I Remember My First FAWM... What was yours like?
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@zecoop Jan 2022
So, just for fun, let's hear what your first FAWM was like! Did it go as expected? Did you learn anything? What was the most fun part?
For me, I had taken a lot of time off from playing music in a band (raising kids, etc etc). Once the kids were older, I decided I wanted to get back into the music scene. The problem is that I had moved and didn't know anyone in local bands. I figured I would need to be a singer/songwriter, even though I had never done that before. I had always just been a player and writer of the music part.
So, I Googled something like "Online Music Challenge" and saw this crazy thing called FAWM. It was right before Christmas 2010 and when I was at my parent's houseI mentioned it... blah blah blah writing 14 songs in 28 days blah blah blah yes, I know it sounds crazy blah blah blah...
Anyway in January, my 75 year old dad, who had never played a musical instrument or written lyrics, started sending me poems/lyrics. About everything - Chuck Taylor high tops, world peace, online dating and whatnot. I figured that since I didn't write lyrics, I would write songs with his.
We ended up writing 13 songs together and along with one I wrote on my own and another collab, I ended up 'winning', but more importantly, I had a GREAT time, learned a ton about getting past my limitations and wrote 13 songs WITH MY DAD!! FAWM truly changed my life and I found the most wonderful musical community I have ever found. :)
What was it like to you? -
@zecoop Jan 2022
This could also be a way for FAWMlings to see what they might be in for here... (hopefully good) ;)
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@yam655 Jan 2022
My first year, I invented the genre "crapcapella" because I was posting slightly crappy acapella with my phone. I was mostly recording songs I was singing to my small children, and my youngest was still fairly nonverbal at the time.
I hit 14 songs with a full-time job as well as being the full-time care-giver for my children after my work day. People generally like the sounds of happy children in the background. -
@cblack Jan 2022
Can't remember the year, and I had a different username (long forgotten), but all I had was a cheap mic and even cheaper guitar and amp. Didn't record any guitar, so all I did was a capella. Black metal a capella. About evil things. :P
Strangely, my biggest fans on here were religious, which was a big surprise given the content!
Anyway, I hit 14, had a great time, and then did 50/90, but lyrics-only. I think those are the only times I've hit the target!
Dropped off for a while (went to uni), came back 4 or 5 years ago, this time recording and also doing electronica. Still very much learning, but I've got way more gear, way better quality, an actual DAW, and have hit several turning points / milestones thanks to FAWM. -
@sbs2018 Jan 2022
My first FAWM nearly killed me - lol! I was so nervous putting my music out there, this horrible pain gripped my chest muscle. That was 5 years ago. Sounds so silly now.
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@stephenwordsmith Jan 2022
The year was 2008. It was the second leap-FAWM, but the first to have more than 4 participants. The commission had been made to find a collaboration partner for the .5 of a song needed to bring your average to one song for every two days of the month. I was @rosedeschamps' .5
I wrote a lyric. She posted it and said some nice things about me. The song received no comments, a tradition my output upholds to this very day.
I did get the chance to listen to a few songs - I had no good ideas about how to select these, so I went with what was on the frontpage at the time. The song that stuck most in my memory later ended up on the FAWMpilation, to my delight. It was 'Hold Up' by @philhenry. Good song.
I enjoyed the experience enough to return for 5090 and write more songs, despite thinking I had used up my lifetime's supply of creative mettle on that one lyric. 15 years of hindsight later, it appears I was wrong. -
@zecoop Jan 2022
@sbs2016 - SAME!! I had always been in bands, but had never sung in front of anyone. I took my new FAWM songs to 6 open mics in a row. I had never done that before, but I met two wonderful people @kovbleu and @slawbleu and we started a band with my brother @guatecoop
And my wife learned who I was again on March 1st, lol -
@andygetch Jan 2022
2012 was my first. I had been writing for maybe two years and was in a song-a-week group for a few months when a member mentioned FAWM. The song a week group was more competitive with criticism that was sometimes less than kind.
During that FAWM I met @chipwithrow at an open mic, my first FAWM friend, otherwise I really did not know anyone. The forum was overwhelming for me. I did manage to write 12 full solo songs (one was a skirmish, a couple others from challenges), did one collab, two instrumentals, and two titles, so 17 total.
I learned a lot from listening to other peoples songs. However, I did not really get in the swing of what FAWM was about until I did 50/90 in the summer of 2012, from then on FAWM made more sense. However, with the initial rush of forum activity and songs the first half of FAWM can still be overwhelming for me, so I have to manage my level of activity once song posting is open on February 1.
My biggest takeaway from the first FAWM was how kind and supportive everyone, with very few exceptions, always has been in FAWM. -
@kanttila Jan 2022
My first FAWM was 2017, as Poptart Hero.
A friend told me about the site and I knew I'd love it. I had been making music for a bit over half a year at that point and oh man my output was ROUGH. I made noisy stuff, lots of tracks that were out of time and lyrics that are so shameful I wouldn't dare share them ever again.
It was not a great time for my music but it was a stepping stone for me. That first FAWM I didn't make any friends on here or really talk to anyone. Though I did a skirmish or two.
It was a HUGE difference that 50/90, 2017. I developed my musical identity and connected with the community.
Overall my first go wasn't that great but it led to great things later on, so it was a great step! -
@erikdidriksen Jan 2022
2007 was technically my first year. I think I posted four songs, all done entirely in FL Studio with an oboe doing the vocal lines. I don't think I really adopted the spirit of the exercise, trying to make everything note-perfect.
