Song writing

I love writing songs. I just finished writing a song, and I'm really excited about the potential it has.

I started writing songs out of necessity, really. When I first started playing guitar at 16, I wasn't skilled enough to cover songs. So instead of just giving up on guitar, I started making up my own chord progressions and putting words in with them. Like most songwriters when they start, my songs were absolutely terrible. You know what I mean, the kind of songs that have rhyme schemes like "me" and "be" and "us" and bus." But my Mom thought I had potential and encouraged me to keep writing. Once I got a couple buddies to join me, I started writing more frequently and slowly improving my rhyme patterns and schemes. But trust me, my songs were still pretty pitiful. I enjoy looking back on them every once in a while and getting a good chuckle out of them.

It was probably around my senior year when I started writing songs that I was confident in. Songs like "You're Not Alone" and "Hit And Miss" are songs we still play today, and they still mean a lot to me. I also started writing some singer/songwriter style songs, too. One of my favorite songs I've written is "I'll Always Love You," a song I've described as 'a love song to no one.'

Since I got into college, my songwriting has gone to a different level. In high school, I would often sit down with a chord progression in mind, a pen in hand, and just write the song in one sitting. Now, I tend to spread my songwriting out over a few days and give the lyrics time to soak in and resonate until I like them.

I'm certainly in no position to give songwriting tips, but if I could give three tips, they would be this:

1) Write often. Songwriting is just like any other skill; it takes lots of practice and patience. Do your best to write as often as you can, whether it's a whole song or just a little verse.

2) Have someone critique your music honestly and brutally. You'll never get better as a songwriter if your critic tells you "This is great!" after every song. I'm thankful to have a friend like Mike who isn't afraid to ask "What are you trying to say with this line?" or say "I don't like how it flows right here." If you have someone who can help you in that way, you can see what you are doing wrong so you can not only fix the problem, but strengthen your writing ability.

3) Have fun! Songwriting can certainly be stressful sometimes, but don't be afraid to step back from the process and remember why you are writing songs. For me, I write songs because it's a great challenge and it's fun. Enjoy doing it.

-matthew

11:54 pm

Rescued
Jack's Mannequin
Album - Everything In Transit

Song Lyrics

Song lyrics are something that have always been a huge reason as to why I love music. One genre of music that portrays lyrics in a very beautiful way is folk/acoustic music. I feel that the simple instrumentation of this music immediately puts the focus on the words instead of the music, and I love that. A great example of that is City & Colour's "Body In A Box".

There's a funeral procession on the highway

Traffic screeches to a halt

There's people searching for a better way

To live their lives, oh

Johnny lived a good life

You'll hear them say

As tears of sadness soak the ground

The reaper crept in

Took his breath away

In the middle of the night, oh

We celebrate the lives of the dead

It's like a man's best party

Only happens when he dies

We gather round

To pay our respects

While their souls are still searching for the light

Searching for the light

So please don't come to me

On my dying day

Just let me go in peace

With all the things

That I've forgot to say

Racing through my mind, oh

And don't you bury me

Six feet underground

Just burn my body in a box

And let my ashes

Blow with the wind

Out into the night sky

We celebrate the lives of the dead

It's like a man's best party

Only happens when he dies

We gather round

To pay our respects

While their souls are still searching for the light

Searching for the light

-matthew

5:59 pm

Album Review for Newspaper

I was recently asked to write a review for our college newspaper, The Papyrus. Here it is:


I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart
Butch Walker And The Black Widows
One Haven Music

Whether you know it or not, you’ve heard of Butch Walker. Butch Walker has produced albums for artists like Pete Yorn, The Academy Is..., Katy Perry, All Time Low, Weezer, and so many more. My first experience of Butch Walker involved YouTube. My friend called me into his room one night and said “Dude, you gotta check out this video.” (Something that happens frequently on a college campus.) It was a video of Butch Walker walking into the studio, making coffee, peeing, making funny faces into the camera, and recording a cover of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me,” including a rewrite in the lyrics to match them from a guy’s perspective. I knew after watching this video that this guy was good.

