I love that you’re always so honest about how things are going. There’s SO MUCH out there of just showing the edited highlights of the making-of that make the process look so effortless, and in that way it can feel like it’s not normal to have days where it just isn’t flowing, or things take a bit of extra work, or whatever. But it’s all part of the process. As for me, I’m working on the last few steps of a painting that looked really cool as a sketch, and I’ve been uncertain about every decision I’ve taken on it since the first brushstroke. But the more I work at it, the more I’m starting to see it come together, so I’m glad I’ve been trusting the process. You got this too! x
I think when I've got a bit more time to make a video I might do a spoof one where I just swan about saying how great I am for a laugh :) I tuned in to a bit of your Twitch about your painting and it looked great to me! I'd like everyone who posts a photo of a finished artwork to say how long it took, that would help viewers a lot I think.
Demoing is a really great idea......so many people don't do it these days, they end up with highly polished demos....which is one of the things wrong with music these days.
That inner voice that you are failing is so incredibly annoying! I'm always amazed at how it's simultaneously so clever and sophisticated in the way it structures the attacks it uses against you, but so dumb when you dig down to the core of the argument. Even you when think you are failing, please remember that you have already done the things the most people never manage to achieve, and in a meaningful and tangible way. You know your purpose, have developed the skills, have worked hard to build the capabilities to apply the skills, and have a whiteboard behind you with the exact steps you want to do to achieve those goals. You are no failure!
Absolutely love the honesty in this. I had a self-imposed deadline for an EP I was recording/first time self-producing back in March/April - I didn't meet the deadline and had to stop for a month (the deadline was in place to get it done before I had a stretch of time where it wouldn't be possible). I haven't gone back to it yet, it feels like that window of time was lost, but I know I need/want to get back to it soon as I am now no longer heading in the direction of that goal. Wishing you all the best with the recording! Looking forward to hearing it.
Thank you, Nicky! It sounds to me like that window of time was the first sitting of the EP recording...so when's the second one going to be? I want to hear it, you see :)
I appreciate your honesty on how these things go and also appreciate the dog cameo. Glad you know it's not just bad or good - time and plans are always at war in my life, too. My biggest project is selecting the concerts I can go to within my budget for the rest of this year. One of my goals is to travel to another city *just* for a concert rather than going to a concert during a trip. I really want to experience Red Rocks in Colorado, USA.
This sounds like a brilliant idea for travelling. I went to Firenze just to se Radiohead many moons ago and had a brilliant holiday around seeing them play. Highly recommend.
Feeling sluggish I decided it was too hot to exercise but convinced myself I’d go on my exercise bike just for the 7 minutes of this video because it’s better than nothing right? Well ha ha what a perfect pep talk this was whilst I sweatily cycled away x
Oh I love this! Well done you. "The only bad workout is the one you didn't do" (something I repeat to myself when I feel like shit in the morning and want to stay in bed).
A true shield maiden with all this gym work battle on and victory will be yours. Creative projects pulling ideas together for now, ordered an interesting new instrument (after seeing your new Omnichord) once here may share in the club 😉
Nearly finished a new EP. I decided to work with a couple of writers I know on insta. They have both written (and then spoken) two short pieces that are full of wisdom. I’ve added a bunch of ambience and some (for me more electronic sounding) percussion and drums. Just got to nail a bass part for the last track and then we are good to go. It’s called ‘discovery’.
@@Penfriendrocks it’s my favourite Sunday night treat. I think my not entirely neurotypical brain can’t leave it alone. I’ll spend all week listening to it on and off!!!
I'm sure you will get further along your path than you think! :) This Thursday and Friday my band will be recording some tracks to put on CD, perhaps cassette too. Then we will have something to sell at a festival we are playing at the end of August. Trepidations.. not really.. we improvise lots and are in it for the fun!
Love these vids :) my main project right now is to extract my 'project' car from my garage where its been for nearly a year, unloved, and use it. But to do this there are many things I need to do first, I have an internal 'gant chart' type thing going on with a rough idea on the plan, eg until earlier today, there were six or seven palletts in the way of the car, I have since chopped them up into usable bits and firewood. Next up, I have to tidy that away, then I can get to a wall where the fuse panel is located, so I can move it, so I can add another strip light, so I can see a different part of the garage where I need to move a table saw out the way, to get to the rear tyre of the car, which is flat, and so on and so on, until hopefully before summer is over, I can start it and drive it out the garage :) keeps me busy enough though :)
@@spinyuk sounds like you’ve done the smart thing and broken the big thing down into lots of little bits. It’s the only way! Best wishes with the next little bit.