2008 was what I usually think of as my first real FAWM. It's one of only two years I've actually completed the challenge properly. More importantly, I jumped into the community and made a few dear friends that year, all of whom I still hold close to my heart (even if I don't speak with them often), and at least one I wrote a song about that February. I've never lost sight of the magic I felt that winter, and that's why I keep coming back, even if it's only to write a song or two or check in on some distant friends. -
@timfatchen Jan 2022
2007. I was terrified. I wanted to try a film/classical album. I surrounded myself with photos of the area which had prompted me. I was awestruck by the support and encouragement I received on FAWM, never forgotten it.
It was enough to give me courage to join TAXI, which put the cut and polish on my musical education, and i do mean cut. A lot hurt, the hurt was necessary as a teaching aid, and i was able to cope BECAUSE of that FAWMily support before. And things went from there, right up to the unrelated disasters of the last few years.
[Yes, the album happened, got made, is on spotify, can still be bought/licensed/downloaded (no physical CDs left), bits have been licensed here and there and it covered its costs.] -
@gubna Jan 2022
It was late January 2018 when I came across a blog article by Tom Whitwell (I believe he writes/edits for a magazine and also created a couple of well known Eurorack modules, the Turing Machine, and Radio Music). The article was about how he used a small modular synth, and a script and recorded an album in an evening. Somewhere in the article it mentioned "arbitrary constraints", and that linked to somewhere else, which then led me to FAWM.org - mentioning how there were a whole bunch of people who used the shortest month to write an album's worth. Being a musician for decades but not really much of a songwriter, and wanting to get better at it, I found this to be a sign.
I mean, to find FAWM right at the end of January?! So, I signed up, and this will be year five for me.
Day one in 2018, I wrote a song, which was more like a folk tune. I made a much of other things, some with lyrics, mostly instrumentals, but I was proud of doing it. I ended up with about 21 songs, plus on the last friday of the month, I set up with a sampler and a looper and created an album of 24 songlettes. They were pretty much all one minute long pieces, and I uploaded the whole thing the next day. I called it on the outskirts of skirmishtown:
https://spamystyle.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-outskirts-of-skirmishtown
I was not too involved in the forum that year, just trying to focus on creating, so I didn't know what a skirmish was. But I had heard people talking about it, so I did what I thought it should be, and recorded a whole bunch that night.
Some of the other songs I created that year were very experimental for me, but I did stretch myself and was pretty happy with the outcome of little tunes with lyrics that I did make. I also did a little punk tune called Broken Bottle which was fun, playing guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Another was about a little piece of tape on the wall which I saw at a mexican restaurant. I thought "I can write a song about that!" and I did -
@mikeskliar Jan 2022
1964. The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, & I thought, if they can write 14 songs, maybe I can too...no wait, that's not it... Take 2. 1977, coming home from a Grateful Dead concert, mixed myself a... and.. no wait, that's not right either... take 3- ok, 2006. Heard about this crazy musical project, and while I had done some songwriting by then (and had released an album a few years before) I had never done that much songwriting all at once. I had practice a few years before, tho- there was an open mic i went to every Friday night in the late 90's where the poets had a new poem every week, so I figured I had to write a new song every week. Now, managing 14? crazy, and I almost didn't make it (as I remember, posted 2 versions of an instrumental to get to 14) I remember how cool it was that all 100 of us at the time (back when fawm was smaller) listened to each other's stuff- you felt like you 'knew' everyone.. since then I've kept on- been a blast these past 15-16 years!
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@gubna Jan 2022
One other note I wanted to point out was something Steven Wesley Guiles said which was really helpful for me the first year. Something about how I could have anything be a song. That really made my experience a good one because I didn't worry about whether the songs I was posting were "ideal" song formats, or even had lyrics. I just created what I created and let that be my fourteen songs.
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@carleybaer Jan 2022
I love reading all these stories! I even remember some of them.
My first was 2008 and it was rough. I wandered in like a child, didn’t know anyone, I’d only just started on GarageBand so those early recordings were atrocious (so many of my first comments were along the lines of, “umm… was there supposed to be a song here?” or “You left 7 minutes of silence at the end and that’s really messing with the jukebox,” etc.)
But I was instantly hooked on the process. I loved the freedom that comes with releasing a nascent idea into a community that finds the good in everything. I wrote things that didn’t sound like “me,” which allowed me to broaden my definition of myself. I’ve been back every year since, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. -
@nadine Jan 2022
My first FAWM has been last year. Friends convinced me to join after a long musical hiatus.
I was super scared to upload something cause most people seemed sing along with their guitar or piano. It's just the opposite of what I do (composition, arrangement, production). I usually write about 4 songs a year, so I didn't believe you could write a whole album in one month.
I overcome my fear and wrote whatever came into my mind. First time I didn't care if and how I can pull it off. I have been overwhelmed by comments, people asked me for collabs, my mailbox went bonkers and I listened to every profile that commented. So many interesting artists here!
I didn't expect to write more than 4 songs and ended up with 16. I was completely done after the festival and busy with collaboration for months. But its been worth it. I wrote some of my best songs and got to know cool people.
This time I think a lot about time management cause answering mails, listening to songs, writing chord sheets, receiving stems, updating my songs and writing new ones every day has been too much in parallel. -
@elainedimasi Jan 2022
I never tire of reading these.
