Oh man! I went out for a couple drinks last night, came up home at 2am and recorded til 6am. Got most of the instrumentation down. I think the music is 99% done, but I may tweak some things after I see how the vocals fit in. Here’s my file for today:

And here are the lyrics as they stand now:

Stay Up Later!

hit the ground
head in a splint
trudgin’ through my urban myth

labor under misapprehension
cause that baby in me loves depression
as far as eye can see
baby what’s come over me?

sleep if you must
but stay up later!
put on the cans and rock the faders


up three flights
in concrete boots
nosedive into sleep pursuits

criss cross past misapprehension
end up in a cool dimension
as far as eye can see
baby won’t you visit me?

sleep if you must
but stay up later!
put on the cans and rock the faders

phone pole’s flyers peeling
transmissions hopelessly obscured
no matter what you might be feeling
the sunrise ain’t deterred

sleep if you must, doll
but stay up later!
put on the cans and rock the faders


sleep now if you must
but stay up later!
put on your cans and roll

i used to be afraid to fly

I can tell already there’s space in the music for a lot more words. I’m going to use the above as a guide to creating the more expansive version. Oh! I also am hoping to have a female singer do some backups on this. I have somebody picked out, so it’s really about scheduling. It’s very possible those backup vocals will get done after the RPM Challenge is over and when I’m sprucing up the tracks to be released on my full-length.

Curious about what this sounded like yesterday? Click to hear RPM Day 01.

Thanks for following along! Looking forward to finishing this one out. Jump forward to RPM Day 03 to hear this song progress. (hint: there are vocals!)

Can’t Stop The Now...

More To Explore

Ashland [Redux]

I created a fresh, 20th-anniversary remix of my song Ashland using the original tracks I recorded back in 2001. To celebrate one of my tightest

Sober.

I used to have a drinking problem. I don’t think it ever elevated to the point of “alcoholism” and I don’t identify as an alcoholic,

CHIRP Radio: 2021 Interview

This week, CHIRP Radio’s DJ Ninja speaks with Chicago mainstay, William Steffey. They talk about his most recent album, ATYPICAL, the release of his single,