I record, therefore I am

On Friday evening, October 12, my band Lisa's Hotcakes loaded equipment into a studio officially named the Hive Creative Labs but which everyone calls the Hive. We decided to record at the Hive with engineer Jesse Gander because every time we asked friends in bands for a recommendation, both the studio and Jesse came up. Among other things, he was said to be very fast, which we needed since we had booked only 20 hours and wanted to record four songs. Twenty hours might sound like a lot, but it's definitely not.

Thanks to our own preparation and Jesse's skill, we came out with five songs: a four-song EP called Love Hz and one bonus track. The EP is available for free on Bandcamp. Some people elect to pay us anyway. We send the bonus track to them.

I won't go into the whole process. It would not be interesting to anyone except musicians and recording studio geeks, of which I am both. It's demanding in a different way than playing live on stage. Our drummer and singer had never recorded songs before, and they came through with flying colours.

But please, listen, download, and share widely. We're a little band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We do this for love. Someday maybe we'll do it for money, but at this point, we mostly want to be heard by as many people as possible.

I write software for a living. I am studying fashion merchandising because I love fashion but also with an eye toward practicality. But these days when someone asks me what I do, I say that I play guitar for Lisa's Hotcakes, or that I am a musician. Because even though I don't make my living playing music, a musician is what I am. It's the most "me" thing that I do. When I play, my guitar, my amp, and I become one. I play because I must. I sing because I must. I write songs because I must. And because there is nothing in the world I love more.