2008, my ex and I had been divorced for a year and a half. He heard about FAWM from a friend and knew I'd love it. We both jumped in, wrote songs about our failed marriage and other things. He even played guitar on one of the songs I wrote.
I loved this community immediately, folks got to know me because I covered @isaaq's "Showered in Nisku" with a looper and posted it to youtube! Finished my 13th song on feb 26 or so and was sobbing at my kitchen table because I'd never have another good song idea in my life; then my eye hit on the Zingerman's Deli catalog copy for Amarelli Licorice from Calabria, and I wrote a 4-part (AAAA) madrigal on the spot. (Later rewrote it for SSATB, recorded with 4 fellow FAWMers, and the song was FAWMpiled that year, along with Isaaq's delightful Nisku!.)
Brushed off my shyness and got my leap year half-song done with a "perfect" stranger, the gracious @philnorman, who, like the first teacher met on a hero's journey, offered me lesson number 1 in how to write about something other than my own precious self.
I've been failing to do so ever since :-) -
@dreamscuba Jan 2022
Great reading these stores and people's journeys ...
For me, my first FAWM was 2010. My good friend @boyatheart had suggested that I give this songwriting festival a go... FAWM of course. I had never written a song before, was just getting back into playing guitar after decades away from doing anything musically. And even then, it was just some moderate guitar playing, definitely no singing and I had never written any lyrics. I was nervous, but I signed up anyway and gave it a go. I was working away from my home on the other side of the planet and it was a great release from some of the isolation I could have been facing. I found it an incredible experience. I even took part in some collaborations. I wrote some lyrics and did some singing (well, technically you may say that sounded more like root canal without Novocain)… I have continued to take part in FAWM every year since. Some years I have been more involved than others. It is only in the last 2 FAWMs that I have come to experience the beauty in getting really stuck into the connectivity with other FAWMers – posting on forums, really commenting on many songs etc, and of course collaborations.
@carleybaer I agree, I wouldn't miss it for anything.
I am hoping that one of my kids may join FAWM this year... let's see. -
@carleybaer Jan 2022
@dreamscuba i hope one of
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@carleybaer Jan 2022
@dreamscuba sorry, my phone exploded. I was going to say I hope one of your kids joins! I got my dad @erbaer to join a few years back. It’s fun when it becomes a family affair :)
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@majordanby Jan 2022
Great stories. I love how this place gives people confidence to try new things and free up the creative process.
It certainly inspired me to keep writing and singing. I think I got better from writing lots of songs and learning what I liked and was good at.
My first year was 2010 and the main reason I loved it so much was that it made subsequent winters so much shorter for me. I find the winter quite difficult, but once I discovered FAWM I’d only really have to get through January and would really look forward to February (something I’d not done before).
I get immersed in music and come out blinking into the sunlight of the Spring where my life kind of starts up again.
Thanks FAWM. -
@helenseviltwin Jan 2022
My bandmate, Mare Tueje, posted about FAWM on Livejournal. It was her first year. I figured there was no way I could write 14 songs, but I definitely wanted to write more than her.
As it happened, she took to it somewhat better than me, so keeping up was quite difficult, but I did my best. She completed it, so I had to, which involved recording 3 songs onto my phone (Nokia 3210, probably) and just posting locked titles, because I couldn't work out how to get them from my phone to the internet. Everything else, I recorded on my Zoom digital four track and used some bespoke Zoom software to "mix". I wrote more in that month than I had in the previous 3.5 years.
I think more important than my first FAWM, was my first FAWM Over Party. @burrsettles was living in the UK at the time, and @ericdistad was visiting in March, so on the forums, we organised to have a gathering. I say "organised", we couldn't work out where to hold it, so we just gatecrashed a couple of open mics (one in the afternoon, one in the evening). Rumour has it that the afternoon open mic had been waining, with people turning up and being able to play straight away, then pretty much leaving immediately after, and the shock of 8 or so of turning up right at the beginning and taking loads of slots, meaning some of the folks, who were used to turning up for half an hour near the end, not getting a slot, might have saved its existence. The organisers still didn't like us. -
@ianuarius Jan 2022
We fought the sheriff's men and then sat around the fire in the woods and wrote songs.
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@vomvorton Jan 2022
2008 for me. I just about made it to 14, although I seem to recall I took advantage of the international date line to get the last one in on the morning of March 1st, my time. I did a couple of collaborations and wrote some songs I still really like, my home recording skills have come on a fair way since then but I'm not sure my songwriting has progressed all that much.
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@frenchcricket Jan 2022
I did 5 songs in 2009. For some insane reason I decided to sequence a bunch of stuff on a Roland SP404, and then record that to 4-track. The levels were extremely bad. But it was really fun and I kind of miss that restrictive workflow.
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@adforperu Jan 2022
I tell the story every year, but it was 2011 and my band were packing up after rehearsal late January and bandmate @doeeyes said he was taking his equipment home for "FAWM". I asked what it is, and the rest is history. From a small desk in a hallway with a crane PC microphone to a "proper" studio at home, it's been a fair ol' ride!
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@theresaj Jan 2022
I’d never written a song before and knew nothing about recording demos. My friend @johncrossman told me about it and I listened for a couple of years. Finally, in 2013, I sat down and just wrote and ended up with 8 songs! Been back ever since.
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@chipwithrow Jan 2022
@zecoop - Thanks for starting this thread. And your dad writes great lyrics!
@andygetch - I remember fondly those open mic days at French Connection.
@mikeskliar - I know we share a Deadhead bent, and you're just a few years older than I. If you actually saw the Dead in the awesome year of '77, I'm envious.
