Hi, all:

Here’s something new . . . Still not quite sure the mix works on all levels--was shooting for a fun, poppy kind of thing--but it’s at that point where if I keep messing with it I’ll just make it worse, LOL! So, any suggestions or feedback on that would be, as always, appreciated. Hope it’s worth the listen.

Here’s the song:

My Friday Song

Here are the lyrics:

It’s closer to one . . .
the night’s nearly gone.
I’m soaking in the midnight sun
trying to write this song.
But it’s so hard to get it right . . .
when I’m hanging all by myself
on a Friday night.

This is my Friday, Friday song—
won’t you come and sit with me and sing along;
playing it proud, baby, loud and strong,
makes everything alright . . .
on a Friday night.

I’m killing myself
trying to slay these lines;
but with a little of your help,
I’d find the perfect rhymes.
But it’s so hard to give it life . . .
when I’m hanging all by myself
on a Friday night.

This is my Friday, Friday song—
won’t you come and sit with me and sing along;
playing it proud, baby, loud and strong,
makes everything alright . . .
on a Friday night.

I know lately you’ve been so damn tired,
but don’t you know you get me so inspired—
come on, baby, come feed my fire . . .
wake up, girl, let’s play . . .

‘Cause it’s so hard to get it right . . .
when I’m hanging all by myself
on a Friday night.

This is my Friday, Friday song—
won’t you come and sit with me and sing along;
playing it proud, baby, loud and strong,
makes everything alright . . .
on a Friday night.

And here’s the band:

Drums: RealDrums TeenBeat Uptemps
Bass: Real 539, Electric Pop Sw
Electric Rhythm Guitar: Real 634, Pop American Muted
Electric Rhythm Guitar: Real 645, Pop Rock Brit Edgy
Electric Rhythm Guitar: Real 878, Northern Rock Gritty
Electric Rhythm Guitar: Real 875, Northern Rock Fuzzy
Lead Guitar: Real 2586: Soloist Punk Murray
Acoustic Strumming: Real 703, Strumming Spirited

Lyrics: DJ Lekich & Michele Portelli
Music: DJ Lekich
(C)2019 DJ Lekich & Michele Portelli

Loved the vocal. Definitely achieved what you were looking for "fun, poppy kind of thing".

Deej,

This is excellent! Some great lines and a great vocal. Love the mix as well.

Bob

Really nice song! Everything works for me. The only thing to me is that your vocals sound just a tad harsh - could just be my tired ears (it's been a long day for me). But I really like the song. Great job!

Steve

What a creative pop song about writing. Simple earthy real and catchy. Nice changes. Much enjoyed! Love your voice, reminds me of Billy Joe Royal. It's late and my ears are tired so I'll leave mix comments to the others.

Lovely piece of Power Pop.
If there were some vocal harmonies it would be pure Power Pop.
Ace voice, cool arrangement.

Hi DeeJ
What an infectious vocal on this one. Enjoyed my listen very much. Friday songs!

yeah

Hello DeeJ,

That is some song! You must have been breathless after singing it.
And about the mixing? No problems.
I only had the impression you were a bit hesitating/ wavering in finding your tone (I hope I've translated this right)at the beginning of your song.
After that you just exploded with that high singing.
Very well done!

Hans

Deej,

A good driving pop number. Infectious melody.

A good BAND. Good drum sound. The bass could be bought up some to give it some bottom. The vocals are good, as always, but could do with some "warmth". You have a very powerful voice (obviously) and it doesn't need so much "high end" - I think you could roll off the high EQ quite a bit and it would still be very crisp and clear, yet warmer.

Enjoyed to song.

fj

Nicely done! Delightfully upbeat and catchy, and I enjoyed the lyricism on this one too. Makes for a really good and relatable listen. Top notch work on the mix too - sounds professional and concise.

Thanks for sharing

I had another listen - still fab but I reckon fj is on the money for available improvement.

Hello Deej,

A good driving pop number. Infectious melody and powerful vocals.
Nice guitar intro and very good choice of RealTracks.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Great pop rock song. First the enjoyable intro and then your amazing voice fills the air singing the catchy melody.

The story is a good Friday night song with nice music/writing theme instead of the usual party stuff. Fits nicely among my other Friday favorites (Friday I'm In Love, Friday Night).

The band selection and mix are top quality, I especially like the use of the punk guitar to rise to the chorus.

Janne

Excellent tune. Super vocal.

Loved it. Your vocals are top notch, that is a given with you, but - my word! - the instrumentation choice is simply superb. You have one of those voices that are instantly recognisable anywhere, you can really arrange/orchestrate and you can really write. Me: I can't really sing, I am a reasonable orchestrator and I have the occasional moment of genius amongst a sea of so-called "musical experiments" when I write. In other words - great job, well done!

The song has a really lovely energy and the vocals are on point. Really great job!

Deej,
Great work all around on this!
Arrangement, vocals everything shines. Enjoyed it.

Thank you for sharing!
Misha.

Mark, Bob, Steve, Josie, Ray, Joanne, Hans, Floyd, Deryk, Shigeki, Janne, Scott, James, Ember, and Misha:

Really appreciate your taking the time to listen and comment. Seems like for the most part things worked for everyone, which is always good to hear. Thanks for you kind support.

