“SHINE”
2013MUSIC & LYRICS BY JESSE PAUL WARREN
PRODUCTION & VOCALS BY JESSE PAUL WARREN
[ LINER NOTES ]
“SHINE” WAS THE SONG that changed my life. Fortunately, I was beginning to understand that I couldn’t force a song out until it was ready. I worked on “Shine” for over a year. That was the longest I’d spent on a single song. I was plagued with computer troubles that made it extrememly difficult. It was so hard to get right, but it turned out to be worth it.
A FRIEND, ANDY AYERS, filmed me for a project he was doing at the time. I still have some of the footage. Here I am while I was working on “Shine.”
You can pick up on my dismay over the way it was sounding. In fact, even after a year, I felt like I hadn’t gotten it right. I released it with a sense of sadness that I never got it to sound exactly the way I wanted — even though I had pushed myself further than I ever had.
THE RELEASE WENT OK. We got some blog write-ups, Soundcloud plays, and so on. But nothing earth-shattering.
Two months passed, and the little bit of buzz around it faded. That was it.
“A year of my life working on this stupid song, and that’s all???” was how I was feeling.
Then, one day, I woke up to find thousands of notifications on my Spektrem social media pages (which — unrelatedly — I years ago deleted in a fit of emotion.)
A new YouTube channel called NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) had found “Shine” somewhere on the internet and shared it on their channel.
Two months passed, and the little bit of buzz around it faded. That was it.
“A year of my life working on this stupid song, and that’s all???” was how I was feeling.
Then, one day, I woke up to find thousands of notifications on my Spektrem social media pages (which — unrelatedly — I years ago deleted in a fit of emotion.)
A new YouTube channel called NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) had found “Shine” somewhere on the internet and shared it on their channel.
SINCE THEN, “Shine” has amassed over 135 million views, and remains one of the most popular songs on the channel. Right now it is the 4th oldest upload on NCS, and is referred to by many as a classic in its realm.
I STILL HAVE THE ORIGINAL DEMO that became “Shine.” Back then, I tried to make a new song idea a day. That was probably my favorite part of producing music.
Hearing my friends keep talking about the “Glitterbomb” idea helped me decide it was good enough to finish into a full song.
“SHINE” SPAWNED MANY REMIXES, which continue to appear today. My favorite remix by far is this one by Gabriel Drew & Bloom, which was also released on NCS. I actually think it is better produced than my original.
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