Last Updated on Friday, 11 September 2009 06:23 Thursday, 10 September 2009 00:57

Doing this whole Independent artist thing is hard work! I've pushed myself for over 3 years straight now. Has it been worth it? Yeah, I think so. I've learnt so much over these three years it's hard to know where to begin. As I said on one of my Limelight Hour interviews, when I started out, I thought I was good, but man, did I have much to learn! 

Musically and vocally I've pushed my skills to a professional standard, whereas before I was definitely only amateur. I've learnt how to be a sound engineer! Trust me, that was hard work for a creative, head in the clouds muso. I practiced and recorded to a click track (metronome) for about 2 years in my home studio. This is an acquired skill. You can be an awesome live musician, but playing like you mean it to a click track is totally different. I actually think the discipline of practising to the click helped me overall to be a better muso, which I'm grateful for.

All that time I spent in my studio at home made a huge difference when I went into record my album professionally. The whole experience was totally God, as in I know that God was in control! But all the skills I had learned, definitely helped me work more efficiently throughout the whole process. I pretty much did everything in one take - very important when you're paying by the hour! Most of the arrangements for my songs I'd already worked out in my pre-recordings, so I knew what I wanted before I went in, which also made a huge difference. All that time spent busting my brain about how to get the best sound, what instruments to use and working out parts was worth the effort! 

Music, like anything you love doing, can be a love/hate relationship at different times. I definitely got to the point where I was hating these songs and hating the sight of my studio and yet, I knew there was unfinished business there, so I had to press on despite it. By about one and a half years in, the songs had become a task rather than an expression of whatever emotion or experience I had when I wrote them, so I had to learn how to feel them again. This was a process I couldn't have done without my singing teacher, but more about this next blog...