I started in 2008 - read about FAWM on another songwriter site. And I have all my lyrics from that year, but I don't have the recordings anymore. It was all acoustic guitar/vocal.
Back then we had one family computer, and it was in our kitchen! So I recorded all my demos there. -
@zecoop Jan 2022
@chipwithrow - it’s pretty amazing to think that @srcoops wrote his first lyrics in 2011 and then after I convinced him to set up his own FAWM account in 2017 or 18, was collaborating with people all over the world. I think his first year as SrCoops saw a death metal version of one of his lyrics by @sapient. It COMPLETELY threw him for a loop, as a jazz lover, but it helped him understand how fun this place could be and how many ways a lyric can be interpreted. FAWM is one of his favorite things now and he looks forward to it every year.
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@yam655 Jan 2022
@zecoop I initially signed up to FAWM as a listener because I loved all the great songs people were making, but some people had their accounts set so only members could hear their stuff. It seemed only fair to clearly let people know that my stuff wasn't exactly radio-ready. :)
This is also why I signed up in April 2011, but my first FAWM was 2014. -
@silvermediapro Jan 2022
bless y'all, i love reading through these stories :D
my first fawm was in 2016, when i was a sophomore in highschool. i definitely spent a fair bit of my study hall drafting lyric ideas, and i pretty much recorded whenever i could squeeze it in.
i dont remember terribly much more than that, other than *maybe* some of the lyrics being a fair bit angsty compared to my modern-ish stuff. but it was a grand ol' time, & i've been back every year since! -
@zecoop Jan 2022
@silvermediapro - So, just to be clear, that first year you ONLY wrote lyrics in study hall and not your other classes... right? ;)
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@silvermediapro Jan 2022
@zecoop i couldn't tell you that for 100% certain to be totally honest, but my most clear memories of writing lyrics at school were during study hall ;P
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@metalfoot Jan 2022
It was 2016. I came into FAWM with a half-baked idea of doing an album of Winter Sports themed songs (since the Olympics were on) and having possibly a kids' music style (since the age of my children at the time seemed right for that).
I quickly realized how awesome FAWM was and wound up somehow with 36 songs at the end of the month! -
@emkaydeebee Jan 2022
I joined in 2018, having mistakenly “followed it on facebook” the year before (where nothing really happened and I didn’t understand!). Scared but excited, I came up with a concept album based around family life with two small kids. It gave me the focus and energy to create, and I won, without feeling too guilty about how much it took me from the kids, as they were in practically every song! (It’s now a gorgeous legacy, a moment in time that will never be the same again, and I love that they’ll have that forever - their mum singing about what life was like with them when they were little!)
And actually, it was just what I needed in life. I focused on me, I focused on creativity, I focused on having fun with music, doing different things. And I learned so much as I went along - something that is true of every subsequent fawm too, I’m always learning and improving as a result!
I love the friends I’ve made here, and the collabs I’ve been blessed to do with them. And last year I really let my hair down - the first fawm I didn’t come in with a planned concept - and it was the best fun ever!
Advice for fawmlings? Don’t sweat the small stuff - get the first track done and published and move on! And engage with others on the forum and by listening and commenting, because it’s the positive feedback that motivates and feeds your soul! -
@burrsettles Jan 2022
My first FAWM was THE first FAWM.
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~bsettles/fawm2004/
(@ericdistad and @fireball were part of that, too!) -
@bachelorb Jan 2022
In 2016 we were traveling on the road full time. I had a 424 portastudio and one guitar. Fawm changed my life. I now have a complete studio at home with a lot of instruments I can barely play. I’ve fixed and owned most of the Tascam Portastudio models, along with two Tascam 4-track deck models and a Tascam 318 soundboard.
I’m terrible at writing, producing, and playing, but FAWM gave me a hobby I’ve enjoyed for years.
This year..... we are traveling again.... I have a 424 Portastudio and one guitar........ -
@cts Jan 2022
I remember seeing a shout-out to FAWM on the now-defunct ACID Planet site. I wasn't sure what to make of it even after a little research but decided to give it a go nonetheless. I remember posting my first song and getting a few comments. I traversed the site and discovered so many talented musicians, lyricists and creatives. I posted my 2nd song called Astral Traveling Hottie and I remember @steffan calling it out on the boards. Afterwards, many FAWMers stopped by to say hi. Sure the comments were nice to receive, but it was just mind-blowing humbling to have all those talented people take the time to simply welcome me to the community. I'll never forget it and I will always be appreciative of the many collaborations and friendships that were founded here.
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@scottlake Jan 2022
Complete brain rewiring to turn off my inner critic.
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@jackdawfactories Jan 2022
My first FAWM was 2006! I had a terrible recording setup and a dream. I ended up with six songs that year (I wouldn't hit the magic 14 until 2008) but it immediately became something I knew I was going to do as long as it existed. Such a cool community.
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@fuzzy Jan 2022
I signed up on the spur of the moment on January 30th 2011, not really knowing what it was about and barely able to play the ukulele and never having written a song before.
Got 14 songs done and it was a revelation; all those positive comments really gave me a confidence boost and encouraged me to pursue music further. If it wasn't for FAWM I would not be a musician. -
@philkmills Jan 2022
I heard about it a few days after it started in my first year. Before that, I'd been writing fewer than one song per month.
Getting into the FAWM spirit started a moderate flow and, with 2 days left, I had 9 songs. I looked at the calendar, I discussed it with my "muse", and did the final 5 songs.
