This should be timely work
This should be timely work
When I was in my mid-twenties, I had a few things going on that all informed each other:
I knew I wanted to learn to produce and mix records
I didn’t know a lot about engineering
I had a very bad drinking problem1
The way these three factors intersected is that I worked on an album of original material for four years when I was 27-31, and then I never released it. I spent easily 40+ hours a week in my little studio (on top of a full-time day job), ust going over and over and over all the songs. Two steps forward, two steps back. Learning learning learning, but also drinking extremely heavily and doing lots of drugs all the time too, so not as efficient a process as would have been optimal.
I learned something in that time, but only retrospectively, which is that there is an expiration date on songs. Not when they're released; once a song is released, it can live forever. But until a song is released, it's on a countdown timer — and if that timer goes ding before the song is released, the song no longer feels relevant to the person whose song it is. The huge catch: the timer is silent, and there's no way to know what it's set for — it's different for every person and every song.
So the risk in letting a project drag out is that some or all of it will no longer be relevant to who the artist was when they recorded it. Like, they might "like" the song still? But if it no longer feels urgent, like something their soul is still crying out to express, then its moment has passed. And that's a big risk!
Given this, I always work really hard these days to get records done as fast as I can. Now, obviously life happens; if I'm on tour for a couple months, I can't do studio work. Sometimes I track a record and then mix it later. I always tell the band first so we can all set expectations, and it's helpful to have it be a known quantity. But even that is more delay than I prefer. What I really like is to produce and then to mix and then to master and then be done with it. (Building in little ear breaks so I can come back fresh at each stage, of course!)
Art reflects who we are when we make it. Sit on it too long, and it’s no longer relevant.
Always forward — jamie
For those who don’t know: I’ve been sober now for 19+ years. And I’m always down to talk sobriety with anyone who needs an experienced ear. If this is you, feel free to message me any time. 🖤