Devour Music

Over the years, I've had a few artists reach out to me for something like this - a "session" (of sorts), but they're not seeking the multi-track audio for an official release. They're actually more interested in the video. In this specific case, the artist is someone who writes/records/releases music on their own, but doesn't perform with a band. There're no other members, he just writes everything. At any rate: I've had a few people like this reach out & offer to pay my session rate, strictly for a video. I.e., the artist is essentially just interested in seeing their parts/songs performed by a real person (Ha!). Might sound a bit funny, but in a way, I get it. They spend all this time writing & recording music, & it holds significant meaning to them. Yet they never get to see it performed. It's kind of interesting, in that sense. But that's essentially what this video is: "Lake Of Fire" is a song written entirely by an artist, drums included. While I embellished a bit here & there, for the most part - these are 100% their parts, & they specifically requested that I learn them as note-for-note as possible. That's what I was hired to do, so that's what I did! Now, typically, when I post videos, I put the artist's name in the title, alongside the specific song name by said artist. For this video however, I chose to only include the song name. The reason for that is... Well, when I was first contacted by the artist, I was a bit unsure of whether or not I was comfortable doing it... *because* of the name. In fact, I've actually said/explained most of this in a previous video description (for a video I posted a year-or-so ago, titled "Eternity"). This same artist wrote that song, too. The reason I was somewhat uncomfortable working on this project was because of the name (the band name), & that name is: "GOD". Yes - you read that correctly. Now, if you follow me online, have ever heard my podcast, or just listened to me talk in general... I'm like... really, really *NOT* religious. So, a band with the literal name "GOD" was a bit on-the-nose (to me). At least, that was my initial reaction. But as I stated in my previous video description, the artist (who'd rather remain nameless. It's an anonymous project for him), was willing to pay my full video rate, & seemed like a nice enough person. So I figured I should at least listen to the music & consider it. So back before the first video I made for him, that's exactly what I did. After listening to that song (Eternity), I was a bit more open to it, because I genuinely thought the music was sick! This time was no different - I listened to the song, & just genuinely thought it was sick (& that it would make for a decently cool video, too!). So again, like last time, all I had to do was decide if I was *personally* comfortable doing (more) session work for a band with such a seemingly religious name. I was (once again) very upfront with him about all of this (respectfully). I just told him honestly (paraphrasing here): "Look, I'm not religious at all, & I don't really want to affiliate with anything overtly religious. I respect everyone's beliefs, but personally it doesn't feel right to me. So if I am to do it, I would prefer keep the band name out of the title". & just like last time, he was incredibly kind & understanding of this. In the end, this is actually what won me over (for both the first video-session, & this one). He wasn't pushy about his religion, & really didn't care about any of the details. He was just genuinely interested in seeing a drummer perform another one of his songs. So, yeah! I agreed to work on this song, Lake Of Fire, & here we are! Lastly: As I stated in this last video description for this artist: While I *personally* feel that the band name is a bit intense, the artist/individual himself is a truly lovely person. Furthermore, as I got to know him better, I eventually felt comfortable asking some additional questions about his faith (out of genuine curiosity), & honestly - his approach to religion is the approach that I *wish* most religious individuals had. Haha. It's just for him - he doesn't care if you believe in something else. It's a very respectful approach, & I admire that. Make no mistake, though - I'm still as not-religious as they come (somewhere between Agnostic & Atheist, depending on the day. Lol). But I respect people's beliefs, especially if they're not pushing it on me, or anyone else. If everyone on earth respected each other's religious beliefs (or lack-thereof) in this way, the world would likely be a much better place. At any rate! If you like this song & want to check out more of the artists' music, feel free to do so using the links below! https://bit.ly/4aDbBwg & I'm nearly at the character limit for YT video descriptions, sooo... if you have kit/gear questions (or whatever else), just leave a comment & I'll try to reply there. Shoutout to Declan White for the mix, & thanks for watching ya'll!