"The Secret Skies" E.P by Pittsburgh
This 7 song e.p is a progressive self expressive work where various life experiences are reflected upon through the commercial music medium. Blank media reviewed the work saying: "Used as a portal for emotional expression the EP touches on key moments in Brendan’s life, with highlight tracks including the delicate love ballad ‘April Turned To May’, the heart wrenching ‘Never Be the Same’ and the uplifting title track. A stunning first effort here from Pittsburgh, best consumed on headphones."
Preleased in stereo audio on streaming platforms world wide and some singles have videos associated with them.
Funding
N/A
History
ERA Category
- Original Creative Work - Musical composition
Funding type
- Self funded
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
Research Statement
Research Background Popular music production has always integrated an artist’s commitment to targeting commercialized norms so as to generate sales, streams and income, but also their needs of self-expression as auteurs of music creation. With self-expression comes a disconnect to commercial music because most popular music that is deemed commercially viable targets lyrical themes that include primarily love, dancing and self-assertion. Therefore, it is difficult for artists to target domesticated and mundane lyrical theme and consider their work as commercially viable. This is a trade-off that popular music artists make when composing and producing their music. Within this study I composed recorded and produced a 7 song E.P under the artist name “Pittsburgh” and the subject material that informs lyrical theme was purely from self-expressive experiences over the last 12 years; all were regarding personal life issues. The E.P’s success as a commercially viable product will be measured over time through an extended view of streams and downloads and in turn this will help to unpack elements that transition self-expressive works to commercially viable product through the development of a niche fan base. Research Contribution This study informs the broad scope of literature currently available on popular music production as a form of agency and unpacks this in reflection on the commercial industry. This helps to locate music production as an integrated process of songwriting, performance and sound recording as compared to traditional approaches. This research is a testament to the value of practice-based investigations into popular music and informs practitioners and pedagogical frameworks in popular music education. Research Significance Pittsburgh has successfully released “The Secret Skies” E.P. The E.P is available on many online platforms including Spotify and YouTube music see: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6j1uNLH8igMdcwWnKNi3Ev. Collectively, the E.P and singles ‘The Secret Skies” and “April Turned to May” have received over 1000 plays on Spotify and YouTube. A new video release for the third single “The Weight of Night” is due for release in early 2023.Publisher
Sony/BMGPlace of publication
AustraliaConfidential / Culturally sensitive
- No
Copyright notes
© 2022, The author/s hold copyright in this work.Language
EnglishMedium
Audio/video available onlineSize of work
7 songsNumber of discrete components
7Length of recording
32 min 12 secDate of recording
completed 2022Performance size
- Solo
Was the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Webstreaming
Scope of dissemination
- International