Fine Arts Career Services

My EPK is finaly done! It took about two weeks to film and edit and now it is done for all to see. I am so pumped and so humbled by all the people that help make this happen. It was truly an honor to work with them and I appreciate them so much! I will be showing it in class next tuesday and I am so excited to see what the response it on it. It was challenging but definitely a rewarding experience. So many learning curves throughout the project that can only be taught hands on. Last friday we started the recording process of this internship. It was so fun, playing with all the different mics, fine tuning the song, laying down the tracks, both guitar and vocal. (Just that day we laid down guitar and vocal, drums and bass soon to follow!) It was really interesting how studio sound can make such a difference in the tone and quality of the voice. I have done studio work in the past and have been able to use some of those techniques that I have learned and now apply it to this project. It still amazes me how much you learn about yourself when you are in the studio because you are really hearing YOUR sound. Those mics are super sensitive and they catch everything. Every shimmer, every flaw, everything! Very humbling as well. I am excited for whats to come and can’t wait to see/hear the final project!

This week at CAG I am filming an EPK. An EPK stands for electronic press kit, which is basically a resume for artists, or a preview for a movie. They are normally used when an upcoming artist it promoting their album when it is about to be released. What it entales is a biography, tour dates, photos, press releases, even a look into the songs that are going to be on the upcoming album. This week I am getting alot of stuff together to film this. I have an advertising major from the University of Texas helping me with this project. Ramy wanted me to work with the resources around me and network and so I found him to help me. We are filming on wednesday which should be so fun. This is really opening my eyes to understand that its not just about the music it takes alot of other elements to make this whole thing happen. I am defnitely learning the right skills to learn how this industry works.

This week at Creative Arts Group we are still in the process of songwriting. We currently have two songs and are needing at least two or three more to put out an E.P. as my project. My goal this week is to put in an hour of songwriting time in a day to just get the juices flowing and hope that something will come of it. This is where it can get tricky because you get antsy about what is to come but if you don’t have a song then the others won’t come. I believe our time line is to have a writing circle soon and then start recording on Fridays probably looking at November. It is truly exciting to live out this process and what really lies within the life of an artist. This experience is teaching me and growing me and giving me tools to help my career as a student as well as an artist.

This week as the past weeks is still all about songwriting. There are so many depths to songwriting and you never quite know how long it is going to take to finish a song. Songwriting pulls from so many different places,  emotions, life experiences, friendships, other peoples experiences. Sometimes it will take 15 minutes to write a song sometimes it can take a year. The cool thing is that inspiration can strike at any moment! Once I was on a trip to Mexico and I saw a little girl playing by herself when all the other kids were playing together and I wrote a song about it. I have written alot of songs right before I fall asleep, or after a change in my life happened or a new relationship started or ended so I always have a notebook and a pen and some type of recorder to just write down ideas or a hook or some catchy lyrics and then go back later on and see if theres something there. Something that songwriting teaches is that you learn alot about yourself, and sometimes you write a song that was really meant for you and not for anyone else. Just like journaling or when people write poetry it can be very healing and it expresses how you feel on a completely different level. Some songs make you want to get up and dance all night long and then others make you cry and draw you in. Its just the way of the artist and how much you can relate to the artist and visa versa. The broader the circumstance the more people can relate and put their own personal stories in that particular song.

This week at Creative Arts Group we are in the beginning stages of making a record. Right now I am meeting with my mentor and coming up with song ideas, some good and bad, right now we are two so far that are possibilities for the E.P. which is so exciting! The goal is to have about 6-8 songs to choose from and then record a 4 song E.P. out of them. The goal right now is that in about two weeks we will start laying down the “meat and potatoes” as they call it which is a very rough take of what the song will be like and then build the track from there. I am so excited to see what these songs end up sounding like and really understanding the process of what it takes to start from nothing, write songs, record them, and then the final product. Definitely easier said then done but so exciting to say the least.