This week went surprisingly smooth in the studio. We added more to the room—finally finishing the other half—so everything feels more organized and intentional. The song also got wrapped up earlier than usual, which meant I actually had time to mix it properly. Huge difference. I was able to record without relying on a ton of VSTs, render about 50 stems cleanly, mix them, then master. It came out tighter and more controlled. That’s the new workflow going forward.
It was also our second video with Emmy actually filming, and the new system is working. On Thursdays, she shoots her part first, then I shoot mine right after. I treat Thursday as a “pre-film,” just testing looks, angles, and ideas. No pressure. By Friday, we already know what works, so adding her into the TV and pulling everything together feels way smoother. Having that practice day really takes the weight off me. Thursday doesn’t matter—Friday is where we go for it—and somehow that makes me perform better.
I also got a better guitar tone this week. I learned the hard way that plugging a computer into one outlet and the amp into a different one turns your whole setup into a radio antenna. I had a radio station bleeding through the amp until I unified everything into one power source. Grabbed an extension cord, fixed it instantly, and the tone cleaned right up.
My biggest challenge right now is memorizing lyrics. I need to spend more time speaking them out loud instead of just singing them and never going back to them. Every week we watch the original artist’s video to get ideas, and this time Emmy brought in the concept for the wolf gloves and scratches on my neck. We even worked plants into the scene. It ended up being a lot of fun and definitely added something different.
No real disconnects this week—just progress. We’re trying to build repeatable templates for filming and recording so setup is fast and songs move through the pipeline smoothly. The goal stays the same: a new release every Saturday at 6 PM.
And this week, it finally felt like we hit our stride.