Hi! What was the primary inspiration behind your single ‘Out Of Reach,’ and how did this idea evolve into a finished song?
A: Hello. This is a great question to start with! The primary inspiration behind the song started off with the initial hook line of the chorus “I want you, I know you’re out of reach”, which at first thought sounds like a message of defeat. I kept thinking to myself “I don’t want this to be a song about defeat, it doesn’t feel like that it should be about that.” And eventually the core idea came into my head where I wanted to flip that script and turn that impending message of defeat into a message of hope and power. From that point was where I found the story that I wanted to tell and what I wanted to express. And, as the pieces were found, they fell into place into this story of perseverance, resilience and hope. This song is very much a ‘phoenix’ song.
Can you walk us through your process for writing the lyrics of ‘Out Of Reach’? Were there any specific experiences or emotions that fuelled your writing?
A: After the hook was born, that line stayed in my head for a good couple of months before the rest of the lyrics were born. Finishing the chorus came first. I was working a job at the time that took a lot away from me. I became so hellbent on reaching a certain point that I lost sight of what I really wanted out of life. I wanted to make music and perform, I had bigger dreams and aspirations, and I lost sight of them while I was there. It wasn’t until I came back to myself and said, “Hold on a second, this isn’t where I want to be.” That definitely helped fuel the initial story. From there I thought to myself “Well, I have a break- up song (Earthquake), so I need the phoenix song, we need to rise up from that point.” So, I started writing in a way that was talking about memories you would share with an old love, how they start off as haunting moments. Those moments would initially make you feel defeated, like the past is now ‘Out Of Reach’, the future you may have envisioned feels so ‘Out Of Reach’. Instead of fully succumbing to those moments of turmoil, you can look past the shadows and find the hope in the fact that there are new days, there are new chances, there are opportunities there if you take that chance on yourself. You come back to yourself, and you chase yourself, you let go for yourself. You’re now using that chant of defeat now as a chant of perseverance. You keep chasing your true desires despite how ‘Out Of Reach’ they may seem, they’re now the driving force. I had to let go of so many old versions of myself and the things holding me down, and give birth to a new version of me. The break-up storyline is based on me breaking free from an old me.
Were there any artists or musical styles that particularly influenced the sound and vibe of ‘Out Of Reach’?
A: For ‘Out Of Reach’ in particular, I wanted it to have an anthemic style. The kind of song you could bust a move on the dancefloor to. The kind of song you can strut or even march to. A song that you can scream at the top of your lungs. As the song progressed sonically, I started turning more to 70s and 80s synthpop and synth-rock. Songs like Europe’s ‘The Final Countdown’ and Toto’s ‘Africa’ helped shape the initial anthemic nature as well as modern pop songs that would follow that vein. Then as it developed it took more of an approach from the likings of Depeche Mode, A-Ha, the Buggles and Ultravox to name a few.
Did you encounter any significant challenges while producing ‘Out Of Reach,’ and if so, how did you overcome them?
A: Production wise, ‘Out Of Reach’ was actually one of the easier tracks to produce off of ‘Under The Moon’. The biggest struggle was mostly during the writing stages of the song, I can’t tell you how frustrating it was just having that hook stuck in my head with no development for those few months. But I believe that if it doesn’t leave my head like that, it’s meant to be a track that makes the cut.
What is your favorite part of ‘Out Of Reach’ – a particular lyric, melody, or instrumental section – and why?
A: Okay, this is my favourite question! I have a couple of favourite segments from ‘Out Of Reach’. Number one has to be the lyrics in the break before the final chorus “Transmission to your leader, terraform the outside feeder. I’m gonna make it all along.” This actually came to me from a quote I came across on social media. I was scrolling until the quote “The grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s where you water it.” I wish I could remember who first said that quote, but that really spoke to me. It really resonated with the song’s meaning and storyline, which is why I created those lyrics. What I’m saying is “This is a message for my brain, my ‘Leader’, myself. Water your garden, make your grass, your outside feeder (I wrote it that way because grass is the source of food for lots of animals, and my grass is the food that I’m cultivating in myself). And reminding myself that I’m going to make it, whatever it takes.” I also really like this because I feel like it’s one of my favourite lyrical moments on the project that really showcases my creative side. Another favourite moment has to be the vocal chops used in the outro that were used and layered to spice up the repeated “I want you, you’re out of reach”. The fact that the technique wasn’t used at any other moment throughout the song until the end made it feel like the perfect accent for the ending moments as well as adding the sensation of the ‘transmission’ is breaking up, that’s it, that’s the end. It ties into the core idea that ‘Under The Moon’ as a whole, is my broadcast to the outside world, tying into its overall Science Fiction theme. I really love this question because it relates to one of my core values as an artist. I love hearing about listener’s favourite moments, they’re the moments where you know that you’ve connected with them on a personal level. And, at the end of the day, I don’t care if you so much as hate me as an artist or as a person. If I have created a moment, whether it’s a lyric, a single word, a riff or a single sound that the listener resonates with, I’ve done my job.
