Derek Sandstrom

The Making of "How Do I Explain?" Part 5

Wow!  

What else can I say?

My CD is now officially out.   All the recording, all the mixing, all the fretting about the CD booklet, all the song sponsors, all the expense, all the hours away from my family…it's all over.   And I have   CD to show for it!   A CD that's now available to you!

 

Last night, April 5, was the CD release event in York, PA.   It was a wonderful evening.   The crowd wasn't huge, but I felt supported by those who were there.   My family was represented, my church was represented,and there was even a surprise appearance by my high school youth pastor.   That's from when I was in high school, I mean.   He drove four and a half hours to be there.   It was great.   Great.   I think I also sang pretty well, although you'd have to get a review from someone who was there.   Let's say it felt good.   I really felt that God was there among us.

 

Some random memories of the night.  

 

There was the moment when singing “A Simple Faith” where instead of singing, “Jimmy was a man of fifty three, he'd given thirty years to his company,” I sang, “Jimmy was a man of thirty three, he'd given thirty years to his company.”   After a little quick math, I said into the mic, “Hmm, he started early.”   My father-in-law, Ed, lost it, and he was right in front.   I could barely get through the rest of the song.   To make matters worse, Sheri was singing backups right next to me.   Normally that makes things better, but us trying not to make each other laugh never goes well. Somehow we grunted out the vocals and got to the end without making eye contact.   It was a moment.  

 

I gave away two copies of the CD, one by playing a game on the platform with three audience members, and one by taping it under one of the pews before the crowd arrived.   It was great fun to do my Bob Barker impression, and to watch everyone scramble around looking for the concealed CD.   My mom would be sure to point out that Bob Barker was my childhood hero.   As a young child I carried around the stick from the stacking rings toy and spoke into it like Bob's microphone on the Price Is Right. Mysteriously I called it my “pier.”   I have no explanation for that choice of words.   Gimme a break, I was like two years old!

Cassandra Sigel won the quiz by the way.   She knew that my rock band in York was called Punch, that I taught in Northeastern School District, our cats are Minuet and Sonata, we vacation at Crotch Lake in Canada, and that the square root of 2171 (my birthday being 2/1/71) is 46.593991.   Not too shabby, even for multiple choice!

 

But the most important thing about the night was that the people there told me they felt God present and evenspeaking to them through what I sang.   How can I ask for more than that?   That's what it's all about.

 

I had hoped to have lots of pictures to post, but even though we brought our camera, no one shot even one, single picture!   If anyone else emails me any, I'll post those.   That was a major oversight, and I'm sorry about that.   I had hoped to be able to “take you there” visually.   Next time.  

 

I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for me and asking about the progress of the CD.   I appreciate your concern.   And now I hope you will buy one for your very own!   I think you'll like what you hear!

 

God bless,

Derek

The Making of "How Do I Explain?" Part 4

They're here!   They're here!

 

Ten boxes of CDs were just delivered by UPS!   I'm listening to one right now!   Call me a narcissist if you must, but I have to hear what it sounds like.   Sounds pretty much like I expected.   I was the one who recorded it, after all.   I feel I must once again say that it's the variety of musicians that makes this one so special.

 

I can't wait until the official CD release on April 5.   Be there, friends!   Be there!

 

Creating music for the Lord and stepping out in full-time ministry may sound like pretty heady stuff.   But here's the thing…it's still me!   Anyone who knows me realizes that I am not the most organized fellow, nor am I the most serious fellow.   As such, I thought I would share some funny moments from what I do.   These may not make milk squirt out of your nose, particularly if you're not drinking any, but I hope they'll give you a smile.   Sometimes I think God must shake His head at me.   I hope He's smiling, too.

