Over the past two years of the pandemic, I’ve taken up the hobby of songwriting. I had never written any songs before and took part of February Album Writing Month (or FAWM as most people call it) in February 2020. The thought of writing songs scared me to death, but I knew at the time that I needed to do it. I had written some contra dance tunes, but never anything with words.
After two years of practice and over 40 songs written, I’ve finally come out with an EP of six of my original songs (released on Bandcamp, where most independent musician release music nowadays. I’ve called the EP (which stands for Extended Play) Breaking Through, as it’s my debut and the first time that I’ve stuck my creations out there. It’s exhilarating and frightening, but so far it’s gotten some good reviews.
In addition to songwriting, this project has gotten me deeper into the skill of audio production, which is a whole ‘nother artform in itself. Given I’ve been doing this all on my own in my own house, without the benefit of working directly with people, I think I’ve come a long way. I know that I’ll probably look back at this effort in a year or so and see so many ways that I could do this better, but for now it’s where I am and I’m happy with it.
I was also lucky enough to be interviewed by John Nicholson for is Songwriters & Original Songs podcast as the feature of the episode for the January 29, 2022 episode. John is from rural Queensland, Australia, and I’ve gotten to know him quite well over the past years as we’ve both participated in a weekly Zoom call of FAWMers from all over the world since Spring of 2021. Thanks John for the promotion!
Additionally, I’ve been thinking about how I want to start promoting all my music adventures (songwriting, recordings, concerts/events, etc.) and I’ve been thinking about a name to bring it all together. I’ve been using Ken Mattsson Music, but I wanted something a little snazzier. Many people have described me as someone who sends out a lot of energy, and the word “beacon” kept coming back to me. To bring that more into the music area (and to align it more with what I’ve set up for my professional consulting practice, I decided to add the concept of “beats” to it, like musical beats but also like sound waves being sent across the land. Therefore, I’ve come up with BeaconBeats Music as the name under which I plan on grouping all my musical activities together, and I just came up with a logo:
This has been the start of a whole new adventure, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes. Keep up to date on my next moves by:
- Join my mailing list. I send emails out randomly, so you will not get spammed. Expect an email every month or so.
- Check out my Bandcamp page.
- Look at the BeaconBeats Music page for lists of concerts, events, and workshops.
Thanks for all your support!