I Feel Good: Why I write and record my own music

Ever since I released "The Fuckbook Store," my debut song with Josh Witt way back in September 2014, I've gotten a whirlwind of questions (and shocking support) pertaining to my decision to venture into singing and songwriting. Before ever really answering why - or stopping to ask myself that question - I had written both "High Life," then "Commuter Town," which I released in conjunction with "The Statue and the Bird," all of which assisted by Josh's talents on the guitar. By March, I had confirmed with him that I'd also like to take our joke of an EP idea, Keeping it 3Hunna, and turn it into an actual project. Never one to routinely deny participation in my stupid ideas, Josh agreed to help record, provide instrumentation, and even produce the EP, which later became a mixtape. In August 2015, Keeping it 3Hunna was released to over 1,000 plays and over 100 downloads on Audiomack.

The mixtape cover for Keeping it 3Hunna, now available in its entirety on Audiomack and Youtube.

For your average musician, these numbers would be paltry. For two non-musicians who spontaneously decided to create a mixtape that housed re-recordings of previously released material in addition to two rap songs by yours truly, this was fairly significant. Not long after the release of Keeping it 3Hunna, I started working writing on our next mixtape, The Oldest Soul, a more inspired release that would be longer, cut deeper, and leave an impact, be it positive or negative, on whomever listened to it. We plan on releasing the debut single "FeFe," a remix of Chicago rapper Stunt Taylor's "FeFe on the Block" in early December and the actual project sometime in 2016.

The single cover for my song "Jumpman," now available on Audiomack and Youtube.

In the meantime, I've been hard at work at writing for The Oldest Soul in the late hours of the night and the wee hours of the morning, where I do my best writing/recording. This past month, I also spontaneously released my remix of the popular Drake and Future song "Jumpman," which has been getting the remix treatment from everyone from mainstream rappers like K Camp and Rick Ross to low-key artists like BDBands and Ziplock Domo. That remix merited well over six-hundred combined plays on both Audiomack and Youtube, which I found impressive for a song both announced and released in less than a forty-eight hour period. 

Currently, I'm working on my remix of Drake's song "Hotline Bling;" you can't listen to any Top 40 radio cycle now for more than fifteen minutes without hearing it and the Apple Music/VEVO music video has been meriting millions upon millions of hits and now the subject of some very funny internet memes. This was another remix I spontaneously decided to take on, with much of my ambition to do so coming after hearing Justin Bieber's very original and fun take on the tune. To tease a bit, my version will focus on the four stages of meeting a woman and trying to pursue a romance - the acting, the wanting, the hoping, and the moving on. 

For somebody who has been called tone-deaf several times in life, attempting to record my own music and release it to the public is one of the most perplexing things I feel I've done in recent years. I didn't plan on really releasing "The Fuckbook Store" as much as I thought that if I modified the lyrics of Dierks Bentley's "Drunk on a Plane" to fit the general emotions of a man wandering around a porn shop, I would amuse myself and perhaps create something of certain merit. Upon finishing it, I asked Josh, who I knew played guitar, if he'd want to record the song and he responded to my stupid question with "why not?" instead of "why?" Those are the kind of people you need to find and have in your life.

I write and record my own music because I see it as another creative medium to express emotion and sentiment, as well as humor and internal thoughts you could extract in a different way than just iterating them on a computer. I feel that I'm at least an average writer in the way of personal blog posts, reviews of many kinds, and general research papers. With that, I felt that if I could continue to approach music with the same kind of thoughtfulness and openness to other genres, flows, themes, and ideas that I've done with my film/album reviews, I could create something of considerable quality at least in the lyrical department. That led to the emotionally potent "Fuckbook Store," the witty, reflective, and quietly sad "High Life," about my job at the liquor store, the woeful and lonely "Commuter Town," and the sad, but somewhat light-hearted "The Statue and the Bird."

The Oldest Soul will pack in a lot more variety than my mixtape, which was all of those tracks minus "The Fuckbook Store," plus a remix of DeJ Loaf's "Try Me" and Bobby Shmurda's "Hot Nigga" (called "Hot Figure"). I'm already planning a remix of the Nicki Minaj and Lil Herb track "Chiraq" as my opening song, which will work as a companion piece to "The Oldest Sermon," the followup track which will be a five-minute rap about life and everything like it. In addition to my first single/remix "FeFe," I have a remix of "Trap Queen" planned, ideas for a "0 to 100" remix I'm tossing up, plus an original beat from my friend/co-star on I'm Tired of God Elijah Bacerra that I'm toying with. Even my close friend Mike Nuccio edited some obscure beats that I've found I could flow on pretty well if I tried. A lot will go into this album towards the end of this year and the beginning of this year, but I'm sure that it 'll be a wonderful experience for me and at least a fun ride for Josh, as well.

I do not strive to be the best singer, nor even somebody who will eventually become a professional singer. I do not look to have thousands of hits per song, though it would be nice. I simply want to write quality lyrics and produce art in another way, but with this, make people enjoy what I have to say in a different manner than just reading what I have to say and trying to extract emotion from that.

Listen to my "Hotline Bling" remix on November 10th, http://www.audiomack.com/album/steve-107/hotline-bling-remix-single
Listen to/download Keeping it 3Hunna, http://www.audiomack.com/album/steve-107/keeping-it-3hunna
Listen to my "Jumpman" remix, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJLuWubBZ7k