NIK JAM EP
DEMO VERSION OUT NOW
A collection of six tracks is being worked on for a summer release. The rough draft will be published for free on this page. I then hope to commission mixers, producers, a vocal coach, and possibly even guitarists and real drums to make a more professional version to be released in the near future... but I will need help to make that happen!
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I've also performed this collection of songs on the streets of Berkeley and even abroad in Norway and Ireland. Video of these performances coming soon!
ABOUT NIK JAM EP
ON THIS NIGHT
"On This Night" was one of the first pieces I made once I got my hands on Logic Pro X. It was just a few seconds long, but I decided to write words to it. You can find the original instrumental in the Academy of Art Collection. Those words wound up being the last chorus of the song. I knew right away I had a catchy melody and a few months later decided to make a full-length version.
The lyrics are about being unable to talk to a girl due to social anxiety.
BUBBLE BURST
The melody for the song has been in my head since 2013. I wrote the chorus for the song around then. It was only when I put the music down in Logic at the beginning of 2017 that I finally wrote the verses. I thought it would be very difficult but surprisingly when I sat down and concentrated both verses came out and I really like them both. Originally the song was going to be ambient, with a spin-off interlude that would bring in the gritty bass line and percussion... but wound up including them in the final song too.
The lyrics, unfortunately based on a true story, is about finding a social group that accepted me only to find myself slowly becoming an outcast by those I trusted.
GENESIS (REBORN)
When working with Pro Tools I was playing with a few instruments that resembled Sega Genesis sound effects. I was going to make the song in Pro Tools, but switched to Logic when I found the "Retro Synth" also has some Genesis-resembling sounds. Attempts to get a plug-in that was purely Yamaha 16-bit sounds failed, but I think the music I made could be mistaken for a Genesis soundtrack anyway.
The lyrics are about a video game character losing in battle but, having an extra life, getting a second chance.
YOUR TIME IS OVER
The first part of the song that I came up with was the koto-like riff before the chorus... which is based on a riff in the Sonic CD piece "Tidal Tempest Past." After that, the chorus came with the words "The Party's Over" said 4 times... I eventually changed it to "Your Time is Over", originally going to be said 4 times in a row before I thought up some more words late, and decided to make it a political song since I wanted to have one of those.
FALLING IN LOVE
This song's probably about 4 years old... I had all of the music down but none of the words. Eventually I starting singing "It's falling in love..." at the end of the chorus. I figured I'd make a song about how great falling in love is, but this was one of the hardest songs to write lyrics for. If you look at the lyrics I uploaded, I even found a few I'm going to change for the final version.
That's why eventually I just started every line with "It's not enough..." and the song became a lot more negative. I do like how it turned out though, I was able to get very creative with the things it is "not enough" to do and the melody is catchy enough that it could become a hit.
MY LAST CHANCE
The last song is a vocal version of the Instrumental "GVD" which can be found on the "Academy of Art Collection." The instrumental, as well as the final song, is about a friend I lost in 2015 due to bad decisions by me, and coming to terms with it.
I struggled the first time making GVD, since I wanted to have strings and other stuff involved but it never meshed with the beautiful pads and piano. For the vocal version, I found some other ambient pads, choral sounds, chimes and other things to add in and it all comes together really nicely. Despite that a lot of it is instrumental, it is one of my favorites to street perform.
OTHER SONGS
The instrumental "A New Journey" was composed for my thesis project Rhythm Road. It was considered too slow for the project, so I made a second version that was a lot faster and rhythmic. It was also released as the "Rhythm Mix." Both songs were released on the "On This Night" single.
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Two more songs, vocal songs, "The Path to Glory" and "The Key" remain unfinished, although TPOG is featured on my live sets. They will be published in the Final Verison of Nik Jam EP. "The Key" is a longer version of "Beginner's Lesson", found on The Academy of Art Collection.
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Three more songs that were designed during my Europe trip, are in development. They are called "Heartbreak in Venice" (the lead single), "The One I Love" and "Euro Tour Theme" (The two B-sides).