June Newsletter: Blue Jay
“Blue Jay” (NEW demo)
(keep reading for more info on the song)
Happy June? I sure hope so.
Your free demo of the month is… Blue Jay!
I sent a rough demo of this song out last year, but I’m too excited about this new demo to keep it to myself. (I’m also too upset about the state of the world to send you something sad.) Last month I mentioned that I’m working with Mathias Kunzli (drummer for Regina Spektor, Lauryn Hill, Moby, and other impressive musicians) on my next album, Sparkbird. This track gives you a sneak peek at how things are sounding!
The new album-length version of Look at the Harlequins! is now available! If you buy it or any of my music on Bandcamp this week, I’ll donate the money directly to the Portland Freedom Fund (their main website is down right now). The PFF pays bail for people of color who cannot afford bail and would be jailed or forced to plead guilty in order to go home. Bandcamp is waiving its revenue share on June 5 (midnight to midnight PDT), so that would be a great day to contribute.
And of course, the album can also be found on Spotify, Apple, Google Play, and Amazon.
If you’d like to see me perform from the comfort of your home, mark your calendar for June 13, 2020, 5:30 PM (PDT)! I’ll be playing a show on Facebook Live. If you’d like to suggest songs from my back catalog, you can do that on the event page or by emailing me.
I’ve gotta be honest, things have been tough lately. Compared to the horrors of the pandemic and systemic racism and police brutality, my problems feel petty, but I’ll share one of them nonetheless. I’ve been trying to get my album out into the world, and the rejections from music blogs are pretty demoralizing. Here are some highlights:
“The delivery was a bit too theatrical for my personal taste.”
“The sort of campy theatrical feel to this track did not really speak to me."
“The lyrical style makes it a bit hard for us to understand the message."
“The song is a lil dated and monotonous.”
“Felt that Stephan's vocals needed to do more to stand out.”
“The lyrics are too self-consciously wordy for their own good.”
“It's a little too grand and dramatic for me.”
“Great penmanship, just not what I’m looking for currently.” (???)
“This is really theatrical but doesn't really read as a standalone.”
It frustrates me, because I personally love grand, dramatic, theatrical, wordy music. And I would argue that most people love certain grand, dramatic, theatrical, wordy songs — as long as other people also love those songs. #bandwagoneffect
I firmly believe in my music, and I believe that there are people out there who would love to hear it. I just have to find the will to keep doing what I’m doing.
Over the past few months, I’ve been putting together a Pick-Me-Up folder with screenshots of encouraging things people have said to me. A lot of these have come from my newsletter subscribers. It always lifts my spirits to hear that you enjoyed listening to a song I sent out.
As I mentioned, I sent out a demo of “Blue Jay” last year. I wrote the song after reading Julie Zickefoose’s Saving Jemima: Life & Love with a Hard-Luck Jay. I highly recommend you read it. It will be a wonderful escape, and you’ll return with newfound strength.
The song doesn’t actually deal with anything in the book, other than celebrating Blue Jays. I mostly wrote it to be fun and uplifting. It includes a reference to Jay Gatsby seeing the light across the bay — that symbol for the unreachable dream. Which is maybe kind of a downer, but I think dreams are important. (Like they sing in “Happy Talk” from South Pacific: “You’ve got to have a dream / If you don’t have a dream / How you gonna have a dream come true?”)
Thank you so much for letting me share new songs with you, and the stories behind the songs. And remember, I always like hearing from you! You can email me, or reach out on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Take care,
Stephan
PS In case you missed it, I still highly recommend watching the lyric video Micah McCaw made for “Why Snow White”.