Picked up an extra shift today so I wasn't able to start writing until 9:00 p.m. Got done recording at 5 in the morning and my computer kept freezing because the memory is FULL! YIKES! I need an external hard drive. I uploaded the video with the smallest file size possible and that's why it looks/sounds fuzzy. This project kicks my @$$ sometimes.
*DANNA RICHARDS* Singer/Songwriter
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Song #92 "Julie Ann"
This song began with the "oh oh oh" section and I didn't really have ideas for the lyrical content in the beginning. I kept saying "come back Peggy Ann" in the chorus and had NO idea what it meant. They were the only lines that were sticking after singing the melody over and over, so I decided to keep them and write a song to them. I knew I wanted to build the song around this "Peggy Ann" character. Who is she? Why do I want to write about her? I didn't really like Peggy Ann as the final name so I started trying different names like "Peggy Sue and Julie Sue" then once I said Julie Ann and it hit me. That's my mom's name. So there I had a character for the song.
I could probably write 365 songs about the subject of my mother alone. She is presently in prison serving a three year sentence for custody interference and probation violation. She is a very passionate person and had all of us "kids" very involved in music and sports and I am extremely grateful for her efforts. She has so many beautiful qualities and is a very sweet woman. Unfortunately she was also very unhappy and abusive physically and emotionally while we were growing up. She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I'm not sure (as I have seen and "observed" her my whole life) if that is the case or if she was just very very unbalanced and unhappy, but either way it pushed everybody in the family away.
You know how it's suggested to write a letter to someone you are having a hard time communicating with ... and then not to send it. Well songs like these are my letters to my mother ... but also happen to be posted for the world to see :/ The sharing of this song and personal story is not to vent, bash my mother or to give her a bad reputation, but to connect with people who might be experiencing a loss of a loved one ... that "narcoleptic heart" (that's a lyric from the song) that has shut the world out. I love her and am sad that she is so unhappy but ultimately I am at peace with the past.
I co-wrote the song "Behind Bars" with my brother for song #8 of the project. If you would like to listen you can view it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL8ws-GOEgU
Thank you as always for listening :)
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Song #91 "Don't Move A Thing"
I'm exhausted today after spending so much time on the celebrity song yesterday, so I feel like this one is half finished. I like the melody but if I was choosing it for my CD I'd rewrite pretty much all of the lyrics. At the end of the 365 days I am making two albums. One jazz/easy listening and one rock/pop. If you have any suggestions of the songs you would like to hear on the album, let me know :)
Thank you as always for listening.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Song #90 "Celebrity"
I started this song 2 days ago when I was writing for my jam with Scott Tarulli (down below). I liked the guitar part and came up with a little melody but didn't know what to write about so I moved on to the "One Time Criminal" song. But today, after watching youtube videos of the wonderful, fabulous and down right frightening Lady Gaga ... it got me on to the celebrity idea. I spent ENTIRELY too much time on the production but it was fun so hey why not. Ex-freaking-hausted!
In the video the guitar is live and I overdubbed the lead vocals because they were distorting too much in the live recording. That's why they look out of sync at times.
Special shout out to Judy Shannon. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!!!
Scott Tarulli's Solo (From take 4)
Here is an outtake from my session with Scott Tarulli. Check out his solo. He's awesome! He has a 3rd album coming out soon. Check out his website: http://scotttarulli.com/
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Song #19 "Sailing"
I wrote this song pretty quickly today. I got done in 3 hours and came home and wanted to make a different backdrop. String. Paper. Scissors. Glitter. Done!
Song #18 "23rd and Anywhere"
DEFINITELY need a band for this song! I hear a lot of production going on and would love to record it. I wrote this on my lunch break and finished the lyrics at work because I had a double shift today. Wanted to produce it a bit for the vid today but didn't have time. Drat!
Song #18 "Homewrecker"
So it's Sunday again and here's my video for a previously written song of mine. When I wrote this it was originally called "Heartbreaker" but I couldn't stop thinking of the Mariah Cary song and it morphed into Homewrecker. I wrote the rest of the song around that. It's one of my favorite songs because it has a style of it's own and it's really fun to sing and play.
Song #16 "Bucket List"
It is so easy for me to write a cheesy song that I almost feel like it's a cop out. But it is a song ... in a day. And I LIKE CHEESE! Especially Gouda!
Song #15 "Jason's Keeper"
This song is for my step brother who was killed a couple of years ago. My step mom had written a poem to him and it gave me an idea for this song. I wrote the verses at home and needed to get out so I took my video camera and filmed random stuff in the city (Boston). The things I found inspired the lyrics for the Chorus (mainly the sun ... I felt very spiritual when I was out filming and almost felt like he was in the sun looking down on me and giving me strength and inspiration. So the idea clicked that he was in the sun and we can see him whenever we want to). This is a difficult subject to write about because there are a lot of people's feelings you have to keep in mind. I hope I did justice to the situation. We miss you Jason!!!
Song #14 "Your Love"
So ... date night planned with my boyfriend tonight at 9 and we haven't seen each other a whole lot since the project started because it takes up all my free time. So ... after 6 hours of writing and coming up with nothing, 8:00 rolls around. I called my dad for a break and some inspiration and right when I got off the phone ... I just started playing this song and wrote it in 40 minutes. I guess persistence does pay off. 1 point me ... 0 points writers block!!!! I ran home and recorded the quickest video of my life and made it out with my man by 9:30. SOOOOOO stressful but done for the day so I can relax.
Song #13 "Forward Motion"
What's a music video without background dancers! Psssh. I don't know if it's fun to watch but it was fun to make. Thank you Elaina and Lisa!!!
