So I'm a Rodgers looking for a Hammerstein. A Menken looking for an Ashman. Basically, I'm a music composer looking for a lyricist.
I like writing pop tunes. Little ditties that stick in your head. I've been doing it since I was a kid.
If you'd like to write some lyrics to original tunes I've already written, click here.
What I'm not so good at is writing lyrics. My lyrics come out too literal, or just grapola stream of consciousness. What I'm looking for is a lyricist who can write words that suggest a story. Less "Come Together" and more "Please Me" or "Help!".
More details on what types of lyrics I'm looking for here.
My music style is varied. I've started 2 bands so far in my life. Both were what I called "meta-pop"- basically, let's just mix all genres of music (blues, punk, rock, country, whatever) and see what happens. It was a lot of fun.
While I can write for a specific style (I can write a country song if requested) I prefer just to read lyrics and whatever comes out, comes out. I feel it just flows more naturally that way, and the music is better married to the lyrics when there isn't a preconceived set style that you must obey.
1. E-mail collaboratoratdarkwinnerdotcom (replace at and dot with @ and . as appropriate). Let me know that you're interested, and what project you'd propose. We can do things my way, but I'm willing to try things your way also.
2. Send me lyrics to one song. (Make sure that another composer doesn't have "dibs" on the lyric you send me.). Maybe it'll be the lyric you predict would best fit my style, or your favorite lyric no one else wants to write a melody to, or the lyric you think has the most potentail for commerical success, or the lyric that's just calling out for a melody right now, or whatever. (Or you can send me up to 3 lyrics and I'll pick the one that most calls out to me.)
I'll take a read through. If I think I can write a melody to it, I'll let you know within a couple days. I might edit the lyrics to fit the melody better. (Unless you specify that your words are sacred and must NOT be changed - I can accomodate if necessary).
3. I'll send you an mp3/wav of a "rough version" me singing the melody (perhaps with some accompaniment). You take a listen. If you hate the melody, let me know and the collaboration stops there. You get your lyric back, and I get the melody back. Or if you like the melody, let me know, and I'll continue developing it until it's a demo. You can suggest changes to the melody if you'd like, I'm not particularly hay-nal about my work.
4. I make a demo of the song with drums, bass, guitar, vocals etc.
5. If this first song was mutually satisfying, we'll repeat the process starting with more of your lyrics (or my melody) until we have a 3 song demo tape/CD.
6. We shop the song around
7. The song gets sold, and we make lots of money. ;)
Of course, step 7 isn't exactly a given ;) I write music because it's fun, and it's a break from my day job. I aspire to be a successful songwriter, but I'm also okay with my life as it is now. I've got the lotto ticket attitude to songwriting: Write some songs, and if we get commerical success, that's great. If not, oh well, at least it was fun.
Re:Step 6. I'll do what I can to shop the song around, but honestly, right now, the music is more my strength than the business end. Hopefully, in return for the oodles of work I've put in to the demo, you can put in oodles of work on the businessman/salesman side.
Re: Step 2. I prefer writing music to existing lyrics. While I've got 60 melodies in need of lyrics I think it's easier for both parties to start from a set of completed lyrics.
I'll eventually post some of my original material on my site. If you'd like to hear some of my previous work before deciding to collaborate, e-mail me and I can send you some of my old original songs. (Actually, it's up now! Click here
If you're interested, e-mail collaboratoratdarkwinnerdotcom. Looking forward to hearing from you!