger now has (hockey rink inside his house in the bastment...studio out back) and of course 56 million views on the video alone. Cliche's work. The big challenge is writing something original around the cliche that makes it stand out.





So for me...this week...I listened...I read...I looked around...and settled on a familiar cliche starting with "LOVE IS". Christopher himself used this in a hit song for Alanah Myles. Brilliant...so why not start there...I thought. Also sticking with last weeks journey...I decided to start this song with the chorus

Suddenly Love is

Chorus:
Suddenly Love is, love is just a place
Suddenly love is love is just another word that you cant explain
Love is love is just a face
That you can't erase 

Verse:  
Lips press down on a cigarette
light another up and you take a breath you
cough and close your eyes and  focus

Climb into the car in the parking lot
Look into the mirror with the same old thought
will anybody even notice

Foot to the floor, and the race is on
Try and get away from a ticking bomb
Drive into the dark before the world it closes (Chorus)

Chorus:
Suddenly Love is, love is just a place
Suddenly love is love is just another word that you cant explain
Love is love is just a face
That you can't erase 

Lost in the riddle of the radio
Heart beat pounds against your throat
Its hard as hell to See the signs  

Flashback  flickers, painful pictures, 
Time is quicker, everytime you wait...for the right..
Time..

And the red light, turns white...You can't stop...
or change your mind...You are caught between 
the faded yellow lines... 
  
Bridge:
Honestly its Hard to breathe,  I see your ghost
Slip into a  memory, cant let go
Honestly Its Hard to breathe breaking glass, the empty street,
the faded past is Out of reach, fear is taking hold


-------------------------------------------------------

I tried to use as many cliche's as possible without stepping on the potential of the song. They are bolded above.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and listen to the tune.

"Until next time" "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" "Another day another dollar" "Always look on the bright side of life"...and blah blah blah.

Cheers everyone
North






Monday 10 March 2014

Strong - SAC Challenge 2014 - Week # 3

Getting out of the box can be a difficult process. We as people are constantly finding ourselves in daily routines. How we wake up, what we wear, the way we brush our teeth, the path we take to work, where we stop for coffee and the words we greet people with...it seems like everything in our lives is a pattern...and breaking that is no easy feat.

This week's song did take a different path that the rest of my other songs in a long while. As most of my songs have extremely simple instrumentation...(acoustic and voice...or piano and voice), I thought it would be good for me to pick up the electric guitar and try my hand at rocking out a little more.

A friend of mine (Jith Paul) is putting together a movie called Clean Slate, and he asked me to write a track for it. I took the inspiration from his story and put this song together. The screenwriter (Paolo Della Malva) has a girl struggling to get up on stage. She is hiding out in the bathroom with her friends and band mates trying to coax her up to perform. Stage Fright...a real thing, as I am sure some of you can probably relate. Putting ourselves out there is not an easy thing, especially if we are singing something that we wrote ourselves. Eyes judge...just a fact of life...but I digress.

So...the song is called Strong.
And seeing how the event takes place in a bar, I went with more Rock than usual approach. I started writing the chorus first this time...normally I let me verses lead me to the chorus. I also built the song up from drums instead of music. Created the beat that I wanted...added in some bass...and then started creating the rest of it off that.

Lyrics normally come first or at the same time as my music...but this time, I waited and recorded the song and created lines over top of it. I did however have some melody in my head as it is near impossible for me to write without some kind of melody hook driving me forward.

Have a listen to the song here.



Tell yourself the fear it helps
The final bells are ringing clear as hell
Its time to get your shit together
its now or never you gotta face
Close your eyes And take a breath
count to ten and do your best to let it go...let it go
Pre:
Everytime you fall behind,
You look inside to find the reason that you wont...back...down..
Chorus:
Oh..you gotta get strong, you gotta get tough
You gotta get better than ever and love
What your gonna do, when you give what you got
to the world in front of you.
Love the life to live it long
To fight the fight...you gotta get strong
Verse 2.
Look into,the simple truth and try and find a way to get it
You gotta take a chance and let it, let it change your point of view
Hit the brakes and count the days, and just forget your last and past mistakes,
Let it go 
Chorus:
Oh..you gotta get strong, you gotta get tough
You gotta get better than ever and love
What your gonna do, when you give what you got
to the world in front of you.
Love the life to live it long
To fight the fight...you gotta get strong
Bridge:
Life is counting all the faces,
all the seconds we've all wasted
Life is counting all the space-

--------------------------------
Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.

