The years start coming and they don't stop coming
Making time for art and finishing what I can
Earlier this year I started studying to becoming a high school teacher. Thanks to an ongoing crisis in Australia’s education system my journey into the classroom has been fast. This post isn't about that though, suffice to say that between doing a master’s degree, working at the school and holding down all those other adult responsibilities we're expected to stay on top of I have had fuck-all time for music.
And this has led to a sometimes overwhelming sense of frustration. Because while my responsibilities outside of music are growing, so too is my artistic ambition for the music and experiences I want to create. And it's really hard to hold back these ideas, ambition and drive while I focus on the necessary adult parts of my life for the moment.
For a long time, I let my artistic ambitions be limited by what I thought I could do, or what felt reasonable, or what other people told me I should do or any other number of self limiting ideas.
But as I have been making music for the last few years and reconnecting with the passion I have for it I often find myself feeling sad at the ways that I’ve let these negative ideas about myself, music and art influence how I have lived my life. And as I rediscover my voice and embrace the impact that I want to have, I can't shake this feeling that time is running out and I need to rush to make up for all those years I put music to the side.
But I am finding the time where I can. Pushing myself to try new things, meet new people, share ideas and grow as an artist and as person (these two things are annoyingly more connected than my younger self imagined). There is much more to come.
But I did finish one project, and that's actually why I am writing this today.
Last month I had one free week which I used to finish off some half-finished tracks and make a plan for releasing them. The result is a 4 track EP called To The Rhythm and it's coming out in November.
But that's ages away, so the first single is dropping on Tuesday and I posted a little preview of it on Instagram yesterday:
I'll be releasing this EP one track at a time over the next few months, as is the style in these streaming dominated times. It will be on all the streaming platforms, of course. But if you really want to show your support you can pre-order the EP on Bandcamp. If you pre-order now you will get each track as it released, and maybe a Bandcamp exclusive track if I can find the time to finish off the thing I think would make a good bonus track (as discussed, time is never quite on my side at the moment).
Anyway, it feels good to finally be sharing some music again. Can't wait to share more soon.