February, Hello!

Well, this month definitely seemed a lot more eventful than last month. But first and foremost…

These were the goals I set at the end of January:

– find a way to get inspired so I can keep creating or if I’m not inspired, learn a new technique on Ableton

I don’t think I found new ways to get inspired in order to create music but I did discover that I can now create without being inspired. I had this terrible problem that most of the time when I start a new beat, it’ll end up being a loop or like maybe half finished. So I tried this new technique where I create the structure and go from there and you know what? I tried it for two beats and it worked! And when I went on to the 3rd beat, I decided not to create the structure and you know what happened? It didn’t work. Did I learn a new technique on Ableton? Yes, I watched tutorials on how to use Absynth – I guess that’s an Ableton related technique. I also applied new techniques to my music that I hadn’t done so in the past. Anyway, I’ve now learned how to finish a full track (that doesn’t include mixing it down but I feel like that’s easier than the actual coming up with the track and structuring it). But the best thing about that is that I don’t have to be inspired, I can just sit down and go yep I can make a beat right now and finish it.

– learn to cook something new! (I have plenty of unused and untouched ingredients in the pantry that I’ll need to use!)

It was a terrible month in terms of diet and being in the kitchen overall but hey I’ll try again next month.

– be a bit wiser, money wise. I need to start saving again.

I can’t say I’ve been wise with my money buying a couple pairs of new shoes this month and so on BUT there’s quite a few things I need to save up for for the rest of the year so I’m definitely going to click into mode.

– eat healthier more often! although I am doing this, I tend to get bored, I just need to learn to expand my palette and apply variety in my diet!

So my good eating habits was thrown out the window this month which actually caused my face to even break out. I have not broken out in a loooong time even when it’s that time of the month so the last couple of weeks, I have decided to get back into healthy eating mode. And no it’s not boring or lame, because I feel at my best when I’m looking after my body.

– increase my minimum daily run to 7kms instead of 6kms. It was actually 4kms until I started running 6kms most days! and maybe try to get to 15kms

It’s safe to say that to increase my daily run to 7kms was a bit too ambitious. However there were only 29 days in February and I nearly managed to outrun my total mileage in January. I could’ve easily have done it but I found myself getting a bit lazy towards the end of the month. But I’ve totally found a new addiction and it’s running. I get so excited about it and I always feel great at the end of each session. Did I get to 15kms?! No, but I got to 11kms early at one stage so I’m getting there. Lizel and I set a goal for April that we’d be able to run 15kms at a good pace so I’m going to work towards that.

Oh and before I forget to do this since I no longer do it but I actually really miss doing this and can’t believe I used to do it every night. 3 things I’m grateful for:

1. Family. I’ve listed on so many occasions and I haven’t done this in a while but family always deserves a shout out. I really am so grateful for my family.

2. Music. Well, maybe Max Martin mainly cause wow this man never fails to amaze me. I feel so blessed to be alive while he makes hit after hit. But I am truly grateful for music as it’s given me a means to escape whenever I’ve needed to. Whether it be through listening or creating. And this year I’ve been listening to SO much music, old and new and also creating more music than I have ever before. It is definitely the one thing that excites me.

3. Solitude. I am grateful for ‘me’ time. To work on myself and improve on the things I want to improve on. I know people hate being alone but it’s quite scary how much I love alone time. I think being someone with a creative personality (I’ve never described myself that before but ok whatevs haha), I tend to find new creative things to get caught up in. But I always find something to do that doesn’t involve others. I can work on a beat which I love and that can take up 4-5 hours of my day. I can go for a skate. I can go run or workout. Sometimes I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day because it honestly doesn’t feel like it’s enough sometimes.

So, February –

Laneway! This was the event I was looking forward to the most and it definitely delivered. The day kicked off in a pretty mellow manner. Emily and I went to the Freo markets to grab a feed and then we hung out at the pub where I had a couple to drink. We made it in time to catch a bit of Big Scary and because the porta-loo que was sooo long, we only managed to listen to The Internet from a far but were quite forefront during Hermitude. Two stages were side by side so when Hermitude finished their set, Violent Soho played on the other stage. We managed to get very, very close to front and centre for Grimes.

And ohh, so funny – during Hermitude’s set, we lit up this fat joint and Emily and I just passed it around to the crowd and later on when we moved through the crowd, we laughed at where the joint had landed. It reminds me of the “ice moment” during Sleigh Bells at Southbound.

Back to Grimes… ahh she was so adorable on stage! She was incredibly pukey and a bit melodramatic towards the end (running off the stage and about to throw up) but hey I’m just glad the show didn’t cancell or anything. Her setlist was an absolute sing along to me and I had so much fun. After Grimes, Emily and I had the munchies and pigged out while Churches played in the background. Flume closed out the night although we only stayed for half his set before we called it a night ourselves. But yeah, that was Laneway. GTM, you’re next up! See ya in May!

Another highlight during this month was probably hanging out with Lizel the weekend we went to watch the Wildcats game. So funny, at the half time interval this dude won a thousand bucks for making the shot from half way court. Best thing I’ve seen in a while.

And what an awesome month it has been for music. I really got into a bit of DnB and Industrial throughout Feb. I love listening to new music. It always plays a big role with my beat making and it’s kind of interesting what I end up channeling through my music.

Also, my ollies on the skateboard have gotten better. I think I’m pretty close to perfecting them actually. It’s only taken me two years haha.

Not sure what I have planned in March. I think I really wanna focus on saving up since I have a Bali trip coming up and then Cal and Ferdi are here in June! Can’t bloody wait for that.

Alright here’s my goals for next March:

– reach out to other artists and discuss making music together
– $AVE, $AVE, $AVE
– keep eating healthy
– outrun running mileage – perhaps reach 12kms at some point too?
– try and go to bed earlier
– increase strength training
– have at least two complete tracks
– suss out Ableton Live even more (it’s kind of funny just how much I know on there but also funny how much I don’t know on there!)

Seeya in March!

x