It really changed my thinking about what was possible. -
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@elesimo Jan 2022
I joined in 2016, terrified by the idea of writing 14 songs in 28 days — before I was barely able to write a song a week by pushing myself as hard as I could!
My then-wife was out for the month, so I could use all my free time for songwriting. I decided to rearrange my studio (a desk with a computer, audio interface, and small MIDI controller), but then the desk broke. I ended up building a new desk from IKEA parts, and started FAWM a couple days late.
Looking back at that month, it feels like a dream. I immersed myself in music, dedicating every free minute I had to it. By the end of the month I had an album with 14 coherent songs that I was proud of!
And the community! I met amazing people that inspired me and supported me. I realized that the best gift from FAWM is the opportunity to collaborate, learn, experiment, have fun. It's definitely my favorite month of the year! -
@bootlegger Jan 2022
My first fawm was nuts. I forget how I found the site way back when. Maybe an article or something around that time but I stumbled on it and immediately fell in love with the idea of all that community being built around songwriting and dove right in. I wrote and demoed 50 songs that year. It was relentless. I just couldn't stop. Basically every waking hour was dedicated to writing lyrics and coming up with ideas and getting them recorded as fast as possible to see how many I could get. I'm glad I got that out of my system that first time so I could eventually settle down and go for quality over quantity. I usually still hit the 14 but I'm alright if I only end up with 10 or so. It's still my favorite time of year, even after 14 or however many fawms I've been a part of. I love this place.
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@tuneslayer Jan 2022
My first FAWM was about six or seven years ago, I think I wrote one song and it wasn't very good, so I got discouraged and went on to other things.
I registered this account in 2018 and wrote my 14 songs that year, some of which were pretty good and are still in my repertoire. Been here every year since, although I saw limited participation in 2020.
As others have said, the community is amazing. FAWM is like Brigadoon, a magical place that only exists once a year. -
@outinpublicdrummer Jan 2022
Last year was my first attempt, though I had heard about it back in 2019. I was in two bands at the time, one was getting back to live performances and the other was recording an album. It was a LOT and I put unrealistic expectations on myself.
That being said, I still really had a good time and it was a great learning experience. Prior to that, I didn't compose or record on my own much. Most of my musical experience was in sessions and live shows. Though they were VERY incomplete, I technically put together 14 somewhat coherent demos.
My goal this year is to stay involved in the forums and post songs as I complete them. Last year I tried tackling all my songs as an album and didn't really log back in until the end of the month. Everyone here is so supportive and encouraging, and I want to contribute to that. :) -
@dragondreams Jan 2022
2011 for me. I was part of a guitar forum and one of the members asked whether any of us had heard of FAWM. I was a novice guitar player at the time, after making the decision to add guitar to my bass playing experience.
I was going through a divorce, lived alone, wanted something to focus on. So I joined. And only missed one year since (when I was being treated for cancer).
I love this place, and I've made so many friends, as well as developed hugely as a composer and musician.
And I was the only one from that guitar forum who joined up! -
@downburst Jan 2022
2011 here too. I was still struggling with writing songs with lyrics, so I mostly did all kinds of experiments and only managed to finish 2 or 3 lyrics. But I discovered collabs and met a bunch of people who are still my friends, and somehow got the knack of writing lyrics (which I somehow seem to have un-gotten, but hopefully that's just temporary).
After that FAWM, @dragondreams put together a little forum for people who wanted to keep going, and *that* is the thing that really cemented this as my community. I'll always be thankful for that, Paul! -
@pearlmanhattan Jan 2022
2016 - My muse had been locked up for years and when I let it loose, I wrote 92 songs that FAWM, setting free over 40 years of music, processing 40+ years of "stuff". I've checked in every year since, some were scant years, some I hit 14. The years since have been a whirlwind, but I'm grateful to have a constant harbor every February to come back to - it's like Cheers - everyone knows your name, and they're always glad you came - Welcoming, accepting, a place where I can be myself, and that's okay. It's so much more than a songwriting challenge - it's a movement - a testament to human beings - that we can come together for a cause and still retain all our individuality no matter what we appear as, or how we identify.
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@rosedeschamps Jan 2022
My first FAWM was in 2007. I was 20. I'd been writing songs since I was 13, but for the most part, I kept them to myself. Given the scope of FAWM at the time, I was one of the younger participants, and part of me didn't feel like I had any business calling myself a songwriter at all. I felt a bit like I wasn't supposed to be there, but people like @nancyrost and @hoopshank commented on my work and made me feel welcome.
By 2008, I was telling every creative person I knew that they should totally do FAWM. There was a point in the early 2010s when about 75% of kiwis on the site were my friends and acquaintances.
Looking back over 16 years of FAWM, what I think is significant is the total lack of gatekeeping. This isn't an elite club where people decide whether you're in or not - it's for everyone. Do you want to write songs? Awesome, you're a songwriter.
Another key thing about FAWM is that it gives us an opportunity to build resilience in a way that's not totally traumatising! Often we talk about resilience in the face of adversity - the idea you have to go through something horrible to come out the other side stronger.
In my experience, FAWM is proof that actually, you CAN build resilience in a community of support and understanding. I am a FAR more resilient songwriter because of FAWM. I am much more willing to take risks. But it's not because of tough love. It's not because people ripped my work to shreds to "help me improve". Over the past 16 years of FAWM I've received encouragement, support, and helpful feedback, and that's helped me hone my skills, keep writing, and get better.
