I found myself in a difficult situation within my relationship. We would meet and then part, leaving me torn and sad. When I returned home, still carrying my backpack on my shoulders and tears in my eyes, I would go to my piano and begin playing. More tears would flow, and the music would open the floodgates of emotions. A piano riff would form under my fingers, and I would enter a flow where rhythm and melody emerged. Fragments of lyrics would appear, and I would find a topline that resonated with me, repeating it over and over again.
Days later, I would listen back to the recording I made of the initial idea with my iPhone. I liked it and started working on the lyrics for the second verse, as the rest was already there. Over the following weeks and months, I would refine the lyrics until every word felt right to me. Sometimes, it was just a single word that I changed. I particularly love it when lyrics have a rhythm of their own, resembling poems.
Finally, I would sit down at my laptop and explore which sounds inspired me. I would experiment with my Prophet '08 synthesizer and find a sound that resonated with me, recording it for later use. Then, I would let it rest and return to it at a later time.
This was the creative process for my song Midsummernight and it’s a good example for how I work.