Words and Sound On the Making Of “Yellow”
What was the creative process like for this particular "Yellow?"
The creative process was about working through those emotions. I wanted to bring those emotions and those memories into an audible form. I wanted the sound to be soft and bright. I wanted it to be dynamic and move forward in a way that time tends to move us. To sway from soft and loud. I took a long time to find the right sounds and how I wanted these sounds to interact with each other. And I heavily debated about lyrics. A part of me felt like I could tell the story without words but another part of me felt like the lyrics I had were meaningful to the piece. I tried singing some but that didn't suit the song at all so I went with spoken word and it felt very honest and was exactly what I wanted. I tried to read the lines like it would be on a stage play so that I could incorporate the emotion I wanted and I think the two blend well.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for "Yellow?"
I think the biggest breakthrough moment was just committing to a song like this. I have an instrumental on my first album but it was darker and mysterious. It was also a short song and I felt like I wanted to challenge myself with creating a piece that feels like an experience that you live with for a little bit. And it's opened some doors creatively for me that have allowed other songs to be made in a different way than I think I wouldn't have made if I didn't love the end result of this song.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for "Yellow?"
The most memorable moment was when I had the first "draft" of the song done before adding more nuance touches. It felt like I made something for real this time. My first album is still something I'm proud of but a lot of those songs had long creative processes and the end result didn't always have the sense of pride and completion. They required more editing and touching up to get them to a place where I felt like it was a song. This felt like a song the moment I decided on the last note. I created something that surprised me.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
I feel like an amateur when it comes to music. I come from a background of creative writing and switched to music production in college with no background in music. I took a guitar class in high school but I didn't really remember much of it. So I started taking music classes for the first time in the fall of 2016. I still graduated on time in 2019 but it left me without the tools I had in college. No DAW, no keyboard, and not a computer that could run a DAW. So I had to work to get those tools. And the journey doesn't stop there, my first album felt more like a learning process than an LP and sometimes that's the way it works and I had to accept that. I took it as a sign to learn as much as I could. Maybe calling myself an amateur isn't too bad since it keeps me learning.
How do you approach creating something new and different?
A lot of people are amazed when it comes to music that's like this but I feel that it comes naturally. Sure, I hadn't made a song like this before but I have done a decent amount of songs that focus on layering and moving those layers together. I'm on the other side of it where I'm amazed at the musicianship of people and how they can work together to make a coherent song with each member at the top of their game. But I believe that's the beauty of it all. We need producers and we need musicians. And that's where the best music is made. When a producer and a group of musicians are making music together. They take their own approaches to music and combine them together to create something.