 

Words.   I am terrible at remembering words.   But even more, sometimes they change meaning in my head, and having Sheri around doesn't help, either, as you will see.   Here are some lyrical moments that make Sheri and me laugh.   In “Be Thou My Vision” there's a verse that begins “High King of Heaven, my Victory won.”   In our heads that can be translated into either, “Hi, King of Heaven!” which strikes me as a little informal for greeting deity, or “Hiking of Heaven.”   Now that's a backpack trip!   Then there's the part in “So Much More” where I sing “You hurled stars into the heavens.”   Anytime I'm singing “you hurled,” and can see Sheri, we're in serious danger of laughing right in the middle of the song.   Now that she's singing backup vocals for that song she won't be able to make me smile about hurling.   Except that she'll be closer.   Uh oh.   Which one of us will break first?   Also, in “I Want To Be Near You,” there's the bit about my forehead shining with beads of sweat.   Sheri has pointed out to me that I'm a musician, and what do I know about my forehead shining with beads of sweat?   There's also the issue of the ever-increasing size of my forehead.   All I know is that I can't make eye contact with Sheri when singing about my forehead.

 

Kids.   My kids make performing interesting.   There's often a comment to the effect of, “is this almost over,” usually delivered at the most quiet, sensitive moment of a song.   Or right as the last note is fading away.   Or there's the time that during song-leading, Sheri and I look over from the piano to find the two of them fist fighting in the front pew.   Singing gentle songs of praise while trying to keep your kids from bloodying the furniture…not an easy situation to balance!

 

Kids and words.   There's a song on the new CD called “Come, Lord Jesus, Come,” which speaks about the hectic pace of life and darkness in my heart.   Carter was calling it the one about the stomach.   His aim was slightly low, but it's all in the torso.   That song also has a line that says, “Come to Me, all you heavy laden.”   Carter thought for a while that it was about the “heavy ladies.”   I may never be able to sing that one with a straight face.

 

Expect one more blog about the CD, this one after the release concert, hopefully with pictures to go with it.   Did I mention the CD release concert?   It's April 5 at 6:30 pm in York, PA.   Oh, I did mention it?   Sorry to be redundant!   ;-)

 

More later!

Derek

The Making of "How Do I Explain?" Part 3

Once in a while people ask me about my music, sometimes right after hearing it in concert.   But that's reasonable, because you can't assume that every song I ever do is exactly like the ones they just heard.   So let me go over a few Occasionally Asked Questions.   Feel free to call them OAQ, since my audience is so hip and up on current jargon.   BTW, that includes OMG and LOL.   Okay, I'm feeling nauseous so let's move on.

 

Q:   How do you describe your music?

A:   I call it Contemporary Christian.   But that's a pretty broad term these days.   So I might give a reference to Michael W. Smith (who most peolple know of), Mark Schultz (who Christian music fans probably know), and Chris Rice (ditto).   Some people also compare my voice to Dennis DeYoung from the rock band Styx, but I never know if church people know who that is.   It's a nice compliment, though.   Even counting Mr. Roboto!

 

Q:   (standing at the CD table) Which one is your best CD?

A:   This question is a tough one to answer.   If I indicate that one is better, does that mean the other one (or now the other ones) are bad?   Because I don't think that at all.   The first one I recorded I did my best and I think it sounds really good.   It's the mellowest, and it's appropriately called Rest.   Then, as I continued to write, I came up with the songs that became The Mirror.   These songs are a little closer to the heart, and I also got a little freer with my synth programming.   It wound up being a little more upbeat, but only a little.   Now with How Do I Explain, I used live musicians a lot more, and that allowed a whole wide array of sounds.   It's also another notch more upbeat.   I think most people would still consider it mellow by normal standards, but it may sound different to some people than Rest.  

 

I think there was a fear in me to “go too far” with the music for fear that the church crowd wouldn't accept it if it were too heavy with the beat or instruments.   This time I still tried to be sensitive, but I was braver in my choices.   First and foremost I want to glorify God with my music, not cater to individuals.   I figure that if I do, God can bless it and use it.   It should be obvious that no music is going to please everyone.   Otherwise there would be one radio station and we'd all enjoy it.   So I guess in the end, you have to listen and decide for yourself.   But how about this scale…if Gregorian chant is a 1 and death metal is a 10, I would give Rest a 3, The Mirror a 3.5, and How Do I Explain a 4.5.   I'm interested to hear what you think after you hear it.

