#sorry attempts

[aclearjob]

my brand new tumblog, where i will be posting cover songs that i record. follow it!

[sorryattempts]

sometime around 1988, i got in my head that i wanted to sing. sometime around 1990, i got in my head that i wanted to be in a rock band, rich and famous. sometime around 1991-1992, i said to my friends, "let's form a band!" sometime around 1996, after much fumbling with words and instruments and chords, we started to do that. around 1998, we started getting good at it.

that's when this picture was taken. that's me on the far right, playing bass guitar. right from the get-go, we wrote lots of original material.

but even back then, i had tonnes of musical influences that i loved, and i wanted to cover ALL OF THEM. i love cover songs. i love the idea of reinterpretations and reinventions of ideas. i love hearing different renditions of the same songs, to see if the difference will make me love them less or more.

and of course, since i started playing music, i have been learning, playing, and recording covers. it has been one of the most formative methods that i have learned to play, and hone my skills as a producer and songwriter.

however, truthfully, the end product is more often than not a far cry less impressive than the process itself. in fact, usually my covers suck. but some have brilliant little moments. and i have gotten better over the years.

sometime around 2001, i decided that i wanted to start seriously recording and releasing a series of cover songs. over the past 11 years, that has never really manifested in the public ear. but sometime between 2003 and 2005, i gave a name to my ongoing series of haphazard cover songs: sorry attempts.

this new tumblr will be an ongoing collection of my cover attempts, from my archived recordings all the way back to 2001 (such as my bright eyes cover) all the way up to present day and beyond. i will start by selectively releasing some older material, and work my way up to material that i am working on today, including my aforementioned jacob vs. james project.

hopefully these interpretations of mine (and the accompanying explanations behind why i covered these particular tunes) will give my small fanbase a personal peek inside my working process as an independent, amateurish, home-studio producer/songwriter. maybe it will encourage others to do the same. always do the things you love!