Quicksand: Mix 1
Three musicians walked into the studio with no plan. Ten hours later, they walked out with a song. Listen to the raw iPhone recording from the first moments of the session, then hear the studio mix that emerged by the end of the day.
Sometimes a song arrives exactly when it's supposed to.
Yesterday, on the Fourth of July, I spent the entire day in the studio with my longtime friend and producer, Dvani. While everyone else was at barbecues and fireworks, we were exactly where we wanted to be: in Studio B, chasing an idea we didn't even have yet.
We walked in with no lyrics, no melody, and no plan.
Just three musicians, a room full of instruments, and the belief that if we stayed with it long enough, we'd find something worth keeping.
Lately we've been starting sessions with a reference track—a song that serves as our north star for the day's writing and production decisions. This time it was "Come With Me" by Surfaces. We borrowed the laid-back tempo and carefree energy, then let the song slowly become its own thing.
By the end of the day, it barely resembled the reference anymore.
It had become Quicksand.
What amazes me most is how quickly it happened. In roughly ten hours we wrote the song, built the arrangement, tracked the instruments, recorded the vocals, and walked out with a mix that's probably 90% finished. It still needs some polishing, but I've had it on repeat ever since.
Below I've included something I've never shared before.
Before we wrote a single line, I hit record on my iPhone and let it run. You'll hear the conversations, the jokes, the false starts, the moments where we're throwing out ideas that go nowhere... and then, almost by accident, the first tiny pieces of Quicksand begin to emerge.
Listen to that first.
Then listen to the studio mix immediately afterward.
It's one thing to hear a finished song.
It's another to hear the exact moment it came into existence.
Enjoy the files below.
