FAWM Reflections 2012

FAWM is over I wrote (or co-wrote) 16 songs.

Things I learned from FAWM this time around

• It's important to have a game plan. That way you have something to defenstrate when life happens.
• I figured out how to use the jukebox….it's cool
• Last year I decided to get hosting from FAWM. This year I did. Eventually. It was way better.
• I did more collaborations. Not only will people you write with often come up with better stuff than you it will often be something totally different from anything you would ever write
• Beware of working titles. In FAWMland the craziest label will be seized upon. This happened to me with Sadie's Sister and Space Monkey Mafia. I narrowly avoided writing a song called The Greatest Song In The World…Ever with Steven Wesley Guiles (and yes if you want the title you can have it)
• FAWMing opens up a weird filter in your brain. You start hearing and seeing song ideas in everything. When I went to the Edinburgh fringe festival once I managed to screw the apartments kitchen tap so tight it came off in my hand and we couldn't shut it off. FAWM is like someone doing that to your brain.
• 2011 was FAWATYCMM (February Album Writing And Tearing Your Calf Muscle Month). 2012 was FAWAHAFESM (February Album Writing And Host A Foreign Exchange Student Month). The combination of a sofa bed and an 8 year old who is part rooster means I'm approaching hallucinogenic levels of sleep depravation. Which, to continue the previous analogy, is like a plumber coming along to fix the tap by ripping the entire sink out.
• I seem to have developed an obsession with monkeys…

For more serious reflection you can read last years posts on what I did right, got wrong and learned about myself and FAWM - all of which I pretty much stand by, and my game plan now is to ignore my FAWM song for 2 weeks and just listen and comment on other people's songs, rerecord and clean up for 2 weeks then post a free album on bandcamp.

You can find my FAWM songs here (be patient - they'll all be up soon)

Other free songs by Matt Blick

Don't Bug Me

Just posted what's technically my 9th FAWM song and for a stupid little tune about a flu bug - I'm pretty pleased with it

you can download it here and get all the other FAWM songs here

Even more free songs by Matt Blick

Valentine's Day And Holi - Day

If my wife's life was a sitcom, yesterdays episode could have been titled "I bought my husband a DVD and tickets to see Dara O'Briain and all I got was this lousy song".

Today I am full of cold and I've written a song about Holidays (which brings my FAWM total to 5) and a blog post about what Noel Fielding and The Goons can teach us about songwriting.

You can download both songs here.

Other free songs by Matt Blick

That Box

For FAWM song number 3 we have a tune about one young man's obsession with the contents of the sex education teachers resources box at school, played on a box. It's right there on the FAWM download page

But why would you waste time on my meagre offerings when you could download yourself the brilliant Champion Of The Game Of Love by Chris Henson. I cannot describe to you how funny, and how well written it is. So I won't try. Just go get it. Now.

By the way - by the time you read this I will be heavy with Birthday. Yep one year older. And about 45 songs wiser. Hallelujah.

Other free songs by Matt Blick

Monkey Business

FAWM song 2 - I Got The Jungle (Right?) is up on the FAWM page it's a quasi rap from the point of view of an ape built over a sample of my daughter telling me about her school work, so - same old same old...

How could I forget that Let's Build An Airport was featured on one of the FAWM compilation albums 14 Songs in 28 Days Vol. 7.2 - There's 21 other songs on it, including the solid gold classic Hate To Be That Guy by Chris Henson. You can buy it for $5 (about £3:28) here.


Other free songs by Matt Blick

ReFAWMED

Well life's been busy compadres. Being slap bang in the middle of recording my first solo EP, trying to set up websites, and various other sites, keep Beatles Songwriting Academy ticking over, do the odd gig with Aistaguca and work be a dad yadda yadda there was NO WAY I was really going to be able to take part in FAWM this year.

But then I remembered something I had written on Beatles Songwriting Academy

The norm for today’s artists seems to be that they are either writing OR recording OR touring. Letting the studio or the road disrupt the habit of writing is a problem somewhat unique to SONGwriters.


Of course the band stopped touring in ’66 but The Beatles didn’t regard recording as a legitimate reason to take a break from songwriting either (which makes sense as they were always recording). And I’m not referring to the way many successful bands enter the studio with unfinished songs (though they were guilty of that too). I mean continuing to write new songs even as they were laying down songs they’d just finished.


