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My Thoughts
by Rob Taylor
click on the titles below to read entries
#8 The Making of "My Lullaby"
#7 Come Down Never
#6 Under the Star
#5 Waking the Sunrise
#4 The Grey and Desperate Giants
#3 Glass Bottom Spaceships
#2 Harmonies Sung by Laurie Taylor
#1 Mastering "Sun in a Box"
with Hank Williams
The Making of "My Lullaby"
By Rob Taylor
Entry #8
01/28/10
OK, so my first song on my new EP, Come Down Never is finished! It is called My Lullaby. Im very pleased with the way it came out, but the credit belongs to my lovely wife, Laurie, who inspired me to write it. The way this love song came about is as follows:
I sat down with my acoustic guitar, not with the intention of writing a new song, but to just enjoy strumming some chords to take my mind off of the real world. If you know me at all, you know it is rare that I take time and just play any one instrument for recreation. I always have a musical motive. This time proved to be no different. Since I knew it was my goal to complete a four-song EP by Spring 2010, and the fourth song didnt exist yet, I caved and started my usual methods for beginning a new song. My methods include strumming around interesting chords and mumbling words and phrases. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesnt. If Im not inspired to write any words down in ten minutes or so I will put my guitar down and try again fresh another time. If I can write a first line that is inspiring to me and heavy enough to base a three to five minute song around, I know I have something.
As I was strumming, I heard myself sing: Im keeping time by the moon on the rise and the rhythm of beach under sky. I was intrigued immediately and wondered where that came from, and I asked myself, What would a song that started this way be about? The rhythm of the song sounded slowish but a little lively at the same time. It took me to a warm island evening on a moonlit beach. I then thought that this scene Ive created would be nearly worthless without someone to share it with. I immediately thought of Laurie. One of Lauries favorite places is the beach The second line came: Light is arriving from starts that died shining, their last light to brighten your eyes. That is the moment I knew I was writing a love song for my wife. Amazingly enough, Lauries birthday was coming up in 3 days. I thought, Wouldnt it be fantastic to finish this song, record it, and present it to her on her birthday! I then brought myself back to earth and reminded myself that I only had two lines it wasnt even a song yet. Besides I would not have the time to record the whole song in such a short time frame, let alone keep it secret from her. That didnt stop me from passionately continuing.
I have written Laurie many songs in our 10-plus years together, but I dont recall a song coming to me as easily as this one did. I had completed the first verse and bridge and needed a chorus. So far, the lyrics were very whimsical and dreamlike, which brought to mind something a friend told me recently. She said she puts my music on when she lays her 2-year-old down to sleep. I thought that was cool to have my music help usher someone into dreamland, so I thought of the idea of a romantic lullaby for my wife. After I thought through that idea, the chorus came instantly, This my, my lullaby, my sweet goodnight to the love of my life
As it always does, time escapes me when Im writing and I realized I needed to be at a job. In the interest of supporting my family, I dashed out of The Escape Hatch and hit the road humming a newly born tune. My mind didnt shift gears, though. I continued to let my imagination lead me to a second verse that would complement the first. As with the beach, I wanted to find a dreamlike place where I would love to be as I close my eyes. The line came, Now take to the fields painted purple with heather and let fall your shoes in the air. This line is inspired by mine and Lauries shared love of dreams which we can fly. Since I was driving at the time, I couldnt write the words for fear I would crash and die and the song would never be completed. I remembered the voice memo app I have and just spoke the new lines right into my phone -- trusty gadget!
Now that the writing of the song was complete, I had the task ahead of recording it. I envisioned a pretty stripped down acoustic vibe happening. This would mean I would have to resist the innate urge I posses to orchestrate sweeping string arrangements. It was also good because I only had one full day to record all the parts since the following day (birthday eve) would be allocated to mixing and mastering. Luckily, the writing of the parts flowed easily and inspiration was on my side. I was careful not to let any stray sounds escape upstairs sneakily and stealthfully I strummed.
My presentation of My Lullaby to the birthday girl was a wrapped box containing the lyrics in a scripted font printed on a glossy cream page. This was presented with a single peach rose in my studio where, after opening it, she could listen to her song.
