• Scope at Ryerson interview

    Earlier this month, I had the chance to chat with Scope at Ryerson reporter Sara Cristiano about my music, songwriting, my album Counterfeit Lampshades, and the creation of Song Talk Radio.

  • Catacombs (online collaboration with Mike B.)

    I recently re-joined an online forum that I was part of many years ago called the Muse's Muse.  It's populated mostly by lyricists, and there's ample opportunity for musicians to collaborate with lyricists to complete songs.  There are also threads for posting your works in progress for peer review, and showcasing your finished songs.  I [...]

  • Jam session with Bruce Harrott – I Could Do Anything

    I got to play drums for another Song Talk Radio Backup Band jam session, this time with the show's co-host Bruce Harrott and his catchy feel-good song I Could Do Anything.  We had co-host Phil Emery on bass, and Eric Sorenson and Braeden Mitchell on guitars and backup vocals. We practiced and developed our individual parts [...]

  • Collaboration with Dokter Nomi – Love is a Virus

    Dokter Nomi, dance-pop music virtuoso approached me several months ago with a collaboration offer for his song Love is a Virus. He had the vocal track already recorded and had a couple of bed tracks already completed by other producers. This is the way he typically works, since he doesn't play any instruments. He comes [...]

  • Song Talk Radio with Neel and Peter

    Last summer, I met Peter at the Songwriter's Cafe meetup group, and shortly afterward, we began collaborating on songs. Peter is a poet and singer, with some rather intense and compelling lyrics around sexuality, politics, and other themes. Paired with some of my neat keyboard parts and arrangements, we created some unconventional music. Listen to [...]

  • Destiny Train

    For a few months last winter, I was stuck having to take the regional “GO” transit to get to work.  I found it strange that so much of my schedule was now much more dictated by train schedules, and the associated stress of getting to the station on time, and frequent delays. At the time, [...]

  • One Great Mistake

    This song resulted from a webinar with songwriting coach Alex Forbes. Alex presented a method for writing, and attendees were supposed to follow her step-by-step instructions to formulate their own song. Her method centered around taking a stand on something you believe in, have a deep thought about, or a topic or phrase upon which you [...]

  • Cyberpunk

    I wanted to write a song about society’s obsession with gadgets and technology. This is not a new idea, I realized.  A good lyric writing trick for me is to adopt the point of view of a made up character. That gives me the freedom to be silly and quirky, while at the same time [...]

  • Hurting. Choosing. Learning.

    The verse lyrics were actually written several years ago, after I was talking to a psychology student about the paradoxes that can exist in people’s internal thinking. As I decided to paint a few vignettes about different life scenarios, the use of haiku poetry seemed somehow fitting, as well an interesting lyrical and melodic challenge. [...]