On February 23rd, Butch Walker dropped his newest album, I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart. A lot has happened to him in recent years: the birth of his first child, the loss of his home in the California wildfire disaster, and even turning 40. Life changing events like this are a songwriters dream, especially if you’re someone like Butch Walker.

Walker’s songwriting skill is immediately noticeable from his opening song, “Trash Day.” He paints a very descriptive picture from a layman’s view of Beverly Hills, Nashville, and Atlanta, and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. My personal favorite songwriting lyric is in the final verse of the last song, “Be Good Until Then,” which was written for his newborn son:
Everybody loves a hero
Not so much when they fall short so
Try to keep your cape on underneath
You don't have to try so hard
To be the best, just know you are
And that's all that'll matter to me.

As the album progresses, it seems like the next song is just as catchy as the song before it. Whether it’s a stripped down song with luscious strings like “Don’t You Think Someone Should Take You Home,” or the super catchy and upbeat “She Likes Hair Bands,” Butch Walker knows the music industry well enough to know how to make these 11 songs sound great. Popular music website Absolutepunk.net describes this album as “The Beatles playing in a Nashville bar with Ryan Adams & Electric Light Orchestra while Brian May makes a few cameo appearances.” and I don’t think it could be any better put than this.

-matthew

3:20 pm

Be Joyful Always; Pray Continually.

16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

Who knew five words could be so demanding?

It's February 2010, in my second full week of the semester, and to be honest, I'm struggling. I feel like I have a pretty good right to feel bogged down, too: I'm taking 17 credits this semester. I'm very involved with AgapeFest this year and have 5 different hour-long meetings each week for the festival. I've been searching for a job within a 20-mile radius since August and still haven't found a job. I'm almost never making time for Bible reading and I rarely make the trip to Whitlock to try and write music. I'm struggling on a few other levels, too, and it's really starting to get to me.

Is it easy to get in this position? Absolutely. I've been in this rut for quite a while, quite honestly. I've done a pretty decent job of hiding it up until recently, but I think I've finally realized I have to just come out and say it.

It all started before school started back up. Back in August, my old car's transmission was falling apart and I knew it wouldn't last me through college. My mom and I decided we were gonna see about getting me a new vehicle. We found a very nice car at a very reasonable price, but found out that because Mom is still making car payments on her vehicle that she couldn't cosign on a loan for me. We decided to try and talk to my grandparents (father's parents) and see if they would be willing to give me a hand. They wanted nothing to do with it, and insulted both me and my mother very harshly. They told me that I was not responsible and that it was obviously my mom wasn't responsible either because she was going to let me get away with another huge expense like this. We calmly walked out of their house, and on the way home, I managed to use every single curse word I possibly knew. I love my mom more than anything (evidence), and to hear someone make these accusations about her, especially my own grandparents, put me in a rage. They never apologized for what they said, and I have not spoken to them since then. I know that there were better ways to handle that, but there isn't much going back now. Maybe one day my grandparents and I will have a real talk, but they haven't respected me since the day I told them I was going into the music business, so I don't think that is going to change anytime soon.

So ever since that day, I've been trying to prove my grandparents wrong and show them that I'm responsible enough to pay for a car. Show them that I'm not a little kid anymore. Show them that I'm worth something. And so far? I haven't done much towards any of those three. And that's been tough to swallow.

One thing about me is that I'm a person that loves relationships. I love having close friendships with people. I thoroughly enjoy spending one on one time with people and trading stories. I feel like that's how I best interact with my friends. But I've struggled doing that this school year. So if you are my friend and haven't seen much of me this school year, please let me know. I'm sorry for not spending time with you and I want to fix that.

So how do I get away from this? Be joyful always; pray continually. Sounds easy, right? I mean, five words doesn't sound like too difficult of a mantra to live by. But I've never been hit harder by five words in my life. I think I have to realize that life is not always going to go as smoothly as I wish. I also have to realize that God's plan is exponentially better than mine as well. I just have to let it go, be joyful, and pray.