 

Q:   Is it expensive/hard/time-consuming/fun to make a CD?

A:   Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

 

Q:   Do you want to be famous?

A:   I don't know.   I want to do what pleases God.   If He wants me to continue to go from church to church selling CDs off the table after my concerts, so be it. If He has something else in mind, that's fine with me.   But, no, my driving motivation is not fame.

 

Q:   How's your ministry going?

A:   Good.   Depends on your definition, though.   Does “good” mean playing for stadiums of cheering people, being on TV with top Christian speakers, and selling tee-shirts with my face on them?   If so, then things aren't going well.   If “good” means making ends meet, then it's not going as well as I might hope, either.   If “good” means learning a lot about myself, creating music to glorify God and encourage people, making more and more friends in different places, and still being able to keep our family together and live in a house, drive a car, and have electricity, food, and water, then it's going just right.

 

Q:   Does your family always come with you when you do concerts?

A:   Often, especially when there is travel involved.   We made a decision that we want to be together as much as we can.   So if I'm traveling and the family can come, they do.   I like it that way!   Often when I play locally it's actually more difficult to have them with me, which may not make sense.   But here's a scenario to explain.   Let's say I have to play at a 10:00 am worship service.   It takes an hour to set up, so I arrive at 9.   If it's an hour and a half   drive, which it often is, I have to leave at 7:30.   That would mean getting the kids up at 6, which would be ugly.   So we would most likely not all come.   Or take a 7:00 pm concert.   Play from 7-8.   Greet people til 8:30, clean up til 9:30.   Drive home til 11.   Not very kid-friendly.   Now that Morgan is in school it's even more important to get them their sleep.   So there's the answer.   Any time it works for us, we stick together.

 

Q:   What instrument(s) are your boys going to play?

A:   Whatever ones they want to play, including none.   I don't want to force my will on them, making them hate music.   However, that being said, Morgan is currently taking violin lessons because he asked to.   Carter has also shown musical aptitude, and I think he'll want to do something, too.   If only I could convince one of them to play guitar and one to play bass…(sigh)

 

Q:   Which is your favorite song on the new CD?

A:   I hate to give it away.   Let's put it this way: it's somewhere in the middle.   That's your hint.

 

Q:   Are your CDs at [insert name of Christian bookstore here]?

A:   Probably not.   Here's my rationale.   I never go into a store and buy a CD from someone I don't know.   Never.   And neither do you!   So the only chance I would have of selling CDs just because they're in a store would be if the store happens to be playing my CD and someone inquires, or God puts a strong impression in someone to go over to the shelves, find my CD, and buy it.   Both of those are possible, but I wouldn't say likely.   By far the best way to sell CDs is after people have just seen me play.   And then after that, people will buy the second or third of them from my website.   That's something you can do, too.   Right now if you wanted!  

 

Q:   Are your songs on Christian radio?

A:   Not so far.   I'd like to see that change.   However, with Christian music having grown a lot in the last ten years or so, there's no shortage of national recording artists with record label money behind them.   That means publicists, record people calling radio stations, etc.   I'm a little guy with none of that.   So the local Christian radio stations have plenty to play without breaking out Derek Sandstrom's CD when they've never heard of Derek Sandstrom.   That being said, if people begin calling a station to request music by Derek Sandstrom, that might get their attention, and they might play it in response to such requests.   Try it and let me know if it works!

The Making of "How Do I Explain?" Part 2

It's done!   It's done!   Finished!   Complete!   My CD is finished!  

 

I recorded, I mixed, I sent it away for mastering.   It's back from mastering, ready for duplicating.   After duplicating it goes to storage, a.k.a. my basement!

 

I'm thrilled!   I'm excited!   I can't wait to see it all wrapped in that annoying plastic that only a select few with their razor sharp talons can open.   And what I really can't wait for is when the CDs gradually find their way into people's CD players, because that's when God can use them to touch hearts and encourage people.   And that's what it's all about!   That's why I do all this.

