In an effort to celebrate the official launch of djphillips.com, challenge my songwriting/ recording abilities and to take my own swipe at a 30 Day Project I will now post a new song idea every day for the next 30 days. These are not necessarily finished products. They are not necessarily fantastic pop nuggets. But they will be new ideas (written at least within the last few weeks). They will be (pretty much) on time. And they will be original.

I’m putting these out there-- warts and all-- so let me know what you think! The songs that get a good response will be the most likely to be included on a future release.

This Time It's Different; This Time It's Better

"This Time" is a weird amalgam of several different ideas thrown together. I've had the main generic blues/country guitar lick for a while and I knew I wanted to do something you wouldn't expect with it. It's always been one of my favorite ideas to mix all of the elements that I like from funk, blues, country and pop, so this is sort of an attempt at that. I had the chorus melody and chords this summer but I wasn't ever able to make anything of it. I had the words "open the door" stuck in my head for the first line of the chorus, but it didn't really make any sense with anything I wanted to say. Finally, today I just scrapped "open the door" and came up with the line you hear. I am also really excited to use a semicolon in a song title.

I didn't really find exactly what I wanted to play for the guitar solo/ jam section. But I realized I was spending wayyyy too much time on it, so I just left what I had.

Essentially the song is just about falling for someone new. It's a new adventure every time and no matter how many times you have your heart broken, there's still that part of you that gets really excited and has hope that this time it will work out. Even with that scar tissue around the heart, a certain person can get around it and make that enthusiasm come out again. Obviously, this can be a scary thing emotionally because you never know what's really going to happen.

But as a wise friend once reminded me after a long conversation about avoiding heartbreak: "It's always something... until it's not."

This Time It's Different; This Time It's Better

Every time I see you baby I lose track of words
And I can't speak

Any time you say my name my legs give out
And I can hardly breathe

'cause this time it's different
This time it's better
This time I know it's real

This time it's different
This time it's better
This time I know it's real

Everybody tells me I should guard my heart
Before I go too far

But they don't know you like I know you
I already know just who you are

This time it's different
This time it's better
This time I know it's real

This time it's different
This time it's better
This time I know it's real

In an effort to celebrate the official launch of djphillips.com, challenge my songwriting/ recording abilities and to take my own swipe at a 30 Day Project I will now post a new song idea every day for the next 30 days. These are not necessarily finished products. They are not necessarily fantastic pop nuggets. But they will be new ideas (written at least within the last few weeks). They will be (pretty much) on time. And they will be original.

I’m putting these out there-- warts and all-- so let me know what you think! The songs that get a good response will be the most likely to be included on a future release.

Status Quo

Soooo... this one is a bit tardy. I think it still counts though since I haven't technically gone to sleep yet today. I had a great visit to the Ohio homeland and I made it back safely to Music City, USA. But, with a finished yet unrecorded song-- so I had to get right to work!

Musically, this idea has been around for a little while. It started when I was putting a band together last year and we were rehearsing. Shea, my good friend and excellent drummer, started playing a little complicated beat. I had him loop it and play it for a while and the bass player and I had a fun one-chord jam over the top. The idea sat dormant for a while, but it was preserved on a recording of that rehearsal. Listening back to it a little while ago, I remembered the idea and played around with it some more.

I had a decent chorus and melody idea and even played it for a live question and answer session on JamPlay. The phrase "status quo" kept swimming around in my head, but I wasn't sure how I would put that in the song.

Eventually, it made it onto my idea list under the current title "Status Quo". I tried to loop the rehearsal recording of Shea's drum part, but it was a bit faster than I was feeling it, so I ended up scrapping that idea. This song is definitely a situation where I just wanted to lay down a simple sketch of the song with the lyrics I finished this afternoon while I was still in Ohio, so that I could just go to sleep. But instead I spend a few hours recording multiple guitar parts, vocal parts, hand claps and experimenting with drum loops. I guess I was having fun!

I am not a political person. I mean, obviously I have opinions. And some of them I do feel passionate about. But I consider myself more of a peacemaker/ diplomat when it really comes down to it. Perhaps that's just me looking at myself through rose-colored hippie glasses. But there is this thing that happens-- it happens in music, politics, movies, you-name-it-- that when someone or something comes into power or popularity, there is an automatic aversion to it.

If a favorite band that you've "discovered" gains mainstream success, they've "sold out" and they don't make anything good anymore. If someone is elected into office, they are automatically the enemy. My thought is not that we should shut our mouths and just take whatever is fed to us, but still avoid opposition just for opposition's sake. Contrarianism is what I'm railing against here, I guess. I'm not sure if this all makes sense since it's 4 AM and I'm getting a bit delirious. But that's the idea I was going for with "Status Quo". Maybe the lyrics will actually make more sense than my rambling explanation thereof. Thanks for reading/listening!

