Quick journaling while waiting for my single to be released. (1 hour left)
One hour left until my single is released.
This is not my first time releasing a single, but this one hits different, so I decided to let my current feelings out through this Medium post.
Why is this one different? Well, there are a few reasons. First of all, this song will be part of my upcoming EP. Am I ready with the rest of the songs? To be fair, not at all. But have I been working on them for a long time? Absolutely. I thought if I released the first song now, I could finish the others quicker because it would give me an actual deadline.
Nowadays, musicians choose the gap between their releases consciously. I heard a musician friend say that streaming platforms tend to push artists who release songs consistently every 4–6 weeks. I haven’t researched it since I heard that, but I’ve noticed even big artists release their singles at that interval before dropping a full album. So, why not? I have nothing to lose by following that rule. I can experiment on my own, as I am an independent artist who doesn’t need to discuss things with a label or agency.
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So yes, this is the beginning of one of the biggest projects I’ve ever done. Secondly, this is the first time I asked someone else to do the cover art and mixing. Before this, I’d released three songs. One of them was a collaboration, but all the cover art was done by my own hand-drawing or digital editing. This was my first time collaborating with a textile designer.
The process was so much fun and the quality was absolutely beyond my expectations. I’m excited to see people’s reactions to it.
For the mix, I asked a mate who’s currently studying audio technology at university. He’s one of the most talented musicians, yet one of the most humble and friendly people I’ve ever met. It was really easy working with him, and I was thrilled when I heard the mix he’d done with analogue gear in the studio. It was such an interesting experience to hear someone else’s mix of my original song. The way the sounds were positioned was different from my own mix, and that made me think out of the box.
Third, the song is a completely different genre from the ones I’ve released before. This doesn’t mean it’s my first time making this kind of music; it has actually always been “my” genre, but I’ve had insecurities about my guitar playing for a long time. I felt like I either had to hire a pro or practise harder to record the guitar for my music. I’ve overcome this weakness by practising, performing a lot, and taking lessons from a professional guitarist while studying for my Master’s in music performance. So, this is also the first time I’m releasing a song featuring my own guitar playing.
Lastly, I’ve put effort into promoting my song for the first time. There wasn’t a huge amount I could do before the release, but I tried my best. I applied for BBC Introducing, submitted a Spotify Pitch, and posted several short and long-form videos on social media like TikTok and YouTube to promote myself as a musician.
I still have very few followers, and most people in the world don’t even know who I am (and probably don’t know how to pronounce my name either). But I’ll make this the beginning of a new era; I’m manifesting my dreams coming true.
While writing this short journal, there are now only 30 minutes left until my single ‘Atonement’ is released. The song that holds my “first time” for so many things. Hope you like it.
