Hey,

Releasing new songs always excites for me. Recently, I've finished audio for my song "Spares."

"Spares" was initially written over 3.5 years ago 🤦‍♂️, but I couldn’t finish it because I felt it was special and wanted to do it well. The most important part was getting the vocals right.

I sang it once, twice, and wasn't happy at all. Yes, I'm not a good singer. Especially back then. So, I decided to improve my singing. I signed up for an online course that helped me with the basics of breathing, support, controlling sound production, and compression. I made another version with better vocals, but it still wasn't there.

In February 2023, I asked a friend, Slava Pustilnikov, to record bass for it. Though there already was a bass track that I played, having a real bass player do it was a welcome change.

Earlier this year, I connected with Filip, a singer here in Winnipeg, who agreed to try the vocals. In March, he came to my home studio, and we recorded the first pass. We did another retake last month, to improve some parts. Working with a genuinely good singer, who could nail parts quickly and well, was a revelation to me. Lesson learned.

I then started to mix the song, but something else happened. A drummer friend from the US, Dave Hamilton, contacted me, offering to play drums on a future song based on a short video I'd released on social media. I asked if he'd like to play on "Spares" instead. He agreed, and after just one round of feedback, I had a neat drum track.

I'm so grateful to my friends for their musical contributions. Teamwork rocks 🤘

A few days ago, after finishing the mix, I went to a mastering studio to polish the audio. I'm happy with how it turned out and I can't wait for you all to hear it.

But there's one more thing that needs to be done before releasing it: the cover art. I’ve asked my daughter to draw one. We've decided on the concept, and she's working on it now.

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I'll keep you updated.

Jacob