Status Quo

Stand up everybody
Let's let our voices be heard
Stand up everybody
Let's shout our choice to the world

Gather 'round everybody
Check out this brand new machine
Gather 'round everybody
It's the American dream

This is becoming the way that we do things
It's just the ebb and the flow
This is becoming the way that we do things
It's now the status quo

Sit down everybody
We have now lost control
Stand back everybody
We have lost sight of our goals

Gather 'round everybody
Check out this busted machine
Tear it down everybody
It's the American Dream

This is becoming the way that we do things
It's just the ebb and the flow
This is becoming the way that we do things
It's the new status quo

Status Quo

This is becoming the way that we do things
It's just the ebb and the flow
This is becoming the way that we do things
It's the new status quo

Status Quo

In an effort to celebrate the official launch of djphillips.com, challenge my songwriting/ recording abilities and to take my own swipe at a 30 Day Project I will now post a new song idea every day for the next 30 days. These are not necessarily finished products. They are not necessarily fantastic pop nuggets. But they will be new ideas (written at least within the last few weeks). They will be on time. And they will be original.

I’m putting these out there-- warts and all-- so let me know what you think! The songs that get a good response will be the most likely to be included on a future release.

All The Way

Quick confession: I wrote this song about a month ago right before I played it while I was on my East Coast mini-tour earlier this month. I am hanging with the family in Ohio, so I didn't have time to venture into something completely new. Luckily, this is previously unrecorded, so it still counts.

I wanted to write a song that was sort of in the vein of an Irish folk song and this is what I came up with. I forgot the cable for my new awesome audio interface in Nashville, so I just sang into Garageband with the internal microphone. Not the best sound, but these are demos, right? I have been debating whether or not to add more vocal layers or instruments, but I decided simple was better for this one.

Lyrically, it's just about pondering existence, embracing life and living as you are. Sitting here surrounded by my fantastic family, it's an easy message to believe in. I think I may end up adding some more verses and/or swapping some around, but here it is in the current incarnation.

All the Way

All the way, all the way, all the way, all the way
Since I've got my life today
I'm going to live it all the way

Each day that I get older
It's more likely that I'll die
But all these problems melt away
When I look up at the sky

They say that I'm a soldier
But for who and on which side
When all this fighting seems to be
For glory and for pride

All the way, all the way, all the way, all the way
Since I've got my life today
I'm going to live it all the way

No, I'm not religious
But I do still wonder why
Here I am and there you are
Until we say goodbye

They say that I'm a soldier
But for who and on which side
When all this fighting seems to be
For glory and for pride

All the way, all the way, all the way, all the way
Since I've got my life today
I'm going to live it all the way

Since I've got my life today
I'm going to live it all the way

In an effort to celebrate the official launch of djphillips.com, challenge my songwriting/ recording abilities and to take my own swipe at a 30 Day Project I will now post a new song idea every day for the next 30 days. These are not necessarily finished products. They are not necessarily fantastic pop nuggets. But they will be new ideas (written at least within the last few weeks). They will be on time. And they will be original.

I’m putting these out there-- warts and all-- so let me know what you think! The songs that get a good response will be the most likely to be included on a future release.

I Can Do This

This one is a little later in the day because I went to a midnight showing of The Room last night. All I can say is wow, that's a bad movie. Really fun experience though to intentionally watch a terrible movie with a theater full of people yelling jokes and catchphrases at the screen. Also, the spoons. My god, the spoons.

I figured two mopey songs in a row was enough for now (although I'm sure there will be more down the line) so I tried something with a bouncier, more positive vibe. This one was a challenge. I have had this idea as far back as 3 years ago with my old band Brother Big Bad but I was never able to finish it. I have a rehearsal recording of BBB with a mostly lyric-less version that was pretty smokin. I didn't even want to try to replicate (or massacre) Marc's drum part, so I just used a loop and threw some effects on it. I pretty much ripped Andy's bass line off directly, albeit the kindergarten version. Thanks Andy!

I played that stolen bass line on my new Danelectro baritone guitar that I picked up for ridiculously cheap at a yard sale last week. So, it's already serving a purpose since I don't own a bass. (Why don't I own a bass again?)

All the guitar tones are amp modeling plug-ins on Logic and to be blunt they suck. I'm sure it's mostly that I just don't know how to coax great tones out of them yet. I didn't have the ambition to mic up the ol' Fender Twin to get my real guitar sound this time, but later on down the line, for sure.

There was some weird digital crackling in the baritone, and I couldn't figure it out. I kinda liked the sound of it in context anyway, so I figure I'll troubleshoot that later. (Meaning I'll call someone who knows what the hell they are doing and ask them.)

