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This week’s original song comes from a first time writer for SOSstudio, James Woodrich. James has been a touring and recording artist for over 20 years and we are grateful for him offering up his writing skills for our Summer Session. ‘Neosporin’ is different from most of the other tracks we have produced in that is started out with just a bass line.
In the spirit of Collaboration, James laid down the bass track and Colin Robinson, this week’s mixer and producer, stepped up to shape the song and wrangle the parts the other collaborators added. “I laid down some drums right away so other collaborators could hear my parts and play off of them.” said Colin, “The energy from the bass line was clear to me which direction it needed to go.”
As is often the case with our songs, ‘Neosporin took shape throughout the week as other collaborators uploaded their parts. It was Colin’s job to fit the pieces together like a musical jigsaw puzzle, “As other parts started coming in, I was able to add each person’s parts one at a time, which made the shaping of the song rather easy and fun. Nobody’s parts were rearranged; I just made choices to mute certain tracks in certain parts to give the song shape.”
We have had a lot of experience of this style of songwriting so we understand the process involved in creating this kind of collaborative track. Every time a new part is added it has the potential to change the feel of the song which is why the writer and the produce often work closely together, “Each time I made a choice like that,” says Colin, “I sent a copy to James to approve, and then we would discuss it, and then I went back to work. The number of tracks that came in gave me a lot to work with and actually made it easier as well as fun.”
Here is what James had to say about his track in our Q&A with him:
SOS: What were your main influences for writing this song?
JW: I’ve been going through a bit of a rough time in my personal life. I wanted to get out some aggression and channel a few of my favorite heavy bands: Motor Head, Tool, and Foo Fighters. It was VERY therapeutic, haha!!
SOS: Has this idea been in your head for a while or did you think it up especially for SOS?
JW: For a while now Colin and I had the idea of writing a crazy bass and drum song. When my turn came around it took me about 2 days to come up with the main riff on bass, I sent it to Colin, and the rest…well, have a listen!!
SOS: Given that this is a collaboration, were there any surprises with the final production from how you envisioned it?
JW: It’s almost backwards to start a song with just a bass line. I had no expectation, but I did have a lot of confidence in all our SoS players. I knew it would grow into something awesome. Colin also did a great job on the Mix.
SOS: Describe your experience of making music with people who are not even in the same room as you?
JW: I love it! This has been a whole new experience to write and record separately, then watch it morph over time once everyone has a chance to add their creative ideas. I think It takes out the possibility of Egos or self-consciousness of writing all together in one room and be free to make mistakes, fix them, and then really hone in on a great idea.