Great video Laura. It's really struck a chord with me. I'm really struggling to get my songs that I've written recorded down. I have all the means to do it (Instruments, new laptop, mics etc) but my anxiety and depression creates huge obstacles for me. Just the thought of attempting to get the wheels in motion feels daunting and I end up getting overwhelmed b y it all. It's incredibly frustrating because I really want to get these songs out of my head and into the world. It's exhausting!!
@@georgewhite1972 oh I’m sorry to hear about these obstacles!! When I’m feeling super sludgy for whatever reason, I find listing all the little aspects of what I need to do super helpful. Literally stuff like: shower, eat breakfast, find recording notebook, sit in chair, make list of favourite songs, listen to song, write notes on what needs changing etc etc. “Writing a song” is way too vague an idea for our brains to deal with even on a good day. Getting started feels too much sometimes and I don’t have anxiety (and only very occasional bouts of down-ness) so you’re not alone in any of this, and I believe in you xo
Good luck with your recording! 😁 My project for the week seems to have been moving my studio from one room to another, which is still ongoing and being a bit of a hoarder, I realise I have too much stuff, oh and should've decorated first 🤦🏻♂️😂
@@Penfriendrocks That change of perspective and working arrangement has a good feel to it. Inspiring 😁 Not quite finished but at least I can make some noise now and revisiting some old equipment has been fun too 😁 Not quite sure where I'm going to put all my bass guitars though 😂
@@Penfriendrocks I have been thinking of wall hangers, and thanks for reminding me about them. I may have some actual wall as I have to move my book cases to another room, hmmm, might have to start using walls in other rooms as well though 😂 It'll get sorted one way or another 😊
Get your free 12-track taster album of dreamy indie rock songs + bonus free gift here penfriend.rocks/hello
I love that you’re always so honest about how things are going. There’s SO MUCH out there of just showing the edited highlights of the making-of that make the process look so effortless, and in that way it can feel like it’s not normal to have days where it just isn’t flowing, or things take a bit of extra work, or whatever. But it’s all part of the process. As for me, I’m working on the last few steps of a painting that looked really cool as a sketch, and I’ve been uncertain about every decision I’ve taken on it since the first brushstroke. But the more I work at it, the more I’m starting to see it come together, so I’m glad I’ve been trusting the process. You got this too! x
I think when I've got a bit more time to make a video I might do a spoof one where I just swan about saying how great I am for a laugh :) I tuned in to a bit of your Twitch about your painting and it looked great to me! I'd like everyone who posts a photo of a finished artwork to say how long it took, that would help viewers a lot I think.
@@Penfriendrocks agreed! And I'd love to see your "everything goes perfectly and is super easy all the time" video 🤣
Haha me too!
Demoing is a really great idea......so many people don't do it these days, they end up with highly polished demos....which is one of the things wrong with music these days.
Don’t they? I’d be absolutely lost without demoing. How do they know how the song goes and have time to build on it?!
Keep your chin up and GOOD LUCK on the rest of the album work!! 😁🙏👊
Chin is up - and thank you :)
That inner voice that you are failing is so incredibly annoying! I'm always amazed at how it's simultaneously so clever and sophisticated in the way it structures the attacks it uses against you, but so dumb when you dig down to the core of the argument.
Even you when think you are failing, please remember that you have already done the things the most people never manage to achieve, and in a meaningful and tangible way.
You know your purpose, have developed the skills, have worked hard to build the capabilities to apply the skills, and have a whiteboard behind you with the exact steps you want to do to achieve those goals.
You are no failure!
Thank you for this thoughtful and encouraging message, I really appreciate it xo
Good luck & have fun with the recording!
Thank you!
Absolutely love the honesty in this. I had a self-imposed deadline for an EP I was recording/first time self-producing back in March/April - I didn't meet the deadline and had to stop for a month (the deadline was in place to get it done before I had a stretch of time where it wouldn't be possible). I haven't gone back to it yet, it feels like that window of time was lost, but I know I need/want to get back to it soon as I am now no longer heading in the direction of that goal. Wishing you all the best with the recording! Looking forward to hearing it.
Thank you, Nicky! It sounds to me like that window of time was the first sitting of the EP recording...so when's the second one going to be? I want to hear it, you see :)
I appreciate your honesty on how these things go and also appreciate the dog cameo.
Glad you know it's not just bad or good - time and plans are always at war in my life, too.
My biggest project is selecting the concerts I can go to within my budget for the rest of this year. One of my goals is to travel to another city *just* for a concert rather than going to a concert during a trip. I really want to experience Red Rocks in Colorado, USA.
This sounds like a brilliant idea for travelling. I went to Firenze just to se Radiohead many moons ago and had a brilliant holiday around seeing them play. Highly recommend.
@@Penfriendrocks I love Radiohead, sounds like a dream - thanks for the recommendation!
