This is not my typical experience, but I actually completed every musical goal I set at the begining of the year. I’m just as surprised as anyone. My first goal was to be a singer-songwriter again. For most of 2020, I had zero shows. I stayed in my room making electronic beats, which I loved, but I missed my acoustic roots. This year I played a ton of shows, wrote new songs, and started recording an EP (my first singer-songwriter release since 2019). My second goal was to

I haven’t dropped a singer-songwriter track since May of 2019. Since then I’ve been working on other projects, releasing videos, and finishing up my degree. It’s easy to use busyness as an excuse, but it doesn’t tell the full story. As someone who has watched six hours of Squid Game in one day, I can tell you it’s not a lack of time. A couple of months ago I was planning to buy a new microphone specifically for my singer-songwriter EP. I had been using an MXL 990 to recor

I’ve always considered myself a songwriter. It’s what excites me most about music! I love being creative and writing songs, but it wasn’t until 2020 that I started taking my craft seriously. I went from averaging one song a month to two a week. As I started writing more and more, I wanted to make a comprehensive list of my songs: a document listing the names and dates I wrote them. What I did is simple, but effective. I used Google Sheets (which is free) and entered th

Today I’m going to talk about something I learned in music school. It’s called “offloading” and it’s one of the reasons I was able to write 50 songs in 2020. In songwriting you have these creative tasks: chord progressions, melodies, basslines, drum patterns, lyrics, sound design, etc. Offloading means to take one of these tasks and rather than generate it creatively, you offload it to a different source. This happens when you take a chord progression from another song, use

I’m sitting in a room at my parents’ house right now, and I just finished a beat. I’m moving out soon and much of my stuff is packed. I’m listening to Tycho on headphones (Epoch). He’s been my go-to writing music ever since I started this blog in 2018. Since then, I’ve learned so much, and there’s a lot I want to accomplish. Here are my musical goals for 2021. 1) Be a singer-songwriter again. I started performing as a singer-songwriter in 2013, and because of the pandem

I know one day doesn’t really mean anything, but for a lot of us it’s the end of a terrible year and it feels like things will get better. I certainly hope so. 2020 has been rough on us all, but today I want to focus on the good parts. For me the best part of 2020 was exploding creatively. I wrote 50 songs this year and released 17 of them. That includes the Beat Station EP, Songs From Home, Finals Week, and two singles (It’s Fall, and Covidween). Starting in June I wrot

I am in my final semester of college, and what a semester to go out on. I keep thinking that if I had graduated in the spring, I would have avoided a lot of hassle. At the same time, it’s a unique experience not everyone goes through. I have mixed feelings. I’m a senior in the Music Industry program at MSU Mankato, and a lot has changed. Some classes are online, others in-person, but most are “Hyflex,” meaning students can decide whether to attend online or on campus. Th

In March I had the idea to make an EP of music in response to the covid-19 pandemic.  With the stay-at-home order and social distancing guidelines causing feelings of isolation, I wanted to celebrate what we still have.  The idea was to collaborate with artists remotely from the safety of our homes. When the stay-at-home order was announced, I moved back to Faribault with my family, and it’s there I started writing.  I had a workspace, my laptop, headphones, and a MIDI keyboa

My creative projects fell through the cracks during my Fall semester.  Understandably, I was busy with work and school.  Over break I knew I’d have a lot more free time to make music, but I also knew I’d waste that time without a plan.  Thus, the Beat Station was born.  My guidelines were simple: I had to write an EP of electronic music, but I could only write songs while at the Fillin’ Station Coffeehouse.  I could do mixing, layering, and tweaking at home, but not songwriti

I’m the type of person who wants to do a lot of creative projects, so many in fact, that the vast majority never get done.  A lot of times I just don’t know where to start, so I don’t.  What I’m learning again and again is that you need to be decisive to be creative.  Creating involves making a choice, and if we find ourselves unable to choose, we’re unable to create. In my Music Promotion class, we were given a video assignment.  We had to make weekly videos, three to five m

If you’re savvy to Minnesota music, chances are you’ve heard of Trampled by Turtles.  Hailing from Duluth, this blue-grass and folk band has released 8 albums and 7 music videos. They’ve played countless festivals, performed on David Letterman (twice), and held a Top 10 spot on the bluegrass charts for 52 weeks.  David Simonett, guitarist and vocalist for the group, visited MSU Mankato and sat down with some classes. I hadn’t heard of Martin Zellar before he came to school, b