- 2 days ago
This week I submitted a song I wrote for a little contest on Youtube! The streamer Ludwig asked fans to submit music for him to use as background tracks for streaming, so I busted my butt and made something that I thought would be usable in that context.
I feel good about the effort I put forward, and I think the track I worked on has merits for the specific use that it was intended for. I can't say I'm completely in love with the song, but perhaps that's to be expected.
This was one of the few times in the last few years that I actually sat down and wrote something that wasn't for/ about me specifically... Perhaps I never quite realized how much I rely on my own thoughts and feelings as a backboard for creative decision-making. Working on this song, sometimes it felt like there were a million options... and none of them were right... because there was nothing of substance on which the decision should be based?
Perhaps it's a bit dramatic to say nothing of substance... But I do feel that the goals for which decisions were made on this song were quite different, than the goals for which I usually am writing. Songwriting is, for me, a personal process of clarification a
nd discovery of initially vague feelings. The realizations about myself and my thoughts that come from working on the song lead me towards the musical decisions that I feel are interesting and give the song character. They are the things that make the song feel like it makes sense and follows some emotional logic. There is dialog between words and melody, between silence and noise, between energy and resolution... that feels like it has a purpose and says something that would be difficult to put succinctly in words... writing without that personal emotional compass was a real wakeup call!
I hope the song does well in the contest, and I think it would be cool if it wins something and gets noticed on the stream, but I don't have tremendously high hopes. There were a LOT of submissions, and many of them are quite good. It's unclear exactly when or how the judging will take place, but hopefully, sometime this week, there will be some kind of announcement.
This contest entry was also my first time properly editing a video- and I learned a lot from that experience! Challenging myself to put together a submission that was not just audio was definitely a learning experience, and I'm glad I did it. I think it elevates the song quite a bit to see it played live, and with Strudel accompaniment. I think Strudel is still a novel thing for a lot of people, and I feel good about the tools I've built in it that allow me to use it the way I do for live shows.
I've started posting a few more things to my more casual channel on youtube (Tommy Marn 2), and they've actually been getting some attention!
Speaking of Live shows! I have a live show coming up- April 4th! 7:00pm at the Little Rose Tavern in Cleveland OH! I will be opening for The Village Bicycle! I'm looking forward to it 😄 rehearsals have been going well and the live show is only getting smoother with every iteration! <3
- Mar 5
This week I've been working my butt off on a new song 😪
A streamer I follow announced a competition last week to make songs for his stream that he can use for intros and background, etc. I think this might be a killer opportunity to get more eyes on me and my music, and I'm excited to give it my best shot! The song that wins will become the intro for a big series later this year.
I think my song is coming along pretty well, but there's still a lot of work to do. Making a whole mix from scratch in a week is a tall order 😅 It's been a fun project though! It feels doable. The song I'm working on is tailored pretty specifically to the stream-context, and I'm developing it a little differently than I might with the music that I write for myself.
This process has illustrated for me just how much of my songwriting process is/is not transferable to other sorts of musical projects. When I write my own songs, I think a lot about how the development of the song relates back to my own feelings and speaks to something personal that I'm trying to express and understand. With a song like this, there is no specific, personal feeling I'm trying to capture, but developing the mix still involves the pursuit of very specific goals- and reaching those goals involves a similar process of iteration and writing/re-writing.
I hope to share an in-progress demo mix of the song tomorrow on my Patreon! <3
- Feb 26
I'm so excited to finally add an official pre-order for my tarot deck to my website!
Pre-orders are live now! I'm expecting to start shipping decks in Late Spring/ Summer, but it honestly depends on a few factors that are still unknown 😅
The tarot deck has been a huge project for me over the last couple years, and I'm so excited to see it finally getting released! It's really happening! You can buy it! Right now! and I'll mail it to you!
I'm also planning on selling tarot decks as merchandise at live shows coming up later this year, so even if you don't get a pre-order, there will still be chances to get a copy.
I'll be updating the site again to a regular non-pre order page as soon as the decks arrive and shipping begins.
Things have really started moving in my world as an artist lately, and I couldn't be happier 🥰 If you're reading this, thank you!