I never once understood boredom. Maybe when I was younger I'd feel bored when I was forced to do something I didn't want to do, but when I had the freedom to walk around and to choose what I could focus on, boredom just never make sense.
There is so much to do!
If anything there is too much to do and it can lead to a kind of analysis paralysis.
Recently I have overcome the paralysis and it becomes more of an analysis mania, where I go back and forth between tasks and following my curiosity and actually get things done but lose track of which direction I'm headed in because each step leads to more possibilities and more possibilities means I can reassess what to focus on from here on out.
This is fun more than stressful, but it can be a bit disorienting.
I've mentioned a few times that I have way too many things I am called to focus on with music. Let me try to list them again:
1 Adapt my old acoustic songs to electric guitar 2 Practice jamming 3 Practice scales, triads and other theory related stuff 4 Write lyrics to 4 new songs on acoustic guitar 5 Record new demos of old/new songs 6 Write 5 new songs on electric I have ideas for that could fit on an album with other new songs 7 Practice pedal settings 8 Practice EQ with different equipment which will improve concert quality 9 Book and play concerts ASAP 10 Make more video/audio experiments which spawn new song ideas 11 Practice the Mali songs my friends and I play together
THAT IS A LOT, and not only that, each point has sub points too (multiple pedals to practice with, multiple songs I could record or write).
I had already figured out what I wanted to prioritize and when. I believe it was June or July when I last set out a plan. I had spent a month or two practicing scales and triads and increasing my speed on guitar, then another month learning how different pedals sound together and with different settings and practicing jamming. Then I spent a month trying to adapt my songs to electric guitar.
None of these points are finished, they are all ongoing. I still have scales to practice and I can still get much better at using the effects I am working with. I had a show on July 14th and took a trip at the end of August and it marked a bit of a reset.
The show was great and it gave me a lot of insight on what I needed to work on, but it also made me really excited to write new music because I have broken through to a new level in what I'm capable of through a combination of new equipment and more technical ability than before.
I decided to start work on either a 4-5 song EP or a 9-13 song album. I didn't set a deadline for the final product because I didn't want to forfeit having shows and doing other things, but I started making a schedule for what I'd work on when.
There are 5-7 songs I'm writing with acoustic guitar as the base instrument, and 5-6 jams on electric guitar that I want to turn into songs. I have a whole concept for how these tracks tell a story, and it could work with just the acoustic songs or with the whole thing, so it's really about how much work I can put in when and how fast I want to release something.
I decided that August and September would be about finalizing concept of the album and each of the 5 main songs, then finishing the guitar and vocal melodies and lyrics to 2 songs. I'm 98% done with the melodies and 80% done with the lyrics of those two songs.
I had been hoping to release something by April, but I realized this will be a much longer journey than I had anticipated and that the songs would need to marinate for a while before they would be ready to record, and that 11-13 songs would be a massive project if I wanted it to sound good.
So I decided I'd put out a single or two a few months before release. It will likely be these two songs. Once I have about 6 songs ready I can decide if I'm going with the EP plan or the album plan. I think an album is possible, BUT I want to make sure I can keep playing shows, at least one a month from October.
So I've got to reorganize my thoughts like this and update the plan.
New plan:
September (4 days) - finish these 2 songs as planned. - book a show for October. - memorize lyrics
October - Practice songs 1 and 2 - Finalize melody/lyrics for songs 3 and 4 - Play show with songs and jams (electric). - Get comfortable with all Mali songs my friend taught me - Establish a relationship with a studio nearby that has shows
November - Start dabbling with recording demos, arrange songs 1-4 (bass, other instruments) - Finalize song 5 - Play at least one new song live (acoustic show) - Try to play a full experimental jam set
December - Finalize songs 6 and 7 - Make demos for all the songs - Record and release a single - Play some Mali songs live if friend wants to try
January - Finalize track listing - Finalize songs 8 and 9 - Start organizing a regular live event I've been thinking of - Reassess the whole plan
It looks like a lot when written out but each month has 30-31 days. I only plan to finish one new song in November so if I can finish 2 I'll be ahead of plan.
Writing it out like this is really helpful. I may end up doing some other things I didn't plan, practicing some technical skills or making more music/video experiments, but I can prioritize these points and get stuff done now that it's all organized.
By this time next week I will have planned a show, finished lyrics to the first 2 songs and memorized them. Hopefully I will have started finalizing the melody and writing lyrics for song 3 by then too!
Latest jam videos:
https://youtu.be/aGPWuyhHurw?si=qhniiP-8vC79FHa6
https://youtu.be/sbl9PB5OZs8?si=2g-U6K3s1N7sIMPh
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