Creative Floodgates

It’s been over five years since my last album Backstage Pass was released. That’s hard to believe. A lot has happened since then. A lot. Most recently, I married my wonderful wife Crystal a little over a year ago, and about six months ago, I shifted to full time ministry after ten long years in the television industry. Wow. It’s amazing what God has done!

I met with a friend for coffee about four months ago and as we shared prayer requests, I went out on a seemingly selfish limb, and asked prayer that God would grant me new songs. From that day forward, it feels like the floodgates of creativity have burst wide open! After years of writing songs that have seemed only fit for the trashcan, the Lord has given me twelve new pieces that I actually really like. It’s been fun to watch them grow from snippets of lyrics and/or melodies to full blown songs.

One of my goals during the writing process was to focus intensely on vocal melody and piano, while leaving all the other “cool sounds” for a later stage. I am now at that next stage. So far, I’ve programmed demos and fleshed out the arrangements for three of the twelve songs on the new album. The hope is to start with sample instruments and slowly replace “fake sounds” with real ones as needed. After I have finished producing twelve demos, my goal is to record live drums and bass in Nashville. I will then record much of the guitars, and all of the vocals in Columbus (at 10x12 Productions). It’s possible we’ll also track live strings somewhere along the way. Not sure where yet. This journey should be a lot of fun!

I’ll keep you posted along the way.

Where Have You Been?

It's been a long time since I've written in the blog. In fact, I've put it on the back burner as I have been working on a new album! I'm currently in the writing stage and almost have 12 new songs composed (lyrics, melody, chord progressions, and general arrangements). My next step is to put the final touches on the lyrics, and start creating some MIDI demos, which will eventually be fleshed out with real instruments. Stay tuned for more updates!

"Mouse in the House (Alumni Remix)" Released!

In 1991, I released my first official cassette album entitled “Initial Cut.” It included such silly songs as “Turtle Soup,” “Prehistorical Skater,” and “Badaboum,” (a French board game) among other bizarre raps. Then, in 1994, months before my graduation from high school, I released my follow-up project, “Mouse in the House.” The album had a Christian theme for the most part, but contained some “just-for-fun” songs as well, “Mouse in the House” being one of them. I went on to release several singles throughout college, including “The Institute Thang” (Word of Life Bible Institute 1995) and “My Almamater” (Liberty University 1997), and later put out two full-length pop rock CDs after college – “Dishes” in 2001 and “Backstage Pass” in 2004. I’m currently writing and discovering the sounds of what will be my next album.

The Origin of the Mouse
It’s amazing to me how many people who attended my middle school and high school comment about “Mouse in the House.” In fact, even to this day, I am still sometimes referred to as “The Mouse.” I think part of the reason for this is that the vocals on the original recording were mixed so low, no one could hear the words, which makes me guess many people just assumed that I was the rodent in the song, when in reality, the mouse was just a fictional DJ, a character which since childhood had been part of my life. Let me explain. When I was a little boy, I had a bunch of stuffed animals (as did and do many children). One of these was a grey mouse named “Squeaky” who later became “Squeak” and then later in my rap years, “DJ Squeak” and “C.L. Squeak” (Cheese Lover Squeak, as he is referred to in the song). At the time, I really thought Squeak was a pretty sweet imaginary character until I got to college and realized it wasn’t cool to rap about rodents. :)

Why a Re-Mix?
So why after fifteen years did I make a remix of “Mouse in the House?” Well, for a couple reasons. First, I thought it’d be fun to update the song to a more current style so that my former schoolmates could relive their grade school days, while sharing some of those memories with their own kids. In addition, it was a fun challenge for me to re-invent an old sound using modern hardware and software.

Turn It Up To Eleven
It’s crazy to me how much of an impact this ridiculous song (and cassette) had on the students at Worthington Christian Schools. I hope that you have as much fun listening to the new version as my fellow students have enjoyed jamming to the original through the years.

So Where Do I Download The Song?
*This remix took about 20 hours to program and record. To make a $.099 donation towards the creation of this song, please send a Paypal payment to: marcandremusic@yahoo.com.

To download the free re-mix of “Mouse in the House,” click here.

10x12 Productions on Twitter

If you're interested, you can now follow my small business 10x12 Productions via. twitter. I may not post a new status every single day, but will make updates when I am working on new projects.

To follow my updates, just go to 10x12productions.com and click on the twitter icon.

The Office Gets a Make-Over

Here are some before and after pictures of my office. When I first arrived in mid May, one wall was covered with pink and baby blue striped wallpaper and there was an ugly wallpaper border around the top of the room. We didn't think the wallpaper would come off, but it peeled off quit easily (and yes, I peeled too). Crystal helped pick out the colors and she even found some nice pillows and a valence for the window (this is the first time I've had an office with a window!). We also found some nice lamps at Target and a comfortable chair at Staples. My dad was kind enough to let me use one of his paintings to add to the decor, and we made use of one of the extra clocks given to us for our wedding (we were given about four clocks). Now I just need some interesting books to put on the shelves. It's starting to feel like home!

Things have been going really well at DGBC, and I'm enjoying working along side an incredible staff and many dedicated and talented music and tech volunteers.

What We've Been Up To

Life has been busy recently. So what have we been doing with our time? Last weekend, we were in Ashland. Not long before that, we were in California. We usually try to get to the gym three nights of the week. Freelance music and audio jobs on Monday or Tuesday evenings. Wednesday night band practices. Thursday night bible study. Weddings occasionally on Saturdays (I run sound). Sunday morning and often evening church. Video shoots at the station throughout the week with early mornings. Meetings at Delaware. Dinner with our family. Social time with our friends. Generally stuff - bill paying, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, doctor visits, etc. All this to say, I haven't had much time to write in the blog. I know I promised an entry about our trip to California... that's still on its way.

This Friday is my last day at the tv station. I've worked in television for nearly 10 years, so the move to full time ministry will be a significant, yet exciting change. Much of my focus and energy over the last several months has been in preparation for this transition. We know the Lord will lead us in this next stage of life.

Stay tuned for more blogs...

New Job at Delaware Grace Brethren Church

For those of you who don't know, I will soon be joining the staff at Delaware Grace Brethren Church as the new worship pastor. Both Crystal and I are super excited about this new opportunity and adventure! Praise the Lord for opening the door! It'll be fun to work along such a fun and passionate group of folks!

Pictured from left to right: me, Crystal, youth pastor Dave Pacheco, senior pastor Gary Underwood.

California Blog Coming Soon...

More pictures and the crazy story of our trip coming soon...

Pictures from California

Leaving for Laguna Beach!

Tomorrow, Crystal and I will be jumping on a jet plane and heading to Laguna Beach, California to visit my sister (who formally lived in Munich, Germany). On Thursday, we'll be taking a boat to Catalina Island and will spend the day there, possibly renting some bikes to explore the sites. We'll be in California 5 days, and will return next Monday.

We'll take lots of pictures and I'm sure we'll have many stories to tell. Stay tuned!