My personal one-song-a-month challenge.

[MarkOne]

Lockdown part one wasn't good for my musical creativity. I had been working on a new band with an album in the works, but not being able to meet to play and record was pretty much the death knell for that project, not helped by the fact the lead guitarist and bassist have moved away. One day I hope to resurrect that project but no time soon, I suspect.

Anyway I hadn't actually written a note of new music throughout 2020 and was really getting despondent about it. So over the Christmas/new year break I decided all that had to change. I set my self a target to write, record and release a single every month this year.

This has been musically transformative. A deadline like that means that I can't agonise over a song or a mix for weeks, particularly as the AWAL-iTunes-Spotify release cycle is already up to a month long. I just have to power through and get to a finished mix.

Because of the lockdown limitations It's all me, synths and virtual instruments and a few loops here and there. Whether that stays the same as the world opens up again I don't know. Part of me wants to work with other musicians again, part of me wants to see this through as a personal solo project.

If you are interested you can find these new songs as they appear in either my iTunes or Spotify artist pages:

https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/mark-green/1549843065

https://open.spotify.com/artist/67n0Gftx3GiVhVFpK1Jicv?si=OFyHB_7mT2-3cf6GLWBFfA

I really would recommend a challenge like this to everyone. Like I said it's been transformative.

[Drew Stephenson]

I shall give these a listen tomorrow.

[RichardT]

It’s a great idea. If you have to work quickly, you’ll be focussing on the essentials - that can give really good results.

[Ben Asaro]

Looking forward to checking this out!

Writing challenges can be a great way to get motivated, unless you’re the type of person that doesn’t write well under pressure.

I don’t think I would ever attempt a song per month challenge, so good on ya!

[Folderol]

Kudos for people that can do this, but it's not for me. It's extremely rare that I can get a composition complete in such a short time frame. Apart from anything else, I don't try to invent ideas, I wait for them to come spontaneously (then the hard work starts).

[Drew Stephenson]

Ah, I missed the 'See more' link first time (I don't use spotify often!)
You have been busy!
Enjoying the pseudo-bond theme.

[awjoe]

I really would recommend a challenge like this to everyone. Like I said it's been transformative.

I listened to Winds of Change and really liked it. Reminded me a bit of The The, who I like.

Yes, getting it out according to a schedule really concentrates the faculties and shows you how to... get it out on time! I've been putting stuff out on a monthly schedule since last September and it's changed the entire way I approach recording. Transformative, as you say. I practise more, and I take more chances when I hit 'record'. I'm more forgiving of not being perfect, and more inclined to be complete.