Song #12 "Stronger Than You Think"
Holy stress balls! This was definitely the hardest project yet! Not only did it take me 7 hours to write the song, but I got done filming and rearranging my lights and backdrop to find that my main video footage went missing. Frik! Thankfully I did a bunch of random takes and spliced the bajesus out of what I had. I really like this song. I'm all about feeling empowered and trying to inspire people. Finished at 4 in the morning and up for work at 7:30 :(
Song #11 "Flower Girl"
I recorded this song in Logic and wrote it for my cousins Taylor and Kelsey. Taylor, the blooming photographer that she is, contacted me wanting me to write a song that went with her flower themed photography. I remember her and Kelsey being flower girls in a wedding the last time I had seen them so I went that rout. Some of the lyrics in the verse don't make sense because I ran out of time (spent too much time adding all the instruments and producing it).
Song #10 "Twilight"
So ever Sunday during my project, I take one of my "pre-Nine to Five" songs and make a video for it. I also make a new cartoon intro for the following week. I wrote this song for my two friends who love he book/movie twilight (and may or may not have pillows with Edward's face on them ... just sayin). This song is about the movie. If you hate Twilight it doubles as a love song. If you hate love ... well you'll get a good laugh.
Song #8 "Behind Bars"
"Behind Bars" was Co-Written with my amazing and talented 15-year-old brother Alex Richards. He wrote the piano part, the melody for the verses and most of the lyrics. He played his piano and melody idea over the phone and while he worked on lyrics I worked on a Chorus. It was a different way to write for me. I am not very experienced in co-writing in the first place, but doing it over the phone was a new challenge. It was fun.
It was awesome writing this song with him because it is about our mother who is in prison for 3 years, and he is one of the very few people that I can completely relate with on the subject. It was a very therapeutic process. I tried to make the Chorus lyrics more general and metaphoracal as in your "mind is behind bars" to make it a bit more relatable.
I also went scissor happy as you will see. 2 pads of construction paper and a roll of tape and here's what you get ...
Song #7 "Dream Catcher"
I went a little crazy today with the backdrop. I hung my roomies curtains from my wall and recorded the drums, guitar and vocals seperately. When I record with a backdrop I have to move my computer to the middle of the room (because that is what I use for a camera), then unplug and re-plug in all of my recording equipment. The backdrop process took 30 minutes alone. Then I recorded the guitar, the congas and vocals (then a vibesy keyboard part). The song took 6 hours to come up with and write and the backdrop/recording/editing took 4 hours after that. I started my song at 3 today because I worked from 8-3. so if you do the calculations ... I got to bed pretty late. I work full time and am starting to get POOPED by the end of the day. Especially exhausted because the song is so cheesy it makes me bloated just thinking about it. Onward and upward.
Goodnight moon.
Song #6 "So Vain"
So these were my original lyrics to this song
"You're so vain ... you probably think this song is about you" but I thought they were a little ambiguous and contrived.
Ok ... it's not to be confused with Carly Simon's "So Vain". Awesome song! Today I was stuck behind the desk at work listening to two beautiful girls talk about rhinoplasty and DD's. I didn't have any intent on writing about that but it sort of just came out in the random words I was singing so I went with it. I think this song would be fun in a band. Also a girl from work was playing a Weezer song on the ukulele and the rythm sort of made it's way into my guitar part ... ok i stole it.
Song #5 "Till the City Is Singing"
Over spring break I went to Nashville right before the major flooding happened. I loved Nashville while I was there and the destruction hit home for me in a way. I have never written Country music but wanted to try it. (I even recorded a take with a Southern accent but I sounded like a jackass ... I'm adding a FAIL reel with all of my horrible lyric/song ideas through out the project so maybe that will make the cut ;)). This is a song I would pitch to another artist. I would first rewrite the verses because they aren't QUITE where I want them but you'll get the basic idea.
A special thank you to Isabeau Peterson and Sarah Tollerson for letting me use your personal pictures from the disaster. You guys are awesome!
Song #4 "I Don't Regret It"
Feeling experimental today. I wrote this song and thought it would sound cool with doubled vocals so after recording the original I added background vocals and wrote the bridge (oh oh oh's) section with the background vocals in mind. This song was started and finished in an HOUR! I like these kind of songs. This song is more in my "style" or something I would want to put on an album. I am picking the 12 best rock/pop songs and 12 best jazz songs from the project and making albums at the end of the 365 days. It's only day 4 but I really like this song. We'll see if it makes the cut.
Song #3 "Angel Baby"
'Angel baby' is my baby gift for my cousin luke and his lovely wife Jessica. I talked to my aunt a couple weeks before writing and she mentioned that my cousin called her a "miracle" so I used that in the song. The baby's name is Rylee and she is a little sweetheart. This song is WAY out of my usual style but then again, I don't really know what my style is yet. Maybe I'll find my niche with Kid Bop or Pampers commercials, and my claim to fame is linked to kids crapping their pants. At least I'll be able to say "I told you so" at my High School reunion!
Song #2 "So Good"
This song came very easily to me. I wrote it in about a half hour. It's about my boyfriend *audience awe'sssss* who I am madly in love with. I had never written a love song for someone before and BAM BAM ... my first two songs of the project were all gooshie :)
I tried to get all fancy shmancy and use 2 camera angles and avoid using my bedroom as a backdrop. My goal is to not only make each song individual, but have it's own 'look' and feel.
My Nine to Five introduction
My Nine to Five is a project I'm doing writing a song a day for 1 year. I'm writing the song, recording it and posting it to youtube. I'll get all of the videos up here with a brief description of each one this week.
Love, peace and squeaky cheese :)
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