This is my first original song “Everybody’s BITCHIN’ about AL”, which I wrote (vocals by Hayley Sheen and composed by Dan Astles). I'm incredibly proud of the way it has turned out.

I took an early draft into a song-writing session with Dan, a collaboration which I really enjoyed. We bounced off each other, had similar ideas, and artistically clicked. I needed the song to tell a specific story for a future ambitious project (a musical), while being relatable to the 2 scenes that I wrote and directed as part of my Arts Council sponsored project.

With a clear story outline, Dan guided me on how to structure the song and create the melody. We focused on refining the lyrics to fit with the melody. Upon finalising the lyrics and having a clear vision for the backing track in mind, I knew Hayley would be the perfect singer for it; I insisted on her involvement.

When it came to rehearsing the song, I instantly knew I made the right choice. Hayley just smashed it every time, it seemed effortless to her. The song suits her vocal range so well!

Knowing Hayley’s vocal abilities, I pushed her to experiment so we could get the most out of her amazing talents. I gave constructive pointers and feel like she really enhanced the song with her unique vocal aerobatics. I have always dreamt about working with Hayley every time I watched her perform and now having worked with her was very surreal; a dream come true!

From listening to so much music over the years, I have a good ear and can tell what works and what doesn’t. I gave Dan clear instructions what instruments I wanted and that it needed to be up-tempo and lively, like pop/rock with a musical theatre vibe running through it. I also had ideas on vocal layering for the backing vocals.

I really loved being in the studio, watching Dan work his magic and hearing Hayley belt out my song.

Although, I have learnt about the song writing process; there is so much more to creating a song – I feel I wouldn’t be able to create a song entirely on my own, with only having a few song writing sessions and little knowledge of the producing side. Plus, when you factor in the limitations of my disability and computer access software, it would be difficult to achieve. I’m keen to collaborate further with other industry professionals to gain more experience in song writing and producing.