taylor swift

From Jazz with Love: On Capturing the Moment

I love jazz. It’s no secret at this point. It didn’t use to be that way, though. For the longest time, I was very intimidated by it. The players’ skill and the complexity of the music was scary to a self-taught, alt-rock musician. I was trying to understand the music, but couldn’t. I thought it was show-offy and too complex for no goddamned reason. Then, at some point, it flipped. I started to enjoy it. I understood. I understood there was nothing to understand. Some sub-genres of jazz are quite intellectual and still too complex for my taste. But most… Read More »From Jazz with Love: On Capturing the Moment

Reverb & Dirty Talk: A Short Essay on the Venice Bitch.

Disclaimer: contains swearing and non-PC content. Read at your own peril. Elisabeth “Izzy” Woolridge Grant, better known as the flamboyant Lana Del Rey, has been in the industry for almost 20 years now. Time flies, doesn’t it? While I used to casually enjoy her vibe, I’ve learned to appreciate her work more and more. As the years go by, the absence of stylistic compromises speaks to me. I love her signature sound much more than I used to. I’ve quieted down myself, I guess. I’m not as angry anymore. More sarcastic than before, definitely, but oh well. It’s a defence… Read More »Reverb & Dirty Talk: A Short Essay on the Venice Bitch.

The Only Secret to Writing Hit Songs.

Wow, now that’s the most clickbaity headline I’ve ever written in my short writing career. I apologise for this, but at the same time, I do believe in what I wrote in this title. Let me explain. What makes a hit song? There’s many a theory about that. Years ago, some lads even developed an algorithm to find out if your song was going to be big or not. It was called hitsongscience.com, and it’s not online anymore. The program considered parameters such as key, bpm, chord changes… Then it would compare it to a database of hit tunes. Weird,… Read More »The Only Secret to Writing Hit Songs.

An Open Letter to Taylor Swift

Dear Taylor, Where to even begin? Congratulations, I guess, are in order. Your third re-recorded album, Speak Now, will come out next week, on July 7th. You’re knocking these out of the park every single time. I cannot wait for the 2024 version of Reputation. That will be a fine day. But let’s back up a little bit. Since your first country record in 2006, things got out of hand, and fast. Releasing a record every two years, you made country pop works with Fearless and Speak Now. And that’s when you started to explore other things, which led you… Read More »An Open Letter to Taylor Swift

Is Simplicity Overrated? That Time When Minimalism Killed The Production Game

Minimalism. That’s a word that we’ve read a lot over the last decade. Although not quite as popular as it was a few years ago, the old concept of “less is more” has made some serious damage. Now don’t get me wrong. Many people think of me as a minimalist. While not inaccurate, this statement doesn’t quite paint the whole picture. For those of you who think minimalism means having only one grey T-shirt and one fork, here’s a quick reminder: Minimalism is not about numbers. It never was. It only means having enough. Nothing superfluous. Your enough will be… Read More »Is Simplicity Overrated? That Time When Minimalism Killed The Production Game