This was recorded in July 2014. I was really trying to push myself to find ways to sing more effectively on recordings. i sing all the time as I'm going about my life, but I've really had to work to figure out how to translate that to recordings. This song is a little bit embarassing because I think the presentation is pretty faulty at times. But at the same time I feel like this is an honest recording, and it has an element of transparency that I really value in art. ERRLIRL was recorded from 2013-2015 but the majority of it happened in 2014. This was at a point when most of the record had come together, but I knew that pretty much all the choruses needed refinement.
This was right after I first downloaded a chart that shows chords and scales on the piano. I'm pretty dyslexic when it comes to understanding music theory. I usually can't tell if notes are going up or down, I just know how they feel, and I have a really strong connection to the distinct feelings of different notes. I've struggled to learn how to execute the things I head in my head, but this rough sketch of a possible song was a big turning point. I struggled to get the recording that i got, but it also came out fairly naturally. I was living in Las Vegas, and I was renting a 2 bedroom house alone. For the first time in my life I had a dedicated room as my studio, and i felt comfortable enough to sing. I don't think I'm particularly talented when it comes to singing, but I know my voice has character, and I also know how to manipulate my voice very well. It was tough for me to find the state of consciousness where my body could be free and I could let go, but my mind could be reciting lyrics, and listening to the music, but once I found it the rest was pretty natural.
I did 3 or 4 takes on this recording, and wound up leaving it with just one take for the majority of the track, and a short passage where there are another 2 voices layered. If I went back now I could sing this 10 - 20 times better, and I could make the music do a lot more without getting cluttered. But, why bother? It exists in this state, and this state is pretty good. It's a great song, and I really like it, but it has no place on ERRLIRL. So, here it is with the aints.
lyrics
I would ask myself, but that might mean I would have to tell.
credits
from ERRLIRL Aints,
released February 7, 2016
beat, rap, record, art: Zachg