Ever since I started writing music at the age of 16, I’ve dreamed of sharing my songs with the world. It’s still surreal to think that in less than 48 hours, that dream will be coming true when I release my debut single, “So Close”.
I’ve forgotten exactly when I first started writing “So Close” but it would have been around 2004 or 2005 when I was in university. It’s the first and only song I wrote on guitar (since I suck at it) whereas all my other songs were written at the piano. Before I knew any music theory, I was strumming simple power chords over a I, vi, IV, V progression and I thought it sounded nice, not yet realizing that this was a very generic and common chord progression in pop music. The melody and lyrics for the verse and pre-chorus came to me quickly and I thought the song was finished.
Years later, maybe around 2015, I shared the song with my singing teacher at the time who felt like it was missing a big chorus. She was absolutely right, so I quickly wrote the chorus and bridge and a week later we both agreed then that the song was complete. Though the song is quite different from my other material, being much more upbeat and energetic, I thought it was a great song (still do), and I spent the next few years casually looking for a producer to professionally finish it for commercial release.
I met Stephen James Kerr in 2018 after coming across his website. Even though he primarily produced local rock and metal bands, I was impressed by the clarity of his mixes, especially his vocal production, and reached out to him about “So Close”. Unfortunately, the collaboration didn’t work out. Even though he did a great job sonically with “So Close,” that 2018 mix was too much a typical 2000s alternative rock track and lacked the synth-laden ambiance I had envisioned. I saved it as a private track on Soundcloud, sharing it only with close friends, and never intended to release it commercially.
I’d almost forgotten about the song, but in the fall of 2022, I took a creative writing course with Canadian author Patricia Westerhof. She mentioned in one class that her husband is acclaimed music producer Douglas Romanow so after the course ended, I emailed her and she very kindly connected me with him. My initial intent was just to get some leads on other local producers who’d be a good fit for the track as being a no-name indie songwriter, I thought Doug was frankly out of my league. To my surprise, he liked the song and took it on himself. My work friend P, who has an amazing voice, kindly sang on the track and hopefully, you’ll hear him on future releases. Fast forward to January 2024, I got the masters for the version of “So Close” finally aligned with my creative vision.
Without any promotion, I quietly released the 2018 version of “So Close” in February 2024 to learn about music distribution and music business. I’m glad I did because it’s way more complicated than I thought it was (more on that in a future post). Made a lot of mistakes, but I will take what I’ve learned and release the official version of “So Close” on March 22, 2024.
I debated whether I should share the song’s meaning but I’d like for you to find your own meaning behind the lyrics and this post has gone on long enough. It has been a very long journey, but I’m so thrilled to finally share my music with you.