Rose Gonzales, Pt. 2

As the second release inches closer, I am going through those normal, horrible, artist fears. Was I critical enough with the editing? Did I do too much? Not enough? Do these songs make sense released together? Will anyone listen far enough to hear "Stand in the Rain" (my favorite song of this release). Will the completely different feel of "Trains" confuse our genre? 

Ultimately I can rely on a certain amount of security by obscurity. I don't have a fancy handler, a PR person, a manager, it's just me and my collaborators. I know my audience is small right now. Sometimes that's a comfort to me. As an extroverted introvert, I have very conflicting feelings about anyone being able to hear my music, which is incredibly personal to me.

What I found after the first music release was a great sense of unease, but also a huge feeling of accomplishment. I don't always know how people will interpret the lyrics I write, or if they understand why I chose to sing a line the way I did. Every time I get feedback about a song being stuck in someone's head, I feel pretty cool. But ultimately, I don't know how my music makes people feel. There are only 3 songs out there.

That's all about to change, the more music that gets out, the better the picture of me as an artist will come together. There are a lot of things I can't wait to share, but generally I'm terrified of so many of my personal feelings and thoughts being shared. I think it's the good kind of terror though, the kind that makes you feel nervous, but in a way that makes you work harder, prepare more completely, and really kick ass.

Enjoy Pt. 2 of my first album, Rose Gonzales.

The First Release

I have so much music I can't wait for you to hear.

I have music that, when it was written, felt like it didn't quite fit the respective music culture. Now I see its relevance all around me.

The first release, Rose Gonzales, happened immediately after the election, and that was intentional. November 18th was the soonest I could get all the pieces together after my collaborator and brother, Jesse Gonzales, sent me a text message with a song lyric I had written years ago. There's nothing like getting a message from yourself (and extremely helpful brother) that your music is relevant. "Leave Them to the Night" (LT2TN) captured my frustrations completely. There were truly no people at the upper levels that cared. And there was no one person to blame. Just like that, the first song we knew we were going to release was chosen.

I wanted to have a few more songs released with "LT2TN", and I had a lot to choose from. There was some updating work to be done, and I wanted to get everything out quickly while the climate was right. I decided on a small first release, to be followed by a Pt. 2 and Pt. 3 release at later dates. The second song in Pt. 1 I wanted to release was "Apocalypse".

"Apocalypse" was a much harder release decision for me because that song feels so personal. I'll go into more specific details in a later blog post, but this was an early collaboration song in my music career. It is also, unfortunately, ringing true. Lines like, "The counter-culture is the culture" and "All you people look the same to me" were supposed to be outdated ideas that died, and this song would go out of date. Now there are discussions of a Muslim registry in the USA? I'm disappointed this song feels so relevant, but glad I have a way to express my anger.

Finally, "Light Speed". The third song in the release. If the other two songs were my most pessimistic, "Light Speed" was the hopeful note I wanted to end on. Evoking David Bowie, science fiction, and themes of deceit, forgiveness, and hope, this song is one of those that you sing at the top of your lungs. 

Thank you so much for listening to my music. Tomorrow I release Pt. 2, and these tracks are amazing! Pt. 1 had a heavier, alt rock feel. The first of my new releases, "Bullet in Flight", is right in line with Pt. 1, but then the songs take a different direction. There is a much more relaxed sound to the other tracks that show another side of my music. We're only 1 day away!