Music with Tamrin #1
“musings from the chapel steps”
Hi Everyone!
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I promised myself I wouldn’t write another newsletter until I had something to show you all, and now I can say that I do! After a semester-long independent study, I will be releasing a new song (and music video) on July 18th. “musings from the chapel steps” will be yours to listen to on all streaming platforms in 5 days!
This song means a great deal to me, and I’m very excited for all of you to hear my hard work. But first! I have to thank everyone who made this project possible.
One of the music professors at Bates, Asha Tamirisa, met with me over Zoom while I was in Dublin and agreed to do this independent study with me when I returned. She was incredibly helpful and gave me so many ideas for this project and my thesis for next year!
Another very important person in this endeavor was Simon Klompus who took the album cover photo and footage for the music video. He has also listened to at least thirteen different versions of this song over the past few months and still tells me it sounds good.
And of course, all of my wonderful friends and family who have helped me along the way. My friends for keeping me sane while I spent hours upon hours in the Olin Sound Studio. My family for listening to my music since I was a wee ukulele player, and for never pulling punches on advice (I love you guys so so much and I will write a happy song someday, I swear).
Now, to introduce the incredibly talented musicians who made this song as good as it will sound in your ears in a few days.
Ava Clancy for being a BEAST on the bass.
JB Whiteley for writing and flawlessly playing my new favorite drum line.
Jeremy Felton for being the fiddler I could actually only dream about.
Fletcher Libre for shredding on the electric guitar (and putting up with all of my melodic requests).
And last but CERTAINLY not least, the person who has been with me through all of my music making, Morris Raskin.
Thank you all endlessly.
The song is called “musings from the chapel steps,” and I wrote it during my freshman year at Bates College. The song came to me after a night out. I was on my way back to my dorm when I heard music coming from Gomes Chapel, so I walked in and found a few of my friends playing their guitars very loudly. So, I sat and listened and drank a bunch of water out of my water bottle. Then, I went home and wrote a bunch of lyrics down. The song came to me in parts, I wrote a little bit after that night, a little bit in LAX after visiting my cousins for March break, and the song eventually came together. I performed it for the first time at a Bates VCS Student Showcase in December of my Sophomore year and it was a hit! As most things tend to be when you write a song about a building on campus that everyone in the audience knows.
While I was abroad in Dublin, I started thinking about my music thesis and came to the conclusion that I wanted to write and produce an album. In order to do that, I needed a little help with production, so I emailed Asha Tamirisa and asked her if she would be willing to support that kind of project. She was more than helpful when I got back to Bates, and we spent about an hour weekly working through the problems that I was finding myself in. As I created more and more of the song, I realized that I wanted as much live music in the recording as possible, so I began reaching out to my musician friends for help. Thus began some of the most fulfilling moments I had throughout this project. Bringing my friends into the studio, hearing their ideas for the piece and working together to get it done were some of the most beautiful moments I’ve had in a long time. Music is a collaborative art, and it feels incredible to be able to show all of you that through this song.
I encourage all of you to presave the song via this link. I’ve also set up a BandCamp if you’d like to purchase it ahead of the release date (no pressure!). All this to say, thank you all for keeping up with my musical endeavors, and I can’t wait to show you musings!
With so much love,
Tamrin
Timmy Two Shoes
