I released two songs this year: - “You Make Me Smile” (January): Musically, this might be my best work yet. I’m particularly proud of the harmonies and melodies I’ve written for it. Huge thanks to Jon Bakke for his incredible vocal performance that took the song to another level. - “Spares” (July): This song had been in the works for a couple of years as I struggled with the vocals. Luckily, I’ve met Filip Zima, who could do justice to the vocals in a short time. I enjoyed the process of recording a great vocalist in my home studio. It was my first opportunity to work with Filip and, hopefully, not the last. A last-minute bonus was working with my old acquaintance Dave Hamilton on drums, for the first time. My daughter, Liana, drew the cover art for the song, another first, making me a proud dad.

In February, I participated in FAWM (February Album Writing Month) for the second time, and sketched out several new ideas. Two of them stand out as strong candidates for future production. Truth be told, they slipped my mind while focusing on Spares and the cover band after February.

On that note, the cover band I play in, Muse On, had two performances in 2024. First at a private event, in August, and our own large event in November, with 3 hours of music and 200 people in attendance. Both events were successful. These take a lot of practice time, though, thus the reduced output on the personal projects in the latter half of the year.

I’ve also been growing my presence on YouTube, releasing five regular videos (including the two songs) and 12 short videos throughout the year.

This year, I got a record player for my birthday and it’s a been a lot of fun rediscovering vinyl records and listening to music this way, engaging with the cover art and listening more intently to favourite classics.

I’m looking forward to a creative 2025. Happy New Year, everyone!