This is officially my first “Walk ‘n’ Talk” episode. This is a nod to my previous podcast as I take my iPhone, walk in the nearby woods, and talk about what’s been on my mind.
This walk ‘n’ talk with my iPhone is also a nod to today’s focus, my love of demos and the art of capturing magic.
When you hear a demo, knowing it is a demo, do you assess the quality of the production? No, you listen to the music. That’s the magic.
I want to chase this demo feeling of capturing the magic of the song rather than the polish of a master.
Pat Flynn calls this “being happy with scrappy” and Michael Gilbride over at Mad Records Monologue calls it “Demo-itis”.
Yes, I still love a well-mastered piece of music but in my line of work (incredibly polished and well-produced trailer music) I have been hungering for more imperfection and humanity in music.
That’s exactly what these projects have been bringing me - refocusing on the joys of songwriting over and above music production.
A good example of this is when I first heard Jimmy Eat World’s demo for Authority Song. I fell in love with the song.
When the album was released I immediately bought it, I skipped straight to Authority Song and was bitterly disappointed to hear a new, polished mix of the same song. It had lost a lot of its magic.
p.s. The artists I discuss in this episode are Melody Tapes (Lofi Acoustic) and To Be Invisible (slowcore piano).
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