Assistant producer Chris Thomas remembers Harrison playing Something to him on the harpsichord while they were recording Piggies for the White Album. McCartney gave Lennon a preview of MMT’s The Fool On The Hill while writing With A Little Help From My Friends for Sgt Pepper.

So George Harrison shamed encouraged me into it. After all I haven't written a song for a whole month! So I'm using FAWM to keep the wheels turning producing all manner or weird tracks (AKA business as usual) even as I concentrate on the EP. And I'll be gathering all the new tracks on an ultra lofi album called NonconFAWMist Vol.2

Yep that's me being artistic with my first attempt using GIMP (AKA Photoshop for poor people). But that is not me on the cover.

You can check out the first song, a setting of Psalm 22 called Israel's Praise right here

Other free songs by Matt Blick

From The Archives: I Got Lost

I Got Lost

Fell from grace, right through the cracks

Emotionally raw rock song played on a two string guitar
Download     mp3     Lyrics (pdf)

I lost my way
I lost my path
Lost my bearings
Mislaid the map
Looked for a star
But the night was black
Fell from grace
Right through the cracks


I didn't gain the world
But I lost my soul
Not asking for your pity
Just your hand to hold


I got lost, I got lost
See that face in the mirror?
That isn't me
I got lost, I got lost
Somewhere out there is the person
That I forgot how to be


I gave my all
I bought the shirt
I played the role
Until it hurts
I walked the walk
I towed the line
I stood for truth
And learned to lie


Thought I could save the world
And play a starring role
That dream became so brittle
And much too sharp to hold


I got lost, I got lost...


Pull up the roots
And start again
Tear down these walls
They've been condemned
So many dreams
To feed the fire
Don't waste one tear
For what's left behind


I got lost, I got lost, I got lost

You may also like (Everything) Is Broken or Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 263: The Illuminati Ate My Homework

Really enjoyed this article/video on the making of Bohemian Rhapsody. Also enjoyed this video slightly more than Queen's original vid.

The great thing about 50/90 and FAWM is coming across musicians creating great stuff. Here's two very different tracks from 'RC' both written and recorded sometime in the last 79 days. (By the way RC has written 45 songs during 50/90 so far!)

You Killed It
Balderdash

Speaking of FAWM, glasgow power pop titan KiDD recorded some great songs, which he's now gathered onto a free album. Check it out

CD Baby ran a series of songwriting tips from the hitmakers recently

If you want to know what William Gibson told David Crosby about the elves taking over the workshop, why Chris Cornell think's it's easier to write melodies over odd time signature riffs and why Richard Thompson recommends copying everyone except yourself check out parts one, two and three

OK I'm off to do more brainstorming on a new song called "The Illuminati Ate My Homework". BTW - Eleven Sweets has very quickly hit over 100 downloads!


Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

New Song: Let's Build An Airport

Let's Build An Airport was written during FAWM 2011. In keeping with the rough and ready vibe of that songwriting challenge I wrote it from scratch and demoed in a single night. I've had quite a few positive comments about it from other songwriters so I decided to go back and do a better recording. As well as the very talented Rachel McClean on Cello you can also hear a number of planes and real life WW2 bomber crew.

The original inspiration was simply a list of bizarre children's books that I'd seen in a school library on a break from teaching. I had intended to do a surreal list song, but I never got beyond the first title “Let's Build An Airport” by Kath Mellentin and Gillian Clements. I just spilled out my frustration over a descending chromatic chord progression that has been done many times before (in 'If' by David Gates/Bread for one). But switching off my inner critic seemed to be a good thing and I'm really proud of some of the phrases and imagery – 'As deep as the clouds', 'rootless and artless and freer than birds' and catching 'that burning ball in the fist of one hand'.

Though the song is using a commercial airport as a metaphor, in my mind's eye I see Lancaster bombers taking off when I hear the song, so I was thrilled to get some sound library recordings and Rachel's cello is almost the musical representation of a Lancaster bomber – heavy, yet elegant and quintessentially English.

Download the mp3
Download the Chord Sheet
Watch Video Live @ Vauxhall Griffin, London 2011

Let's build an airport and let's fly away
If we put our minds to it we could finish today
These people round here are as deep as the clouds
And they don't understand anything that isn't glued to the ground

But we're rootless and artless and freer than birds
Let's not march to the abattoir just like the rest of the herd.
Forget Stansted, forget JFK.
There's a whole world of difference Between a runway
And running away.
We're not running away...