There is something very special about this community, and I'm glad I'm a part of it. -
@gm7 Jan 2022
My first FAWM was Jan 2020...so i call myself a CovidFAWM baby.
I was introduced to the site by @aesthetic72. Kelly and I lived very close to each other and jammed on many occassions...so I took her advise and joined. I did about 6 songs in the first year. Last year i did a few more and BUT really enjoyed my collbas..if you haven't tried it- give it a shot. FAWMers are talented , encouraging and very accommodating.
A great place to be during the cold month of Feb. at least those of us who are north of 40N anyway -
@ductapeguy Jan 2022
On January 31, 2013, I saw a post on facebook about FAWM by @tomslatter, who I had interviewed in about 2007 or 2008 on my songwriting podcast. On a whim, I signed up for FAWM... and wrote a raft of songs. Once it was all over in March, I wrote this monologue as a summation of my FAWM experience.
Forevuary
Sean McGaughey
February 2013. A February Album Writing Month project
It all started on January 31
with a link- fawm.org
a lark
a whim
a hope
A Challenge
February Album Writing Month
Write 14 songs in 28 days.
That’s insane!
I can’t do that!
Why, I only wrote 6 songs in all of last year
(and 3 of them were parodies)
But...
What have I got to lose?
It’s a crazy scheme
but aren’t those the best kind?
Besides,
What’s the worst thing that could happen?
I could end up with a couple new songs...
-- That would be sweet!
February 1, 2013
A strong start,
2 songs -- both keepers
Then it gets blurry
14 songs in 16 days
3 songskirmishes
(where someone gives you a title
and you have 1 hour to write and record a song)
A collaboration or two
Listen and leave comments about
dozens and dozens of other FAWMer’s songs
February 16, 2013
14 songs!
Challenge Completed.
What now?
Play with some new recording software
Try some new songwriting tools.
Start writing again with five days left
Write six more songs.
Who has two thumbs and twenty brand new songs?
This Guy!
What did I get?
Twenty Songs
Engergized
A stretch as a writer
… and as a musician
Smug
… really flipping smug.
A pass from the omnipresent blahs of February.
(I think I failed to mention
I
am
definitely
not
fond
of
winter).
What did I get?
A collection
a set of stories
a compilation
An album, you might say
I call it
Forevuary -
@zecoop Jan 2022
That is so great @ductapeguy A perfect summary of a great start!! :)
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@looprication Jan 2022
Ah I can honestly say I've read pretty much this entire thread and it warms my heart. This community means so much to me and I'd be super surprised if it didn't mean that much to a lot of others too.
My first FAWM was 2009. I'd finished maybe a handful of tracks after starting properly on this project around 1999/2000.
I remember waking up early the first day and writing Sunrise Song pretty much in one sitting. I was like, "Wow, I think I just did it!" That first year may have been the easiest because it just felt ludicrous that I was actually doing something I (and everyone I told about it) felt was impossible. But once I got on a cadence of finishing something roughly every two days, it almost felt natural.
Early on, I started a song I really liked that was too CPU-intensive for my PC, so I shelved it until the very end of the month, when I learned about "freezing" tracks. Once I froze the track that was munching all my processor power, I was able to finish it as my 15th and final track that year on the 28th. I'll never forget the feeling. Then I went and bought a new PC that I've used for FAWM 2010-2021.
I felt a bit alone in producing that genre back then, but through the years I've seen the FAWMtronica community here grow quite a bit, and it's been amazing to see how much FAWM has grown in all sorts of ways. -
@apolez3 Jan 2022
That is so sweet @zecoop spending moments like that with your Father! Well my first was last year; so kinda fresh... I attempted to write a song once and it didn't seem to work right; so, the first songs I've written were on here last year! Though I have written some poetry before FAWM. I had a better time than expected because I had accomplished the not only writing a song task but the 14 song lyrics task! Think even a song or two over... & was able to collaborate with some to make the lyrics come to life!! IT was beautiful to see my words written down... coming to life from a collaborator being an inspiration :)
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@hurongrand Jan 2022
My first FAWM was last year! I'd heard of FAWM through the Nanowrimo forums many years ago and almost participated once (around 2016?) but chickened out because I was too scared to share my music with other people. It wasn't until last year that I was consistent enough, both with practicing my instruments in general as well as writing music, that I thought "hmm, maybe it wouldn't be TOO embarrassing to put my music out there..."
(Note to newbies: I was definitely "good enough" in 2016. No matter where you are in your songwriting journey you're good enough to participate and share your music! People here are incredibly kind and supportive. I was just being insecure.)
Anyway, my life was a MESS last February. I was undergoing mental health treatment, on the verge of flunking out of grad school, just completely hopeless. But doing FAWM really helped give me a sense of achieving SOMETHING (not even winning, just having the courage to put my music out there for the first time) and that meant a lot to me.
