Hello to you all, my name is Shamim. I am a singer song writer from South East London. I have just released my song and music video for “U R ME“, which is currently available on all streaming platforms. I am here to give some behind the scenes insight on how my experience during the song and video making process went.
The making of the song was an interesting process to say the least. I remember going in to the studio one afternoon – not knowing what I’d say/sing about particularly but I had an anxious feeling though. I was feeling defeated by a certain situation in my life at that time as things were not going in the direction I’d expected.
As a result, it caused me some emotional pain. I felt a loss of control and I was angry about it. I wanted to get rid of the frustration from my mind but I couldn’t find the right words to articulate my thoughts. Upon exploring YouTube for some sound inspiration, my sound engineer came across a particular beat online, which immediately caught my attention.
It resonated with how I felt, we both liked the beat; there was something compelling about it. And we therefore went ahead to experiment with it. It was a collaborative effort of ideas – a back and forth of flowing concepts between him and I.
We were just testing the waters really. I guess not having a particular topic in mind was quite challenging but I accepted the test. I got in the booth and words started coming out of my mouth: “You give me the burning feeling baby, caught in my feelings lately. Vibing on your pace’s got me feeling kinda crazy”.
Subjectively speaking; an introduction of a song is a crucial aspect of songwriting. It has to be effective. My songwriting reflects my reality and thus my intention is always to spark a conversation with my listeners, to communicate with them from a level of honesty, and hopefully they respond with understanding.
Although the lyrics were contrary to how I felt, I had a foundation recorded, I was happy with the approach we took and I was excited about the direction in which the song was going. I played the rough recording to myself everyday and night for a month – that’s how much I loved it.
One Sunday, as I was going to church, I heard a couple of melodies ringing my mind and so I recorded them on my phone. The next time I went to the studio, the song was recorded, mixed and mastered. It was an easy write. And I enjoyed it thoroughly. I wanted the song to feel soulful with a sentimental message. I wanted the dynamic of the finished product to have a mixture of delicate high notes and a sultry feeling.
I worked with a small but mighty team. Every person was passionate about their work and I would like to humbly extend my gratitude to them all. I had an objective of creating art that was an upgrade of what I had worked on in the past.
An open mind is imperative when it comes to creative notions. I had a vision for the music video however no man is an Island. As a team, we elevated that vision to a solid innovation. We planned to have a poem scene, dance scene, bedroom scene, outdoor scene & bathroom scene.
The idea was to tell a convincing love story. The visuals had to reflect the mood of the song. This was inspired by romantic films such as The Note Book and Pretty Woman.
It was time to shoot! The theme of the video was initially 90’s inspired, however, that later changed to a classic and clear picture. The music video’s theme is a transition from black and white shades to colour.
I had a vision of a distinctive element at the beginning of the song. I thought a beautiful poem will add value to the song and make it feel whole. This idea was inspired by “Lemonade” by Beyonce. There is power in simply speaking and thus, expressing myself authentically and unapologetically are of major importance to me.
The video was shot in three days, it was long hours and a lot of hard work. The editing process was lengthy. Nonetheless, I was finally happy with the third draft. Release date was set and audio submitted for distribution and here we are.
“U R ME” is my third single and it is my favourite song to-date, I love listening to it everyday. The video expresses growth, art and creativity. I hope the rest of the world enjoys it as much as I do. My wish is to continue being passionate about music and to never give up.
Watch the video for “U R ME” below and stream it everywhere else here.