What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from ‘Out Of Reach’?
A: While I have my core messages and sensations of hope and resilience. I want my listeners to cultivate their own feelings and messages that resonate with the overall themes and find their own way of connecting with the song and all of my other songs, past, present and future. I want them to cultivate their own narratives.
Can you describe the recording process for ‘Out Of Reach’? Were there any unique techniques or instruments used?
A: The recording process actually happened in two parts over the course of the whole project. There was the recording process that I did myself in my bedroom when working on the project where I would record take after take of each song. Each song got around a hundred takes before I got to a point where I said to myself. “Okay, I’m not at a point where I know how to produce my vocals yet, and I know my mixes as a whole are quite thin. I need to take these into a studio where I can get the best out of these songs.” So I went hunting for the right people who I knew were going to embark on this sonic journey with me, this narrative I’m cultivating. I ended up working with Jennifer Matthews and Paul “Smudge” Harris of Bignote Studios, who are two fabulous people who helped bring ‘Out Of Reach’ and ‘Under The Moon’ as a whole to the level that it is in its finished form. When it came to the recording process at that point, being able to get into the booth and really isolate myself with the song and connect with it further. Jen and Smudge were incredibly supportive and threw suggestions at me on different ways to sing and to help get the emotions and sensations across. At this point, I hadn’t fully come into my voice yet, I’m still not fully there yet, but these techniques helped my voice grow and grow into the song. One of my favourite techniques that I would use for this song was really directing my focus when singing was to a person that I would envision who was the ‘goal’ you could say. That person that was ‘Out Of Reach’. When it comes to vocal production techniques, the most profound techniques used would be the vocal chops I mentioned earlier, but also in the break where a ‘radio’ effect was used to really lend into the transmission theme used in that section, as well as a ‘wind down’ effect on the word ‘along’ to really break down that transition into the final chorus before that final moment of impact where the full energy snaps back in.
How do you feel ‘Out Of Reach’ represents your evolution as an artist compared to your previous work?
A: I feel like it represents a lot of growth compared to my earlier works. I haven’t showcased a lot of my earlier work, but one thing is that a lot of my earlier works I didn’t have a lot of hand in producing and arranging. Whereas ‘Out Of Reach’ and ‘Under The Moon’ I produced all of the demos myself and contributed heavily into the additional production as well, I really immersed myself fully into this project so that I could really showcase myself as an artist and what I was capable of, and what I can be further capable of as I learn, grow, and develop as an artist and as an entity. If my listeners were lucky enough to listen to the original demo of the ‘Under The Moon’ single that I released and then removed before the full project was released. The demo shows how thin the mix was and even how thin and underdeveloped my voice was because It was solely produced by myself in my early stages of developing my skills as a producer. The demo for ‘Out Of Reach’ wasn’t very different to the mastered version, most of the changes are shown in the vocal production, the bass instrumentation, overall thickness of the mix, and even in the intro alone. ‘Out Of Reach’ also shows me wanting to experiment more and add more bounce into my work and create a higher energy. As I’ve also grown and developed further since ‘Out Of Reach’ and ‘Under The Moon’ with my time in studio and wanting to work with new workstations, I’m excited to see how my newer works will turn out as they progress.
What can your fans expect next? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations in the pipeline?
A: All of my listeners and fans, including the ones yet to come along! I can’t wait to share what I have brewing next. I’m currently working on and developing my next body of work. This next project I’m directing as the sequel to ‘Under The Moon’. ‘Under The Moon’ is my birth and creation, being constructed into a product, and my reaching out and breaking into the outside world. And, now that I’m in the world, I’m diving into what it will be like as I navigate through my experiences as if all these experiences are brand new, because in this narrative, they are. I want my listeners and fans to embrace my next body of work as a fever dream, where everything is heightened, unstable and intense. The sensations, visions, experiences and movements will be expressed at an eleven, leading everyone in a dance of discovery, fantasy and reality. In terms of collaborations, I don’t have any in the pipeline as of yet, but I will never leave that door closed, I would love to see how I could create with other artists and creatives and see what creative adventures we can embark on collaboratively! If anyone reading this would like to look into the opportunity of collaborating, I’m not that far ‘Out Of Reach’, my social contact points are always open!