My 2012 EP : Wake Up

Summer of 2012 I recorded a 5 song Ep. 

At the time, I was working at a ballpark snack shack, with a talented guy named Tyler. The snack shack was a tiny little building, in the middle of 4 ballpark fields, and 1 soccer field.  We sold burgers, fried chicken, and whole lot of candy to the local small town sports community. Tyler worked the grill and I worked the window. When we weren’t taking kids money and dealing with hangry moms, we would just hang out and chat about life. Tyler and I bonded over music, and would spend hours chatting about it. I genuinely enjoyed working at a rather dull job. I got to work with friends, and honestly eat a whole lot of fried food and candy myself. What more could a 14 year old ask for in a job?

That summer found out that Tyler had his own recording company, “Coffee Pot Studios”. 

When he brought up the idea, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to record my music at his studio. At the time, he only charged me about $300. Going into the experience, I definitely expected it to be a whole studio setup I saw on TV. But sure enough, his little recording studio was stationed in an extra bedroom in his parent's house. It took a handful of days throughout the summer, but he recorded my vocals to all 5 songs, as well as hooked up my bright blue tiger stripe guitar. It was raw and mostly acoustic. Tyler, and his friends that I worked with were extremely kind and complimentary. I felt fearlessly excited working through these songs. And I’m so grateful they created a safe space to do so.

Tyler added some piano, and vocals throughout the songs. He even stuck a mic near the window on a rainy day to get the beginning ambient on “Beautiful Face.” “Nothing Along” was a last-minute addition, which I wrote that same summer. A guitarist named Mike added some cool electric guitar riffs that I felt added to the song so much. 

I have a vivid core memory of being back at the snack shack and Tyler brought the first demo. We put the CD into the dinky radio, and I heard it for the first time. I was more than ecstatic. It felt like a dream come true. To finally put my music and my songwriting into a playable song, was just the coolest thing ever. 

Once we finished, I used my 9th grade student council photoshoot as an excuse to get a photo for my EP cover. Just me on a rusty tractor with my blue tiger Guitar- classic 2012. 

I then copied my EP on blank CDs and handed it out to friends and family. I even doorbell-ditched the CD to 3 different boys that inspired 3 of the songs. Imagine those poor boys trying to guess whether I loved them or thought they were liars. 😂

I’ve always kept this EP as a fun fact about myself. It’s a great fact to bring up on a first day.  I’ve  even challenged a coworker that if they can find it, they can listen to it. It took 3 years at my job before someone was clever enough to search for my name on Soundcloud. 

Lucky you, I’m embracing the cringe, and giving it to you here and now. Such a blast back to being 14 again, being naive about love, and hopeful of a world that would wake up. To embrace my love for music and songwriting, I will embrace this era of my life. I had to start somewhere, and I’m so proud I did.