 

So, how do you make a CD, anyway?   Well, I can tell you how I did it. First, I wrote the songs.   That took place over the three years between CD releases.   I live, God teaches me lessons through what happens to me, and some of them become songs.   So, after I write them, I consider the words and what kind of music might frame them appropriately.   So I go the piano, come up with some chords and a melody, and put it in a key where my voice sounds nice.   Then I go to the keyboard and come up with an orchestration that works with the song and adds interest.   I might perform the song at one of my concerts.   I see if people like it.   If I like it and they like it, I play it more often.   Some I don't because a song might not fit with what I'm doing live in concert.   But if it's good I may use it anyway on the CD because it says what I think God wants me to say, and it sounds good.   That is the case with one or two this time.

 

So then when I have solid songs I feel really good about, I figure out where to do my recording.   This time I picked between two studios: one in the Philly area, and Right Coast Recording in Columbia, PA.   I went with Right Coast for a few reasons.   I also began to contact musicians who I know that could add to the project.   In these steps I really hit the jackpot this time.   In my last entry I described who played and sang with me, and the studio and Bobby Gentilo.   I feel that God directed me in both steps.   So I got little MP3s I made of the songs sent out to the players for them to learn, and I went into the studio to dump my keyboard tracks into Bobby's computer.

 

Then I had the live musicians replace my synth versions of their instruments with the real thing.   In my last two recordings the keyboard was clearly the main instrument with a few live instruments thrown in for variety.   On this CD there are live instruments on almost every song, including drums.   I can't tell you how much warmth and energy that adds.   I'm not saying I think my older CDs sound bad, because I went back to listen and compare.   I think the sound quality is good on the old ones, but there's more personality and depth with real people playing real instruments.

 

After that, we made sure the lead vocal sounded good.   I think Bobby did a great job of capturing my voice.   We also added some background vocals, which were mostly by me, with Sheri adding some high harmony on two songs.   I have to tell you that her additions to those songs make for some of my favorite moments on the CD!  

 

After all the tracks are put down on tape, or in this case onto the computer, it's time to mix.   You have to take all the many tracks you have recorded and mix them into two tracks (right and left) for your home or car speakers to handle.   This sounds simple, but it takes almost as long as the recording.   We spent three full days just mixing.   This is where Bobby runs back and forth from gadget to gadget, adjusting this and that, adding more reverb, less reverb, more distortion on the guitar, less distortion…back and forth, until it sounds just so.   Imagine a chef improvising a soup or a stew, except that you can't put in less garlic.   Once it's in, it's in.   Bobby can remove something that's too much or just sounds gross.   He can even adjust the timing of notes, and their pitches, by hand using the computer.   But he wouldn't need to do that for me…would he?   ;-)

 

Yes, he would!

 

So then when that was all done, I had a master CD of all the songs.   I sent that to Triple Disc who mastered it (a process of making it sounds “ready for radio”) and sent it back to me for approval.   And that's where it is today as I type.

 

I think it sounds fantastic!   I know you're going to enjoy it.   I will say that it's a little different than the last two.   This time I was more willing/able to write from the heart.   And in the recording phase, I was more willing to allow the context of the song to dictate how it should sound, and that results in things sounding a little more intense on a few tracks.   It still sounds like me, of course.   But take “Come, Lord Jesus, Come,” and “Lay It Down.”   These are songs about the hectic, crazy pace of life and the wickedness of our natural hearts.   It would not make sense to frame those with calm, peaceful music.   So there's a little bit of angst there.   Some of you will listen and say, “you call that angst!” and others will say, “ooo, that's too much!”   That's the nature of being the kind of musician I am.   When you play for diverse age groups and people groups you can't please everyone all the time.   All I can do is be sincere with the songs I write and trust God to use them as He sees fit.   I did try to be sensitive to me more sensitive listeners, though.   Don't worry!   J

 

Well, this has become a long blog entry already.   Next time, OAQ!   That means Occasioinally Asked Questions.   I don't get asked enough to call them Frequently Asked Questions, you know.   But I feel like sharing!   So…

 

Thanks for reading, everyone!   God bless!

