Songs and Sonics

Welcome to the Songs and Sonics blog. I’m your host, Jeff Boller, main songwriter and performer in The Simple Carnival.

You’re probably wondering, “Who? The Simple what?” That’s OK, because I don’t know who you are either. And I don’t know how you found this site, but please make yourself at home.

So what’s this all about? Well, within these electronic pages you’ll find a smorgasbord of tales from the front lines of songwriting, music production, and working with bizarre objects that make grinding, belching, unwelcome noises (which can be, but are not limited to, actual musical instruments). We’ll take a close look at the creative process of making music. We’ll have some audio show-and-tell. There will be interviews with other artists who are doing cool things with sound. Mostly though, I hope that this blog will provide you with ideas and inspiration for your own creative endeavors.

“OK,” you say. “But who the heck are you, and why should I care?”

Fair question. I’m a 30-something singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist based near Pittsburgh, PA. Since 2001, I’ve fronted The Simple Carnival, a pop recording project that sounds like what might happen if Harry Nilsson and The Beach Boys collaborated on Sesame Street. To date, The Simple Carnival has released three EPs and the first real, honest-to-goodness album (titled Girls Aliens Food) scheduled for release in late 2008 on Sundrift Records. I play all the instruments and sing all the parts on these recordings.

My music career has led me from writing and producing songs for other artists, to recording bands at professional studios, to directing video productions, and ultimately… to finding a 9-5, non-audio job that actually pays the bills.

So if you’re looking for advice on how write that hit song or make it big in the music industry, you’ve come to the wrong place. I don’t mind communicating with a large audience, but my background is mostly in writing and recording songs for a specific niche, and it’s not the same audience that closely follows the Top 40. Write what you know and all that. Still, even if you’re not into the kind of music I do, I hope to keep things general enough so that the majority of the content here is relevant to anyone doing creative things with sound.

You can probably expect a new post every few days, with a big article about once a week — as long as there’s something to talk about. I look forward to your feedback, as it will help steer the conversation toward the things you find most interesting. And yes, I do consider this blog a conversation. So please post some comments to help get things rolling!