Needless to say, Laurie was very surprised and excited to receive her gift and requested to hear it multiple times throughout the day. She has since recorded her beautiful vocal harmonies which put the final touches on her song which will ultimately be the fourth song on my new EP, Come Down Never.
Since My Lullaby is complete, I would feel guilty making everyone wait to hear it until Spring when the other tracks will be complete, so I decided to release it as a single first. I felt it would be a great love song for couples to enjoy together on Valentines Day!
I hope you enjoy it
All the Best,
Rob Taylor
My Lullaby is available to download now on iTunes
Back to Table of Contents
"Come Down Never"
Entry #7
01/01/10
“Sun in a Box” was born in 2009 and continues to let shine its small light to people and places that amaze me. I am so pleased with the feedback and reviews it has received this year and the way the word is spreading. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I have lived and breathed this album since its first song’s conception. This being the case, it would be easy to be let down by any one part of its whole, but I am still so satisfied with it. From the brilliant cover-art painted by the gifted artist MADART, the harmonies sung by my lovely wife Laurie, and finally the mastering by Hank Williams at Mastermix; everyone came through with their best. 2009 also saw the release of my Christmas single “Under the Star”. Nothing was better than hearing that my song uplifted and added to the Christmas spirit. I am thankful I was introduced to the talents of artist Steven Corey Egbert who created the wonderful cover-art for this project.
2010 is so fantastically full of new musical avenues to pursue, and with the New Year, I am pleased to announce the commencement of a new EP entitled, “Come Down Never.” This project will most likely be a three or four song collection of new songs I have written after the completion of “Sun in a Box”. I am excited to have designed some “teaser artwork” for the album as seen on the homepage of this website. I am in the early stages of pre-production and will soon have working demos to pass to the incredibly talented Jon Peckman who plays drums on most of my recordings. It is my hope that “Come Down Never” will meet and exceed expectations set by the music I am proud to have made in 2009. Please keep your ear turned this way in the coming months; I have a great feeling about what is to come. Thank-you again for your continued support and encouragement of my dreams… Happy New Year!
"Under the Star"
Entry #6
11/04/10
The Christmas spirit came to me in late September this year. It was on one of those days that started October cool then ended warm like August. Before the warm part came, I wondered what Christmas would be like this year, (completely skipping festive thoughts of Halloween and Thanksgiving.) I reminisced about happy memories from years past and new traditions I would start with my small family.
My train of thought then focused on the anticipation of hearing my favorite Christmas songs unapologetically dominating the airwaves. My own Christmas song, “Under the Star” came to mind, and I recalled the spirit I felt while singing it in church and at holiday gatherings. It took me all of a split second for me to realize I could not picture a new holiday season without sharing my song and those feelings with all who would listen.
I wrote “Under the Star” as a musical proclamation of the true meaning of Christmas. When I sat down with my acoustic guitar and wrote the first lyrical passages, I realized that for my first Christmas song, I had little interest in writing about anything less than the birth of Jesus Christ. I thought it would be interesting for the “voice” of the song to be a witness of the event and tell the story through his eyes.
As this Christmas season begins, I would like to share with you my testimony of Jesus Christ through song. I hope it will bring happiness and joy to your home and family; that amidst all the hustle and festivity of the season, it can remind you of why it is we celebrate.
"Waking the Sunrise"
Entry #5
9/12/09
I should love watching the sunrise like everyone else. I’ve seen my share of sunrises, and I’ve found them to be too perfect and too far. Lately, I’ve been looking at them in a different way. I prefer watching how the sunrise affects the things closest to me; how it introduces the ordinary and kisses strangers; how it briefly paints masterpieces on passing glass buildings and illuminates my rear view mirror; how it curiously peeks through the curtain and wakes my love with lavender light.
The panorama of a radiant sunrise over a flat horizon represents the unattainable - the dream so far out of reach that I forgot why I set my sights there to begin with. Where its light ends up - on a wave that greets my shoeless foot, or a ray that melts the frost on my windshield, that is what fascinates me now - the attainable.
