Month: January 2018

Tuning into myself: My secret life as a songwriter and audio editor

Below are demos for two songs from a batch I wrote/edited into life over the last two years.
Some (most) of my output is too cringe-y to post here, but I’m pretty proud of this pair.

The first, Boing, is an instrumental number which starts off with a digital ambient vibe and then gently smacks you in the face with an acoustic guitar riff. The sound in the background is a field recording of a Spanish playground that I found on the interweb after deciding that standing outside my local school with a mic might look a bit creepy.

The second, To Be Loved, is about the untimely loss of a beautiful and dear friend. I wanted it to sound powerful but playful, like the person themselves.

And as for the ‘secret’ bit mentioned in the headline above… well, it’s not so secret anymore. I guess the music I’ve written is the most personal thing about me. Putting it out there is kinda agonising…but I have to show off my polymath-ness!

Advertisement

Note’s a godsend: Lisa finds ‘I love you’ message from ‘late dad Thomas’ in charity shop

The copy below details how a piece I wrote about a friend’s Facebook post ended up on national television in January 2018.

MY wife Danielle was browsing Facebook and pointed out a touching story that one of our friends, Lisa Gernon, had posted.
Lisa told how she had been leafing through a second-hand book she was buying to bring on an upcoming holiday when she found a note saying: “I love you Lisa.”
The note was all the more poignant because her father had died the year before, and she had booked the holiday on his anniversary to bring a little joy to a sad time.
I thought this would make a fantastic, sharable piece for thesun.ie. – a heartwarming story at what can be, in many different ways, a cold and difficult time of the year.
I spoke to Lisa and she was delighted to do the story.
We squeezed even more goodness into the piece by linking to GiveBlood.ie: Lisa’s dad Thomas, pictured top with his daughter, had been the recipient of many blood packs and platelets in his brave, 10-month battle with AML.

The story then went live on thesun.ie on January 8, pictured below.

Screen Shot 2018-01-18 at 15.21.39A week later, Today with Daithi and Maura, picked up on it and did a live video with Lisa – all the way from her holiday in Mauritius, pictured below.

Screen Shot 2018-01-18 at 15.22.33Yours truly also got a nice mention on national TV. The video has since been viewed 36,000 times.
My experience with this story is that it was positive for everyone: Lisa and her family were delighted, it brought hope and empathy to other people grieving loved ones, GiveBlood.ie got a few hits and some publicity, and thesun.ie basked in a little glow from doing a heartwarming piece.