It's No Secret - Behind The Song

Hi y'all! I thought I'd share some background info on my song "It's No Secret" because it has been in the works for a while.

Me in 2017 on my cabin couch writing "It's No Secret"

I started writing this song back in August 2017 while at my cabin (cozy shack with no running water) in the East Kootenays, British Columbia with my girlfriend at the time. I remember feeling some kind of pull to write a song one evening. I hadn't written a song intended for just me and not my other band in a long time. I came up with the hook, melody and lyrics quite quickly but spent a good time on the phrasing so everything jived. I also remember feeling zero pressure to be fancy with the chords or harmony and not being scared to write lyrics in a lighthearted manner. Of course I still wanted to impress my partner, whom the song was about!

After writing the chorus and the first verse, I didn't touch the song until February 2019. I had been very busy working on the Carter & the Capitals record which was primarily recorded in Vancouver. I also remember those years between being very hazy and a bit dark. I was very focused on myself and my work, but not in a healthy way. This led me to neglect many people around me and especially my girlfriend. Looking back, I wasn't writing many songs out of enjoyment or just for the pleasure of writing.

I had planned on finishing "It's No Secret" as a gift for my girlfriend on Valentines Day but was unable to finish writing the song before my trip to Los Angeles for a music conference and to visit a few friends. Upon arrival home, I was told by my partner that our relationship was over. Although, it shouldn't have come as a complete shock thinking back, it very much did to me at the time. The second verse of the song mentions "coming home from Hollywood to see you" and lines like "but the sun's setting now" to allude to that moment in time where I finished the back half of the song in a completely different mindset.

"Want you to sit with me / and watch the waves at Windandsea" (LaJolla, CA)

I am surprised and excited that the song took on an entirely new feel when tracking this with the band. I enjoy how the first and second verses come from separate moments in my life and make each chorus (although hooks remain the same) feel and sound different to me.

I tried to keep the energy up by writing a powerful guitar solo. This was one of the only guitar solos I think I've written and it really challenged me to create something driving but still memorable. Trevor McNeely tracked it on the record and really made it SING!

I like songs taking on different meanings by different listeners and I hope "It's No Secret" continues to do so, but I just wanted to share a bit of the story behind it that I find interesting!

It Always Ends (The Same) - Behind The Song

Behind the music and video of "It Always Ends (The Same) featuring Steph Irene

August - September 2020

I've never done a blog before but if only for the sole reason to revisit meaningful moments that went by like a blur, I thought I'd try it out.

When the pandemic hit in March, I began to write country and Americana style tunes. I guess I dabbled with a few country style tunes over the past few years, but as I began to write, with no intention of releasing them, I felt an overwhelming sense of freedom and inspiration. I tend to write lyrics and my music around a melody but I started coming up with lyrical phrases, hooks, cliches to build a song around. "It Always Ends (The Same)" was one of those.

I believe I sometimes do my most honest writing when I write as a different persona or as a character. In this song I created the story of two people leaving each other or I guess my character being left by his partner. The song's tone isn't angry or mad, it lives in the aftermath of a relationship where you've finally given up and both people feel defeated. I liked the contrast of the two pre-chorus lines the first sung by me and the second sung by Steph Irene.

Me: "I hope that, you can say that I treated you kind"

Steph: "I know that, I can say that you treated me fine"

After hours working on my demo, I realized it was time to bring in some real pros if I wanted this song to sound right. I first called on Luke Breitender and Booker Dicuck to lay down a drum part and pedal steel part from home. I then rang Trevor McNeely and Reid Thiel to see if they would want to play in my new project, guitar and bass respectively. The extremely talented keyboardist and fellow Capitals member Eric Doucet would lay down organ. I booked a recording date with Scott Franchuk at Riverdale Recorders after hearing great things and also hearing great sounding records created in that studio.

The boys at Riverdale Recorders on August 8th, 2020

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Music Video Shoot September & October 2020

East Kootenay, BC and Edmonton, AB

Around the same time I wrote the song I began storyboarding the music video. I wasn't sure what we would be able to do during the pandemic but somehow, with the amazing adventurous Alex Trivellin and Nick Laird we pulled it off.

On a writing retreat with my other band in the East Kootenays of British Columbia, I extended my trip in order to have two full days to shoot the Always Ends music video.

I happened to get sick with severe tonsilitis a few days before Nick and Alex would drive 7 hours to meet me at my cabin. Thanks to my doctor in Edmonton and the modern fax machine, I was able to cure my illness just in time.

Most of our locations found for this music video were found the day of as some initial locations did not have the right look. On our last day, we drove back and forth on Highway 95 trying to find the perfect river and mountain shot that would be in the final scene. Somehow we found it just as the sun was going down.

Working with Nick and Alex and directing this video was my favourite moment and accomplishment of 2020. I can't wait to make more movie magic with them.

#ItAlwaysEnds #lindoncarter