Recording - August 2013 - 52

Continued from page 51
was saying, a lot of my roots were the Beatles
and classic Motown and things like that. A lot
of those artists had these universal ideas: “All
You Need is Love,” “Let It Be,” “A Little Help
from My Friends.” You can’t get more universal than that. And I think that just comes
more naturally to me because I grew up on
that music and the songs that I like are like
that.
You stay on a central theme really well. Some
people might take “Let It Be” and turn it into a
complicated story with a lot of big words. But
you take “Let It Be”—using that figuratively, of
course—and you embellish it while staying on
that central theme. I hate to be all fan-boy
about it, but you’re just so good at crafting that
stuff. You could take any four lines and go, “OK, I
could use that in a commercial.” Is it so embedded in your subconscious that it just comes out
of you that way?
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I also have some different
people around me, like the people at my
licensing company, who are absolutely amaz-

“When I write songs, it takes a while
[to get placed], it’s not right away.
[People are] hoping for insta-results.
It takes six months to a year, maybe
two years.”
—Tim Myers
ing. And when we meet together, just hearing
what different people are looking for in the
general big scheme of things kind of rubs off
on me a little bit too. But I think the most
important thing when you’re sitting down to
write a song is being true to yourself and
working really hard at it and being current.
And, yeah, for TV and film, being universal
with your lyrics is extremely important. But
also being able to step outside the box is
important, like with “A Beautiful World” in
that commercial where it said “The children
outside were laughing.” I didn’t write that
song for the spot. That was just a thought
that came into my head. When I was writing
“A Beautiful World” I was thinking, “Man, I
would love to write the modern-day—and I
hope this doesn’t come across egotistical—
but I would love to write the modern-day
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” or write the
modern-day “Wonderful World.” And I sat
down with that idea of wanting to just write a
beautiful piece of poetry that is just applicable to everyone, and that line “Children
outside are laughing” worked out so perfectly
for that commercial. And I had no idea that
52

there was going to be a commercial with children outside laughing. But it worked.
How long after you wrote it did it end up getting synced for that commercial?
I think it was probably a year and a half or so.
Usually when I write songs it takes a while,
it’s not right away. And I tell people that too
when I write with them, because I think
they’re hoping for insta-results, you know?
“It’s been two months, why haven’t we had a
placement? And it’s a bad song.” No, it’s
cool. It takes six months to a year, maybe two
years. It just has to get out there and absorb
with people. It takes time.
Do you get calls from agencies where they want
you to write something and they’ll call up and
say, “Can you do a Fig Newton spot?”
All the time, yeah. And I won’t, because I
want to be true as a songwriter. You know,
it’s about songs, and I do want my songs to
get placed, but I want to be a true songwriter
and write real two-to four-minute songs. Jingle is a horribly bad word. No jingles.
Do you see your audience in your mind’s eye
when you sit down to write? When you’re going
to write your “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” do
you imagine who the listener is and kind of
write to that demographic age group or person?
I don’t, no. I’m ashamed to admit I’m a really
selfish songwriter. Like, songwriting for me is
about me. I want to love my song when I’m
done with it. I want to sit there and listen
back to the recording and get goose bumps.
Why would you be ashamed of that? I think
everybody in the room wants that.
It sounds a little selfish. I have gotten emails
from different people… emails that say, “Oh
my gosh, I had cancer and I got through that,
and that song got me through that time.
Thank you so much.” That means a lot to me
when I hear that. And it blows my mind
because I think, whoa, I didn’t write that
thinking that was gonna... I was completely
selfish when I wrote that song. So that’s
pretty cool.
Being selfish but relatable is a pretty strong
combination. You talk about recording every day
so it becomes a habit in the notes that we gave
out to the audience. What advice can you give
our audience members for those times when you
sit down and nothing comes to mind? How do
you move forward? Do you walk away and come
back? What works best for you?
I think walking away and coming back is OK.
I think, like some of the things I mentioned

earlier, it’s like getting inspired and being
able to listen to a lot of music. I love music,
and if you’re a songwriter, you should love it
too. I meet a lot of songwriters,
unfortunately, that seem like they don’t love
music, because they don’t listen to music out
at shows and stuff like that. It’s pretty
surprising when you’re talking to them and
they don’t know what’s going on, and they’re
kind of doing their own thing. It’s good to
listen to stuff and get inspired by it. I love
Ben Gibbard; I love his lyrics. Just listening to
like Transatlanticism and Plans and some of
his other albums… You know, like the Postal
Service. All those lyrics are just amazing. And
Dylan. Being able to get inspired by those
people, and just sitting down with an instrument and just singing and playing and seeing
what comes out I think is really important.
Try different things. Try a beat. Every time
it’s different it seems like, even though there
are certain things that come up a lot more
than others. Sometimes I feel like doing a
beat, like Likki Li, or just different rhythmic
jungle drums. Or maybe a different kind of
piano line or something and writing over
that. I think it varies.
You talked a lot that day when I was at your
house about how you work a nine-to-five day,
and you work in your home studio. Your studio is
not very ostentatious. I mean, I walked in there
expecting to see an SSL or something. Your studio is half the size of this stage, and I didn’t see
tons of outboard or anything. It’s very workable,
and you can tell it was built around you and the
way you’re comfortable, and everything is
within arm’s reach. Yet you’re able to turn it off
at five o’clock and go hang out with your family.
So going back to the previous thought, do you
listen to music recreationally when you walk out
of the studio when you’re with your family, or
does that become work-like? So do you do your
listening to absorb that stuff when you’re locked
away in your studio, or just everywhere you are?
After five right now, because we have a little
baby who is 10 months, and I’m just focused
on playing with her. And she has a little toy
piano, and, yeah, we do music. I might even
be kind of writing a song at home on the toy
piano with her. Our baby’s name is Bowie.
[laughter]
And I think she’s got an extremely high probability of being a very musical kid.
She’s already doing drumbeats. But, yeah, we
interact and do all these different things, and
then we have dinner and she goes to bed. We

