![\"\"](\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_9394.jpg\")
Explain your creative process? Do you have a routine?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m certainly in the wrong career – a morning person in a night owl\u2019s world. When I\u2019m in writing mode I like to get up at 6\/7am and put in a good couple of hours before anything or anyone else can creep into the day. That time is when I feel the most clarity and can really get to the bottom of what I\u2019m trying to say in lyrics. Guitar ideas can come pretty much any time of the day if I have a guitar in my hand \u2013 but seemingly only when I\u2019m not trying to find them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My writing is a two-part process 95% of the time, music first then lyrics later. I\u2019ll find something on the guitar I like, and then if I\u2019m able to sing a vocal melody over the top that inspires me, that\u2019s when it\u2019s a green light to flesh the rest of it out. The hard part for me is finding lyrics that not only tell the story I want to tell, but that fit the melodies I\u2019ve become attached to during the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is your \u201cstudio\u201d setup?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
My home \u2018studio\u2019 set-up is very minimal. Just a Rode NT1 through an Apogee One interface into Logic on my laptop so that I can get demo ideas down quickly and easily. The real gearhead is my producer Sam Winfield who owns Studio 91<\/a> in Newbury. As you\u2019ll see from the photos, he has an incredible setup. Every time I go back to record something new, he has a new piece of equipment \u2013 constantly in search of achieving better and better sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My upcoming album is a marvellous advertisement for working with great people. I tend to record pretty fleshed out demos, with groove\/part ideas for the direction I want the instruments to go that I don\u2019t play myself. The beauty is that the session musicians (drummer Ed Broad, bass player Joshua Rigal, percussionist Tom Millar, Keyboard player Sam Winfield) I use then take those outlines and deliver takes that make the demos sound truly terrible in comparison. There are strings on two of the songs, recorded remotely by the brilliant Barney Morse-Brown. He tracks everything on Cello at home and sends us the files with very little, if any back and forth. It\u2019s very different to having someone in the studio, you can\u2019t give that instant feedback, but also enables the player to get on and present their full vision for the parts they are recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the exception of Sam, his assistant Tom Millar and any session musicians I will use on a track, I prefer to not let anyone hear it until at least every part is recorded and we\u2019re at the desk bounce stage. Then it\u2019s just my team and close friends until the final mix. The exception being that we\u2019re in the age of social media, and so I\u2019ll occasionally post clips of listening back to an instrument or section of a song in the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Short of the little Instagram clips – no I don\u2019t tend to, not in any permanent forms anyway. I can see myself releasing the demos from this album at some point. I\u2019ve always liked when artists I admire do that, as you can hear the progression to the finished article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Byta you are in control of your music. <\/p>\n Read More<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n Pretty much if I can listen through it from start to finish and be happy all the way through \u2013 not hearing anything I would change. Deadlines certainly help with that. I work better and making final decisions on things if I know I absolutely have to meet a release date, otherwise It\u2019s very easy to keep tweaking forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With mixes I like to live with them for a while. In my car (terrible speakers), at home on my studio monitors, in my headphones \u2013 see how the track feels in each. I\u2019m getting better at trusting my first instinct with mix tweaks. Listening too technically on all those different systems can lead you down a path of wanting something changed to fit one listening environment that you wouldn\u2019t be wanting on another. With this album I tried to rely on feel a lot more. When I signed off the final mixes of the album, we had great time listening back through the whole thing in the studio. It meant a lot to hear it all as one with the people who made it with me. I think it\u2019s important to have those moments to celebrate as you put so much energy and effort into making a record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No horror stories as of yet, touch wood. I tend to only send pre-release links<\/a> to people I really trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I\u2019m at the point of sharing final versions with people in my team, they all get it at the same time (label, publisher, press, radio, booking agent). I think it\u2019s important for someone to be deeply invested in the music they are going to promote, and so the earlier I can get it to them the better. That also helps release ideas and strategies to start bubbling early on. With this album I\u2019ve only provided high quality WAVs<\/a>, and no one has asked for MP3s yet \u2013 which makes me very happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At that point I\u2019m happy for the songs to go out into the world. With press lead times etc. it\u2019s often journalists and radio DJs that will hear it next and then on to the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My new single \u2019Sail Away<\/a>‘ came out on the 8th of September, it\u2019s taken from my debut album \u2018The Best I Could Do at the Time<\/a>\u2019 which will be released on the 23rd of September. I can\u2019t wait for people to hear it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Studio](\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_7252.jpg\")
What is your process when working with other people? How is collaboration different in the studio vs working remotely? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At what point(s) are you comfortable letting other people hear what you are working on?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do you share your work in progress (streams or downloads)? Any technical frustrations? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Byta delivers fast and secure audio sharing<\/h3>
How do you know when a track\/album is finished?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How do you listen to the final mixes\/mastered work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How important is pre-release security<\/a> when sharing new work? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Who on your team gets to hear the final versions first and why, what formats do they each need?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Outside of your inner circle who are the people that will need to hear the new tracks next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Anything you are working on, anyone you are working with and want to share? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Lauren_Squire_Photography-0308-1024x683.jpg\")