Yellow folks!
If for some reason you've stumbled across this blog looking for some form of insightful update from yours truly then you're kinda in the wrong place because, well, I NO LONGER BLOG.
To be honest I've always found blogging to be quite frustrating actually - Every time I start a post I somehow end up rewriting it over and over and over and over again. I don't know why. I can't explain it. I think I'm just not meant to be a blogger.
So why not delete this entire account then right? Well, backdating on the archive does bring back some sort of sentiment - I figured it'll be nice to one day come back to this blog just for reminiscence sake (you know, like a photo album?) - so hence my decision to keep it floating in cyberspace.
By all means this does NOT mean that I'm no longer active! Au contraire I've been extremely busy on other sites. They're all listed below so be sure to check 'em out!
1. Yuriz Joe's YouTube Page is my life captured on video coz "I VLOG it like it's hawt!" - you don't wanna miss a thing so do subscribe yeah.
2. Yuriz Joe's Facebook Fanpage is a place where I normally "hang out" so do come on over and press that 'like' button.
3. Yuriz Joe's Twitter is where you'll get the-most-up-to-date-updates coz I'm a crazy ass tweetfreak!
See ya'll there! PEACE-sang!!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Till Ya Get Home
Back in January 2008 (yes 2 years ago!) I blogged about a song I was in the process of making called "I miss you (eh oh)". Finally, just over a month ago, I completed that song - and here it is!
Now you're probably thinking "Nice... but where's the 'Eh oh' part??" (the 'nice' part is optional). Here's you answer - I had to remove it =(
I've been told several times in my life that when you have a good idea you shouldn't put it out into the universe until you can execute that idea. Apparently once something is IN the universe, someone else would pick up on it. Now I've never believed it (until now) but herein lies the proof that it holds true - Someone else did it!
Yes, despite seemingly looking like a long shot, another local artist released a song into the market with a similar title, similar use of the word, and has even done a decent job of it! To be honest I did wonder for a split second whether my postings were of any influence, but I scrapped that thought because com'n, who really reads my blog?
So, despite composing the song over 2 years ago, I just couldn't bear the thought of people thinking that I'm a copycat, so I made a last minute decision to remove the 'eh oh' part... which didn't turn out to be so bad after all.
Pushed to a corner, I think I came up with something that is even more catchier - I mean who could forget a line like 'Till ya Till Ya Get Home', especially with the uniqueness of the 'Till ya' part repeating twice? Right? Okay it's subjective - so never mind then - but I think it worked out better so nyeeee! =P
Most important is that it didn't take away the story and the essence of the song, which (if you're wondering) is a true story. Well, more accurately, WAS a true story (ok I acknowledge that's grammatically wrong but you know what I mean). And if you follow my blog, you can pretty much put two and two together. And that's all I gotta say about that...
Enjoy! =)
Now you're probably thinking "Nice... but where's the 'Eh oh' part??" (the 'nice' part is optional). Here's you answer - I had to remove it =(
I've been told several times in my life that when you have a good idea you shouldn't put it out into the universe until you can execute that idea. Apparently once something is IN the universe, someone else would pick up on it. Now I've never believed it (until now) but herein lies the proof that it holds true - Someone else did it!
Yes, despite seemingly looking like a long shot, another local artist released a song into the market with a similar title, similar use of the word, and has even done a decent job of it! To be honest I did wonder for a split second whether my postings were of any influence, but I scrapped that thought because com'n, who really reads my blog?
So, despite composing the song over 2 years ago, I just couldn't bear the thought of people thinking that I'm a copycat, so I made a last minute decision to remove the 'eh oh' part... which didn't turn out to be so bad after all.
Pushed to a corner, I think I came up with something that is even more catchier - I mean who could forget a line like 'Till ya Till Ya Get Home', especially with the uniqueness of the 'Till ya' part repeating twice? Right? Okay it's subjective - so never mind then - but I think it worked out better so nyeeee! =P
Most important is that it didn't take away the story and the essence of the song, which (if you're wondering) is a true story. Well, more accurately, WAS a true story (ok I acknowledge that's grammatically wrong but you know what I mean). And if you follow my blog, you can pretty much put two and two together. And that's all I gotta say about that...
Enjoy! =)
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
I wasn't wasting time - I was creating it!
First and foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR folks!
As a new years gift to all my faithful readers I offer my latest creation - my 2nd complete track entitled Waste of Time!
This song, I admit, has been a pain in my ass since it was first created. Considering I came up with the first draft back in 2005, if I was being literal, I would no longer have been able to sit down during it's final stages!
It all started out with me playing with a plug-in called Stylus. I found an awesome beat that I automatically wanted to include a catchy bass-line and trumpets with as the hook. Unfortunately, not many people shared my enthusiasm at that point and ,as you continue reading, you'll find out that they didn't approve for a long long time.
Oh, before I continue, you really need to know something about my work ethic - I NEVER waste a creation. I rather put in further elbow grease to allow it to evolve rather than to simply throw it away. Ok moving on...
In most cases, my songs go through just a couple of evolutions (or versions if that's less confusing for ya) before it becomes the final product. THIS song however, went through so many that I've lost count!