Feel free to comment.

All the best 
North Easton
-never stop writing.

Monday 3 March 2014

Just Go Out - SAC CHALLENGE 2014 (Week #2)



 If you learn to keep in the shadows, not stare too long, and wear an interesting hat...people watching is a pretty easy thing to do. The interesting hat is so that when people catch you looking at them, they notice the hat first. And when they look back at you, they think you have noticed them looking at your hat...it's pretty much clear sailing after that. I know this from my countless days of being a private detective...well...sitting in front of the T.V. and watching private detectives. In fact, I can say that most of the cool knowledge I have obtained in this world comes from guys like Magnum P.I., Simon and Simon, Remington Steele and Angela Lansbury...yes...i just said Angela Lansbury. This lady was cool. And with all respect to Sir Paul McCartney...him and her kinda look the same (look it up) which brings us back to people watching.

So ten minutes of writing in 5 separate locations can  certainly get the brain moving. I think once you get past the literal and start letting the imagination and senses take over, songs exist around us in everything. The lives of people you don't know can be as fascinating as you would like them to be. Why someone is acting the way they are?...the conversation they could be having with each other? (check out Tina Fey and Steve Carrell in Date Night for more inspiration), the thoughts they could be having in their heads...watching people argue, or reach out for each others hands...a child looking up to a parent hoping for a treat in a store, the reaction the parent gives back...a guy riding his bike in the snow...the smiles and frowns of the people caught in traffic.  It truly can get your brain and heart wrapped up in a bunch of cool scenarios.


For me, I settled on a situation I watched unfold while enjoying a cup of coffee in a local coffee place...(no brand names here without compensation). There was a girl sitting by a fireplace reading a book, the look on her face was not a happy one.

I could not see the title of the book which got me thinking even more. She was near the window and kept looking up from her book to the outside. When I looked around the shop, I could also see a young guy in a suit waiting in line texting on his phone. A common everyday thing I have seen many times. It got me to thinking about these two and the lives that they wish they could escape to. 
And...in true songwriter form...what if their lives connected in another place further down the line?

This is what I came up with.



JUST GO OUT - NORTH EASTON
She sits by the fire, hands on a cup
Face in a book, soaking it up
Cant find the look that somebody took away from her
Eyes on the page, mind in the past
it was a heart break that led to the crash
And its hard not to let the inside change your day
Chorus: So just go out...take a walk
Let the sunshine change your thoughts
Just go out...Stop the clock and run away
Just Go out...and let it go, its time to bre-athe life in nice and slowly
Find another way...just go out today
He waits in a line, fixed on his phone
Talking to someone, while standing alone
Stuck in the same old, tightrope, blindfold...digging for some change
And he's tired of the push, and the feel of the weight
On the inside he's ready to break
And he cant understand why everything stays the same (chorus)
Bridge Life is...waiting..
Try and save it
Dont look away
SHe's under a tree, hands in the grass
Face in the clouds, wind on her back
She looks like a girl who's got the whole world in motion
ANd then he comes along, wearing a smile
She sends it right back with a whole other style
He can tell that the belle has the rest of her life wide open (chorus)

For all my Canadian Songwriting Compadres...keep writing...I am loving what you guys are all doing. It's a blast listening to each of your stories unravel. And for the love of god...STAY WARM.
-North









Sunday 23 February 2014

When you get Knocked Down...you get back up!


THE S.A.C. Songwriting Challenge -Week 1


When the winter months wreak their havoc upon our streets, our skin, our slippery shoes and salt covered cars, what better way to soak in the social scene by starting a weekly quest with a whole slew of creative Canadian Songwriters. 42 days from now, there will be a flood of new songs in the hands of us all, and I have to say...that's pretty damn exciting.



Here is my first song of 6 that I will write in this program followed by my assignment. Feel free to comment.


