The sixth annual RPM Challenge has attracted many first-time participants. A few discuss their plans and ambitions, and what they hope to take away.

Dover resident Andrea Szirbik started singing when she was 2 and wrote her first song in the fourth grade. She took up clarinet as a kid and later learned guitar. She’s now been an active songwriter for roughly 10 years, and yet, she’s never recorded an album. 

She intends to change that soon, however, as she participates in her first-ever RPM Challenge. She’s confident the end-of-the-month deadline will inspire her to finally get an album finished.“That’s a huge attraction to this project. I’ve started to record things a trillion times,” Szirbik said. “I’m only good under pressure. I feel like this might be the best thing in the world for me because it will force me to finish.” 

Szirbik, a high school Spanish teacher, was one of more than 1,000 artists from around the world who had signed up to take the sixth annual challenge as of Jan. 31. The goal is to record an entire CD of at least 10 songs or 35 minutes of original music within the 28 days of February. Signups remain open throughout the month at www.rpmchallenge.com.

Other than a finished CD, there is no material reward for completing the challenge. But participants like Szirbik hope to realize the personal goal of recording their own artistic creations and sharing them with others.

“I think it’s a cool way to actually have people hear what I’ve been working on for so long, or maybe what I write in the next month,” she said.

While many RPMers are returning from past years, dozens of other participants are picking up the challenge for the first time in 2011. Some, like Szirbik, have been meaning to record an album for years but have never followed through. Others have recorded dozens of albums in the past but have never subjected themselves to such a rigorous timeline. Still others stopped playing music years ago and now see RPM as an opportunity to reactivate their creative instincts. 

Portland, Maine, resident Chris Hart belongs to the latter category. Hart joined his first band in high school and played in a number of indie outfits around Boston throughout his 20s. But, after getting married, moving to Maine and becoming a father, he stepped away from music to focus on his family.

“I’ve taken the last four years off music, and now I’m returning to it,” Hart said. “It actually feels like it’s going to be fun again.”

Now 35, Hart will work on his RPM disc with Boston resident Doug Sisko, a friend and band mate throughout their college years. In addition to putting Hart back in touch with his own inner musician, the challenge will reunite him with an old friend.

“I’m really looking forward to making music with my best friend in Boston again,” he said. “I miss hanging out with him a lot and helping each other with songs and ideas. This is a great way to stay in touch.”

Darren Hawe has made music an integral part of his life since he was 8. He’s proficient on guitar, bass, ukulele and drums, and he plays in a handful of local bands around Haverhill, Mass. He heard about RPM from Seacoast musician Bob Beal and other friends, and knew right away he had to give it a try. 

Hawe is no stranger to the recording process. His last recording was a solo EP titled “Darren Hawe Is in over his Head.” He sees RPM as a chance to experiment with a different genre. He plans to record an instrumental rock album in the vein of bands like This Will Destroy You or Explosions in the Sky. 

“I’ve never really done a record like that, and figure what better time to do it then the shortest month of the year,” Hawe said. “I can’t help but think this will be the boost I need in the creative energy department.”

On the other end of the spectrum is Dover resident Hao Nguyen, who had never seriously considered recording an album until this year’s RPM Challenge. He’s been following the challenge since its inaugural year in 2006, when participation was limited to New Hampshire residents, but he’s never had anything to contribute until now.

“This summer, I bought a drum kit and a ukulele, and the combination really made me want to do something,” Nguyen said. “Also, watching last year’s RPM group, everyone seemed to be having a great time, and I wanted in on that, too.”

Nguyen’s past experience with music has mostly been limited to Rock Band video game sessions, and he has no musical ambitions beyond his February project. His RPM motivation is of a more lighthearted nature. “I’m out for fun. It’ll be fun, right?” 

Cape Neddick, Maine, resident Kevin Freeman is another new RPM participant who has never before recorded an album. But Freeman’s musical aspirations go a bit further than Nguyen’s. The guitarist said he treats music like personal therapy, making himself vulnerable as he openly conveys his emotions.

“My musical ambition is to be as honest as possible,” Freeman said. “The best songs are the ones that come from the heart and soul, at least for me. To do this, one must live life and not be afraid to feel and absorb all of its emotions and then turn around and express them.”

It may sound a bit lofty coming from someone whose RPM band name is Free Beer and Sex. But Freeman and his musical partner Mark Drew are taking their disc seriously. They’ll mostly record in Drew’s studio and perhaps mix in a few live tracks, making sure every note sounds genuine. For them, the time constraints only add to the appeal.

“The most compelling aspect of the challenge is that it seems impossible,” Freeman said. “We realize that we have to really focus and not go for perfection as much as content. And then it has to pass our standards, and we are very finicky about our music. Our goal is to create something we are proud of and in a few years when we take a re-listen, we would like to say, ‘Hey, that was really good.’”

Lee resident Sean Rudman is similarly focused on accurately expressing himself with a solid collection of songs. He’s recorded a couple of EPs during his 20 years playing a variety of instruments (including guitar, drums, banjo, organ and washboard), but never a full-length album of professional quality. 

Rudman has set up a makeshift studio in his basement and splurged on some new recording equipment, including a new computer, a MIDI controller, a preamp and a microphone. Working under the RPM moniker Runfolk, he’s aiming for a “beautifully weird” sound, including new material and older pieces he’d like to polish (while participants are encouraged to write all the music for their RPM albums in February, it’s not a requirement as long as the songs have never previously been recorded).

Like many RPM participants, Rudman is also a parent (he writes a song for his young daughter every February for her birthday). The one-month time limit will therefore be especially challenging. 

“It will be tough to limit the time I can spend recording and mixing each song,” he said. “I’m going to limit myself to a certain number of tracks per song and try to stick to that.”

Indeed, finding time for recording is the biggest challenge for most RPMers, many of whom have demanding day jobs and families. Szirbik is the mother of a young child and is in her first full year of teaching. But she has strong inspiration to complete her first-ever RPM album. She had intended to participate in the challenge last year with her cousin, a songwriter. But he passed away last February, giving the month special weight for Szirbik. She wrote a song for her cousin shortly after he died, and his memory will run through her recording.

“I’ve been writing a lot this past year, so maybe all new stuff but with an undercurrent of having been inspired by him,” she said.

Szirbik is also making a second RPM album with her friend Mike Thornhill, operating under the band name Sultry Dessert and the Flipflop Flipoff. Although she does not necessarily have plans for the group after February, many past RPM participants have formed lasting bands through the challenge.

What becomes of an RPM experience after the month is over is up to the musician. Completed CDs will be loaded to the online RPM jukebox, and local participants will celebrate during a multi-venue listening party on Saturday, March 26, beginning with a presentation at The Music Hall in Portsmouth. After that, some participants will lay down their instruments until 2012, while others will continue to pursue their musical dreams year-round.

“I’ve sort of built my life around making music. I hope it takes me somewhere,” said Darren Hawe. “If not, it’s too much fun to stop, so who cares?”