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I caught up today with Greig Watts, my co-writer on “One Of The Days” and the “W” in the “DWB Music” songwriting, production and publishing group. Greig told me about his latest hit with Korean superstar BoA, offered some great insights on writing and producing for the “Idol” market, and advice for songwriters trying to break in the business…
(Pictured from left to right: Greig Watts, Pete Barringer, Paul Drew)
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The story behind “One Of These Days” starts in 2003, shortly after I moved from New York to London. Singer Katie Lewis had been a contestant on series 1 of the BBC’s “Fame Academy” (Oct-Dec 2002) and her fan club had summoned a group of up-and-coming songwriters to Katie’s home in Bristol to audition some songs and songwriters for a tentative album. Somehow, I had been invited to join in and made the trip to Bristol. One of the writers there was a young lyricist from London, Greig Watts.
Greig and I had complementary skills – he was better at lyrics and I better at music – and both lived in the London area, so we agreed to keep in touch and try to co-write a few songs for Katie.
One of these songs was “One Of These Days”.
Unfortunately, nothing happened with Katie or with any of the songs we co-wrote, and after a few months Greig and I drifted apart...
Fast-forward to 2011 – I was going through old demos to see if there were any good ideas worth dusting off. I rediscovered “One Of These Days” – which I had completely forgotten about... Listening to it with a completely fresh ear, I thought it was really good...
Well, it had great potential, but there were a number of problems with the demo, and it was very obvious why nothing had happened with it: for one, the vocal track was awful – it was just impossible to hear past it. The rest of production (for which I take full responsibility) wasn’t great either – it wasn’t bad, but it sounded like a demo... and as everyone in the business knows, a good demo sounds like a record.
Finally, I felt that some of the words were a little rough. But the core of the song was all there, and I felt it was very strong: the title, the story, the message, the melody and song structure were all there, and over the following days, the song kind of got stuck in my head... I thought it would be a shame not to do anything with it, so I decided to track down Greig.
As it turns out, Greig had become really successful as part of the DWB Music songwriting and production team, scoring a string of hits, particularly in European and Asian markets (Japan, Korea).
I sent Greig the old demo and he agreed that the song had potential, but wasn’t sure how much time he’d be able to commit. Originally, I wanted us to rework the lyrics to make them really great, and I was prepared to take over the rest. Greig and I did re-write a good portion of the lyrics together, via back-and-forth emails, and got it to the point where we had a great song.
What ended up happening is that Greig and his production partners re-recorded the song from scratch (I sent them the original midi files but not sure whether any of it was used) and recruited Maria Willson to sing it.
This is the only song where I had nothing to do with the production, and it was a real kick for me to discover the finished track.
DWB stayed true to the original melody, chords and song structure, but their arrangement and sound engineering was a major improvement over the original. They also came up with a new intro and introduced modulations that make it more dynamic. Maria delivered a great vocal and some cool ad-libs, including the repetition on “one of these, one of these days” in the final section. I couldn’t be happier with it... now I just hope people hear it and enjoy it.
Here’s a video of the original demo MIDI tracks against the final recording:
ONE OF THESE DAYS
Words by Greig Watts & A. Robin / Music by A. Robin
Vocals by Maria Willson
Produced by Paul Drew, Greig Watts and Pete Barringer for DWB MUSIC LTD
© 2012 – All rights reserved
I kissed away all the fears
They were just holding me down
But I’m too strong to shed a tear
And I ain’t sticking around
One of these days I will show you
That I’ve got what it takes
Cause even when I go wrong
I learn from my mistakes
Chorus:
One of these days, just wait and see
Our voice will light up the world
Make this dream reality
One of these days, I’ll make you see
That if I can be myself
I‘ll find my destiny
I know that I’ve been given
A gift that I must use
I’ve worked to make it happen
I’ll keep on pushing through
One of these days I will get there
And finally you will see
Why I had to keep on going
When you said just let it be
Chorus:
One of these days...
Bridge:
And I will keep on going even when I fall down
I will keep believing till my future is found
Cause everything I’m learning helps me on the way
I’m getting so close now, so hear me when I say
Chorus:
One of these days...
(One of these days, I will be the one)
(Living the dream, lighting up the world)
(One of these days, I will be the one)
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My first single – “Whatever You Do” is finally out! Get it now on iTunes and on the Music page, and soon on Amazon, Spotify and all good download platforms.
“Whatever You Do” is the latest song I wrote and recorded, and the latest always tend to be my favorites… The other reason why I chose to release it first is that it is a good introduction to the “SuperCool-Guy style”: very pop, melodic, with positive lyrics.
One day, my friend Viceroy and I were playing each other some tracks we were working on – as we often do. There was one track that he wanted some feedback on: it was an instrumental, it had two sections, and he wasn’t sure which direction to take it into. I immediately flashed on the first section – which essentially makes up the verse chord structure/hook for “Whatever You Do”: I thought it was very strong, very catchy, original, and I immediately heard a melody for it. I pretty much immediately got the idea for the chorus music as well, or at least the general idea.
The combination of chords, melody and structure quickly imposed itself as self-evident
Viceroy ended up taking the track in a different direction, but gave me his blessing for using his original chord structure and make a new song from it.
I made a deliberate choice of starting right off with the verse, without an intro, as the chords are prominently featured during the verse and an intro would have been redundant.
The counter-melody during the 2nd and final choruses also came to me pretty much right from the beginning.
I wanted an instrumental break after the 2nd verse, and the chords came to me as a result of playing around on the keyboard.
Lyrics can be very difficult for me, and I usually prefer working with lyricists. But in this case, they came quickly and easily.
The first line “Looking for something new, in everything you do” came to me from the very beginning and I took it as a starting point. I decided the song would be about a young adult, discovering the world and who they want to be. The song is a message of unconditional support and encouragement from the point of you of a parent or mentor. Hopefully, it is a message of support that can be applied to many situations.
My favorite line: “Beyond every crossroad, a path that leads to you” – in other words: you will become the person you are meant to be as a result of the successive choices that you make in life. Even if you don’t know where you are going, these decisions will take you there.
I sang and played every instrument on the track.
The main synth part is a combination of 3 sounds (Fat Rhodes from Roland XV-3080 + Bellatrix and Softabellum from NI Komplete).
For the drums, I wanted something very tight and simple, kind of like Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.
With every song, I like to try something new that I’ve never tried before. With this song, I wanted to try some guitar parts in the style of Andy Summers of The Police. I thought the guitar and synth would answer each other quite nicely. I actually played the parts with RealStrat on the keyboard, with the cheekily-named “Summer Rox” effects from Guitar Rig 4, and lots delay on top. There’s also some crunchy guitar coming in on the 2nd and final choruses, that give the song a bit more edge and energy, also played with RealStrat.
The strings during the musical break are possibly my favorite part in the song.
Viceroy helped me with the final mix, and Jon Astley mastered it.
WHATEVER YOU DO
Words by A. Robin / Music by Viceroy & A. Robin
Produced by SuperCool-Guy
© 2011 -- All rights reserved
Looking for something new
In everything you do
You've got the strength and the power to see it through
Beyond every crossroad
A path that leads to you
Follow your heart and you'll know what you're meant to do
Chorus:
If you reach for the sky
You may fall down low
Pick yourself up, now
Don't you let it go
You know I will always stand by you
I'm with you
Whatever you do
Been watching over you
Sometimes I've guided you
No need for that now, you're strong and you're coming through
(You're coming through baby!)
Chorus x2
[Instrumental Break]
Chorus x2