Steve, Floyd, and Ray: Thanks for the feedback on the mix. I’m updating the link to a revised version that hopefully addresses your suggestions. First, upping the base a bit. Second, trying (and I emphasize “trying”) to take off the high end. Quite honestly, not sure I succeeded. Played with it for an hour plus only making it worse . . . then went back to the original and made more modest changes. Really need to study up more on EQ’ing when I can find the time . . . it’s a bit of a guessing game for me right now.

Ray: I thought a lot about adding harmonies and initially intended to. But I couldn’t quite figure out the where, when and how. And so I kinda convinced myself that harmonies in a song about a guy feeling alone on a Friday night was contrary . . . which was probably more of an excuse than anything (lol) . . . but when I get the energy to revisit this song I’ll push myself to reconsider.

James: To be honest, I got a bit lucky with the BAND on this one. Sometimes it just comes easier . . . and this was one of those songs. RT 634 provided the base of things, but when I stumbled on RT 645, the rest of it came together pretty easily. Wish every song could come together as well.

My best to you all,

Deej

Excellent pop song.

Strong intro, excellent arrangement, great band, well sung, memorable chorus, bridge where it needs to be.

Very enjoyable listen!

You can't have my ears for mix help. I saving my ears for pure enjoyment. I think this is likely your best song overall. You really made the band rock, imo. And the frequent breaks in the groove kept this fresh. Maybe I've missed a lot, but it seems like this is a progressively growing "skill" for you.

Of course, who among "us" wouldn't be smiling at the lyrics? ...but I think this would greatly tickle an audience of others as well. Loved it.

Cool song!! Really good vocals too! I just retired but I still like Fridays best.....after so many years I guess. The levels are really hot.....my audio interface had the red light on the whole time. Enjoyed the tune!! Take care. Greg

You're in that class of singers where I'd listen to you sing the phone book, so you've got that perk from the start. I liked your paean to a Party Of One and it's the frequent domain of a songwriter, so it worked well for me. Guitars were great, too. Good work.

Hi deej,

that is pure energy - what a driving thing. Nice lyrics and your vocals are strong and powerful - stunning.

I had the same impression as Floyd: Your voice is so strong and brilliant by itself that it simply wouldn't need that sharp EQing.

But it's always a matter of taste, and I could imagine that you wanted your voice to sound exactly like that, and then it is absolutely OK.

But regardless of this annotation: An excellent song I definitely will return to for another listen. Fantastic choice of backing tracks and toe-tapping all the way.

Cheers,

Stefan

"I’m killing myself
trying to slay these lines;
but with a little of your help,
I’d find the perfect rhymes.
But it’s so hard to give it life . . .
when I’m hanging all by myself
on a Friday night."

Yeah!

Power pop, indeed.

Man, you are so good at writing the perfect lyric (here with your co-writer)
and melody for your strong vocal deliveries...and this is no exception.

You topped it all off by assembling a great band. A cool choice of RTs/RD
that makes it sound like a band that's been playing together for a while.

Enjoyed it!

J&B

Love the energy in the song,the band ( especially the gritty guitars) and, of course, your vocals.
Really good.

Robert

Hi Deej,



However I listen to you work -- eyes closed, feet tapping, chair laid back, reading lyrics as you sing, etc. -- one thing is clear, you are a songwriting and song-presenting force to be reckoned with!

I seriously love you work! Your writing is polished, your singing shines and your productions are always very, very engaging.

This song was a terrific journey and you carried me from beginning to end effortlessly.

It's thumbs up from me!
Noel

Love powerpop. Love this song. Excellent vocal interpretation of lyrics.

David, Tangmo, Greg, TuneMonger, Stefan, J&B, Robert, Noel, and Ezekiel:

Thrilled you like what you heard and my utmost thanks for giving this a listen and taking the time to comment. It has some shortcomings production wise, but glad the soul of it came through.

Greg and Stefan: Yeah, it’s too “hot “. . . and that even after I tried to “cool” it down a bit. I’m going to do a complete remix of this song, starting from scratch and see if I can dial it down a bit. I’m starting to spend some more time on YouTube learning how to mix—most of it goes over my head . . . but I’m determined to get better. Stay patient with me . . .

J&B and Noel . . . you all are just so enthusiastically supportive . . . and every ounce of it is so much appreciated.

My best to you each and all,

Deej

You got my attention on this one DJ...
A catchy melody with a great vocal & mix...
I've got to give this one ★★★★★/★★★★★ !

Great vocals and excellent mix, although I had to turn my volume down..way down so I don't get to hear the song at a volume that would start to drive my hi fi speakers, its brilliant but I think lowering the overall volume would give it more clarity.

Thanks

Jim and beatmaster,

Thanks much for taking the time to listen and comment. It's much appreciated.

Beatmaster, yeah, the mix is too loud and too hot . . . I've started working on a re-mix, but its a work in progress. Hope to repost once I've refined it a bit more. Thanks for the input--it's spot on.

My best regards to you both,

Dej

Deej, you have such an awesome vocal range!! Great work on the vox on this! Everything sounds really good to me! Thanks, Torrey

Torrey,

Thanks for giving this one a spin and for the supportive feedback. Much appreciated.

Regards,

Deej