The Story Behind “Watch This”
Here I am, near the end of a long and arduous journey that started back in 2014 with a simple idea: “why don’t I compose and record my own album? How hard can it be? Put together a few songs and in a couple of months I’m done”. Man, was I wrong! At the time I had been playing guitar and studying music for eight years. I had been in a few bands that unfortunately didn’t work out, so I decided that the best thing I could do…was to do it all myself.
I’ll take a moment and acknowledge the fact that the most prominent influence for my decision was Balaurul, the lead guitarist from the band “Trooper”. Back in 2009 I won a contest they held and spent a whole day with them while they prepared for the concert that marked the release of the “Poemele Valahiei” album in Bucharest. I was twenty years old and for the first time in my life I got to see the ins and outs of making a concert happen. Setting the stage, sound checks, backline, lighting, catering and so much more. Needless to say, I was impressed. And impressionable.
But to this day, what struck me the most (aside from the overwhelming excitement and nervousness of spending a whole day with my favorite Romanian band) was everything Balaurul did. I thought he only played guitar. But no. He was also the sound engineer, going back and forth between the stage and the mixer before the show, he organized the people, made phone calls, made sure everyone’s alright and everything’s in place. Still, the cherry on top was that a couple of days after thet epic show I found out he also produced, mixed and mastered the band’s albums in their studio. Aside from composing most of the songs and recording demos. Again, I was impressed. And impressionable.
So I said to myself: “I can do that! Well…at least some of that”. I also said: “Aiming high is my middle name”. Then decided that “Shumu” sounded better.
Fast forward to 2014, after becoming frustrated with the way things went in the bands I was in, I started saving some money, and then some more money and begun building a home studio in my…you guessed it! Home. After hours upon hours of research I put up acoustic foam panels on my walls and ceiling in order to get a decent level of sound treatment in the room. After that I upgraded my electric guitar, bought a few more, a valve amp, microphones, an external sound card and some food. Then realized the food would be of no use to me because I needed someone to play bass on my album. So I bought a bass guitar and learned to play it.
In January 2015 I spent two long weeks studying the process of recording, from miking the amp to using a DAW. I remember working for twelve to fifteen hours every day, falling asleep at my PC or stopping when I began seeing double. It was really tiring mentally, but so worth it, considering that by mid-February I had finished my first song, titled “Watch This” - like the album.
I decided to record fourteen songs of different genres ranging from hard rock and heavy metal to classical music; from chillout to hip hop, from metalcore to blues. And everything in between.
What followed was a focused time period of hard work, prioritizing, neglecting my friends, dancing with and fighting the muse, hard work, vegetarianism and a midi controller to add more depth to my songs by using choirs, a Hammond organ, harpsichord and other great instruments.
All things considered, I found the hardest part to be the lyrics. I dabbled some years earlier trying to write lyrics for what eventually became the track “Fall of Ages”. Now I discovered that a slightly less painful way for me to write is by sitting on a bench in a quiet place in Bucharest. Yes, we have that. To my surprise, the more time I spent writing, the easier it became. I’m nowhere near the proverbial ten thousand hours, but in the end I managed to express exactly what I felt and wanted – at the cost of a bunch of neurons lost in the process. Eh, you win some, you lose some. I feel really lucky that what I do for a living is music related and gives me the luxury of a flexible schedule so I was able to balance working on the album and…working.
Also, considering the big picture, Amsterdam helps. It’s a vast source of inspiration. Amsterdam is the best. I like Amsterdam. Yep! Now…where was I?
Oh! The album.
Over time, things snowballed. I went to two amazing conferences, titled “Mastering the Music Business” that were put together by an amazing woman named Anca Lupes. From these I got a huge amount of valuable and invaluable information and understood that in order to put my music out in the world, I have to learn about different areas linked to music. My image, marketing and packaging (to name a few) go a step further from me being in my room, rocking away on the electric guitar, amp cranked to 11. There are certain logical steps that follow the question: “What’s next after I finish my songs?”. And I want to do it all. Mixing and mastering the tracks, I built this website and much more. I became my own composer, lyricist, producer, manager, audio engineer, water boy, PR, you name it. And when I attain galaxy-renowned rock star level, I may need a dealer. To buy a car, of course.
At the time of this story (March 2018) I am in the process of recording the vocal tracks and about to enter a studio with three amazing singers.
All things considered, this has been a long and fantastic roller-coaster ride with a lot of ups and downs, but in the end worth every second. And it’s not over yet – stay tuned!
The album will take you on a long journey filled with excitement and contemplation; it will carry you through the full spectrum of emotions and surprise you with every track.
Whomever you are, thank you for taking the time to read my story.
I hope my music will inspire you. Here’s to a great life!
Cheers!
12 March 2018
Later Edit:
In May 2018 I entered the studio with four amazing singers and recorded vocals. Currently I’m mixing and mastering each song which will be released one per month.
Laterer Edit:
November 2025 - a lot of life happened, album’s still on my HDD. Well, SSD. I rebuilt this website - modern, sleek, cyberpunk neon. Working on the marketing side of things now. Album launch? 2026. For real this time. Srsly.
Contact
Wanna collab, bro?
Let’s make something badass.
More stuff I created:
📲 RCG – Guitar App🎸 Guitar Lessons
📸 Shumography
🌐 Web Design
📖 Life Map – (Audio)Book
🔴 YouTube – Riffs, solos & other noises