Welcome to my website. I’m a passionate amateur songwriter, producer, photographer, videographer, and blogger. I write about my creative process, health issues, and just about anything else that strikes my fancy.
I’m a co-founder and co-host of the Song Talk Radio podcast and Meetup group; producer, drummer and co-songwriter of the indie-folk-rock band Beige Shelter; and I also release my own music.
I invite you to spend some time here, discover something, maybe learn something, have a laugh, and enjoy my musings. Thanks for visiting!
Words
I’m a creative and intellectual guy first and foremost. I’d much rather be writing songs, playing piano, reading, watching great movies, and learning new things than going for a jog or doing a workout. I feel like this is hard wired in me, so I have to hack my way to engaging in physical activity. [...]
Mental health and taking care of your emotions is so essential to everyone. It’s a great feeling to learn about yourself to the point of knowing the things that work for you and give you joy. I’m still on my journey, and have a long way to go, but here are a few things I’ve learned so [...]
Sometimes I have an easier time around women than men. I’d rather talk music, philosophy and health than sports, cars, or tools. Of course, these are just stereotypical interests of the genders, based on conventional views of gender identity. I like to think I’m neither stereotypical nor conventional in my thinking. I’ve been told, only [...]
Music
The Other Side by Neel Modi In late 2020, on the Song Talk Radio podcast, we decided to do another songwriting challenge; this was our second challenge in two years. Songwriting challenges, or prompts, are a great way to jump start a song and give you focus while writing. In fact, songwriters do this all [...]
This year, I’ll have written a holiday song every year for the last six years. Two weeks ago, I had decided not to write one, but finally took a moment to ponder and reflect upon the current state of the world and came up with the title “Silent Christmas.” I wanted to express [...]
My older brother turned 50 this year. Don't worry, my time is quickly approaching too. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, any plans for a big birthday bash were cancelled. My sister-in-law reached out to family and friends to invite everyone to send in video messages instead, and shared them with my brother on his birthday. [...]
Images
I had the opportunity to take photos during young adult author Melanie J Fishbane's talk at the Hamilton Public Library. I worked with Melanie last year to design her new author website, and photography was certainly an area where some improvement was needed. Usable event photos were especially lacking. I used a telephoto lens so [...]
Our band Beige Shelter performs gigs in and around Toronto. Sometimes I take my camera with me to practice live music photography and share my photos with the artists to help with their own promo material. I love supporting local music. Lately, I've been trying to capture more subtle moments in performance. I used to [...]
I attended the Song Studio Student Showcase at Hugh's Room in Toronto this year. Song Studio is a week-long songwriting camp in Toronto, hosted by Blair Packham and others. I know several songwriters who have attended and they all say it's an amazing experience. For the week's grand finale, the students put on a show with [...]