LYRICS

Have you every been waiting for someone to stop and tell you to come back, 
And just like a car crash, You hold on for your life
Have you ever been holding on to something so close, 
You suddenly let go,Your fingers they said so, And so you said goodbye

Chorus:   When you get knocked down you get back up
                Get dealt a bad hand...you Change your luck
                When you get pushed round you rise above and try again..
                Suffer a setback, you look ahead
                Think of the good things and leave the rest
                Who knows what might come or happen next ...When you try again

Have you ever been hanging around with your hand in your pockets
Whenever you talk its like a rocket hitting everything you face
Have you ever been somewhere alone, like a crowded room standing like stone
And you hit the floor and try not to break (chorus)

Bridge:    Have you ever been Scared in your life 
                Has it ever been too hard to fight
                Have you ever been falling and calling out as if somebody might help
                But there's no one else (chorus)


Titles normally come after the songs I write. I learned early enough that for a commercial purpose, the title should be in the song. But not every song needs to be one that everyone wants to buy...or even recognize by its name. And thanks to Shazam...we can pretty much figure out the title of any song in less than 10 seconds. That being said, 90% of the songs I write now have the title in the chorus...either first line...every line...or last line.

Here are a few I came up with this week.

MY TITLES

Where did all of the good things go
Talking Tables
Long Way Down
One More for the Road
Try Again 

MY OPENING LINES

1. "Where did all of the good things go...disappeared down the long and lonesome road" - this song opens with the chorus in my head. (a song of reflection perhaps, what we miss, what has changed)

2. "Ten thousand conversations with a good friend made of wood" - Talking Tables (this can be written from the tables point of view...or a series of little stories that all add up to the chorus)

3. "Somewhere in some other city, She is sitting on a train waiting for the last day of her life" - Long Way Down (the idea here is again a collection of a couple peoples lives who fall hard)

4. "Pour me one more for the road, Show me a sign that you don't want me to go, talk with your eyes...tell me with your smile...everything is fine...everything is ok." - One More for the Road (a goodbye song)

5. "Have you ever been waiting for someone to stop and tell you to come back" - Try Again (in the times that we get knocked down, we must find a way to get up.)

THEMES

I kinda covered the theme in the little descriptor after each opening lyric. 

As for artists who have inspired me along the way, and of course the rest of this weeks assignment.
INSPIRING TITLES
.
Banana Pancakes - I know this has to be a weird looking choice for an inspirational title, but Jack Johnson captures something here in this odd little pick of language. I am constantly searching for great lyrics and compelling songs in the everyday experiences that we all go through and to be able to make a memorable song with a preposterous title is quite a fantastic feat in my opinion. With a combination of laid back chill feel, some unforgettable lyrics and an underlying relatability to the things we would love to do more often...this song hits home for me and inspires me to write everytime I hear it. 



Bohemian Rhapsody - If you had never heard this song, and you read the title...how could you not be intrigued by what the hell it was about. This song does not follow the structures that most songwriting classes, teachers and books dangle before us. Instead, it is a string of songs intricately woven together in hook after hook. From Opera to rock song, screaming solo's, spot on Harmony and "Mama...just killed a man"...are you kidding me...inspirational from start to glorious finish. Just for fun...have a look at this video to understand the impact this song has on anyone...in any walk of life. 

I shot the Sheriff - Who doesn't like Bob Marley. I'm not a die hard fan by any stretch, but song titles that push the boundaries of acceptance, not only inspire me, but get noticed by people even before the needle hits the record. Um...or the finger pushes down the black play button...er...we swipe across our screens and stream an mp3 on some server somewhere. You get my point. Doing this in a tasteful and hooky way is pretty damn impressive in my opinion.

OPENING LINES
.

Don Mclean has one of the most recognizable, greatest songs of all time. American Pie. From start to finish this song encapsulates great writing...but I lead you into a different direction for opening lines.


Their is a soul in the singers that I admire. A heartbeat that can be heard in every nuance of each word being sang. Adam Duritz has a feel that gets inside you. Their are not very many people who have not owned or still own the album August and Everything after. His opening line in the song Round Here...gets me every time.


For my third choice of great opening lines, I choose one of the best songwriters alive today. A legend and an enormous amount of recognizable music that paints pictures in your mind whenever his lyrics smack you in the face. The Boxer



When it comes to themes in songwriting, there are always common ones that come back time and time again. 

Party Songs
Friends and Family
Me against the world
Me against myself
Love, love and more love.


TRACY CHAPMAN 

Here is a woman who has soul in every little finger. Her hit "Fast Car" was a summer song for me when I was just a wee lad. Escaping the everyday.  Her pain can be heard in the lyrics of her songs and in the voice that carries them with. 
Rebellion - "Talking bout a revolution"  
Fear - "Cold Feet"...fantastic. 




Thats it for me this week folks. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, and listen to my song. I look forward to hearing you all. From what I have heard already...there are some pretty talented people in this challenge.

Till next time. All the best...

Cheers
North Easton
www.northeaston.ca