It sure has been quiet around here.
I’ve got three songs and a few notes for you. Let’s jump into it.
I would LOVE it if you took a listen, leave a comment, and/or send me gobs of cash! If you can only do one of those, the artist wants you to listen but the pragmatist wants the cash.
Oh.. I just heard from the artist, he wants the cash too. I leave those choices up to you.
I have the songs listed below and credits for the musicians who joined me on them.
Marie
I consider this done. We’ve identified where we’re shooting a music video for this song. It will be around the 6th street bridge in downtown LA and a corner in the Arts District of downtown LA with a cool, rustic vibe.
Credits:
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Vocals - Matthew Moran
Lead Guitar - HC Nilsson (Sweden)
Percussion - Glenn Welman (South Africa)
Piano/Organ/Synth - Phil Gardiner (United Kingdom)
The Coward and the Fool
There were a few rhythm guitar parts I added, I removed, I added, I removed, I … you get the idea. I think it is about as done as necessary. I’ll share some notes about “being done” below.
Credits:
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Vocals - Matthew Moran
Lead Guitar - HC Nilsson (Sweden)
Drums, Tambourine, Shaker - Glenn Welman (South Africa)
Piano/Organ/Glockenspiel - Phil Gardiner (United Kingdom)
It is a thrilling moment to have a song with a glockenspiel in it! Just saying glockenspiel is hella good fun!
Whiskey Kill This Dream
This might be my favorite production so far. It is a new song - I showcased it here a few weeks ago. I need to do a video about the tuning (Open G tuning, capo’d on 2, so Open A). I think the music is done (again, with the done word). I’m working on a few vocal and backing vocal parts.
Credits:
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Vocals - Matthew Moran
Lead Guitar - HC Nilsson (Sweden)
Drums - Glenn Welman (South Africa)
Pedal Steel - Reggie Duncan (Nashville)
Nashville, for pedal steel, gets listed just like a country. There is a bit of a story behind adding pedal steel to this song. Suffice to say, Reggie sent me a 30 second sample 10 minutes after I sent him my song. I gave the go-ahead and 40 minutes later he had delivered a gem.
When I sent the song to a producer I know and to my friend, Steve, a former engineer and amazing musician, both responded with, “Is that a Nashville guy?” That’s a 10-4!
I posted this short yesterday of me recording the vocals - just the first two stanzas.
So, while things have been quiet here on Substack, things have NOT been quiet around the office/studio. I have three new songs I’m producing. I have much of the instrumentation recorded and the musicians who work with me have sent me or will be sending me their parts soon.
Last weekend, I created a document showing where each song was in the process. I realized I was spending more time on the new productions rather than finalizing the three above. New is always interesting but new is dangerous trap that can keep you from completion!
I slapped myself around a bit, looked in the mirror, pointed a finger in my face, and sternly said, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” And then I focused my efforts on the above.
Being Done!
I watched a documentary on the making of Damn The Torpedoes - Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s iconic third album. I’ve said before that when I think about recording and engineering, I’m basically just ripping off Shelly Yakus, the engineer on that album, and things I’ve learned from Rick Beato.
In that documentary, Tom Petty, and the band talk about the song, Refugee and how, in their mind, it was NEVER completed. They even took the tracks to a new producer before the album was released and asked for his help. He apparently listened to the track and said, “What are you talking about? This is done!”
And yet, everyone in the band, still maintains that the song is NOT quite ready. Here’s the music video with a punk-attitude Tom Petty. Is the song ready? You decide.
I’ll have all three of these songs officially released before the end of the month. I don’t feel any of them are done. I hear everything I couldn’t do to my satisfaction.
but…
I’m also proud of my production on these. The improvement from last October to now, the speed at which I make engineering and production choices and decisions, and the excitement for what I’ll do next is palpable.
If I had a way to produce this music, my music, full-time, I would… or maybe I will. We’ll talk about that at some later time. I still have work to do.
So, that’s what I’ve bee up to. And I hope you enjoy the songs and the journey I’m sharing.
With Love & Gratitude!
Matthew Moran
April 19, 2024
Interesting and Rewarding compositions.