Derek

The Making of "How Do I Explain?" Part 1

“That one was Madonna's, too,” Bobby said.  

 

Bobby Gentilo, my engineer and producer pointed to an effects processor in the control room at Right Coast Recording.   This was one of three similar units that had been used on one of Madonna's tours.  

 

Wow.

 

The studio was put together by two men – two Daves, actually – who have done live sound and recording for their whole lives, and have done so for some of the biggest names in music. Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, MTV, VH-1, Yes, Michael W. Smith, Bad Company, Prince, Van Halen, 38 Special, Asia, Jewel, Good Morning America, Dave Matthews, Paul Simon, Bon Jovi, U2…the list goes on and on.   So these two guys, Dave Natale and Dave Wilkerson, having amassed all this amazing music equipment from years of work in the business, decided to open a studio together, and they did it here in Central PA.   They hired Bobby Gentilo to run the studio while the Daves run to a fro continuing to work with the world's biggest names in music.

 

And Bobby's making my CD for me.

 

Things are sounding really good!   I am excited for this CD to be available to you all.   It will be called How Do I Explain?   The release date will be April 5, 2008.   The release concert will be held at York SDA Church in York, PA.   I hope you will be there if you can.

 

So far, we have all the tracks recorded.   Two songs are mixed and in their final form.   The rest will be mixed in the next week, with the remainder of a string quartet (yes, really!) to be recorded at the last possible moment and mixed quickly.   Then the final mixes will be sent to Triple Disc where it will be mastered, copied 1000 times, added to the artwork and shrink wrapped.   Then the 1000 CDs will be shipped to my home where they will occupy a portion of my basement next to what's left of the others.   I'll be sending some CDs to my internet outlets, namely CD Baby and Indieheaven.   After that we'll get songs on the Indieheaven charts and see how high they climb this time!   Stay tuned for all of that.

 

I have some really talented musicians helping me on this CD.   Here's a rundown.

 

Mike McCabe.   Mike plays guitar beautifully and is the only person, other than me, who has played on all three of my CDs.   Mike is the pastor of a church in Reading, PA, and is my good friend and mentor.

 

Craig Kelley.   Craig went to college with me at IUP.   We suffered through Class Piano and Class Voice together.   Craig is an accomplished guitarist, having won Guitar Wars, a regional competition, three times,

 

John Hargrave.   John is a good friend I first met at the New Wilmington Missionary Conference.   John is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, and adds an energetic flavor to the music with his terrific bass playing.

 

Joe Saylor.   Joe is my cousin, and has been an excellent drummer since he was very young.   He is almost finished his studies at the Manhattan School of Music, and has already played with the nation's Jazz elite.   A recent achievement was appearing on the David Letterman Show with the Matt Savage Trio.  

 

Brenda Johnson.   Brenda also went to IUP with me, and teaches in the Northeastern School District where she is the high school orchestra director.   Brenda is a wonderful cellist, who also contributed to my first CD, Rest, on “There Is A Balm in Gilead.”

 

Kellen Wenrich.   Kellen is a very talented student from Lancaster Country Day School.   He will be contributing violin and viola.   Kellen is also an outstanding folk musician who has recorded at Right Coast.   His music is reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkle and sounds great.  

 

Bobby Gentilo.   Bobby is my engineer and producer, but also is a guitarist with his own band, Radio Caroline, and many other projects.   Bobby is creative, a great musician, and funny.   He has made this project a joy.

 

Sheri Sandstrom.   How blessed am I!?   I have an awesome wife, and even more, I have an awesome wife who is such a strong musician that she can contribute to my music ministry.   She often sings with me in concerts, and she is contributing some really tasty background vocals.   It will be a nice reprieve from “All Derek, All The Time.”   You'll hear her on two songs.

 

More on the recording will be coming this month.   Stay tuned…