I ended up writing 15 songs, and a few of them I would consider among the best I've ever written. It was challenging, and there were plenty of times I wondered "what's the point?", but I learned so much (about songwriting, using my DAW, recording, etc.) and gained so much confidence as a songwriter & musician that it was worth the stress. -
@sheilerk Jan 2022
My first FAWM was in 2009. I'd only started writing lyrics in 2008, when I had stumbled across a childhood friend I hadn't seen since high school. He had done two albums of mostly original compositions, so he sent them to me. As I listened I could hear their stories. When he asked if I ever wrote lyrics I told him no, I didn't, which was true until then. I sent him lyrics for one song, then another. Soon I'd given him words for all of his original songs, so he started writing more. He'd send them to me and I'd usually send him back the lyrics in a few days. I started waking up with lyrics running through my head, so I sent them to him and he started writing to my lyrics. He'd been a musician since he was a kid, but this was new to me. I wanted to learn more so I started googling songwriting sites and I came across FAWM. It was already well into the month of February when I joined, but I was determined to do what I could. I figured, I only had about ten days, if I got half the songs done I would feel like I'd accomplished something. I pushed myself to get on the forums and say hi, and before I knew it I had some of the most encouraging people I'd ever met cheering me on. It was magical. I don't think I did anything for those ten days except drown myself in the music, the knowledge, the creativity and the pure joy that is FAWM. I slipped under the wire with number 14 with barely time to post it. That song is still one of my very favorites. In fact, there were several that year that were keepers, and that gave me confidence I would never have had. Every year I look forward to joining my friends to write at least 14 songs in February. Sometimes I'm traveling or other things come up, but after that first year I know that even if I don't have the whole month, that's no excuse for not joining in for whatever time I have. My friend's life got complicated and he stopped composing. FAWM gave me the chance to collaborate with other wonderful musicians. I am forever grateful!
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@guatecoop Jan 2022
I learned a TON!!! I surprised myself some, could definitely see room for improvement, and was really struck with how supportive everyone was….and amazingly talented. I still feel the same. I love it every year for different reasons.
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@kable Jan 2022
Wow, brings me back to 2019, when I was still in school, and simultaneously juggling an internship at Nintendo! Things were wrapping up, and I only was able to get 7 / 14 tracks that year, but it was a wonderful experience. Everyone rocked, and it's been amazing to see the same people return year after year for this sprint of creativity.
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@readwrite Feb 2022
This is my first FAWM. I started a thing at 5:30 am this morning, using a little haiku-ish thing I wrote back in the mid 1990's, about a cat, and it went really well setting it to sort-of Sacred Harpish tonalities, with some good solid cluster chordish kinds of things and rather wandering tonalities... I uploaded it.
I had so much fun, it went so well, I'm rather expecting the rest of the month to be in its shadow, but that's ok. This being my first FAWM, following on the heels of my first NanoWrimo November, I'm up for all sorts of pitfalls and discoveries. -
@rveader Feb 2022
I had a pair of bandmates that were FAWMing. I'd decided not to, but was tracking a tin whistle part for one of them around the middle of week 2 and accidentally got into the songwriting mood and wrote 4 songs in a night. Then I was productively procrastinating later the next day and had another couple ideas. I had 2 fully written and another 6 at about 75%... So off I went and finished it up. That was a number of years ago and now I'm back to write a children's album for / with my soon to be 4 year old.
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@kajati Feb 2022
hey all, my first Fawm last year really pulled me out of a bad place. The support and interaction I felt was great and I stayed in touch with several of the folks I touched base with on Fawm-
It brought me back in touch and gave me the confidence to continue and I actually pulled it off. Don't if this year will be the same but looking forward to trying !! -
@seanbrennan Feb 2022
2013 - I was living in a rented room and sharing living space with 5 other people, and intern teaching to finish my Bachelor's in music education. I didn't have space or money for any gear, so my microphone was an iPhone 3. I kept conceiving of melodies beyond my technical abilities, and I couldn't stand the sound of my voice even well-recorded and within my limits, so I could only bear to do three songs that way. I went lyrics-only for the rest. But I "won!" I found that, ironically, having to make time for it improved my time management elsewhere, rather than spilling over. It's a very narrow balance, however - some years, life has been too much, and FAWM has had to be the thing to take a backseat. I hope to FAWM for as long as there's a FAWM to share!
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@actualjulian Feb 2022
My first FAWM was in 2020. It was the last "normal" thing that I did before the world shut down. As I look back now, it was the bulk of the writing for an album that I released later that year. My first solo album ever. I had recently moved to the east coast from New Mexico, where I was born and raised. The move took me away from a large music community and quickly made me feel pretty isolated and unproductive. Knowing that people were listening and offering honest and positive feedback was huge for my confidence.
Also, I've always been a prolific writer but my big struggle is finishing things that I start. The time constraint really forced me to focus on applying myself to the endings of pieces and I'm still coming back because it's such an important fundamental skill to nurture as a writer and producer.
Enjoy your first FAWM! Believe in yourself. You're loved and seen here. -
@robheron1 Feb 2022
This was my first FAWM. Fantastic! Community is so nice and supportive. Quality is really creative and skilled. I made some notes for myself but others may be interested ... so feel free to stop reading --- but here they are:
1. For next year, do the 4 Track Challenge.
2. What the hell is a Skirmish?
3. Learned/Relearned a lot about my gear. Recorded Horseshoe Cowboy with the WaWa pedal ON by mistake which I only found out afterwards -- gave a nice treble boost. Connected midi keyboard and used to control software synths – very smooth. Used midi for automated mix control in Cubase (swept filter, volume changes). Got my Soundcloud account going nicely.
