What is it?
I pledge to write, finish, record, and publish 30 new songs in 30 days. One new song per day, every day, in the month of June.** I ended up taking 2 days off while camping. 30 songs in 32 days, I suppose.
Why?
Because it feels awesome to try and do this. There are more reasons; see the bottom of this page.
The One Rule
This is pretty simple. There are two rules. First, the obvious one: Finish, record, and publish one song per day. And 2. (this is The One Rule, even though it's technically The Two Rule... just go with it):No crap songs.
I'm pretty big on this. Of course, everyone has their tastes. Surely some people out there will think all of my music is crap. But, according to my tastes, and maybe even considering the feedback of friends and family... every song has to meet a quality standard. I will not "mail it in," not one single day, that's my pledge to you. And to me.
My Music
I listen to and write songs with an alternative rock feel, but I write and play them almost exclusively on an acoustic guitar. Sometimes things get a little folky, sometimes a little poppy, but overall I'd call myself an alternative rock musician.
You can hear a bunch of songs I've written over the years at http://soundcloud.com/kmonty.
About Me
My name is Kyle. I've been playing guitar for 12 years, self taught (more or less), and I've been writing songs for as long. I wear my heart on my sleeve and scare girls away with intense introspective songwriting when really, to me, "It's just what I do."
(Not to say certain songs aren't meaningful... they certainly are. But man do girls freak out when you're 3 months into something and you start writing a song about them. Take it from me, fellas).
My Aspirations
My goal is to one day make a living off my music. That doesn't necessarily mean I have to become rich and famous, I just hope to improve my craft to the level where I can live off this the rest of my days, even if I'm just playing smaller venues and touring all the time and the like. Nothing makes me as happy as writing songs, practicing, and performing them in front of friends and strangers, because nothing compares to the feeling when a melody or a lyric connects with someone in my audience. It's indescribable.
Why 30 Songs in 30 Days?
I'm a math and computer science college student right now, but a year from now I'll be a math and computer science college graduate... which of course brings thoughts of responsibility and a career and stuffy offices and what's for lunch.
In which I have no interest. I want to pursue this songwriting thing.
So a year from now I'm going to take that very expensive piece of paper (my college degree), stick it in a frame, shove it in a drawer somewhere, and forget about it. I'm going to pack up and move, probably to Denver (for various reasons), and pursue a career in music.
In the meantime, though, it occurs to me that if I'm going to take the challenge of writing, performing, and singing songs for a living, I need to get good at it. I need to practice. I need to challenge myself and get outside of my songwriting comfort zone (roughly 50 songs in 12 years) and step up to the plate. That, more than anything, is what 30 Songs in 30 Days is about.
It's also about love and heartache and girls and happiness and girls and surrender and faith and sadness and girls and anger and peace and girls and friends and girls and girls and girls.
*Asterisk
Just for the sake of full disclosure... by "write" and/or "finish" a new song, I mean "complete" a song that isn't done yet. I have a number of riffs and loose song ideas and even a number of half-written songs that I hope to tackle during this venture. That's part of this whole challenge. Finishing a half-written song isn't cheating. Just so we're clear from the start. It can be damn hard, too.
Goo
Being a songwriter means exposing a piece of your soul. You'll soon get to know me at a level with which I wouldn't be comfortable otherwise, but that's the price you pay to play this game. And it's all with the hope that some part of some song of mine connects with you.
I appreciate all feedback and critique, and hope you enjoy the music. If you do, please tell your friends. And if you're a musician too, and like what you hear, yes, I would like to jam.
Peace
Kyle