Sorry for the length.

-matthew
1:20 am
City Of Black & White
Mat Kearney
Album - City Of Black & White

Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2009

Here is my list of my Top 10 favorite albums of 2009, starting with 5 honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention (In alphabetical order)


As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You
Triple Crown Records

Favorite Tracks: In Case Of Rapture, We's Been Waitin'


Between The Trees - Spain
Bonded Records

Favorite Tracks: We Can Try, The One Thing


David Bazan - Curse Your Branches
Barsuk Records

Favorite Tracks: Please, Baby, Please, In Stiches



The Fray - The Fray
Epic Records

Favorite Tracks: Never Say Never, Ungodly Hour


Thrice - Beggars
Vagrant Records

Favorite Tracks: In Exile, Beggars

And now for the top 10.

#10


Sufjan Stevens - The BQE: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
Asthmatic Kitty Records

This album blew me away initially. An instrumental album, it really keeps you involved with it's huge range of instrumentation. From very classical style (Introductory Fanfare For The Hooper Heroes) to programming/techno style songs (Movement IV: Traffic Shock), this album is full of beauty and surprises. If you appreciate instrumental music whatsoever, please check out this album.

#9


Barcelona - Absolutes
Motown Records

From the very first track, Falling Out Of Trees, I knew I would love this album. This piano based album is a wonderful one from track one to track thirteen. And word on the street is that these guys put on an absolutely tremendous live show. Hopefully one day I'll get to see it, and I hope you get to as well.


#8

This Providence - Who Are You Now?
Fueled By Ramen Records

I found out about these around the time they toured with Relient K in October of 2008. I downloaded their ST album and was a huge fan. I loved Dan Young's voice and the way it blended with the music. But when Who Are You Now? released in January, I knew these guys had something good going. Their first track, Sure As Hell really set the tone for the album, and I liked said tone. The music had really matured, and the lyrics were just as great. This is one of those albums that flat out doesn't have a bad track. Good, good stuff from a pretty underrated band.

#7


MUTEMATH - Armistice
Teleprompt/Warner Bros. Records

This album almost destroyed MUTEMATH. They had an entire album already recorded, but they weren't real excited about the songs. They brought in Dennis Herring as their producer, who told them that all those songs sucked and they needed to write new stuff. Inspired by such brutal honesty, Armistice came out of that. And what a great record it is. This album is a little more poppy than their previous work, but still just as creative and unique as their ST album, if not better. I had the privilege of seeing this guys live, and it was just mind blowing. These 4 guys are so good at their respective positions in the band, and they play together so well.

#6


Matt Hires - Take Us To The Start
F-Stop Records

This is an album I accidentally stumbled across, and I'm sure glad I did. This album is incredibly catchy and once you start it, you just gotta listen to it all the way through. Matt is a rather unknown artist in the industry, and I really hope for his sake that he gets a ton of exposure, because he has an incredible amount of potential.

#5


The Dangerous Summer - Reach For The Sun
Hopeless Records

Talk about coming out of nowhere. My roommate from last year stumbled upon these guys just about a month before this album came out, having only their debut EP. It took a few spins of that for me to get used to this guy's voice, but it steadily grew on me. By the time their full length LP came out, I was hooked. AJ Perdomo has a very distinct voice, but it's one of passion and great skill. Keep your eyes on these guys, because they're exploding, and fast.

#4


Mat Kearney - City Of Black & White
Aware Records

If you came into this album expecting more pseudo-rap spoken word talk, you were letdown. If you came in with an open mind, you were probably just as equally impressed as I was. Mat Kearney's voice has matured, and so has his music. From very upbeat songs like All I Have to the piano based New York To California, this album is filled with gems. The closing track is beautifully done with a stunning ending. After one listen, I was in love. Great work, Mat.

