Sunday 18th February
Pre-production panic
I had decided on 'It's a New Tuesday' as the single release but I spent the weekend panicking about how to arrange the song. Even after exploring reference tracks, I was struggling to have a vision of how the completed song would sound. I was in a spiral of questioning my abilities as a musician and after a message from Becci asking about 'No More Rain' which was written at the Songseeds retreat in September, I decided at the last minute to change the release track to this one as I felt more confident in the song, even if it was just voice, guitar and backing vocals.
No more rain
Songseeds Retreat in September 2023
As I had decided to change my release song at the last minute I looked back at the brief Jill Jackson gave us at the Songseeds retreat. The brief was to write an apology letter, and I felt at the time that this was an apology letter to myself for all the times I feel I have abandoned myself. It was important to me to step out of the narrative of being stuck and this is why the lyrics I'll let the light in became so important, even if I forget every day.
No more rain draft lyrics
No more rain first performance
Verse 1
No more rain...no more
my eyes despair and my heart is sore
dig beneath the surface
dig beneath the surface
don't swallow it down.....again
Verse 2
No more rain...no more
my eyes are clear and my heart is sure
just beneath the surface
just beneath the surface
Chorus
I'll let the light in
I'll let the light in
Bridge
Again ....again
I know that I'm worth it
even when I doubt it
Even when I can't ....can't
I know that I'm still worth it
When I think about you
Chorus
I'll let the light in
I'll let the light in
Verse 3
No more rain...no more
my eyes are clear and my heart is pure
me beneath the surface
me beneath the surface
Chorus (Outro)
I'll let the light in
I'll let the light in
I'll let the light in
I'll let the light in ......again
Similar to the songwriting intensive days we come back at the end of the day to share what we have written. I was incredibly nervous as it had been a long time since I had performed live.
No more rain live performance in Perth
Friday 23rd February
Went to see Nadine Shah perform at Assai Records and although I had heard of her, I didn't know much about her music. I messaged her on Instagram before the set saying how much I was looking forward to seeing her play and that her music has been really inspired me. I had a great time talking to her about being an older woman and artist in the music industry, not only did she remember the message but I also I told her about my single being released on 7th April. She asked me to send it to her when it was released. Since then I have researched more about her work championing mental health and definitely will send her a message when the single is released. I definitely felt a shift in my own perception when talking to her as in the past I would have been apologetic about who I was as an artist and I felt confident about who I am as an artist which is part of the growth I have felt during this course.
Having listened to Nadine Shah's back catalogue it and then reading the article in Music Week regarding EMI North– the Leeds-based arm of the Universal Music UK record company. This resonated with all the lectures that Jayne had been discussing around the future of the record industry.
Tuesday 27th February
I was incredibly nervous about going into the studio to record my vocals as my confidence in my singing wasn't good. I went to see my singing teacher Gillian from McLaren Scott Vocals to help with my phrasing and confidence.
Wednesday 28th February
Recording day
Nervous about the recording, but as I had worked with Ally (albeit online during lockdown) on the production of my album during the Masters and that his speciality was live recording I was excited to see how the gong would sound on the recording. We recorded the gong parts first and this allowed me to settle down as well as I was in my comfort zone, until I looked around the gong to see the prospective Commerical Music students in with Ally and Eve.
I was so grateful for Eve's emotional support on the day of recording. Becci stopped by to record her backing vocals and the time went incredibly fast. We did fve takes of lead vocals and then Eve did her low backing vocals.
It was a great day of recording until I left UWS to broken springs on my car and had to get picked up and got home at 9pm with a hefty £600 bill, which did end the day on a bit of a low note.
Tuesday 12th March
Even though it was very last minute I had asked Cat who was on the PMR to add some vocals and strings, I had sent her a reference track and she absolutely captured what I was looking for. We did this through Bandlab which Becci had introduced me to, this allows collaboration amongst musicians and I found it very intuitive to use. I also asked Caragh to do some backing vocals as she had added live backing vocals at the Songseeds retreat and we record our Podcast 'Beyond the Chord' together. Even though this all happened at the last minute before going in to mix with Lauren, Cat and Caragh's contribution's finished the song ready to mix with Lauren.