Track 03
Boyfriend
Video coming soon · check back for the official track video
A frequent visitor to my placein the Grove
Its Place in the Story
This bit of bubblegum pop attempts to capture the excitement of the early days of an intense romance.
Within a week of landing in Miami, the Preludes merged when I met someone who seemed almost like my twin. We had so much in common–had it been a movie it would have challenged your suspension of disbelief.
Exchanging favorite songs and morning playlists, she introduced me to Nick Drake, whose astonishing work became the soundtrack both for those early days and for what came after. In From the Morning, he sings, “Time has told me, you’re a rare, rare find.” Utterly rare indeed, as the threads of our connection intertwined at astonishing speed.
A frequent visitor to my place in the Grove
A view of Logic Pro's drummer application and some of its controls.
If I believed in soulmates, I would have believed I had finally met mine.
All of this was unfolding in the dreamlike Coconut Grove area of Miami, some of which is captured in the video. The “Love” sign in the video is from the magical place I was staying. There I was– walking on air, wanting to hug random people walking down the street, transcending earthly concerns, a one man fireworks. As I joked with my friends at the time, having discovered something that seemed timeless, I felt— for a little while — like I had conquered death.
A view of Logic Pro's drummer application and some of its controls.
A Few Words
The process of producing this song captures all that was maddening and absorbing about the project. Logic Pro has its own drum program. When I started, the various drummers you could use actually had their own names. While the YouTubers made it seem easy, I could have called them “Uncooperative,” “Comic” and “Unwieldly.” In the Vault, you can hear the original, short version of the song where the drummer still isn’t quite in time. Instead of pulling my hair out, I went for a walk and listened to what I had.
As I listened, I suddenly heard how the keyboard line underneath the verses and choruses could swap places with the melody and interlock in an entirely different way. This became the extended middle section where the keyboard figure became the guitar lead over the melody.
Having heard this in my head, I then had to figure out how to create a 20 second gap in the track to drop the new section in. It was a Saturday afternoon. I ended up cancelling my evening plans and spent a good six hours learning how to create the gap and then recording the new harmony and guitar parts. The hours likely felt like minutes, the way time always flew when I worked on a song. You can also hear that first extended version with the new middle section—drums still off– in the vault.
After a long while, I got better at bending Logic’s drummer to my will. The ironic thing is, even though I eventually got it to play in time, I still couldn’t get the feel I wanted using Logic’s drummer. I wanted the track to have a certain spring in its step to match the feeling. For that, I hired a drummer I met of Fiverr. Sadly, I’ve lost his name. It’s the only song on the album that features a real drummer.
A favorite burger place in the Grove. Formerly an institution, I believe it recently closed because of rising rents.
The Vault
Demos · Alternate Takes · Behind the Curtain
Early Demo
Early Demo
← Previous · Track 02
Prelude North: The Other Side of Winter
Next · Track 04 →
Save My Love Tonight