Someone Else's Son

The birth and gestation of a new song.

I play soccer and yesterday afternoon I was lying exhausted on my bed after my first game of the season. An idea for a song came to me but I was too tired to write it down. I had a snatch of the verse and some feel for the flow of the opening words and phrases. Luckily I still remembered it later on and later that night and into early hours I started to work on it again.

Background setting: I was given a present of a very small leather notebook but the paper inserts were difficult to locate so on a whim I bought a small notepad and it fitted perfectly. Its about 3 inches tall by 1.75 wide and has a small pen in an elastic loop on the side- a poet's/lyricists dream item for perfect pocket use. I used this handy-pad to quickly jot down the words while I sat in my work chair.

Lyric's
I got a verse and stumbled upon a part 1 and 2 for the chorus. This was all written words at this stage (no music just yet) . Second verse I abandoned that scratching as it was not correct 'person' voice The narrative 'I ' person who was doing the singing was second guessing the 2nd person in this song - the 2nd party was being addressed by person 1. Moving quickly along before we get too technical about it.

So I ended up with basic idea for an intro and 3 solid verses and a chorus which seemed to be developing emotion and human feeling to draw listener into a heart shaped space.

I have been concerned of late that I need a better follow up for my ease with imagery. Sort of like a boxers one- two. I easily generate visual furniture and hooks for a song - my imagery is commented on in professional and peer critiques.

The one two of songwriting

1. The imagery sets the scene
2. The emotion and feeling is revealed to follow through to make the listener 'care'
   

Music
I picked up the guitar and got a nice minor flow starting in Em going and then after that was worked through I created a change for the Chorus section beginning in G.

This song did have feeling qualities and strong emotional content because when I sang it through the following morning I cried buckets I was so touched. That does not happen to me a lot.

It's going to be called Someone Else's Son. It's a beauty.

ASCAP 1 day conference Q&A Feedback

ASCAP NY SESSIONS Q&A

Name: John Munnelly

Band: Laughjohnlaugh

Latest album: Unreleased ( Music available on myspace and on my EPK)

Website:http://www.myspace.com/laughjohnlaugh
EPK:http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=103702

BLOG:http://laughjohnlaugh.com/

1. Why did you decide to attend ASCAP NY Sessions?

First of all I liked the name - I make music - that's what I do and aspire to better at doing with other musicians similar to me. I wanted to join ASCAP - They seem to me to be more Artist centered ( than perhaps BMI/SESAC etc) so I wanted to meet with some ASCAP staff face to face and get to know them as persons before I finally signed up. I also wanted to try the 1 day conference locally in order to see if the longer 3-day conference out on other coast is a worthwhile investment of my time and resources.

2. What was the most important thing you took away from the one-day conference?

Its a very human business after all - I think it gets a bad rap from time to time from people who have been taken advantage of but I really liked the people I met and heard in the discussion sessions. I am a timid and shy person for the most part and it encouraged me to believe that I can approach the power brokers - stations, publishers and so on with confidence and right attitude (friendly warm and open) not just a frantic 'what can you do for me' . Getting to business is of course important but maybe in due course when we get to know each other - laughs. Everything is relatedness. I'm basically an unknown so I was there just to soak it all up and have fun meeting and learning something about the music business. In the songwriter session I learned that I was closer than I realize to doing this professionally and I'd like to create links to write in other genres. I think I'd like a support system to help me move in correct direction - manager publicist etc

Internet Streaming
I'd like to thank all the great people I met - Eric [de Fontenay/Musicdish] I enjoyed his and the other participants on the panel; I was also impressed that they were so friendly and open to us budding songwriters at the after-party...I would not be doing this response Q&A without making the effort to stick around after wards so I could get people's contact details. Thanks.
Home Demo
I was impressed with the guileless 'luddite' honesty of Jake Ottmann EMI Music Publishing for reminding us of the primary importance of 'The Song'.

Artists Panel
Same feeling also for the last panelists - its great to hear others share their views from the trenches. Its encouraging to see others persevere and I would love to be on a panel someday too. I met a whole load of other songwriters - I don't know if that's encouraging or not but it's good to know I'm not the only one with a passion for writing songs.

3. What is the biggest benefit of being an ASCAP member?

ASCAP will I hope help me take my songwriting to the next level and introduce me to resources to encourage me on the road and in the pro craft. ASCAP Plus allows me to be considered for a financial incentive and material encouragement to keep going with booking and playing gigs regularly. Joining ASCAP I'm sure will be another important building block in this adventure.

4. What major projects or ambitions do you have lined-up for 2009?

Professional Creative

• TOUR - I'd like to create a piece of Art (CD) that is best representative of my work over the last few years and worthy of taking on the road.

Milestones

• Open Mic - once per week
• Major Gig - Once per month building to higher frequency /Tour
• TOUR - I'd like to create a piece of Art that is representative of me as a songwriter and musician and worthy of taking on the road to expose myself as it were and be confident.
• Recording - record some more material for a CD release
• Co-writing: continue this as its great to have someone else in the creative process
• Meet other musicians -
• Get pro-feedback and critiques of my work
• Build a fan base
• Keep learning
• Network and join organizations to help me meet other Artist, publishers, musician's, and so on.
• Learn more of everything - improve as player, writer, singer and business person.
  

I have my January hopes and ambitions for 2009 on my blog http://laughjohnlaugh.com/2009/01/goals-aims-for-2009.html

SonicBids- Good or Bad?

SonicBids and TAXI - PAY to PLAY

Sonic Bids is a membership site that allows you to build an online Press Kit and search for gigs and songwriting opportunities.

In Sonic Bids case the user joins the site usually to enter some kind of competition to get a gig or enter a songwriting competition. Seems OK so far but we the members still have to pay another entry fee for the opportunity. Perhaps I'm a malcontent ( I can be a pain if needs insist) but nothing much comes of the investment of funds except it seems that the already impoverished musician lays out even more money to pay to play.

Pro's and Con's

THE EPK Electronic Press Kit does tell you how many hits it has received and is not a bad thing at all in itself but you should get something so is that it? What seems to me to be happening is that the musician is getting stiffed in the deal. The Promoter gets some cash and the site gets cash but what do I get Oh Oh What do I get! as the Buzzcocks asked once upon a time. I would like to know what the split is when an opportunity is offered on the SB website. Here are some figures I got directly from SB helpdesk - I did not yet receive an answer for the split between the money for the promoter and the website owner. I do hope they look up and around and make sure that the offering is worth the admission price please.

SONIC BIDS
Total Listings	3863
OPEN	534
2- 5 dollars	301	56%
6 to 10	167	31%
Over $10-	66	12%

There is an advanced search tool somewhere on SB to find the $2-$10 listings but I have not found it on the site. So I guess this situation can be regarded as the ante - we have to cough up now just to send a record company our music - Great - how much? Laughs all round on the way to the bank.

Suggestions to improve SB

• The video upload needs a Supersonic Membership for a few extra dollars - throw that in as standard.
• The site is very slow - they need to work on speeding that up by a great deal
• Reduce price of opportunities and release info on the benefits to the used
• Profit Share: return to the used a portion of the profits generated with SB technology gifting, online education courses, scholarships and bursaries for professional musicians.
• CD of SB Musicians/Songwriters in different styles
• Showcases in major cities
• Publisher Events - songwriters need to get advice, help and introductions
• Sonic Bids Foundation - contribute to Medical Insurance Funds for Musicians
  

TAXI!

I'm probably going to try TAXI next and see what that has to offer - hopefully it will be a useful site - any comments form Songwriters who have used this site/service?