Doesn't the sunset attract you? Don't the horizon look grand?
Couldn't you just catch that burning ball in the fist of one hand?
I'll clear you for take off and you can clear me 
Then we'll cross every ocean and be back for our tea
Let's build an airport and let's fly away
If we put our minds to it we could finish today
These people round here are as deep as the clouds
And they don't understand anything that isn't glued to the ground

 © Matt Blick 2011

Samples credits

Lancaster Bomber Crew Raid over Stettin, Germany (April 20, 1943)
Lancaster Bomber Crew Raid over Berlin - Sep 3 1943
by stelzriede.com. Both of these can be found on the Marshall Stelzriede War Story website
Consolidated B-24 Liberator Bomber pass by 1 and 2 by The Recordist Free Sound FX
Lancaster Bomber by confusion_music from Freesound.org
Spitfire Mk 19 (Griffon engine) by Genghis Attenborough from Freesound.org


Related posts: Download Faithful and True for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 92: Switching Songwriting Diets

Dragged myself off to Shabby Road and worked on the Fat Flish song for half an hour. Boy it felt so good.

This whole year is a learning curve and here's today's insight.

It's like I've been on a weight watchers diet. Then I suddenly switched to the Atkins diet for a month. Then I stopped. And got confused.

My original plan was "go to the studio and write everyday and finish one song at a time".

My Feb plan was "write every possible moment I can, everywhere I can, as fast I can"

Then FAWM ended and I was lost.

So now I'm going back to plan A.

Lessons learned -

A songwriting plan is better than no plan.
A bad songwriting plan you do, is better than a great plan you don't do.
Two songwriting plans are worse than one plan.

Download all my 2011 songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 90: Fat Flish

Today I was back in the saddle on the bus and a park bench writing lyrics for a kids song that Harpo & Zeppo drew out of my overgrown garden shed of a subconcious that starts "I'm a little fat flish simming in the swea" - yeah I know, you're gonna love it. But at least it is a song and I am writing it and finishing it and blogging about it. So result.

And just so you know

Day 89 was a wipeout - after visiting the white porcelian wishing well every half hour all through the night, my muse held her nose and said "I simply cahnt work under these condition dahling" and flounced off to bother Nicholas Tozier.

Day 85 was a wipeout in a good way cos I was rockin out at the Vauxhall Griffin Pub, in erm Vauxhall, London in the fine county of Londonshire at the FOP. That's FAWM Over Party. WLA!*

Hosted by the erudite and criminally friendly Johnny Cashpoint we ate, drank, jammed and forgot our lyrics. Hoopshanks was the best at forgetting his lyrics and in fact is better forgetting his lyrics than the rest of us are when we remember them. I had a great time jamming with Morti, Sentense & Hoops, and took part in final jam session where I can confidently state I was playing the same chord progression at least one of the 6 alternatives happening simultaneously. I have no idea of the title. I suspect no one else has either.

A good time was had by all. There may be videos, photos or police statements to prove this at a later date.

Here's my set list

Let's Build An Airport
You You You - with Sentense
If You're Here This Morning - with Hoopshanks

Scores on the doors at the end of March. I've written 87/90 days. 27 songs.

WLA!* = We Love Acronyms!

Download all my 2011 songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 83: Crash And Burn

Crash and burn fellas, crash and burn. Epic Fail. Today a combination of a bad cold, too much Piriton & no real game plan meant I just couldn't drag my sorry behind in the direction of any songwriting. The best I could manage was to play through a few inspiring jazz standards. I'm talking Here's That Rainy Day, Cry Me A River, Ain't Misbehavin'...

The next few days are looking like sleep, read, sleep, try to workout what I'm gonna play at The FAWM over party in London, sleep, and make me a plan...

Download all my 2011 songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 81: I'm Still Here

Unlike Bob Dylan I'm still here. I've started to make some headway on the many songs in various states of being and one of my main goals is to get the FAWM kids album all stitched up and finished. Today I think I've almost finished 'writing' the mystery bonus track for it. Just needs some 'mastering' (my euphemism for "just take the really loud bits down a notch")

Download all my 2011 songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

FAWM Thoughts (pt 3)

Previous thoughts on FAWM here

What I learned about myself and writing

Each song builds on all the others

Like Whistler in his court case and the legendary consultant who charged a fortune for chalking an 'x' on the defective machine, each song I write in 2011 has in one sense taken me 28 years to write, building as it does on all the experience (musical, theological and exegetical) I've gained to date. So there's no reason why I should agonise over each new song for months or even years.

