Behind the Writing - 2 PCB + Bushwalla = Homegrown

I had originally wrote a song titled Homegrown that payed tribute to my hometown, knowing the commercial appeal would be limited.  When I approached the group on what the title of our album would be they said "Homegrown" and the reason we decided on that name is because it represents everything we are about right now as a group. We grow tomatoes and all types of greens at our studio, the vibe we put out is raw and "organic," our PCB "Tree-shirts" that we sell at our shows are 100% organic and everything we do, we do from the heart and we try to not add too much hype or fillers.
 Let me clear up what organic means to us:  

or·gan·ic

  (awr-gan-ik) adjective
Pertaining to the shapes or forms in a work of art that are of irregular contour and seem to resemble or suggest forms found in nature.

So when it came to recording our first full length album, we stripped down to the basics; good tone, good vibes and good people in the musical sessions. We then had to find the right environment, the right  equipment and right person to control the situation... so "naturally" we turned to our good friend Billy Galewood aka Bushwalla .  It was literally the night before that I approached the group and said "we should record a full length" they asked "when were you thinking...in a month or two?"  I replied "tomorrow!!" They hesitated at first but being the super trusting group of friends that they are they said "...sure lets do it!!" I called Billy and boom, he opened his studio doors and helped produce/engineer an album that would express that raw, organic vibe we needed. 

When we first talked of recording Homegrown, two questions popped up; what if this gets picked up outside of San Diego and would we have to edit the city for every city we play in? These were great questions and I had no answers. I turned to my home skillet Billy-Bush and he interjected "Paul I have been all around the world and one thing I have seen is that people love SD. Being from SD is something to be proud of, so show your love and do your thing." So I just left it at that and let the universe find a path for it... 

Turns out A few months later we were invited to play a show with the Wallflowers, Tristan Prettyman and Walk the Moon for the KPRI & Anthology's Street Beat Concert. I was doing a live radio interview with the owner of KPRI about the song and he expressed great interest in the song. We played our set and after he came up and said "What a great song Paul, how would you feel if we based a TV commercial around it?" I answered "sounds like a deal." They were starting a local campaign where they would design a TV commercial that would have local San Diegans singing along to our song. So they did and  I was super flattered to have my home town showing so much love and so...here it is.
                                 
Whether it's standing in La Jolla Cove starring at Dr. Seuss's house, praying in a sweat lodge on my reservation, skating through the Gas lamp District at night or dropping in on a perfect wave on a perfect day to see three spotted dolphins right underneath me, I always stop to thank God for a land that my people have called home for thousands of years. We have so many blessings in our lives but in this song I picked just one "San Dieeeeego!"  

Thank you for all the love and support!

Behind the Writing 1

  In this series of blogs I will talk about; what inspired the music, how the music is written, challenges we face as artists, how we recorded the music and all the fun we had along the way :)
   
   As an artist It's so easy to get lost in this over saturated "pop-fest" it's easy to compare and to be compared to the likes of others and feel that's all you are. Don't get me wrong I understand the business side of things and I understand it enough to know that I should not be defined by the strides of others. This is a beautiful world where we have the luxury to define our own path and even though our own path may take longer then the pre-beaten one it is more fulfilling in the long run. These songs on the new album are an expression of that thought pattern, they are an expression of staying true to my own path with respecting but excepting minimal input from the music industry. I have learned to  accept a certain level of criticism from fans, artists, teachers, producers and even my own people. The hardest part is finding the dividing line between others advice and what you believe to be true.  I  have to balance out what other peoples  understandings of my path are  and of what my own understandings of my path are. It seems effortless to get trapped in the "statistics" of others but like Jay-Z says "People will tell you how to do it even though they have never done it."

   This is how I view life: It's like being caught in a rip current and your paddling your ass off for no reason but if you slow down, do steady strokes and strategize your exit you'll eventually get to where you need to be!   So here's to breathing and believing we are right where we need to be! Here's to all the support from those that believe in this whisper of a dream. Thank you and please keep checking back for more stories on behind the writing of our full length album - Homegrown.

Much Love!
Paul