#3


Sherwood - QU
MySpace/Interscope Records

I've always liked Sherwood. If I ever wanted a break from my typical routine of music, I'd give one of their older EPs a listen, just for something to have on. When I found this album, I didn't even realize they were recording new stuff still. Boy, I'm glad I found this album. The opening track, Shelter, is a 55 second a capella track that just gets you pumped for the rest of the album. From there on out, each and every track is just flat out good. Guest vocals from Molly Jenson on Worn just make the song. If you get a chance, check out her newest album, too. (Maybe Tomorrow)

#2


Relient K - Forget And Not Slow Down
Jive Records

Ohhh Relient K. I found out about these guys shortly after the release of their album mmhmm, and that quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time. Track after track on that album was so well written, and I knew these guys were good. Then came Five Score and Seven Years Ago. I thought, "Eh, these guys are pretty good, but I know these guys have more in them. Then came Forget And Not Slow Down. I knew after just one listen that this would be one of those albums that brought my faith back in Relient K. Tracks like Sahara, Savannah, and If You Believe Me make me realize that after so many years, Relient K is simply getting better.


#1


Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
lowercase people/Atlantic Records

So this is probably a little biased because I am such a big Switchfoot fan, but wow. In August of 2007, Switchfoot severed ties with their record label. After 4 solo EPs and a side project (Fiction Family), Jon and the gang got together, recorded over 80 songs, struggled through the decision making of what to cut and what to leave, and the end result was their record Hello Hurricane. And what a great ending to a great struggle. This album is what I would consider a "grower." With each and every listen, you notice little things that make you say "Wow, this album is incredible." I could go on a full-out review for each and every song, but I'll save my breath and your time both. If you really want to find out how good it is, go pick it up. Chances are that you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for reading through this. If I persuaded you to at least give one album a listen, I did my job.

-matthew

Why music shouldn't be labeled "Christian"

I recently read a review on Switchfoot's new album, "Hello Hurricane." The reviewer ended the review by saying,

"...And that is where Switchfoot succeeds in becoming more than just a rock band.Because the reality is that it would be easy for an openly Christian band like Switchfoot to make their art inaccessible to someone like me. I have no doubt that when Jon Foreman says 'love,' a certain segment of his listeners hear 'faith in Jesus Christ.' But he never uses those words in these songs; he never puts up barriers between the band and those in their audience who are of other faiths, or none. In a world beset with conflicts rooted in religious differences, what could be more meaningful than a very public demonstration that it’s possible to remain true to one’s own faith without excluding anyone who might believe differently?"

The Daily Vault Review

This is what's it's about. I don't really know how to say what I want to say, to be honest, but I feel like this is how "Christian" artists should approach the industry. If you want people to see that you're a "Christian band," show it by your actions, not by your title. If you want to share the Gospel with the world, you gotta get it out of the 4 church walls.

I'm done ranting.

-matthew
1:57 am
Yet
Switchfoot
Album - Hello Hurricane

What I Hate About These Two Sites

www.pluggedinonline.com
www.christiananswers.net

Here are two sites right here that really aggravate me. I'm sure there are plenty more like them, but these are the two I'm familiar with.

These two sites review music, video games and movies and tell us whether they are "morally acceptable." These are my questions: How impressionable am I really? What makes the people who review these things incapable of being hurt by the media they are taking in? Are these "Super Christians" not capable of being morally injured by viewing the media they're reviewing? And if not, why don't we all just reach this level of Christianity so that we are all incapable of being demolished by this media?

This is my view on media: If you are responsible enough and mature enough to realize what is real and what is not, then I find you responsible enough to view said media. People who go out and watch "Public Enemies" are not gonna say, "Hey, if Johnny Depp can rob a bank, why can't I?" Get real.

Do I think people are influenced by media? Absolutely. I know I am. But how deeply you are influenced by media is up to you. Do I listen to strictly Christian music? Nope. I listen to music that has thought provoking lyrics, and music that makes you think. And believe it or not, you can get a lot out of lyrics that don't always fit the "Christian Music" box.

-matthew

4:40 pm
Where I Want To Be
The Dangerous Summer
Album - Reach For The Sun