I need to write too fast

I'm by nature an over analyser so the breakneck pace of FAWM is a great corrective for me.

Writing fast need to be balanced by times of reflection

The one thing you absolutely do not get from FAWM is the time to step back an evaluate. This is a good thing, but there needs to be some evaluation at some point.

Writing fast sometimes needs to be balanced by extended time spent trying to evolve

Pushing the envelope of who you are as a writer sometimes takes longer. I think the Beatles could have written 20 She Loves You during FAWM without breaking a sweat but I don't think they would have made many A Day In The Lifes. I struggled with both my piano chops and recording/mixing ability during this FAWM. Other minor evolutionary leaps just happened, colourful plume here, an extra toe there… But sometimes the next big thing takes time…

What I learned about FAWM

It's all about the song and only the song. 

In the real world I might judge someone on image and discount them without hearing a note. That kind of filter is irrelevant on FAWM. Sure, the guy is a thrash metal guitarist, but that song might just as easily be a lullaby for his baby, or folk tune about bees played on a mandolin. I've been impressed by songs from 16 year old schoolgirls and 50 year old bluesmen. I was shocked to find out one of my favourite silly songs was by the writer of one of my favourite serious songs.

Everyone is on the same page

It's not just the power of gathering a bunch of songwriters together. In the real world one songwriter might be trying to crank out songs, while another is doing preproduction for her album, and a third is not writing anything cos they're in touring mode. On Planet FAWM every man jack is trying to write a lot of songs and write em fast. Stylistic posturing, and oppressive quality control go out of the window and everyone is open to any kind of bizarre challenge, random title generator, chord progression concept, co-writing offer or feedback that can help them get to the magic 14 songs. In short everyone's grateful for any songwriting bone you'd care to throw them.

Would I recommend FAWM?

Totally

I'm more convinced than ever that writing a lot is the only way to learn how to write. If you go for quantity you will get quality eventually. Hold out for quality and you'll probably get neither. Participating in FAWM WILL make you a better songwriter.

Download all my FAWM songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

FAWM Thoughts (pt 2)

Last time I looked at things I got right. This time  - what I got wrong

I didn't really have a proper exit strategy

FAWMing is like living on another planet for a month. Writing songs 24/7 becomes such a way of life that on March 1st the natural response is to either stop dead and not pick up a guitar for 6 months or try to keep going at the same breakneck pace. I needed more than just a vague plan as to what I was going to do next including

• What am I gonna do with all these songs I've written? Let 'em lie fallow for a month or two? Rerecord? Play 'em live? (Maybe I should have some gigs already lined up for March then…)
• What am I going to write in Mar? (Writing a small amount of something is a good idea, even if it just functions as a sort of mental 'warm-down')
• How am I gonna pick up all my dropped balls (that sounds so wrong). What am I gonna put in the diary to reconnect with family and friends. How am I gonna decompress? Two week supply of Tequlia? Watch an entire season of 24 back to back?

I didn't buy hosting

I used my box.net account which worked fine but meant the songs didn't automatically appear in FAWM's streaming jukebox. There are other free sites that would have done it, but the FAWMfathers provide a great service and all proceeds go towards running the site (less the 10% that goes to charity). And on that topic...

I didn't give enough money

You're always wary of giving online, I donated $10 but $35ish would have gotten me free hosting, a mug, a CD of previous highlights, a llama and given some much needed support for this excellent site.

I wasn't prepared enough

January would have been the best time to gather song starts, contact potential collaborators, find my way around the site etc

I didn't have a clear personal finish line

Mainly because I assumed I'd scrape 14 songs at best. When I shot past the goal I had no idea when, why or how to stop. By the evening of the 28th I was raving about 24 being a nice round number like a delirious gibbering maniac.

Next time - part: the final - what I learned

Download all my FAWM songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Thoughts on FAWM (pt 1)

What did I achieve by doing FAWM?

I wrote 7 songs last year. This February I wrote 24 songs.

Ah, but are they any good?

Of those 24 maybe 6 are as good as anything I've written. My first FAWM song If You're Here This Morning has already become one of my most downloaded/streamed. I co-wrote songs with people from Texas and California, as well as about 60 of my pupils.