4. Need to use my FAWM cloud space.
5. Not happy with my sound. Solo vocal/acoustic was good. Multitrack less so. Harmony vocal rough – practice. Guitar too bluesy/nostalgic/folky. I want a more modern jangly feel.(Try learning some cover guitar parts and recording.) Solo guitar unsatisfying (Try some covers – just recreate a guitar sound/feel.) Record more songs. Improve keyboard skills
Songwriting
6. Lyrics – liked some of my new ‘linking’ techniques. Need to improve rhythms, rhymes which will improve the prose/story/message. Will come with Pattison exercises
7. Study fitting chords to melody and visa versa.
Things I Enjoyed:
a. Electronic stuff/beats/filters
b. Playing with synths
c. Making prog rock feels (Snow King)
d. Playing with drum beats/loops
e. My regular coffee house shit – some good songs -- keepers!
Thanks All! -
@zecoop Feb 2022
@robheron1 - glad you had a good first FAWM! There are always so many things to try, listen to, and make each year. Definitely come see me about the 4-track challenge next time. It is a very unique process and different each time. Congrats on the ‘win’! (Although, I truly believe even one new song is a win).
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@unpronounceable Feb 2022
I believe I was intimidated AF and wrote 1 song. I attended the following FAWMstock, and that helped me settle in :)
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@smileymn Feb 2022
2016, super inspiring. A bunch of my friends had a Facebook group outside of the website that we were sharing stuff on. I had written and recorded songs for the first time since high school (so over ten years ago) and I made a weird 30 song concept album using a lot of various samples of different projects I was messing around with at the time.
I had multitracked bowed bass and violin, I had electronics, drum grooves (but super slowed down), kitchen percussion, and all sorts of crazy stuff. I'm still very proud of that first 2016 FAWM year. -
@zecoop Feb 2022
@unpronounceable - That how I fully expected my first to be! But after my first song went really well and got a few comments (WHAT?!?!), I moved on and it just kept getting more fun. I am glad you settled in. And we were the same first year too!! What a special place this is. :)
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@coolparadiso Feb 2022
A Fawmer who is not here (TinaD) this year said to me on another site! You write more song than anyone i know who isn't a Fawmer. I said a what! And then it started………! My first year i decided to just do guitar, uke a bit of harmonica and sing plus a few extra lyrics. I was so surprised that people actually commented on these very meagre offerings and not just commented but said such nice supportive things! I am a full on person in that if i join i really have a go so i did jump in chat comment etc but i still felt i got more than i could ever give! After a very short while it felt like i had been here forever!
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@zecoop Feb 2022
@coolparadiso - Yes!! So much support and I made friends in my first 2011 FAWM that I still am friends with to this day. There's no other place like this. Jumping in is key, as you said... Interact and you'll find people you really connect with. :)
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@nahlej381 Feb 2022
Like Garry (@gm7 ) I signed up in January 2020 after my production partner/brother in law/great friend @djtjb saw FAWM mentioned in an email from Ableton. February has always been a rough month for me, my dad died on February 29, 2008 so I always get a little emotional…but I won’t dwell on that. My first FAWM I decided to do 29 songs in 29 days with everyone I’d played music with since I was a kid and release it as an album called leap year. The experience changed my life. FAWM has given me confidence, and given me the opportunity to work with beautiful weirdos all over this blue marble that have taught me so much about song craft and production. Collabs are my favorite!!! And just getting to listen to all the interesting choices folks make in their songs, be it lyrical philosophies or production flavors etc. I learn something from every song I hear, every person I jam with (shout out djtjb, code energy, deathboy, Splittybooms, Gm7, cts, richaaay, davidtaro, spazsquatch, jibbidy34, and face of Einstein, electocelte metalfoot and so many others) February has gone from being my yearly “blue period” to being the time I look forward to the most! I’ve never met most of you irl but you feel like family to me (as I’ve already mentioned to coolparadiso when I got all sappy and sentimental on him last night lol) I never expected to get so much love for the weird lo-Fi DA DA music I make let alone find people like fuzzy to start an avant- garde prepared instrumentation chaos band with, or face of Einstein who I swear was separated from me at birth…our musical leanings are just too similar lol or starting Sprite with electrocelte or sleaze Rock with spazsquatch…slothcore, jelly factory, weekly challenges, zecoop drums…this place is my home. I love and respect you all.
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@resonut123 Feb 2022
My first Fawm was Great!
I have been a singer and songwriter since I was about 14 years old, but had a hard time finding like-minded groups that would accept me and my varied styles.
I did find a great group called Songwriters Anonymous in Southeastern Michigan and some of those members contribute here on FAWM too.
The overall Accepting, Nurturing Vibe of this place was surprising but very welcoming to me.
I also got to know more people around my area, because there was a Michigan Fawmers group as well.
Since I live in the Northern USA in Michigan and I have been recording for many decades, writing recording and posting in February was right up my alley.
Plus the way I write songs... is that I prefer to write them very quickly and with minor editing.
Some of my FAWM songs ended up in my live Solo sets & some did not if thery were too complex or didn't sound too good stripped down to voice and instrument alone.
An Extremely Rewarding experience all the way around!!! -
@debrandio Feb 2022
@burrsettles That's really cool Wisc.edu still has that up!!
Mine was 2007. My wife heard about this new RPM Challenge thing on NPR I believe and told me I should look into it. I did and couldn't make sense of it, but somehow found FAWM which made sense. Joined a few days late and ended up making my 14 songs. Most of them I was pretty happy about. Also met some pretty cool folks that are still here and some not, my watchlist is now half fawmers who don't post anymore. But I keep them just in case...
Unfortunately.. I lost my first years recordings several years ago and I'm still not completely certain how. I've only won a trophy a few times, but that's alright, I think I'm better in small doses.
Anyway thanks FAWM!!! February's never been the same since.
