As we enter week three of RPM ’08, hundreds of intrepid musicians are forging ahead with their laborious mission. That mission, of course, is to write and record 10 songs or 35 minutes of original music in the month of February—which is now almost half over. Based on discussion posted on the RPM Web site, www.rpmchallenge.com, many artists are experiencing one of two extremes: creative elation or stymied frustration. Others are somewhere in between. But most have at least begun laying down the groundwork for their RPM albums, jotting down lyrics for one or two songs, recording a couple of tracks, etc. Some participants have already skipped work and taken to drink. Their determination is commendable. Here, once again, is a sampling of unedited thoughts pulled from posts at www.rpmchallenge.com. 

I was feeling confident. I’ve got a good chunk of stuff written & I was thinking about starting to record some tunes. Then of course, my PC gets a blue screen & all hopes of recording are shattered. I haven’t given up hope. A friend or two may give me a hand & walk me through a fix. On a lighter note, a new tune, “Bananas” was completed last night. My girls (3 & 5) are going to sing the chorus with me. My first epic-folk tune. I’ve created a new genre. I am Rutabaga hear me roar. —The Rutabaga Band, Frenchtown, NJ

I finally had a good mate over today. We concurred on various work style elements and techniques, and agreed on the tools of the trade.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m going solo all the way in this project. But yeah, it’s good to have the odd mate drop by to yay or nay various things. This weekend is where it starts for me. Hopefully. Maybe.... I think. Actually, no, it is. I’m gonna sit here and produce. And if anyone bothers me, I’ll just scream “I dont give a dead moose’s last SHIT” at them. —BurningFeetMan, Sydney, Australia

I really wish RPM had been around 20 years ago when I was playing out a lot. I would have been a better player, and had a lot more people to bounce ideas off than I did then. I am a craptastic guitarist, but RPM is teaching me that I can do much more than I ever imagined. Heck, I am doing mostly acoustic material at the moment. This and I recently discovered that I am a telecaster player have shown me a whole new world of music that my metal via superstrat days ever could have. Thanks RPM! —IronAngel Forge, Hart, MI
 
I’m really enjoying the immediacy of this, the art of just kind of banging things together for the first time and seeing what works. —Absenter
 
Hai, it is Cyber Cat 9000 here, I mades you a song already. If you are not a cat, you can still listens too k? Thx bai! —Cyber Cat 9000, Catshire El Felineville, NC

The first night … produces three songs that have great potential ... so optimism surrounds us. Yet somehow, the stress and pre-panic seems to be all too present. What if the songs do not evolve into something worthwhile?  What if we want sounds that we struggle to achieve? What if I break a toe during recording? It could happen right? OK ... no need to stress just yet ... 27 days left ... plenty of time to write, record and produce the next masterpiece to never be sold at a record store. Wait ... do record stores still exist? Will I still be married after February?  I digress ... —Rubys Cannon, East Hampton, CT

Having some gear going all wonky, having a few rough days homeschooling the kids, not getting adequate sleep, and not finishing my patch creation efforts before the Challenge officially began has all I suppose left me in a bit of a funk. *sigh* If this doesn’t pick up and soon, I won’t be very proud of my entry this year.  I’ll submit something, but it won’t be up to the standard I’d like. Well, it’s early in the game. I shouldn’t despair. —David Simpson, Sacramento, CA

I didn’t expect to have as many ideas as I do and that I would sing or that I would actually pick up a guitar for this(I have a love hate thing with guitars and a fear of my own voice, Weird I know!). On ward and up-wards! —Unnameable Mourning, St. Paul, MN

I took today off from work so I could spend it getting a head-start on the month. Last year I was scrambling near the end and it was not fun, even in retrospect. Time pressure doesn’t make me creative, just makes it rushed. —Broken Promise Keeper, Decatur, GA

Anyone else have nothing? —Jimbalaya, Holyoke, MA


Today was a little bit different than yesterday. I think I’m back to where I had been last year, with me programming a ton of different melodies in the very beginning of February. For the last challenge, I got 35 minutes worth of material by mid-month, and then spent the second half of the month trying to make it suck less. I’m not sure if this is the best approach, but it worked well enough last year. Why reinvent the wheel? —Alternate Modes of Underwater Consciousness, Worcester, MA

We managed to knock out five songs, more or less. What I really mean is that we’ve recorded the framework for five songs. And what I mean by THAT is that we have gotten an awful lot done in our first day together. And what I mean by that is ... well, nevermind. —Winterstar, Dover, NH

Major has at least one song that he’s working on, he e-mailed me a couple of verses that he had come up with yesterday and I sent back my critique—that might have been a mistake as I haven’t heard from him or any of the other Frinkers since. I gotta learn to keep my criticism in check; at this point we should probably just be writing as much as possible without over-thinking or prejudging or criticizing at all. —The Frinkers, Seattle, WA

Day two and I’m still waiting to hit the RECORD button. At least five songs are close to being “ready”; with the prep work I did in January, there’s still a few lyric touches here and there, some structural tweaking ... but, damn, breaking the ice is the hard part. —Nathan Wade, Seattle, WA

When I entered this challenge, I somehow subconsciously thought that once I commit to this, come Feb. 1st, all the creative juices will start flowing. Boy, was I wrong. Yesterday was hell. The harder I tried, it seemed the more paralyzed I became. Then despair creeps in, and you start having negative thoughts, and guilt, and you really feel the pressure. “Damnation, I’m losing a whole Saturday here!” I ended up finishing a whole bottle of wine, but instead of conjuring up some inspiration, I just got sleepy. So I went to bed, feeling the weight of total failure upon my shoulders. Well, this morning I got up extra early. I made me some coffee, gritted my teeth and sat down once again in front of that blank sheet. I hate blank sheets. It’s now 2.30 PM here. I have in front of me two pieces of lyrics. I prevailed, I guess. But it feels more like a victory of dumb stubbornness than anything else, like being hit by the muse. —Strummindude, Stockholm, Sweden

i’m starting to think inspiration is just a word for jacking other people’s ideas. —Kenoki, Gainsville, FL


I was right. Just checked on wikipedia. Vodka is not the name of any of the listed muses. —moschell, Fortville, IN


This is cool because up until this rpm thing our songwriting was proceeding so slowly, and we got nothing down. Now we have a couple of songs ready to record and about eleven more still germinating. Anyway, back to work. I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I’m all outta ass. —Winklefiend, Omaha, NE

I suck … but progress is being made and wine is being consumed. Wine from a box. —Bombercat, Townsend, DE