I also had a great time on the forum. I learnt all about strangle disco, chiptunes and mountain dulcimers. I found out that having your zongs busted is not as painful as it sounds and I busted lots of other peoples zongs. I saw one well-known fawmer have an online meltdown and cybersulk, and another suffering from kidney stones and being plagiarised by another band. I tuned in to a podcast only to hear someone say they had "a total man crush" on me before playing one of my songs. I wrote a song using only two strings on the guitar and I challenged others to have a go. About 15 people took me up and wrote some great songs. I got a lot of kind comments about Beatles Songwriting Academy and a few people even used the tips there to write songs. I made virtual friends. I met a great songwriter who lives in the same city as me. Things happened. It was fun.

Things I did right

Paced myself and hit the ground running

I tried to get writing straight away and managed to do a few tracks fairly quickly. That helped a lot, because knowing my temperament if I'd been 5 songs behind by the second week I would have given up. The 1 song every two days is really simple to keep track of.

Had a basic plan for the project

I decided to co-write with some pupils and gather the finished songs as an album. That changed during the month but it was nice to give it some shape. Other FAWMers had goals of writing thumpy palm muted songs, co-writing with their Dad, doing a concept album about Dr Faust or writing a valentine's song for their wife.

Included my family and my job in it

I didn't plan it that way, but once I spread the word to my pupils about what I was doing so many were keen, that I was overloaded with song ideas. That meant I could legitimately do my job and FAWM at the same time. Getting my kids to make a mash up track of their toys with me meant that at least Dad wasn't off on his own for the whole of Feb.

Put metadata on my mp3s

It's getting to be a habit now, but I gave my FAWM songs an album name (even if I am changing it) and put all my details on them (check out my post on making your song available online if you don't know how to do this). Many FAWMers are kind enough to make their songs available for free download, but it's very common to download a great song only to have no clue who wrote it. I've been chasing up files, but I wouldn't be surprised if Anonymous and her song 'track 2' is one of my top tunes of the year.

Contributed on forums & left song comments

It's one of the things that helped me get to know people, and got them interested in my songs and blogs. Doing FAWM is a wonderful experience like going to live on another planet for a month or at least a foreign country if you take time to participate rather than just dump your songs and disappear.

Part 2 - Things I did wrong!
Part 3 - What I learned about myself, songwriting and FAWM

Download all my FAWM songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Slow Motion Riot - The Kid's Album

I'm in the process of putting together a 15 track download only album called SLOW MOTION RIOT containing all the songs I co-wrote with kids (my own and other people's) during FAWM. You can get the individual tracks here. The kids would love to hear your comments so if you like any of the tracks leave me your thoughts here.

And if anyone thinks they have a better image than this for an album cover let me know!

Download all my FAWM songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 69: Horribly DeFAWMed

I don't really write fast songs but having realised this I'm trying to rectify it. Wrote a simple fast chord progression in practice room 5 today.

All I've been doing in my post-fawm-funk is writing a few riffs, odd ideas and trying to produce a hidden mystery track for my FAWM kids album.

Kid's Album!!!!!!???????

I was gonna gather all my FAWM songs into one big downloadable bundle called Slow Motion Riot but now I have enough songs for two I'm gonna put all the kids songs on that and pick a new title for mine. Ideas so far -

New Mistakes
Let's Build An Airport!

whaddaya think?


Download all my 2011 songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Open Mic @ The Maze, Nottingham (02/03/11)

Appeared in the corner near the piano at the Maze with the very talented Alex Hel among others. World premier of 4 FAWM songs, namely

You You You
Let's Build An Airport
I Got Lost
If You're Here This Morning

Thanks to Will @ The Maze.



Related Posts: My Top 5 Weirdest Gigs
Download all my 2011 songs for free!!! 

Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 59: Kiefer Sutherland Can't Help Me Now!

Just a quick update.

24 hours left to go on FAWM
All 12 of my school kids songs finished and posted on the 2011 page.
I've finished 21 songs so far. Including a lofi song that I'm really happy with called "let's build An Airport" also on 2011 page.

My friend Adam Giles after spending most of Feb in his dungeon like basement has leapt over the FAWMish line (see what I did there?) in a single bound with a 14 track neo-classical instrumental concept album based on the Dr Faustus play

Update With 13 hours to go - I'm finished. Wrote guitar parts for my son's garageband loop frenzy (Mortal Engines), set a story about my daughter's sunday school to music (Eleven Sweets) and just had some kind of semi-improvised punk-fuelled freak out called Goodbye.


I'm done. 24 songs in all. In one month. I can't believe it. 

Download all my 2011 songs for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick