The CC Mixter Remix-Project by Calendar Girl | Tamara Barnett-Herrin - better known as calendar girl - started a fantastic project back in October 2006. The idea was simple: Write each month a song and release the original material under a creative commons licence. Than ask other producers and musicians to remix the songs. Now one and a half year laters Calendar Girl looks back on the results: more than 300 remixes! And like she promised she publishes a record with 12 fantastic songs. A story on how to use the web to interact with other musicians worldwide. “I write one song a month. You remix and feedback. We make a record.” When and how did you get your idea of your Calendar Songs-Project? I d been writing demos in my bedroom for a couple of years, but I kept finding myself very frustrated by the process of never having anything finished . And I felt I was working in a vacum. I could play my music to friends and family but getting it out there - whatever that means - felt so impossible. I never want music to become a chore, or to find myself complaining about making music, how hard it is, etc., etc. It became clear to me that this process of making demos can also at the same time make you very bitter! So I tried to think of a way for my music to find another route into the ether And obviously putting it online was the best solution. But of course, MySpace isn t everything So I kind of fashioned the idea of writing new songs for a website, where I could draw people in by inviting them to remix my songs. I wanted the site to have the air of a challenge to it, something where you could come back to check up on my progress, so I challenged myself to write a new songs each month that had to be inspired by that month. That way I gave people a reason to come back to the site after their first visit, like I wonder if she made it this month . It all went online in October 2006. It took about two months to put it together from when I had the idea. If you speak in terms of music-engineering, there is a saying Garbage in, Garbage out! . It means, if you record music badly, you can t do anything to make it sound better. What kind of equipment did you use to produce your songs? Are they all recorded at home? I m not sure I agree with that saying. I would rather listen to a bad recording of a good song than an amazing recording of a terrible song. And I put all my faith in people having the same attitude as me, because I know I can t make the most perfect recordings. I record at home into Garage Band, I m terribly lazy, I haven t even made soundproofing! All the A Cappellas sound like my bedroom! But I made a decision to it this way - to really concentrate on writing instead of spending all my time getting the best equipment and teaching myself how to master it. Maybe I m a bit of a purist but I like things that sound like what they are.
Licensing: released under a creative commons