Continued on page 55



Recording - August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2013

Recording - August 2013
Fade In.
Contents
Talkback.
Fast Forward.
PreSonus ADL 700 Tube Channel Strip.
Recording The Gig.
Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina Microphone.
Recording The Band.
Steinberg UR22 USB Audio/MIDI Interface.
Daking Audio Comp 500.
A Guitar Miking Primer. Part 2: Acoustic Guitars.
Piano Recording—A Private Affair.
Audiofile Engineering Triumph.
Cymatic Audio LR-16 Digital Recorder.
Readers’ Tapes.
RØDE iXY and RØDE Rec.
MIDI—Happy 30th Birthday!
Do It Yourself: Keepin’ My Beats Cool—Repairing an E-MU SP1200.
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 20: Equalization—Part 1.
Advertiser Index.
Special Report: AES Nashville Recording Workshop+Expo 2013.
Recording - August 2013 - Recording - August 2013
Recording - August 2013 - Cover2
Recording - August 2013 - 1
Recording - August 2013 - 2
Recording - August 2013 - 3
Recording - August 2013 - Fade In.
Recording - August 2013 - 5
Recording - August 2013 - Contents
Recording - August 2013 - 7
Recording - August 2013 - Talkback.
Recording - August 2013 - 9
Recording - August 2013 - Fast Forward.
Recording - August 2013 - 11
Recording - August 2013 - 12
Recording - August 2013 - 13
Recording - August 2013 - PreSonus ADL 700 Tube Channel Strip.
Recording - August 2013 - 15
Recording - August 2013 - 16
Recording - August 2013 - 17
Recording - August 2013 - Recording The Gig.
Recording - August 2013 - 19
Recording - August 2013 - Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina Microphone.
Recording - August 2013 - 21
Recording - August 2013 - Recording The Band.
Recording - August 2013 - 23
Recording - August 2013 - 24
Recording - August 2013 - 25
Recording - August 2013 - 26
Recording - August 2013 - 27
Recording - August 2013 - Steinberg UR22 USB Audio/MIDI Interface.
Recording - August 2013 - 29
Recording - August 2013 - Daking Audio Comp 500.
Recording - August 2013 - 31
Recording - August 2013 - 32
Recording - August 2013 - 33
Recording - August 2013 - A Guitar Miking Primer. Part 2: Acoustic Guitars.
Recording - August 2013 - 35
Recording - August 2013 - 36
Recording - August 2013 - 37
Recording - August 2013 - 38
Recording - August 2013 - 39
Recording - August 2013 - 40
Recording - August 2013 - 41
Recording - August 2013 - Piano Recording—A Private Affair.
Recording - August 2013 - 43
Recording - August 2013 - Audiofile Engineering Triumph.
Recording - August 2013 - 45
Recording - August 2013 - 46
Recording - August 2013 - 47
Recording - August 2013 - Cymatic Audio LR-16 Digital Recorder.
Recording - August 2013 - 49
Recording - August 2013 - Readers’ Tapes.
Recording - August 2013 - 51
Recording - August 2013 - 52
Recording - August 2013 - 53
Recording - August 2013 - 54
Recording - August 2013 - 55
Recording - August 2013 - RØDE iXY and RØDE Rec.
Recording - August 2013 - 57
Recording - August 2013 - MIDI—Happy 30th Birthday!
Recording - August 2013 - 59
Recording - August 2013 - Do It Yourself: Keepin’ My Beats Cool—Repairing an E-MU SP1200.
Recording - August 2013 - 61
Recording - August 2013 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 20: Equalization—Part 1.
Recording - August 2013 - 63
Recording - August 2013 - 64
Recording - August 2013 - Advertiser Index.
Recording - August 2013 - 66
Recording - August 2013 - 67
Recording - August 2013 - 68
Recording - August 2013 - 69
Recording - August 2013 - 70
Recording - August 2013 - 71
Recording - August 2013 - Special Report: AES Nashville Recording Workshop+Expo 2013.
Recording - August 2013 - Cover3
Recording - August 2013 - Cover4
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