Miriam Ah Kuoi here…
I have been in the studio for the past 3 weeks working on my 5 song EP with hopes of it being released by the end of December. I am working with our very own Nick Kirk (Scores films for Whitetone Motion Pictures, songwriter, and producer) and producer, Dan Hannon (produced such artists as Manchester Orchestra and Winston Audio).
Wasn’t sure I prepared for the process that it takes to do this….it has been challenging, inspiring, and a bit out of my own comfort zone to say the least.
This is my first blog on this journey and I welcome anyone who cares to read and get an inside look at this process. I am going to be very honest and speak of my thoughts and feelings as an artist and a songwriter as this process unfolds so here we go.
The first couple of weeks were tough, not gonna lie. The artist and songwriter in me had a rude awakening for sure! Dan, Nick and I listened through every song and coming to the end realizing that we were going to put 5 NEW songs on the EP. Holy crap! So the writing began….and at the end of 7 days…I was looking at 5 new songs ready for production. I was so used to waiting on the inspiration and letting the inspiration or how I felt in the moment drive me. I was used to piddling on the guitar or piano and walking away for days or months and really in no rush to get the song done. I was used to the melody, the music, the lyrics, and my heart to all be on the same page going at the same pace. But in 7 days…we had 5 new songs?? I was frustrated and worried that what I was singing, writing, reworking had no authentic meaning. My heart had not caught up with anything we had done.
Oh to trust….to put all my trust into the producers hand and let them fight for the integrity of a great song was incredibly difficult. I had been yanked out of my own pace, my own comforts in my approach to writing.
We came to the day to track vocals for the first song: “Jesus Tore The Veil”, which is a collaboration of Daniel (Winston Audio), Dan Hannon, and myself. I remember sitting on the coach saying to my heart “Come on…catch up!” And it did. As I stepping intot the booth and began to sing, every word, every chord change moved me multiple times to tears. And to find out the it will be accompanied by a real 3 piece string ensemble….it’s absolutely beautiful. Honest. Real. Vulnerable.
So I’ll wrap this up for now… if I could say this to the artists and songwriters….
Don’t be afraid to put your craft on the chopping block to get beheaded… Don’t be afraid to yank the song out of hiding…it may be a bit premature when you do but it will develop and grow and catch up with you as if you had gone your normal way of writing it.
Mucho luv to all.
Write like the wind~Miriam