Everyone has a story to tell on how they got into writing songs or having something to do with music and the music business.
Some of us are in the prepatory stages while others are already in the professional breeding grounds of the industry itself, while most others are just music enthusiasts.
So here is my story on how I got into music/writing:
I've been writing poems and stories since I was a kid (4th grade is the earliest I remember writing anything).
When I got into college, I entered a building where the college radio station was housed. I walked right by, not paying any attention to my surroundings in the building and out of nowhere, I was approached by the program director. He was looking for people to fill "on air" slots for the station and asked me if I would be interested.
I said sure. Why not?
The Program Director interviewed me and the next thing I knew, I was being handed a slip of paper with the day and time my new radio show would air and an address of where to show up.
I didn't have any real idea of what I wanted as far as a radio show, so I played music on the air from the radio stations' in house catalog.
A few months later, after noticing the college booked local bands to perform live on stage in front of the building during the lunch hour, I came up with an idea.
I changed my radio show to more of a talk/music format.
For my radio hour, I would book local bands in the Los Angeles area to come on my radio show to talk about their band, how they came together and what they were doing to put themselves out there.
During the hour my show was on the air, I would pick a couple of the bands' songs to play over the airwaves and get people interested in the band.
As my radio show progressed, I met a local teen rock band (called Black Crown and later became NO CURFEW) that had just gotten signed to Universal/Polydor Records in Germany. I ended up becoming friends with the father of the drummer (the drummer was a 13 year old phenom at the time) and he agreed to get the boys in the band on the radio show.
So I did my first interview with an upcoming rock band signed with a major record label.
Through this new connection, I met a cover writer for a Los Angeles magazine called MUSIC CONNECTION MAGAZINE. This writer was putting together a cover article covering COLLEGE RADIO and he asked if he could interview me for the magazine.
I agreed to the interview.
The issue of the magazine I was interviewed for released in late October of 1999. On the cover of the magazine was Rob Zombie holding out a Jack 'O' Lantern. You can back order a copy of the magazine if you'd like by going to (www.musicconnection.com).
How does this tie into me writing my first complete song?
This is how.
One of the other radio djs' was taking vocal lessons with a local writer/producer. His name is Kenny Smith.
This dj had seen some of my lyrics and saw something in me that prompted her to tell Kenny about me.
When she did talk to him the next time she had a vocal session, Kenny asked her to bring me to his studio because he wanted to meet me.
A week later, I accompanied the DJ to the studio that Kenny owned and I met him for the first time.
I showed him some of my lyrics and he picked the best one called "Work of Angels" and he wrote music/melody to the lyric.
A few weeks later, the song was completed and it sounded AMAZING!
Kenny took me under his wing and he nudged me in the right direction.
This was my first taste of the music industry as a songwriter/lyricist.
In late 2001, I left for the United States Air Force and ended up putting music on hold for a little while.
In 2003, while I was serving in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I was inspired to write a lyric called "Nothing's Gonna Make Me".
I wrote the lyric the day after a comrade had told me about his fiance breaking up with him. Basically, she broke up with him because she ended up sleeping with his bestfriend back home and she was falling for the guy. So she dumped my comrade and decided to start dating the best friend.
"Nothing's Gonna Make Me" is a song about a guy who is fed up with a girl because she is cheating on him and he kicks her to the curb. It's a song filled with angst.
Well, I was corresponding with a Los Angeles singer songwriter named Jody Whitesides back and forth from Kuwait and I finished "Nothing's Gonna Make Me" with Jody a few months later. I ended up getting the song vocally arranged and demoed with an unsigned solo artist named Ian Maxion. I believe you can go to (www.myspace.com/ianmaxion) still if you want to hear the song.
In October 2004, I flew to Los Angeles to meet up with a couple of producers (Eddie Galan and Ryan Gentry of ERA Productions) that I had been corresponding with via email and cell phone.
I flew into Burbank Airport and Eddie picked me up. Together, we went to lunch and then straight on to the studio. There, I co-wrote a song with Eddie and Ryan called "Try Imagining" The music was composed by Kenny Smith.
The next day, I helped ERA Productions run a charity concert with major performers like Jesse McCartney (headliner) and Nina Sky. The place sold out and it was in benefit of the Make A Wish foundation....
From that point forward, I made a lot of connections and did a lot of cowrites with different people.
I've grown a lot as a person and as a writer which has led me to doing cowrites on songs that will be on major albums releasing later this year as well as other projects in the future. Keep coming back for more updates.
That's my story in a nutshell....
Gregory Watton
UEMG Publishing/ASCAP
[email protected]
(http://www.myspace.com/prosongwriter)
Some of the projects I have worked on:
Park Jung Ah-Empire Records Korea(song "Fly Away" released on her solo album)
Varsity- Capitol Records/Stonehall Records(cowrote song "Ghost" on upcoming album)
"FUTURE LOVE
will be hitting RADIO DISNEY this TUESDAY!!! (May 20).
See the latest blog for links and more info. on how you can help the guys out.
Everyone have a fun and safe weekend!
Peace -
GWATT
Clique Girlz- Interscope Records(Clique Girlz recorded song I cowrote called "Don't Push Me")
Joelle- Unsigned(demo artist recorded "Fly Away" in America)
(check out the Joelle interview on teenfaze.com)
http://www.teenfaze.com/musicscene/
Jody Whitesides- Independent Artist(cowrote song "All the Things" on "Practical Insanity" album)
US5-Triple M Music(cowrote song "Out of Time" on upcoming album)
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If you want to talk to me on AIM, my s/n is gwsongwriter
If you want to talk to me on gmail chat, my gmail is [email protected]
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