It is interesting then to ask myself, “What have I attained in my pursuit of a life long dream of making meaningful music?” I have certainly not achieved fortune or fame or any measurable impact on humanity. So in that respect I have not attained a view of a glorious sunrise. However, it is clear that a growing number of people can feel the affects of my music; that without seeing who I will finally become, they can be inspired by the parts of me I have shared and are positively affected by it.
One day again I may look at a sunrise the way it was meant to be seen - wide and bright. That will likely be the same day I look in the mirror and find clear purpose in the sum of my parts. It might be the morning I wake from a sweet dream that has any evidence of truth. Until then I’ll find beauty in the way a sunrise can affect the things closest to me while holding my eastward destination with care in my peripheral vision.
The good thing about a sunrise is that I can count on another to come with the morning. If I can wake myself, I can witness it. May all of our dreams be as true.
"The Grey and Desperate Giants"
Entry #4
8/16/09
The Grey and Desperate Giants
I stood deep in the concrete maze and realized I could smell fourteen distinct flavors of air – none of them pleasing. There was something else, though; it wasn’t a smell, it was more like an aura rising from this place and permeating from the bodies of her curious masses. It was desperation. Not a single-minded desperation, but one as unique as each individual on each sidewalk, in each crosswalk, yellow cab and high-rise.
On a very basic level, I felt a desperation to move forward. Stopping or moving in an opposing direction was hardly an option and, if necessary, was barely tolerated. If initiated, these basic moves that I took for granted every day were met with various combinations of flexed eyebrows and disdainful scowls. I understood why….
We all have a destination and would like to reach it without narrowing our shoulders. We all have money yet to earn, respect yet to achieve and a life to get home to. We all have a voice that seems small in the midst of skyscrapers, so we begin to talk louder. We begin to walk faster, push harder, honk louder. We grow more desperate.
I am home now. From a beach I can see the grey giants across the water; tiny and still. This is right where I like them. I can understand them from here. The quiet miles over the water translate the word “desperation” to “passion” and I can work with that. The older, well- dressed man walking by me is sifting through the sand with his metal detector. He is not desperate for change; he is passionate about finding some.
As my music makes its way out of its comfortable box and into the world, sometimes I feel my shoulders come to a square and my pace on the sidewalk quicken. I feel my voice begin to get strained, then weakened, then almost lost. Before the giants feed, I take myself back to that sandy shore and say to myself:
“I want to be like that old man on the beach. Not desperate for change; but passionate about finding some.”
"Glass Bottom Spaceships"
Entry #3
8/8/09
If I were an alien, I would look down at Earth through my glass bottom spaceship and laugh all day. The human condition is so flawed and amusing! Sometimes I watch myself from this perspective. Sometimes I watch others too. From my observations, I have come up with only one conclusion so far: we are all vulnerable. Whether it be vulnerable to others or to ourselves, outside forces or inside emotions. We are all vulnerable to something.
We even build vulnerability into the most powerful heroes we create so we can relate to them and love them more. Even more interesting still is that despite society's tireless attempts to prepare us for a merciless world, there are still those of us who embrace our vulnerability. Some of us not only embrace it, but invite as many people who can see, touch, smell, taste, and hear to witness and experience it as well.
We call ourselves artists.
Art is most powerful when it can stimulate our souls to feel something. When we feel something our human passion is aroused and we laugh or cry, smile, or become inspired. I am convinced this reaction cannot happen from an artist who has not placed his soul so far outside of his or herself that it becomes completely vulnerable to the clumsy treading of the worlds muddy footsteps. This is a great sacrifice indeed.
Not all are meant for this calling. In fact, we are encouraged to block and defend our vulnerabilities almost from birth. This helps us to function daily, but begins to build a facade around us that looks a lot like us only less true; less in touch with who we really are. While many spend their whole life building these defenses, artists reach their highest potential when they come closest to eradicating or transcending them. When beauty of this magnitude is witnessed, it helps even the most guarded to remember their own humanity.