Feeling sluggish I decided it was too hot to exercise but convinced myself I’d go on my exercise bike just for the 7 minutes of this video because it’s better than nothing right? Well ha ha what a perfect pep talk this was whilst I sweatily cycled away x
Oh I love this! Well done you. "The only bad workout is the one you didn't do" (something I repeat to myself when I feel like shit in the morning and want to stay in bed).
A true shield maiden with all this gym work battle on and victory will be yours. Creative projects pulling ideas together for now, ordered an interesting new instrument (after seeing your new Omnichord) once here may share in the club 😉
Oh how exciting! Looking forward to hearing / seeing more...
Nearly finished a new EP. I decided to work with a couple of writers I know on insta. They have both written (and then spoken) two short pieces that are full of wisdom. I’ve added a bunch of ambience and some (for me more electronic sounding) percussion and drums. Just got to nail a bass part for the last track and then we are good to go. It’s called ‘discovery’.
@@andsoistopped that sounds like a fab project. Well done!!
@@Penfriendrocks thank you. Just finished recording today. Now got my marmite and cheese on toast to munch to figure out if I like it or not!!! 😝😝😝😝😜🙃
@@andsoistopped great snack!! I usually have to wait till the next day to decide if I like stuff or not cos my ears get tired without me realising 🤓
@@Penfriendrocks it’s my favourite Sunday night treat. I think my not entirely neurotypical brain can’t leave it alone. I’ll spend all week listening to it on and off!!!
I'm sure you will get further along your path than you think! :)
This Thursday and Friday my band will be recording some tracks to put on CD, perhaps cassette too.
Then we will have something to sell at a festival we are playing at the end of August.
Trepidations.. not really.. we improvise lots and are in it for the fun!
Go you! How did your recording go? I've ticked off a fair few of these little boxes since I shot this - will update here next weekend :)
@@Penfriendrocks 1st and 2nd of Aug. still to happen.. :)
Oh excellent! Have a blast.
Whatever that other life stuff is good luck x
Thank you Joe, I really appreciate that xo
Love these vids :) my main project right now is to extract my 'project' car from my garage where its been for nearly a year, unloved, and use it. But to do this there are many things I need to do first, I have an internal 'gant chart' type thing going on with a rough idea on the plan, eg until earlier today, there were six or seven palletts in the way of the car, I have since chopped them up into usable bits and firewood. Next up, I have to tidy that away, then I can get to a wall where the fuse panel is located, so I can move it, so I can add another strip light, so I can see a different part of the garage where I need to move a table saw out the way, to get to the rear tyre of the car, which is flat, and so on and so on, until hopefully before summer is over, I can start it and drive it out the garage :) keeps me busy enough though :)
@@spinyuk sounds like you’ve done the smart thing and broken the big thing down into lots of little bits. It’s the only way! Best wishes with the next little bit.
Great video Laura. It's really struck a chord with me. I'm really struggling to get my songs that I've written recorded down. I have all the means to do it (Instruments, new laptop, mics etc) but my anxiety and depression creates huge obstacles for me. Just the thought of attempting to get the wheels in motion feels daunting and I end up getting overwhelmed b y it all. It's incredibly frustrating because I really want to get these songs out of my head and into the world. It's exhausting!!
@@georgewhite1972 oh I’m sorry to hear about these obstacles!! When I’m feeling super sludgy for whatever reason, I find listing all the little aspects of what I need to do super helpful. Literally stuff like: shower, eat breakfast, find recording notebook, sit in chair, make list of favourite songs, listen to song, write notes on what needs changing etc etc. “Writing a song” is way too vague an idea for our brains to deal with even on a good day. Getting started feels too much sometimes and I don’t have anxiety (and only very occasional bouts of down-ness) so you’re not alone in any of this, and I believe in you xo
@@Penfriendrocks Thanks for the kind words. You have given me some good ideas to try out 🤗
@@georgewhite1972 Oh hooray!! Go go go xx
Good luck with your recording! 😁 My project for the week seems to have been moving my studio from one room to another, which is still ongoing and being a bit of a hoarder, I realise I have too much stuff, oh and should've decorated first 🤦🏻♂️😂
@@DoomNedwob you’ll get there!! It’s always such a good feeling to move things about a bit.
@@Penfriendrocks That change of perspective and working arrangement has a good feel to it. Inspiring 😁 Not quite finished but at least I can make some noise now and revisiting some old equipment has been fun too 😁 Not quite sure where I'm going to put all my bass guitars though 😂
This is why I hang my little collection on the wall 😎
@@Penfriendrocks I have been thinking of wall hangers, and thanks for reminding me about them. I may have some actual wall as I have to move my book cases to another room, hmmm, might have to start using walls in other rooms as well though 😂 It'll get sorted one way or another 😊
@@DoomNedwob My guitars, basses and ukuleles adorn the stairwell leading up to The Launchpad a- I quickly ran out of wall space in the attic itself!