MUSIC FEATURE: “Call Me When It’s Over” by Nelss
BRASH! What inspired the lyrics to the
song?
Nelss: Whenever I'm writing a song, I
always try to imagine a movie scene
playing. I create the characters and their
background stories on my head. How they
feel in that situation. What they plan to do.
There's a lot of details in the constructed
scenes. Sadly, in the end, most of it gets
cut down as I try to fit it to the melody.
There's always a starting point, and for "Call
Me When It's Over" I built it upon the
feeling of not belonging. There's a big
personal connection there. The story goes
about someone that is acting through a
party. He doesn't feel alright, but his
special one makes him stay. So, he does his
best, and that doesn't end very well.
I'm also a firm believer that art shouldn't be
connected to the artist. And that means that
I don't want to limit the listener's
interpretation with my descriptions.
BRASH! Which came first, the melody or
the lyrics?
Nelss: Most of my writing starts with me
playing around with chord progressions on
the guitar. So, naturally, when it starts
sounding interesting, there's already a
melody going on. The problem then is that,
most times, when I write lyrics I don't guide
myself with the melody, I just want to get
the idea out of me. So, I end up with
metrics that don't match. Then it's mostly a
work of fitting the lyrical idea to the
existing melody. Lots and lots of rewriting.
If I believe I have lyrics are really strong, I'll
drop the melody that I had and I'll work the
opposite way.
BRASH! What challenges, if any, did you
face when self-producing this track?
Nelss: I believe that the biggest challenge
that I faced is self-doubt. I rewrote this
track at least four times before I was
convinced I had something acceptable. I
worked on it intermittently for over a year.
I guess that's the biggest downside of
doing everything alone. It takes a long time.
The technical and practical side of things
can be done with enough research, some
referencing and a lot of trial and error. And
I have studied music technologies in
college, so I had that going for me. But if
there's no one you can trust to tell you if
what you're doing is good, that you're on
the right track, it can become a daunting
task.
BRASH! What is the most rewarding thing
about hearing a track written and
produced by you?
Nelss: There's definitely a feeling of self-
accomplishment. After many hours and late
nights working, when you sit down to listen,
and the track makes your head bop. That's
something really cool. Still, if you're a
perfectionist like me, there's always a
feeling of "I could do that better"!
BRASH! What’s next for you?
Nelss: Surely, there will be some new
tracks coming later this year. Stay tuned for
that. I'm also planning on recording a live
studio version with a full band and with
video. For the coming year I plan to start
working with other artists doing
collaborations, continue self-writing and
producing my own tracks and eventually
release a full EP. I also plan on building a
team of talented people around my project
as it goes on. Right now, I'm full DIY, but in
the future, I wish it to be DIO (ourselves).
BRASH! What advice would you give to
aspiring musicians?
Nelss: The only advice I can give is to
never stop believing in yourself, even when
it gets hard. Sometimes people will push
you down and others it's just yourself, in
your head. Maybe you're not as good as this
or that, too young or too old. When that
happens is when you must stay strong and
endure. Believe that with enough work you
can achieve your objectives. And you keep
on going. And you keep on going. And you
keep on going... You never stop.
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