I wanted the guitar solo to be huge, but I wasn't sure what to do. I wanted to have kind of a "hey, look at this!" kind of feel to fit the lyrical idea of the song. I tried a few things before settling on a bed of a triple harmonized tapping guitars with a rhythmic bluesy lick over the top. I'm still not sure if it's what I'm after, but it was fun to do.

This one was a huge struggle for me, lyrically. I really didn't want it to be a "screw the haters" song because those always seem so forced to me. And truthfully, I've had a great deal of awesome support in my life (for example: you. Thank you for reading and listening) so it would be hard not to be disingenuous. But really, it only takes one person to plant that seed of doubt in your head and then it grows from there. So, this is vaguely directed at that would-be seed-planter.

The chorus is meant to be reminiscent of that incantation we all repeat to ourselves before tackling a new challenge. I can do this. I CAN DO THIS. I am attached to the idea of the song, but I'm not really wild about my execution. It has been really difficult for me to try to make this not cheesy.

I'm also not normally a fan of spoken word parts in songs (sorry, Boyz II Men) but I felt like the end needed something conversational to wrap it up, so I just jabbered for a little bit. Maybe a cool sample from a film or play or something would be better there?

I'm heading up to Ohio to see the family and go see a concert (which I'll talk about at length later), so the next couple of recordings will be from The Heart of It All.

Here are today's lyrics:

I Can Do This

What would I do with a verbal attack
If you politely declined to take it all back

Am I jumping the gun to assume the worst
That you won't be done until I break down first

There is nothing that you can say
To stop me from conquering today
There is nothing that you can do
I am going to find a way

I can do this
I can do this
I can do this

How does it feel to be proven wrong
To be put in your place by a stupid little song
I'll say it again but just to myself
I'll say it again when I think it will help

There is nothing that you can say
To stop me from conquering today
There is nothing that you can do
I am going to find a way

I can do this
I can do this
I can do this

And there's something coming my way
And there's something coming around
And there's something coming, something coming, something's coming

I can do this
I can do this
I can do this

In an effort to celebrate the official launch of djphillips.com, challenge my songwriting/ recording abilities and to take my own swipe at a 30 Day Project I will now post a new song idea every day for the next 30 days. These are not necessarily finished products. They are not necessarily fantastic pop nuggets. But they will be new ideas (written at least within the last few weeks). They will be on time. And they will be original.

I’m putting these out there-- warts and all-- so let me know what you think! The songs that get a good response will be the most likely to be included on a future release.

Enough For You

Right after I finished recording "Drag You Down", I started playing with this idea. (I told you I was a streaky songwriter.) I was just in the mood for a folky double-time feel, I guess.

The melody and chords came very easily, so I just started recording the parts as I was writing them. As you can probably tell, I had a lot of fun laying down all of the background vocals. The end gets a little long, but I didn't know how far I would want to go with the vocals when I was recording the guitar part first. I will probably trim it down just a touch in future recordings/ performances.

Lyrically, it's pretty self-explanatory. Whenever I don't think too hard about a subject matter, I always seem to go back to the break-up well. There is one in my past that is particularly... inspiring... It's an interesting concept. You can not be upset about an event or occurrence anymore, but in thinking about it in a writing context, it's still possible to access those feelings of pain, loss, regret, remorse or whatever. I didn't really know what to say for the bridge, so I just implied that the aforementioned person lives in an ivory tower of sorts-- from which one could see everything. Not my best work, maybe.

Another not so happy entry, but I think it's still pretty catchy.

Is it just me
Or is everybody else here happy
Oh but you and I can see that we just need
Some time apart to show ourselves that we can be
The way we were

I said I
Apologize for all the things that started fights
'Cause I'm the kind of guy who's not shy about lies
If it means that I can reach and dry those eyes
But not this time

I know it's not enough for you
I know it's not enough for you
I know it's not enough for you to stay with me

It's hard to tell
At exactly which point this all went to hell
We're a thousand miles away from when I first fell
But it's buried in your heart what you once felt
We can get it back

I know it's not enough for you
I know it's not enough for you
I know it's not enough for you to stay with me

I can see everything
From up here where you live
I can see everything

I know it's not enough for you
I know it's not enough for you
I know it's not enough for you to stay with me

For you to stay with me...

In an effort to celebrate the official launch of djphillips.com, challenge my songwriting/ recording abilities and to take my own swipe at a 30 Day Project I will now post a new song idea every day for the next 30 days. These are not necessarily finished products. They are not necessarily fantastic pop nuggets. But they will be new ideas (written at least within the last few weeks). They will be on time. And they will be original.

I’m putting these out there-- warts and all-- so let me know what you think! The songs that get a good response will be the most likely to be included on a future release.

