How to choose tracks for your album/ep and stick to it
Wow that was a long headline. But hey life is complicated. And also choosing the right tracks and order for a new release is kind of … hard you know. You need to put on a different kind of hat. First you are The Creator. Heaven! All is good, you create amazing things (you think anyway), everything is accepted and cool. Later you become The Editor. Now is the time when you begin to question the bare existence of things. Is this good? Does anyone need this actually? Who am I? Are there aliens out there?
So here’s a few things I learned from making and releasing things for over 20 years
- Listen to your tracks over and over again. I listen to my music so much and intensely that by the time the release is out I’m so fed up I can’t stand listening to it again for a very very long time.
- When choosing tracks don’t be to hard on yourself. I tend to divide the music I choose for my releases into two categories: tracks and mini tracks. They all play a part in the whole picture. I love albums as a whole (yup I’m old get over it). I’m telling a story and a story has a lot of parts. You have slow bits and you have parts where shit gets intense.
- Create a playlist on Soundcloud and share it. This part is hard and can be painful, but hey great art needs some kind of suffering, no? 😉 Hard because you tell the world “hey I got some stuff here I like and I hope you like it to”. My wife created a great post-it a while ago that I feel resonates great:
4. Finally, the most important piece of advice I can ever give you. Just let go. Don’t take yourself to seriously. Life is the sum of all the great things we experience, good and bad. Enjoy your life and make great beautiful things!
Btw, I’m in the process of choosing tracks for my own next release (big surprise haha). It will be a limited edition cassette (and digital) and I’ll take the effort ship it worldwide were ever you are. Just check this space from time to time or movecutclone.com
