Right now, I’m feeling really inspired about a project I’m working on, more inspired than I’ve been for a while, actually.

I begin to get this feeling when I can see a project taking shape in my head. When the big pieces are there and I just need to start putting them together. Some things I can do myself, some things will have to be contributed by others. I start putting lists together, thinking about possibilities and options. I have questions that will need answers, things I will need to learn. These things will buzz around in my head almost incessantly.

It’s really easy to be enthusiastic at the beginning of something, particularly when you haven’t really started. When the reality of the amount of time things are going to take and the stuff you will need to do set in, it can be intimidating. All in all though, I feel I’m in a good place to do this project right now.

On my studio desk, there’s a old notepad that I’ve had for years that I scrawl notes on. Writing everything down is so useful because I know that when I sit down that I’ll have something to work on. Getting straight to business instead of fiddling can mean the difference between a wasted opportunity and a breakthrough.

I always feel like the best way to learn something is by doing, and few things motivate you to do those things than working on something you are passionate about. Flicking through tutorials and manuals is fine, but it’s all so abstracted until you have a specific problem you need to fix to continue to move forward. It becomes so important that you just have to keep looking to find the solution. If I learn five new things about mixing and recording from this process, it will have been completely worth it. The chances are that I’ll probably learn fifty things.

The last time I worked on creating a bunch of songs, I wasn’t as busy as I am now. This time, though, I am more aware of the importance of making the best of my available time and I’m so much more aware of the importance of getting things done - finishing things that I love, things that I will be proud of. I’ve got a lot to prove to myself and others in this regard. I have to prove I can work this through to the end, that I can do this really well.

I have days where I’m desperate to try something new. I love to experiment with things I haven’t done before. It’s always fun, but it’s led to me being terribly unfocused in the past. That’s why now I’ve picked a couple of things that I love and am knuckling down. Words, songs, photos. That’s it. This site, my two bands, and my photos. I still believe that some truly great artists can do many things exceptionally, but I’m not at that level. That’s a concession, but not an admission of failure. Call it a reality check. If I want to be great, which I desperately do, I need to be disciplined.

I suspect that this process will provide much inspiration for these pages. Right now it’s early days, but I’m excited. It’s a pretty good feeling.