(Classic) Robert Miles - Children (1994)

What can I say about this song? Well, for starters it was the song that epitomized everything I ever wanted to do with my music. Before I heard this song during a particularly eye-opening epiphany at my first rave (I learned how to really dance), my early experiments with electronic music were based on the only thing I really knew of at that time: Nine Inch Nails. To me, music was an expression of anger and pain, a way to get all that out of a person. I didn't even think about the fact that it could be used to express such joy and beauty.

Weird, huh? But this uplifting piece which still brings tears to my eyes 13 years after I first heard it opened up everything for me. It's been my most influential song to date.

(Classic) Commander Tom - Are Am Eye (1995)

I've decided to start posting the electronic songs that I've grown up with and that had such an effect on my life that they have become both an Evey influence and an Evey classic. Oddly enough, the song I choose to start with is one I hadn't heard in at least 4 years now, and one I hadn't even thought about until just now. I immediately had to jump up and listen to it again.



I suddenly remembered this loud, unforgettable hard trance track from 1995 for absolutely NO reason at all, except maybe because it's 6:09am right now and I can't sleep. :) I wish I could remember where I first heard it...could have possibly even been my first rave in '97. All I know is that those crazzzy hoovers stuck with me and in my head since, because the first memory I do have of this track is hearing that breakdown somewhere else, remembering it from before, and saying, "Ohhhh....I f*cking LOVE this!" before going absolutely crazy dancing when it hit.

Hearing it now, it almost seems too sparse compared to the huge synths we have now. But it's still classic, and that's what matters.

There is nothing better than...

• Early, early mornings on what promises to be a hot summer day
• The smell of coffee when you first open the package
• The sound of trees blowing around in the wind
• Hearing a song so powerful it makes you want to cry
• Snuggling up with the one you love every night, even if it's just your blanket and pillows
• Fresh fruit, especially nectarines
• Checking your bank account and realizing you have more money than you thought
• Barbeques
• Putting on a brand new pair of socks
• The smell of spring
• Drinking cold water fresh from a waterfall
• Babies who stare at you...and then smile
• The colour purple
• Being surprised into laughter by something
• Warm summer nights
• Kittens and snuggly cats
• The northern lights
• Smelling a big bunch of lilacs
• A nice cool shower when you're really hot
• Driving in the country and singing at the top of your lungs
• Clean sheets
• The smell of sawdust
• Remembering things like this

Be Grateful.

I'm reading a book called "The Power", which is an addendum to "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. I bought it on a whim (30% off at Walmart), and have basically been using it as a bathroom book. It's not the kind of book I can sit down and read before bed or something...it contains a lot of stuff that requires much thinking about once I've been through a page or two.

A great deal of the book is spent on learning to love and be grateful for all in life, and then you can begin to achieve the life you want. "What are you talking about?" I thought. "I am grateful...I do love."

But then this little excerpt popped up:

"Are you grateful for your health when it's good? Or do you only notice your health when your body gets sick or hurts?

Are you grateful when you have a good night's sleep? Or do you take those nights for granted and only think of sleep when you've been deprived of it?

Are you grateful for your loved ones when everything is going well, or do you only talk about your relationships when there are problems?

Are you grateful for electricity when you use an appliance or flick a switch? Or do you only think of electricity when there's a power blackout?"

There's the rub. A lot of people (including myself) would say, "I think positively about stuff...I try not to focus on the negative." But that's the big picture. If we are faced with an issue, we focus on that issue in a an attempt to solve it, and once it gets resolved in some way, we go: whew, glad that's over with, and kind of forget about it. If we have no issues, we go about our merry way until we are faced with another one, then it's nothing but worry and focusing on that issue again.

The smaller things, we forget altogether. I am currently listening to Daft Punk and grateful that I can hear it and appreciate it. I'm grateful that I have a place to live in, a computer to type on, an internet connection to keep me here in this gigantic cyberworld. I am grateful that I have the ability to create music that I love, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share this music with you. I am grateful to those of you that also appreciate and love my music as much as I do. I am grateful for a lot of things...hell...everything in my life. Everything, not just the big things.

Let's be grateful for those smaller things. Our health, our homes, our senses, our lives.

:)

Carol of the Bells (2005)

This has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs, so I decided to do my own trancey take on it, with some wonderfully wooshing synths. It was kind of tough until I realized the time signature was not 4/4, as I was used to working with.

Every year since I've made this song, I've posted it for my listeners. In a sense, I guess it's been like a Styles holiday tradition. Hope you enjoy it!

Download 'pretty songs' for free

I am giving away a copy of my album 'pretty songs' for free to the first 100 people who 'share' me with their friends!

For more details, check it out here.

Difference (2010)

Actually, there's not much of a background story to the lyrics of this song without getting into some personal stuff.  It was made at a fairly lonely time in my life when I thought things should begin to turn around, which is something only I could make happen.

I believe I wrote this in May or June, but didn't think to listen to it very often until lately.  Although it is directly about somebody in my life at the time, changing things didn't bring about what I had wanted or thought could happen.  In fact, things went the exact opposite way.  At that time, I was upset that it didn't happen but to look back on it now, I'm so glad that it didn't.  Making the 'difference' did bring about change, but in a definitely more positive way.  I'm in a good spot right now, and happy to be here.  :)

As for the track itself...I didn't want to post this back then because I had changed a couple of the lyrics.  However, the vocals in it are the original ones I recorded to make this song.  I tried re-recording them a few times but never could quite get the softness and breathiness of the original vocals.  So rather than doing what I usually do - record over and over until I get it 'right'-sounding, and basically just wreck the entire feeling of the song for me - I left them in as is.






Lyrics:

Wishing things were back to exactly where they used to be
Covered up my heart and tried to cling to something that I couldn't see
Maybe if I wished a little harder, it'll bring about you and me
But does it make a difference now?

Climbing up ever higher out of this sea of doubt
Opened up my heart and tried to show you exactly what it's all about
Maybe if I try a little harder I won't be left feeling without
But does it make a difference now?
It doesn't make a difference now...

Thinking about the future, and I know I'll be just fine
I didn't have the heart to tell myself that it's all just a matter of time
All I really know is deep inside, I kinda wish that you were mine
So I'll make a difference now...
And hope that you can see it now