Since I was 13 years old, I have been singing in a classic rock cover band. Despite having had original music tucked away in journals, we continued our musical journey with only cover songs for almost eight years. Recently, over the summer, we decided it was time to venture into the world of original music and get those songs out for listeners to enjoy. In August, we began working with M Plus Media, a recording studio in Miami, to get our songs professionally produced.
Working with a studio has definitely been a beneficial and great experience. The studio itself was very aesthetically pleasing and filled with lots of Grammys, platinum records, musical equipment and changing lights. The band and I recorded all eight of our songs together rather than going one instrument at a time, and therefore, the process was quicker. As the singer, I got to be in a room by myself with great acoustics. It was a ton of fun to communicate simply through mics and headsets with everyone.
It took us two days to get eight songs recorded with the main work done that first day and backup vocals and additional instrumental recordings the second day. It has been a month since we began this journey and it has been really cool to see the songs slowly get polished and sound ready for the radio. Once the songs are ready, we plan to release them on different music platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. One thing I really like about our music is that it’s a mix of rock and alternative music, which is a pretty good representation of what the band likes to listen to.
The album is called “Freedom Lines,” after the last song we decided to add to the album and made pretty much out of nowhere. It’s a rad song because it mixes two separate lyrical pieces into one melody and flow. There’s even a part where both choruses are sung at the same time and the sounds flow through different sides of the speakers or headphones. Other songs on the album include “The City,” which is one of the first songs the band ever composed and has since had many changes done to it, “Guardian Angel,” a song our bass guitarist, Andy, wrote for his mom, “For the Night,” a song made while goofing around one day at practice, “Missin’ You,” which was the band’s first original song, “Carousel,” a song that talks about familial hardships, “Synchronicity,” which starts off with the sound effect of a radio changing frequencies and “Fly,” which features me playing the ukulele.
Each song has a relatable element to it and they’re all definitely jammable. I can’t wait for them to be out and get to hear what other people think. Although the album is not yet finished, we’re hoping to have it ready for release before the year ends. As for the album cover art, we’re very happy to say we will be working with Nicole Otaola, an animation student studying at the School of Visual Arts in New York City with a beautifully crafted style.
Given this is our first album, we hope that audiences like it and it opens doors for everyone involved in the project. The band and I began in 2012 playing free shows and rehearsing in a living room. Now, we’re playing all around South Florida and about to release our own music. I’m proud of how far we’ve come and look forward to the rest of this musical journey.
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM F. MIRELES
Flor Mireles is the lead singer of Leather and Lace.
