My song titled IRIS

Here I am again. Happy with a newly written song titled Iris. Just to be clear, this song is meant for both my son and daughter despite the title which resembles my daughter's name, Airis. Of course the inspiration came strong amidst the birth of my daughter, and that I honestly can't find another cool title for it, but I'm happy to admit that this song is especially dedicated to both children. So this song was composed by me, each and every instrument was played by me, sung by me and the lyrics were written by me as well. I think it's safe to say now that I will now embark on this musical journey by myself. Composing music and having them recorded as a hobby as I called it, will now be and have been for quite some time a lone venture. I guess I can't say I didn't see it coming. All this while I had my former schoolmate and good friend, Epul by my side making music together but all in all, it wasn't meant to last. I used to tell him that I am more than happy to play in his songs with him, but how does it work when I wish to play and record my own originals? He sure as hell will not take the trouble to learn the songs of others. He will simply say no and avoid. Knowing him, he will never submit himself to becoming a follower when it comes to music. Not in a million years. He just wants to be the leader, the star. Yeah, that's the big difference between him and me. He's deeply hell-bent on becoming a rock star. And hoping to achieve that the easiest way possible, evading hard work and scheming short-cuts and whatnots. Me, I just want to make songs and admire it later on. Gaining satisfaction in knowing the fact that I produced a creative artwork that will last even after I'm gone. Leaving a mark. It's always been about leaving a mark. But of course, I too would be delighted should I be given an opportunity towards fame and fortune and all that rock and roll lifestyle shit. Who wouldn't want a shot at that? But it's never been my first priority. Plus, I honestly think we're too old to become freshly idolized rock stars. There's a possibility, but unlikely.

Anyway, that was quite a tangent. I tend to stray away from the main point sometimes. The point is, I will help him play in his songs, but when it comes to my songs, not only can't he learn to play them, he simply won't. So I told him upfront that I will be doing my own song projects alone, without him. Yup, I remember telling him that. I had no choice. It's the only way for me to deliver my side of the art. I see no logical reason for him to become upset about this. And he was cool with it, or so it seems. I made my first song titled Ketiadaanmu in 2012 and he seemed OK with it. I wasn't too proud of that song though because it was a bit of a rip-off to be honest. I kinda stole the concept of that song from another song by an American band. But the other two were 100% me. True inspirations, in the form of pulsating beams of ideas on an untimely basis, in the most unlikely situations. At work, or in the toilet, driving my car, all little pieces of melodies and wordings flash by vaguely, in which later my brain combines them up to become one complete song. Anyway, we still made a song together after that, me and him. We recorded the song First Time in 2013 along with the addition of two other former schoolmates as experimental band members. When I came up with my second single Suicide Sunday in March 2014, the minute I got my hands on the ready mixed and pre-mastered CD, I went to his house to let him hear it. I saw to it that he gets to hear it first before I do anything further. As a good friend that I was, it was kind of like making sure I get his 'blessings' first, before releasing it on Youtube, Soundcloud or whatever. A sign of respect. He acted fine, and looked rather happy for me, and congratulated me for my work. But when I left his house and later that day I called him up to chat, he didn't pick up. Gave it another try after that, then another try the next day but to no avail. So that was the last time we ever spoke to each other.

 Well, here I am, moving on. At least now I don't have to spend time doing music in his shadow, to say the least. But the thing about him that I miss is that he sure can write good songs, in an instant. Most people would have to wait and woo at inspiration, till the right moment when it comes. But this dude here gets it on the spot, any time, anywhere. It's his natural-born talent. Like Kurt Cobain, he can instantly and consistently come up with a catchy melody, armed only with a guitar and a few silly chords. And silly, retarded combination of notes and chords can sound good with the melody that he tosses in. Well, at least we had our moments, we made three songs together and it was definitely a fun experience.

 So the song is titled Iris. It's my first time mixing in the acoustic element in my song. Being it a song for my children, I didn't want to 'over-rock' it. I decided to keep it light, but still has some distinctive rock characteristics in it. I was aiming for a typical alternative-rock sound of the 90's. Roughly, this is how the song goes. It starts off with two acoustic guitars which strums on and on throughout the whole song, one on the left and one on the right. The left guitar was done with my own acoustic guitar that I brought along to the studio. The right side was an acoustic guitar which belonged to the studio. I purposely chose to use two different acoustic guitars so that the combination of the sounds produces a bit of a 'crisp' if you will. Though you won't be able to tell unless you put on your earphones. It kinda sounds like two different people playing it. So then the drums roll in along with a slide of bass and in goes the electric guitar with clean effect. Then when the first verse comes along, the electric guitar turns to plucking. Reaching the chorus the strumming continues. Verse two kicks in and so on. Then comes along a bridge. For the first time I managed to come up with a singular bridge in my song, and not the normal repeating short bridges that pop up in between verses and choruses. This one casually appears right before the solo part.

 I will now mumble about the recording process, although I know nobody cares or wants to read about it. Seriously, who the hell reads these blogs? That's why it's considered more of a journal, or a diary to me. But for those who are already reading this, you don't have a choice (seriously, how the hell did YOU end up here,on my blog?). I'll put it as brief as I can, Firstly, the acoustic guitars were recorded first (20/10/14). Then I recorded the drums using Che En's Electronic Drums (23/10/14). The next week I returned to re-record both the acoustic guitars because me and Che' En were simply not happy with the sound and tempo (28/10/14). On the very same day we moved on to the bass guitar, which I rented from Zaid, my friend's younger brother for 50 bucks. It was a beat-up, black colored good looking bass guitar with heavily rusted strings. Not the best choice for quality sound, but it'll have to do. If not mistaken, after the bass, I also took a bit of time completing the electric guitars, plucking & strumming rhythms, solo and all. At this point I was exhausted because it was a tiring day at work earlier on. But we kinda pushed the limits and moved on to vocal recording. Che' En said I wasn't singing very well because I'm very tired. He tells me that singers rarely sing at this state. But I insisted on proceeding, denying every fact and proof of me being exhausted. The next week (4/11/14) I came to my senses, and came back to re-record fresh vocals to the song after having listened to the crappy vocals I did the other day. Hell, I even took the day off specially for singing. So in that same week, the song was ready to be collected (7/11/14). I strolled down to the studio, paid Che' En and left with an audio CD, a data CD (for reference purposes) and a happy face. Uploaded the song on Youtube and Facebook the next day and later on received quite a good amount of feedback from family and friends. That's what it's all about. I feel good and happy when I create. I would then appreciate. Then if it's any good, others will also appreciate and that's just pure fulfillment down my chest. Hoping to do more songs next time. Peace be upon you.

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