Everybody to Safety and Jack - Welcome to Paradise (Green Day cover)

Made this for funsies for my bff’s birthday.

Everybody To Safety - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Fleet Foxes Cover)

MOAR COVERS YO! CRAZY!

Everybody To Safety - Stereo Hearts (Gym Class Heroes Cover) (by EverybodyToSafety)

Warts and all. All for you!

Everybody To Safety - Desert Song (My Chemical Romance Cover)

Yee haw, kiddies.

All the cool kids close their eyes when they sing. Swear.

Everybody to Safety plus Jack - The Kids from Yesterday (My Chemical Romance cover)

Having a little fun with the Casio. Obviously I need to practice doing two things at once.

If you’re curious, this is how I write lyrics.  So far, much of what I write involves really understanding what I’m writing about, rather than just talking about my reactions to things. It’s hard, but I love that it forces me to think through things - I’ve had more than a few personal revelations thanks to my choice of topics. I’ve seen people with notebooks almost completely free of rewrites. I have no idea how people write that way, but I find it amazing. My process lately has been to start with an idea, any clever shards that have come up, and just start writing about the topic. I’ll try to get as many ideas out as I can, without judging, and then I’ll start trying to narrow down what I’m trying to say, looking for common threads, creating an overall metaphor maybe (or deliberately avoiding it), and then trying to plot out what parts of the story go where in the song. I think some people would consider this inauthentic. It’s more science than art. It’s very different from how I see and do other kinds of art, which is funny. But I guess this is what I’m like. I want to try to do some “feeling” music, more stream of consciousness stuff sometime, but for now, I have shit to say.
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If you’re curious, this is how I write lyrics. 

So far, much of what I write involves really understanding what I’m writing about, rather than just talking about my reactions to things. It’s hard, but I love that it forces me to think through things - I’ve had more than a few personal revelations thanks to my choice of topics.

I’ve seen people with notebooks almost completely free of rewrites. I have no idea how people write that way, but I find it amazing.

My process lately has been to start with an idea, any clever shards that have come up, and just start writing about the topic. I’ll try to get as many ideas out as I can, without judging, and then I’ll start trying to narrow down what I’m trying to say, looking for common threads, creating an overall metaphor maybe (or deliberately avoiding it), and then trying to plot out what parts of the story go where in the song.

I think some people would consider this inauthentic. It’s more science than art. It’s very different from how I see and do other kinds of art, which is funny. But I guess this is what I’m like. I want to try to do some “feeling” music, more stream of consciousness stuff sometime, but for now, I have shit to say.

This tumblr is changing, just a little.

I’ve changed the title to Everybody to Safety, which is basically my musical alias, and represents my personal journey of becoming a singer/songwriter. This has consumed my life, so I think it’s reasonable that this double as a blog for my singer/songwriter personality.

I will continue posting stupid pictures of myself and my art, posting about my experiences seeing bands and music that inspires me, and I will be posting more about the journey - songwriting process, facing my fears, etc.

I’ll also keep peppering my posts with political content, especially where there’s a musical cross-over, but if you want to get my heavy political thoughts, make sure to follow The Muck of Ages (www.themuckofages.tumblr.com).

Have any thoughts, suggestions or requests?

Everybody to Safety has a Facebook page! Check it out to hear some of my music. If you want to stay updated or help me out, click the Like button or reblog this post! Thanks in advance and may your day bring juicy revelations.
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Everybody to Safety has a Facebook page!

Check it out to hear some of my music. If you want to stay updated or help me out, click the Like button or reblog this post!

Thanks in advance and may your day bring juicy revelations.

Everybody to Safety - Kindling (acoustic)

My new (original) song is up!

This song was inspired by (wow that sounds like the beginning of something no one will give a shit about) a show I went to recently for Seattle’s own The Head & The Heart. It was also inspired by a lifetime of experiences that were exactly the same. I go to a show. I see people doing what I want to do. I’m moved. I cry. I hate myself.

I don’t know if anything was particularly different this time, except that it motivated me to write about it. Finally, things seem to be moving.

How I Write Lyrics Trying to rewrite a song called “Moment of Clarity” (which I’ve already rewritten twice). One of my friends recently showed me his lyrics book. It was pristine. He would write one or two pages of words, hardly any of them ever crossed out, and the song would be done. And the lyrics were quite good.  So I’m not sure if it’s weird that I do research and make outlines and write essays and then rewrite each line 18 times before finally deciding on the final one. It seems the stuff I write about is almost always something I feel I have to fully understand before making a statement about it - because it’s personal and because I’m learning a lot about myself right now. It’s hilarious to me that I have these revelations about myself in the process. It’s always the same stuff and sometimes it seems like I never learn. 
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How I Write Lyrics

Trying to rewrite a song called “Moment of Clarity” (which I’ve already rewritten twice). One of my friends recently showed me his lyrics book. It was pristine. He would write one or two pages of words, hardly any of them ever crossed out, and the song would be done. And the lyrics were quite good. 

So I’m not sure if it’s weird that I do research and make outlines and write essays and then rewrite each line 18 times before finally deciding on the final one. It seems the stuff I write about is almost always something I feel I have to fully understand before making a statement about it - because it’s personal and because I’m learning a lot about myself right now.

It’s hilarious to me that I have these revelations about myself in the process. It’s always the same stuff and sometimes it seems like I never learn. 

Everybody to Safety - A Modest Proposal (acoustic)

Tumblr premier! Um. This is my very first song-on-video. Mine. I did it. Kind of freaking out. It’s not perfect, but I like it, so I don’t care. I was just so eager to get this out for the #occupywallst stuff. In a way I opted for recording this instead of going out and getting arrested tonight with the amazing people of #OccupySeattle tonight… so I hope it helps in some way.

Constructive criticism highly appreciated. What do you think?