Overwhelmed and grateful
Sunday, 17 April 2011, 8:24:29 AM | betsielarkin

If there was one word to describe how I’ve felt the past two months, I guess it would be a fierce competition between “overwhelmed” and “grateful.” It’s so amazing to be right where I am now – how often do we get to say that? The past year has been about working really hard, and all of the seeds I planted are finally peeking up from the ground.

As some of you know, I’ve been very focused on my first solo album, and the release is just around the corner. What some of you might not know is that there will be about ten different producers on the album, and for every production I’m returning a written vocal to the producer in return. I’ll let you do the math… It’s a lot of material! That said, I’m thrilled to work with these brilliant people on not one, but at least two songs! Hence, overwhelmed and grateful

The first seed to pop up from the ground this Spring is “You Belong to Me” which I released with Bobina. This song was intended for my album, but we decided to let Bobina along with Maelstrom Records handle the single release. His song, Invisible Touch, was my inspiration in writing the vocal parts. I came up with nearly all of the vocals over Invisible Touch, and Bobina and I polished and revised until we had something entirely new. It’s been featured on A State of Trance (where it was voted Future Favorite), Trance Around the World, Corsten’s Countdown, and the ‘In Trance We Trust’ compilation. The music video is in production and will be available soon!

My work with John O’Callaghan over the past year has been a huge blessing. Without a doubt one of the most gifted people I’ve worked with, John has a strong sense of not only EDM production, but also songwriting. While in NYC to perform at Pacha, he and I had the opportunity to work in person on “Save This Moment,” my latest release which appears on his album ‘Unfold.’ While he and I discussed the arrangement, he made a chart of all of the sections of the song and insisted that we have a clear structure. He taught me a trick that I had never before heard articulated… I’ll share it with you songwriters. Just before each chorus, write your lyrics/melodies so that they build into a crescendo that bursts into the chorus. You can hear this in the track on the line “you’re calling out to me.” “Save this moment” has also been given the honor of ASOT, TATW, and Corsten’s Countdown airplay. Gareth Emery hit it out of the park with an ingenious remix. When I first heard it, I thought.. clever, exciting, and so different from the original! Gareth is obviously a heavy-weight, so we were very lucky to have him. Lots more on the way with John and me. He’s produced an absolute gem for my solo album.. Can’t wait to share that with you!

Well, this is getting long. I just haven’t blogged in a while and needed to share all of this with you. I know it’s a cliche, but you guys really keep me going Your comments and messages are a daily reminder that I’m on the right track. Keep ‘em coming!

xo,
Betsie