Tag: synth

I released an EP of progressive electro-pop songs in September 2020. Ace Symmetry features odd time signatures, nonsensical lyrics, inventive beats, and catchy synth solos. It was an interesting and fun challenge to work on a focused project like this. I talked about the project and featured some of the songs twice on Song Talk [...]

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 [...]

We completed our first songwriting challenge on Song Talk Radio in early 2020. The team including Phil, Mike, Don, and myself, each shared a song based on the suggestion to write "a positive lyric in a minor key." Mike shared his beautiful acoustic ballad, Rich in Love, and asked us if we wanted to re-mix [...]

I didn't have an idea for my 2019 holiday song until early November. The catalyst was watching two movies in two days: Joker, and then The Big Short. Both movies focused on the 1% vs the 99%; the have's vs the have-not's. There was also a lot of news at the time about youth climate [...]

I worked closely with electro-pop / dance songwriter Dokter Nomi for another catchy and cool track. Nomi sent me a scratch vocal sung to a beat. I expanded his melody to make it, well, more melodic, and laid down a chord progression on the piano to carry it. While Nomi’s melody suggested a clear I [...]

I has previously heard the idea that life on earth may have originated by some organic goo being deposited on our humble little planet by a meteor or comet. Recently I found a youTube video that explained that while indeed speculative, the theory is given the perfect name: "Panspermia." It's one thing to write a song simply [...]

After hearing the fascinating podcast Song Exploder, where a song is deconstructed and examined into its separate parts, I stumbled upon an episode featuring composer Ramin Djawadi and a breakdown of the Game of Thrones theme music.  Hearing and learning the individual parts prompted me to arrange my own cover version, similar to the original in [...]

On November 24, once again I appeared on Song Talk Radio as the featured guest.  I spoke with Bruce and Phil about three of my latest songs, and in a special twist, Sonja Seiler joined us as co-host and co-writer of one of the songs.  We talked about collaboration, anthropomorphism, and whether or not I [...]

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 [...]