Nick McLaren

Did you miss me? I missed you. Come on over here and let me give you a big hug. That’s better. Ok awesome, now with that out of the way I have a few updates for you.

I finally have a couple of songs near completion, which will be released simultaneously. It’s a big of an experiment with two different styles, and the first song was actually originally written by my best friend Billy McDaniel many years ago. He never released it, as it’s a very dark themed song essentially about being in at the rock bottom and wanting to end it all, told in 1st person. Still, I thought the song ROCKED and set out to put my own spin on it. I ran it by Billy and, with his permission, will be releasing it in the next few weeks or so.

Due to the very dark nature of the first song, and not wishing for my friends and family to think that I’M at the end of MY rope, I set out to write another song with the intention of it being more of a hopeful counterpoint to the first. This one is presented from the viewpoint of a friend or support person, trying to make the first person realize that things are what they are and you’ve got to just accept them and roll with it.

Of course, that’s just MY take on the songs as I put them together. You’re highly encouraged to think about them however you’d like and enjoy them just the same. Hopefully can appreciate them in any case, maybe even LIKE them!

Look for an update here as I get ready to release these in the coming weeks. Until then!

Ok, well, I’m sure the three of you reading this aren’t exactly waiting with baited breath, but hey I’m excited, so let’s roll with it! =)

It only took me a few MONTHS to wrap up my newest song, but I’m happy to report that it not only exists, but is written, recorded, and now in the talented hands of Brian Stratman over at Capricorn Studios where he is polishing up the sound and putting the final touches on the track! In fact, I’ve already heard a great sounding version back from the studio and it really sounds awesome!

Not too many people realize that working with a studio in general is a very give and take interaction. I’m also working with them in a bit of a different way than others I would imagine, in that I’m doing all of the recording and tracking myself, then bouncing the individual tracks over to them, along with a mp3 demo with my best mixing attempt to give them some idea as to what kind of sound I’m looking for. With that information, the studio engineer (in this case, Brian), attacks the song full force, twisting and shaping it, trying to get the best sound he can. When he’s got a final mix he’s happy with, he kicks the mp3 over to the artist (or the recording schlub, which would be me) to review. After some careful listening I determine if it sounds great enough to go with or if there are additional specific changes that, in my artistic opinion and along with my “vision” for the song, I would like to see happen before we call it “DONE”.

At this point, that first review has happened. I’m incredibly happy with the sound, but have provided some changes for the studio to make in hopes that it will sound even better, and align a little bit closer to my ultimate “vision”. I don’t expect that to take too long to complete, and I plan on releasing the song shortly thereafter. If you want to know the moment it’s released, make sure you’re following @nickmclaren on Twitter!

Writing songs is hard work, but I’m proud of the work I have done and I can’t WAIT to share the results with you! Soon…

Finally, yet another song is finished, and I honestly feel this is my best effort yet! In listening to this energetic song in my car over the past few weeks, I couldn’t help but find myself driving faster and faster! It took a bunch of iterations trying to get the sound I was looking for, but I think the result is worth it! Check back tomorrow to hear it for yourself (still FREE, I promise!)!