I think have spent the majority of this weekend thinking about calibration, dpi, fonts, smudges and ink runs. I’m sure that this is how the majority of post modern 21st Century people spend their weekends, but it’s not usually my cup of tea. However, it has all been worth it as I have now actually made some artwork for some of my music that I will be releasing over the coming months.

As some of you may be aware, one of my songs was played on the radio last week on BBC Radio Berkshire’s The Session. They have a demo panel where they play 30 second clips of 4 songs, review them and then chose one to play in full. Well I was lucky enough to be chosen to have my track Make It Better played in full. I can’t really explain how it feels to hear your own music being played on the radio, but I think it may be a tiny underestimation to say that it feels good.

A few days later I was then invited to be on the show itself as a guest. I will be playing a couple of songs and having a bit of a chat. I am very excited by the prospect of all of this, but it did also make me acutely aware of the fact that I needed to get my act into gear with regard to releasing some of my music.

The two tracks that I will play on the radio will be Make It Better and another track called Tonight. These songs are both now finished and I am happy with them and there is nothing I want to change. I promise. So why don’t I release them then? That way people will be able to buy them and own them themselves. Surely this would be a good thing.

In order to release a song you need two things. Firstly, and somewhat obviously, you need to have a finished song. Check! The second thing you need is some artwork. Che…  Oops.

Not to worry though, I actually really like playing around with photos and the like. So I bought myself some software and set about creating some artwork that can be used on CDs, jewel cases, online and the like. I’m very please with the outcome, if I do say so myself.

Here is the artwork for Make It Better:

I have packaged the song together with a B-side and a couple of alternative mixes and submitted it to a number of online stores including iTunes and Amazon. It should become available in a month or so.

For Tonight, I have created the following artwork:

I will release Tonight a few months after Make It Better. With a little luck the next thing I release after that will be my album, Parkview.

In the meantime if you would like to hear the songs please visit my website, or alternatively listen to me on the radio (you have no idea how cool it feels to type that).

Toodles,

Stephen.