If I were an alien in a glass bottom spaceship I would laugh at how flawed the human race is, but the fact is, before the discovery of Earth no aliens bothered to put glass in the bottoms of their spaceships.
"Harmonies Sung by Laurie Taylor"
Entry #2
8/01/09
The first time I heard my wife sing, she was not my wife at all. Just my dream girl. The kind of girl I wouldn't give myself enough credit to have a chance with. The way she sat posed with her guitar before she began to play made me strangely weak. Weak would not do. I forced myself to straighten a bit in order to portray a sense of self-confidence which a female might find attractive. This worked fantastically for about 10 seconds (approximately the length of her guitar intro). It worked until she began to sing.
Immediately I went into sensory overload. There was this beautiful voice. This light brown hair falling onto the side of her guitar. This smile that would show itself as a tease between lyrics. The touch of her full lips to mine after she finished playing .... wait, no, that was just me fantasizing. (Can you blame me?) Luckily she had to look down at her guitar most of the time, as she was still mastering her chord changes, or she
would have seen me fall in love. This was, by the way, our first date so it was my obligation as a male to keep those feelings mysterious until at least the second date. I think I failed.
I am one of the very few and proud men who actually get to marry their dream girl. I am in that exclusive club and treasure my membership daily. When it came time to begin recording "Sun in a Box" I could not envision the album without Laurie's amazing voice.
The way it usually works is: I record a demo for her to write her harmonies to, then I apologize for the roughness of the recording. She comes to me (usually at the end of the same day) and says she has finished writing the part. We listen to the track together while she sings "live" and I am taken straight away back to our first date. Laurie has perfect pitch. Laurie has perfect everything. Her talent exceeds my skill with this pen. I try to tell her this after she finishes the song, but one of our boys starts to cry downstairs and she disappears. I hope she knows. She knows now because she is probably editing this before it goes on-line.
Laurie spent 4 hours straight trying to figure out how to put a "buy it now" button on the website so that people can buy my CD. Laurie records her vocal part in one take while the boys are sleeping (or while holding one asleep in her arms). This project would not have the same soul without Laurie and neither would I.
"Mastering 'Sun in a Box' with Hank Williams"
Entry #1
7/9/09
A quest, an unlikely protagonist, a wise wizard. All are themes proven to sell movie tickets and epic novels. My story has more of the same.
Early morning May 11th 2009 I woke up and the project I had spent the better part of two years making was at long last recorded and mixed. I breathed in a moment of peace and breathed out a weighted question. . . . who would I trust to master this record?
I cast myself as the unlikely protagonist the moment I shot off an email to the legendary mastering guru Hank Williams of Mastermix in Nashville. I asked if he would be interested in mastering "Sun in a Box". In truth, I never expected a response from someone with ridiculously famous clients like Alan Jackson, Taylor Swift and Jewel (only to name a few). That didn't stop me from checking my email in regular five minute intervals throughout the day. On my 251st check, the favorable response appeared! Before anything made sense I was slating off time to drive to Nashville in order to have some of the best ears in the music business loaned to me for a day.
The roads connecting Connecticut and Tennessee were annoying and restless, but forced me to think hard about how I see myself fitting into the disturbingly corrupt and relentlessly competitive music business. My deepest thinking did not find an answer to that question, but the roads (and GPS) did their job in getting me nervously parked outside Mastermix on a rainy June morning.
Showcasing southern hospitality at its best, Hank introduced himself and his staff and proceeded to show me around his state of the art studio. Almost immediately my music was loudly making itself known in Hank's main mastering suite.
This is a weird observation, but I honestly could see Hank hearing. As he optimized each track his interaction with his studio gear was precise and effective like a musical ninja.
After Hank heard the fourth track, "Sun in a Box" he turned to me and sincerely complimented my work in a powerful, well thought out, and meaningful way. I took it all in and knew I would not soon forget his words of encouragement.
One of the greatest days. Ever.
I stepped out of Mastermix and my record was completed and sounded fantastic. The wise wizard had touched it with his artful hand, and I, the unlikely soul, had set myself up for a successful sequel and was on the long road to home.
WWW.MASTERMIX.COM
