Why I Wrote 'wish upon a STAR'
'wish upon a STAR' album art by GABRIELLA RAELYN
On May 5th, 2023, I released the first single in a series preceding the release of my 'NEPHELE: Act I' album coming out on October 13th, 'wish upon a STAR'.
To be honest, the first time I wrote and produced this song was way back in 2019. Back then I was still living at my old house, and I had felt a general dissatisfaction with life and how it felt like each day was passing by the same as the last. My music career was stagnant and it just felt like I'd been hitting wall after wall. So, I sat down and wrote 'Wishes on a Star', and produced the first draft. I really liked some parts of the song, but felt that the verses didn't fit well and that the instrumentation was a bit random and uninspired. I continued to work on it for a while, but after I kept hitting writer's block, I decided to table the track and return to it at a later date.
Fast forward to this year, I was putting together the ideas for my 'Nephele' project, and while I was sharing the ideas with my mom, she mentioned 'Wishes on a Star', saying that I'd never released it, and that I should go back to it. I thought that wasn't a bad idea since my biggest challenge had been instrumentation, but since 'Nephele' was decidedly inspired by the 80s, I felt that that problem took care of itself.
So I opened up a new project on Logic and got to work using the chords and lyrics I had previously put together. Like I had previously felt, the verses just weren't fitting, so I ended up re-writing them not only in the words, but the melody too. The result finally fit much better, and became the final version.
Since deciding to make the music heavily Synthpop-based, creating the instrumentation was much easier. I'm very comfortable (and in love) with electronic 80s basses, so I started there, and layering the chords came natural, as did the addition of the reverb-heavy snares and powerful kicks/toms.
What I ended up with was the perfect opening track to the beginning of Nephele's journey. As a character, she is very dissatisfied with life, and feels hopeless in the pursuit of her dreams. 'wish upon a STAR' (which I re-named it as I felt that the style better suited the aesthetic I was going for) is a song about hitting rock bottom while chasing your dreams.
It's a song about that moment when you feel like you've exhausted all other options, when you feel like all doors of opportunity are just slamming left and right in your face, that you turn to a higher power. You think 'maybe if I wish hard enough on a star, my dreams will come true. Maybe that will finally be it.'
I made this song to provide a source of comfort for anyone who may be feeling like that. I know that as an artist, there are many moments where these feelings pass through me, and sometimes they're hard to deal with. The ending of the song has a more hopeful tone because I wanted to resolve some of that angst. I want to say 'we are strong enough to keep trudging through these murky waters'.
So, if this song resonates with you, you're not alone and you are stronger than you think and feel that you are.
Listen to it here:
Also, if you'd like, here is the music video that I made for it with the help of my family:
Thank you for reading all the way down to this point. I appreciate you :)
3 notes
·
View notes
What a fantastic leather jacket, and great style too #leatherjacket #punk #punkrock #punkfashion #punkhardcore #music #style #punkart #music #rocker #rockerstyle #alt #alternative #alternativestyle #emo #altmodel #cool #streestyle #streetfashion #altmusic https://www.instagram.com/p/CpSlMMCoaKv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
2 notes
·
View notes
Alt chick in her pastel room 🤭 filming some clips of just my dolls for YouTube haha 😁 Koneko Dolls on YouTube 🖤💗 #monsterhigh #altgirl #redheadgirl #fashionstyle #altstyle #altmusic #earmuffs #hottopic https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl4ySGQjfUQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
2 notes
·
View notes
231123 . . . . . . . #graphicdesign #vansiretheband #altmusic #photoshop #diseñografico #posterdesign #poster #musicposter https://www.instagram.com/p/ClUH-KdJdcb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
2 notes
·
View notes
🪞mirror shot 📸 @iamx Berlin 2022 #iamx #mirror #chriscorner #iamxers #thecc #gig #gigs #livegigs #livegigphotography #musicphotography #gigphoto #electronicmusic #electronicartist #altmusic #alternativemusic #machinate (at Lido Berlin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgsghEsDq61/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
2 notes
·
View notes