I have a few ideas for songs I want to write, so my plan is to create as many demos as I can in the limited time I have, and choose one to go forward with.

Why?

• Setting clear goals is good practice because it helps you stay focused

• Organisation is good practice because if you stay on top of things (e.g. learning your parts before going into the rehearsal room) you save yourself and others a lot of stress and time.

• Posting consistent social media content is good practice because it keeps you in people's minds, builds your fanbase and encourages more streams for your music.

• lyrical drafts

• videos of experimenting with chord progressions

• demos on logic

• primary and secondary research to find my target audience and the methods needed to appeal to them

• make a timeline and amend it weekly if necessary

• videos of rehearsal and recording sessions

• self analysis (SWOT, PEST, GIBBS reflective cycle)

Primary data:

• Instagram insights to assess target audience

• Questioning people, asking them what kind of music they want to hear as I am not pinned to one genre

• Researching the artists who are dominating the music industry now, particularly gaining popularity with young audiences, and assess the genre of music they create, as well as the themes, and their marketing techniques

Secondary data:

• I will look up studies in social media marketing (which ties in with my WB09 project). For instance, the influence TikTok has on an up-and-coming artist's growth and the success of their release. I will then use this data to draw conclusions as to what percentage of my marketing should be done on each social media platform, and what form each post should be in (e.g. reels, stories, instagram album/carousel, stills, videos, tiktoks)

• Analytics of successful releases of other artists

• Assess how other artists create their music (eg Charlie Puth's how-to TikToks, and Dayglow's youtube tutorials).

priority 1 - at least one song written, then plan the recording process for it.

next week challenge - choose one idea and make demo to show Stu.

These artists justify my rationale because they each have an audience, particularly younger people, which are my target audience. British female singers who don't disguise their accents such as Lily Allen, Kate Nash and Katy B were more popular a good few years ago, so I feel that there is a gap in the market for this.

Reverb-y guitar and simple repetitive drums (peach pit style) are a popular feature in a lot of modern indie music, and will help my music to fall into the genre I want it to be.

The Wombats started their journey with Alternative Indie rock, then merged into a more synth-y, more relaxed indie. Now they are far more pop-central. However, Murph's lyrical patterns didn't change too much throughout, he has always used a talk-y way of delivering his lyrics, as if he is ranting to somebody. I have taken inspiration from this, as well as the band's use of layered harmonies on parts of the song where I wish to build tension.

• Primary school teacher

Can you identify any Good Practices that you could transfer for this career path?

• Setting clear goals (what you wish to achieve from a class/a term)

• Organisation (lesson plans and keeping track of student progress).

Which of the skills cannot be transferred and why?

• Consistent social media content - there is no connection between being a primary school teacher and using social media.

Do you think it's important to have a plan B?

• I think it's very important to have a Plan B, because while it's good to work towards a goal of how you want your life to look, things don't always work out exactly how you planned, and the music industry is brutal. So to save feeling like a failure, having another career path to fall back on, while continuing to work on music on the side, is a good idea.

Will you actively avoid it or will it be incorporated into your plan A purposefully, and why?

• I am starting a job as a teaching assistant a couple of days a week, so I will be dipping my toe in the water of my Plan B lifestyle, while obviously still working towards my music career as the Plan A. A nice way to incorporate the two plans would be to become a music teacher. If this is the case, I may try secondary school teaching as this is where music practices start to be taken a bit more seriously.

• As soon as things changed and I realised I had to essentially start again, I started working as soon as I could, because last year I left a lot of things til much later in the term, which only causes major stress.

• I can already see noticeable results by organising myself in this manner, because the song I have written is already sounding vaguely how I want it to sound in its early stage, and I know that there is plenty of time to work on it and get it sounding clean and professional.

My lecturer Sam suggested I leave a bit more space, and use less words. He told me to use the band 'Wet Leg' as an influence. I like this band so it shouldn't be a problem for me to take some inspiration from them.

So my next step is to mute my vocal track, and record another one that is a little less busy. Then I can chop and change, taking some vocal parts from one track and some from the other.

In terms of future feedback, once I make a couple of changes to the track and I'm happier with it, I will show it to as many people as possible; lecturers, peers (musical and non-musical) and some of my producer friends. I will make sure to take feedback from some of the people who fit my target audience demographic, as they are the people I want my music to appeal to the most (young adults).

Once properly recorded, I will be able to tell that my song is of good enough quality by listening to already existing music that is within my intended genre. I can then compare the production elements and aim to make mine resemble the already existing tracks. I will use bands and artists such as Wet Leg, Peach Pit and Lily Allen.

This is great feedback as the vocal track is the part I'm going to redo, so I can incorporate this feedback into the new take I create.

• Create a new vocal track

• Write some new lyrics

• analyse my track and play it to peers and lecturers

• change what I feel needs changing

• Finish the demo

• Evidence every step if the process

• Record it at Small Pond

• Start building hype on social media

• Work on WB09 - conduct primary research.

So I decided to write a main melody line over the top. It is using a midi keyboard for now, but I will replace it with electric guitar, and add a rhythm guitar part that follows the chords I have written. I want the guitar tone to have reverb and sound a bit surf-rocky, with elements of the bands Peach Pit and Her's_.

I also wrote a simple drum beat that is reminiscent of the programmed drums heard in lots of indie music today, by the likes of artists such as Dayglow and Declan McKenna. I will replace these with real drums, but the constant unchanging, programmed drum-esque rhythm will remain.

We used the Logic preset 'Spin Speaker Blues' as we felt that it really gave the song that indie surf rock sound I was after. We then tracked bass too, a simple pattern for some much needed low-end support.

I'm really liking how it's sounding. My next task is to write some lyrics and track the vocals.

The song is about not knowing what path you are taking in life, and needing more time to figure out what you are doing, whilst dealing with various pressures and responsibilities.

He also helped me come up with a middle 8 (see voicenote attached) and an ending chorus.

I look forward to adding these elements.

I really like the way the middle 8 builds, and the vocal layering was a lot of fun and I feel it is effective.

My next step is to play the song to some lecturers and peers to receive some feedback.

So I decided to write some new lyrics, and change the melody a bit, as well as making it a bit less busy vocal wise.

While I was at it, I changed some of the middle 8 instrumental; took the drums down to just hats, then hats and bass drum with some accented toms, so that when the final chorus came in it would create more of a dynamic shift.

I changed the structure slightly as well, so now there is two choruses instead of just the one at the end, to make the chorus more memorable. I also added a couple of stops and instrumental cut outs to make some moments of the song more dynamic, and focus attention on certain lyrical lines that I want to emphasise.

The song has now changed its meaning completely, and is now called 'GREAT!' - it is a bit of a sarcastic song about a relationship failing, and pretending everything is alright, or 'Great!'.

I like this version a lot more, I think it's more dynamic and less repetitive.

My next step is to record it at Small Pond with real instruments.

Meanwhile, I will be working on some other demos that explore other genres, so I can find my sound and dicover the kind of music I wish to put out when I eventually release my debut single as a solo artist.