Author: falala

In anticipation of releasing new music next week, I dug through the archive to share something old. Recorded with Moxie Starpark at Cloud 9 Studios circa 1999. This song to date is unreleased.

I live in an open loft, and som I live in an open loft space, so sometimes I have to get creative in order not to wake anyone. This song I finished over the summer, and now I’m wrapping up production. Today I worked on building drums beats for the bridge. I expect my album (*) to be released in February. #songwriter #catmommy #catsofyoutube #indierock #nosamples #indieRock #indiemusic

Only one woman, Whitney Houston, was inducted into the hall of fame today in the latest round. NPR is on it~ 41 woman who SHOULD be inducted. https://npr.org/2020/01/15/796717978/41-women-who-should-be-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame #equality #feminism is weird to say, because it just ShOuLD be that we’re included by default, not by a movement

Focus. Focus. Focus. I’m boiling down this project to the most mechanical, mundane, quantified lists of tasks. Not fun. But it is forcing me to progress from finishing WRITING songs to finishing recording them. I regress. Playing the guitar is ALWAYS FUN. Even when it isn’t easy. I know this looks easy. But getting that rhythm down…long note, short note, long note, short note…on a harmonic (barely touching guitar string in just the right spot)…it took a little bit of figuring out. And that other part….sliding down two frets while my finger split across THREE frets…Well that just about split my BRAIN in half. This will be Setting Sun featuring Julie Delano on bass. The album is (*) pronounced asterisk.

Fresh off the presses. Or the musical equivalent, fresh from getting mastered. To be released on all streaming services tonight…..Update 12-11-2019 Super special thanks to Matt Roth of Olive Juice Music for mixing and producing this song.

This song is streaming on an app near you>> Please like it, follow it, but most importantly, add it to one of your playlists. The more playlists it’s on, the more likely it will go viral in the streaming world.

s/n: mixed, mastered version above. No samples. 100% creative/publishing Fala La. Instrumental or acapella available upon request.

Wow, Black Friday/Cyber Monday week has been crazy. I’m in retail. Everything that could go wrong has went wrong, and I’m trying to hang in there. These 12 hour days are especially excruciating knowing that Setting Sun now has bass tracks that I have yet to mix in. Before the mayhem began, Julie Delano (The Leader, Gold, Lounge Leader, Kansas State Flower, and I’m sure their must have been many more) came over to record. I always loved her bass playing, but wow, listen to those notes climb. One of the best bassists I’ve ever heard and had the fortune to work with.

I heard that bass over and over in my head at work today, and forced myself through my retail holiday season exhaustion to do a lil’ mixing. This is a little clip…teaser, if you will. I still have to tighten up my guitar, but I hope you get the feel of this passage.

sssssoooo close…we went to the track today to record the video.. “Clap For Yourself” will be the first release of the album Asterisk (*)

If you’re viewing this page, you’re probably running or finished running the NYC Marathon and I handed you a little paper with a QR code. This song is almost done, and set to be released on streaming services at the end of the month. I hope you enjoy! Please join my mailing list below or simply contact me at drfburk@gmail.com if you want updates about the release date or details about the music video. It was great sharing the race with you. Peace & Love, Fala La

Our music lives have been on an unexpected hiatus since performing at the Boog City Poetry Festival a few weeks ago. My wife was motivated to seal and rejuvenate the floors, which I was told are the original wood planks in our late 1800’s warehouse loft. We had to unexpectedly abandon the loft the other day when she was overcome by toxic polyurethane fumes. Two nights in a Plainview hotel and a long E.R. stint later, we are back in our big, shiny, and a bit vacant space.

My life seems to be divided into before and after. Before everything was in upheaval, I was in contact with one of my FAVORITE music artists to remix Clap For Yourself. I got as far as sending him all of the individual tracks. However, he emailed to let me know that the drum track was missing and a guitar track was cut short. I finally, finally, finally was able to get him those last two tracks today. I did one last listen to make sure the timings were synced. They were. I came away with something valuable from that last listen after taking a 3 week break. Confidence.

I must say, for a song that almost never got written because it’s so unbelievably dumb on the surface, I think it’s my favorite of 2019. If not for writing, definitely as far as production/music. I remember when it was just an embryo and I heard Sleater Kinney in the guitar riff. My wife kept hearing 90’s folk music. Of course! I’d only been playing it on my acoustic, which did not resound to the outside world what was echoing in my brain. However, a limp folk sound would never be able to carry such ridiculous chorus lyrics as “Clap For Yourself”. If I was to get away with it, the song needed balls.

You can read about the insecurities of this song in previous posts. I even posted a photo of myself ripping up the lyric sheet and I uploaded an mp3 of completely rewritten music.

In the end, the original score persevered. Really it was the purchase of a $100 Yamaha UR12 interface that allowed the guitar sounds to soar. I was able to hear in my headphones what I’d heard all along in my head. With this new hope, I layered on bass, piano, drums, little weird noises, and I do think in the end I got out what I hoped for sound wise. Sleater Kinney had a baby with David Geutta. How tempted I am to just share what I have right this second. But no, it’s still all hot. The volume of all the tracks are shouting over each other, begging to be heard not by balance but sheer volume. This is where my FAVORITE music artist comes in……..It’s all in the mix….stay tuned…..

G-d is a woman, and on the first day, she created The Highwomen.

Heard them for the first time on WFUV while driving to work this morning. My life is forever changed.

” We are the daughters of the silent generations You sent our hearts to die alone in foreign nations It may return to us as tiny drops of rain But we will still remain And we’ll come back again and again and again “

Check. Out. This. Band. Start with song of same name, “Highwomen”.