The file was first called 'Funky Beat' (no lyric at that point so I could only identify it with what it was!) and once a melody came on board it was then titled Too Much. The theme of the song remained the same throughout (about an extremely possessive girlfriend) but the melody & lyrics went through so many changes you wouldn't recognize its current state with its initial.
The really painful process of this song though was the constant evolution of the arrangement. See it started life almost comic-like (in a very cheeky yet sexy kinda way) but because my friends weren't really responding to it, I went back to the drawing board and re-arranged it. Little did I know at the time that I'd be repeating this process over and over and over again over the next few years!
The song then became somewhat more club-friendly R&B but, as it turns out, we then discovered that the hook was too similar to another song called 'Lean Back' by Fat Joe! So, back to the drawing board again, and it then went kinda R&B/Techno cause I had to change the instrument of the hook so as to not resemble Fat Joe's track. Still, it felt 'under-baked'. So I kept on trying other things like slowing the song down (referring to Blackstreets Yo Love), went somewhat a 'tribal' direction, and I even tried rapping various styles to fill in the middle-8 (once like Lil' Wayne!)... but NOTHING seemed to work. People were just not responding to it.
Years (yes YEARS!) of frustration had gone by and it was not until I decided to play around with the 'mute' button (whilst searching for inspiration) that I learned that the problem had been the 'hook' all along! It was somehow too prominent which restricted the song from properly evolving.
After eliminating the hook altogether the ball finally started rolling again. A new hook almost instantly came in and the song finally felt that it was heading towards the right direction. However, I was not quite out of the woods just yet. Re-arranging the song (for what felt like the hundredth time!) was still extremely frustrating cause a lot of stuff just wouldn't sit tight with the melody.
Listening to it now you might think to yourself "what? the song seem so simple!" but let me assure you that it had to go through a whole lot of experimental complications for it to have become, what I like to call it, cleverly simple.
To be honest, I still feel as if the song is still not quite 'there'. Maybe it needs a better mix, or maybe I'm not a good enough producer, or maybe the song itself is just not strong enough. Well, whatever it is, after almost 5 years in the making, I think it's time to let it go and let you guys decide.
Big shout out to my lovely fiancée for her awesome contribution to the intro & middle 8! If it wasn't for her, Lil' wayne would not have been pleased.
As a new years gift to all my faithful readers I offer my latest creation - my 2nd complete track entitled Waste of Time!
This song, I admit, has been a pain in my ass since it was first created. Considering I came up with the first draft back in 2005, if I was being literal, I would no longer have been able to sit down during it's final stages!
It all started out with me playing with a plug-in called Stylus. I found an awesome beat that I automatically wanted to include a catchy bass-line and trumpets with as the hook. Unfortunately, not many people shared my enthusiasm at that point and ,as you continue reading, you'll find out that they didn't approve for a long long time.
Oh, before I continue, you really need to know something about my work ethic - I NEVER waste a creation. I rather put in further elbow grease to allow it to evolve rather than to simply throw it away. Ok moving on...
In most cases, my songs go through just a couple of evolutions (or versions if that's less confusing for ya) before it becomes the final product. THIS song however, went through so many that I've lost count!
The file was first called 'Funky Beat' (no lyric at that point so I could only identify it with what it was!) and once a melody came on board it was then titled Too Much. The theme of the song remained the same throughout (about an extremely possessive girlfriend) but the melody & lyrics went through so many changes you wouldn't recognize its current state with its initial.
The really painful process of this song though was the constant evolution of the arrangement. See it started life almost comic-like (in a very cheeky yet sexy kinda way) but because my friends weren't really responding to it, I went back to the drawing board and re-arranged it. Little did I know at the time that I'd be repeating this process over and over and over again over the next few years!
The song then became somewhat more club-friendly R&B but, as it turns out, we then discovered that the hook was too similar to another song called 'Lean Back' by Fat Joe! So, back to the drawing board again, and it then went kinda R&B/Techno cause I had to change the instrument of the hook so as to not resemble Fat Joe's track. Still, it felt 'under-baked'. So I kept on trying other things like slowing the song down (referring to Blackstreets Yo Love), went somewhat a 'tribal' direction, and I even tried rapping various styles to fill in the middle-8 (once like Lil' Wayne!)... but NOTHING seemed to work. People were just not responding to it.
Years (yes YEARS!) of frustration had gone by and it was not until I decided to play around with the 'mute' button (whilst searching for inspiration) that I learned that the problem had been the 'hook' all along! It was somehow too prominent which restricted the song from properly evolving.
After eliminating the hook altogether the ball finally started rolling again. A new hook almost instantly came in and the song finally felt that it was heading towards the right direction. However, I was not quite out of the woods just yet. Re-arranging the song (for what felt like the hundredth time!) was still extremely frustrating cause a lot of stuff just wouldn't sit tight with the melody.
Listening to it now you might think to yourself "what? the song seem so simple!" but let me assure you that it had to go through a whole lot of experimental complications for it to have become, what I like to call it, cleverly simple.
To be honest, I still feel as if the song is still not quite 'there'. Maybe it needs a better mix, or maybe I'm not a good enough producer, or maybe the song itself is just not strong enough. Well, whatever it is, after almost 5 years in the making, I think it's time to let it go and let you guys decide.
Big shout out to my lovely fiancée for her awesome contribution to the intro & middle 8! If it wasn't for her, Lil' wayne would not have been pleased.
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