Drag You Down

I can think of nothing better than having the one and only Emily DeLoach as my co-writer on this first foray into too-much-songery. Emily is a dear friend, an awe-inspiring singer and an incredible songwriter. We have tried to co-write a couple of times before, but this is the first attempt that actually ended with a finished product of sorts.

"Drag You Down" is an idea I've been kicking around for a while and we even started to work it up in my old band Brother Big Bad. Emily helped me with the verse lyrics and bridge melody and I think it came together pretty nicely.

This was my first attempt to record into Logic with my newly acquired Apogee One. It was not easy for me, but it involved less weeping and gnashing of teeth than my last recording adventure, so I'm considering it progress.

At one point everything I recorded came out ahead of the beat. Now, I'm not a perfect musician by any means, but I can usually stay pretty solid in tempo. Then I figured out that I had the "Recording Delay" slider turned all the way to -5000 milliseconds, meaning that it pushed everything I recorded ahead. Weird. Once I figured that out, it was fine. By this point in the evening though, I didn't want to re-record everything, so I just slid the tracks into time. So, if you hear some slightly off-kilter rhythms....

Lyrically, the song comes from a pretty simple place. It's just a sketch about the vulnerability you subject yourself to when you really care about someone. You put yourself out there and you put the other person up on that loving pedestal. At times, you can get really paranoid and think "Why are you with me? I'll only drag you down." Whether true or not, it doesn't matter. It's hard to fight that occasional feeling of just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Anybody with me out there? So, it's not the most uplifting song to start with, but I hope you like it anyway.

Here are the lyrics:

Will you notice, Will you care
If I land anywhere

Is it only what I see
Could you ever care for me

Because I will only drag you down
I will only drag you down

When you whisper, when you sigh
When you look me in the eyes

Are you saying yes to love
Or are you lying just because

I will only drag you down
I will only drag you down

I say this is only the start
Can I trust you with my heart

I will only drag you down
I will only drag you down

I have finally posted a nice sampling of the photos from last month's shoots. Many thanks to the one and only Julee Duwe for the great work! Be sure to click around her website if you enjoy good pictures of things.

Well, I've finally pulled the trigger and decided on my 30 Day Project. I am going to post a demo of a new song every day for 30 days. I know, real original.

I had mentioned before how I thought it would be too tough of a goal for me to have a finished song every day, but I'm allowing myself some caveats in order to achieve my goal. I am using a few songs I've written within the month already that I haven't yet created demos of. And-- since I've always been a streaky writer-- I'm allowing that I may write 5 songs in one day but only post them one at a time to fill in days in which I may (or hopefully not) write nothing.

There are those of you who may do this or something similar every day already and I commend you. For me, however, this will be a huge jump. Sometimes I write 3 songs in one sitting and sometimes I go months without writing anything. Consistency is not my strong suit.

I have yet to decide when to start this little endeavor since the nice even 1st of the month has passed me by, but I'm thinking April 15th, Tax Day. When I shed the cocoon of filing forms and emerge a mutated, salivating, songwriting beast. Or... something like that. Metaphors always confuse me.

I'm here in Colorado filming guitar lessons for JamPlay. In case you're wondering, it looks like this:

I'm still thinking about things I can do for my 30 Days project. But I'm also thinking about how all of my transcription notes for tomorrow's lessons have disappeared on my computer and how some random guy tried to walk into my hotel room at 5am this morning, so my focus just isn't there. It's more on the nap in my near future.

I did hear something interesting on the radio yesterday. This rapper writes a verse or two every day about what's going on or what he's thinking about that day. Although I've already rejected the notion of writing a full song every day, this seems like it could be feasible (although I'm thinking parts of songs, not rap verses. You would not want to hear that.) . The guy was pretty clearly insane though, so who knows.

For an overview of what I'm about to talk about check out this explanation and review of the ideas so far.

Well, so much for reviewing Andrew Dubber's ideas in smaller, more manageable chunks. I have fallen a bit behind and I need to do a big sweeping catch-up some day soon. Today is not that day.

Since the fearless leader of this project settled on rolling out some inspired incarnation of Dubber's 30 Day Numberless Calendar, I have been thinking about what I can do for my 30 day project (or projects).

So far, my brainstorms have been more like braindrizzles:

I could write 15 new songs? (30 would be an amazing goal, but I'm not sure it's reasonable.)

I could try to write a novel.

...or a script.

Or resolve to write a significant blog post or post an interesting video every day for 30 days? I should be doing that anyway!

All of these sound fun, challenging and doable but I'm not sure if they are setting off any alarm bells. It could be that it's 2 AM and I am a bit knackered.

What do you guys think? What would you like to see? What are you inspired to do?