Bumpercars!

June 17, 2014 — Leave a comment

Being a Mac user I had been tinkering with Garageband for a number of years before using it as a writing platform.  In early summer 2009, I used some of the canned content on Garageband to create a few fun songs for my young son to listen to while I was going to be away travelling on business.

One of these songs was inspired by an improvisation we did one day in the living room, riffing on the phrase “bumper cars”. This was then combined with a few personal references related to some casual trainspotting we used to do (“here we go down to shunty yard”) as well as thematic elements taken from the Pixar animated film Cars, which he was very much into at the time.  The music is an unaltered Garageband track but the words and vocals are mine.

Probably like a lot of other folks out there, Garageband has played an important role in (re)kindling my desire to create music.

 

On returning to songwriting

June 16, 2014 — Leave a comment

I began songwriting in my late teens.  At some point in my mid-twenties I stopped and went on to other pursuits.  Now at mid-life I’ve taken a new interest in putting words to music.  It’s mostly for my own pleasure, but part of that pleasure comes from sharing it with others.

So this is a place where I can reflect on the creative process, on what it means to be doing this kind of thing as a forty-something father and husband, and where I can share the fruits of my labour of love with a few friends and family members, or perhaps beyond.