Co-Written Songs

Demos with Protis

Friday Night (co-write with Protis)

This is an original song that I co-wrote with a member of a music collaboration site called SongwriterLink.  "Chasing The Last Train" initially contacted me on there in mid-2021 about working on a song together.  We started chatting and she sent me some lyrics that she thought I would like.  As soon as I read through them, I just knew we were on to a winner!  We exchanged email addresses and then got to work on the song.  "Chasing" is a fantastic lyricist as it turns out, with only a few tweaks required to what she sent me.  We decided that a piano ballad was definitely the way to go with this sombre number.  I played the piano part and sang the lead vocal, as well as taking care of the audio production side of things.  The backing vocals were provided by a lady from Copenhagen called "Dizzy Lizzy."  She did a wonderful job too!  "Chasing" also made the lyric video, and this just so happens to be her first ever full song!  I look forward to co-writing many more songs with her in future.

What If (co -written with Chasing The Last Train)

This is another song that I co-wrote with a member from SongwriterLink.  This time around, a Canadian named Aisha De Freitas got in touch with me to ask about working on a song together.  Of course I said yes, and we pretty much exchanged emails straight away to get down to business.  The song's original concept was going to be about two people who split apart and went somewhere in a cave or an open place to sort things out.  Then I made the suggestion of it being about a long distance relationship instead, due to our geographical locations in the world.  Of her initial lyrics that she sent me, only the chorus remained unchanged.  In addition to writing the lyrics, she also came up with her own melodic parts to sing.  I did likewise with my own, as well as taking care of the audio production side of things.  We agreed that the song should have a 1980s vibe with a modern feel, with electric piano chords and a catchy hook heard throughout.  We are both so proud of how her first ever co-written song turned out, and this has inspired her to started working with other songwriters as well.

My Echo (co-written with Aisha De Freitas)

This is the result of my first ever in-person co-writing session, and who better to do it with than someone like Sam Buckingham?  She's an Australian singer-songwriter who released her third album "Dear John" in April of 2022.  I took part in a crowdfunding campaign to help her achieve this, and one of the rewards she offered for the participants was a songwriting session.  Naturally I snapped up this offer, and one of my dreams became a reality.  As for the song itself, I wanted to write about something personal that would initially make me feel vulnerable.  I hadn't written about my father yet, so I decided to give that a go.  He passed away in 1987 having taken his own life, when I was just five years old.  For those who are wondering, Denis was his name.  This is perhaps one of the most personal songs that I have written (or co-written), but I managed to get through it with Sam by my side.  I am so grateful for this opportunity to write with her, and I look forward to doing more in-person co-writes with others in future.


VERSE 1
Aches in my chest
The pain won't go away
I can't decide if
I want to live another day

She's so upset
How did it come to this
I've lost control
Of this relationship


CHORUS
He was here one day
The next day he was gone
I can't remember
Feeling so forlorn

I look back and I wonder
If he'd be proud of me
If only he were here
Then he would see
The man that I turned out to be


VERSE 2
He's losing his mind
Testing my patience
he's not the man
I thought I married

Two kids to care for
One on the way
I have no idea
If he will stay


CHORUS
He was here one day
The next day he was gone
I can't remember
Feeling so forlorn

I look back and I wonder
If he'd be proud of me
If only he were here
Then he would see
The man that I turned out to be


VERSE 3
I was so young
I didn't understand
Why so much pain
Was consuming this man

But I cannot change it
What's done is done
Now my bond with Mum
Is even stronger


CHORUS
He was here one day
The next day he was gone
I can't remember
Feeling so forlorn

I look back and I wonder
If he'd be proud of me
If only he were here
Then he would see
The man that I turned out to be

Denis (co-written with Sam Buckingham)

This song came to life during my first co-writing session outside of I Heart Songwriting Club.  Sherry and I still took some time to get to know each other, but perhaps longer than is allowed within the Club environment.  We also decided on our own theme and guideline, but we discussed that between us beforehand.  The main difference with this session was the one-hour break that we had after we had finished writing the lyrics for the song.  This feature may be implemented in future co-writing sessions with I Heart Songwriting Club, but this is undecided at the current point in time.  We settled on an old instrumental I wrote 20 years ago, to serve as the basis for the chords, melody and overall structure here.


VERSE 1
I’ve just graduated from university
And I don’t know what I should do
Everyone is moving on with their lives
And I don’t even have a clue

Some people go on to be scientists
While others can walk into a job
I feel like I’m here wasting my time
And it’s been a really hard slog


CHORUS
I really want to start a family
That would be bliss for me
Everyone is leaving me behind
It makes me want to get back to the grind


VERSE 2
My friend’s just won the lottery, now he’s a millionaire
He don’t have to do work but he sits on his derriere
Another put a ring on it, and he’s in wedded bliss
I cannot help but feel that all they do is take the piss

My colleague has three children, they’re the apple of her eyes
I don’t know how she does it, I just feel so deprived
Another friend is pregnant and is due at any time
I always feel left out of things, it’s like I have no spine
 

CHORUS
I really want to start a family
That would be bliss for me
Everyone is leaving me behind
It makes me want to get back to the grind


BRIDGE
At least I have a place to live, a roof over my head
At least I’m not couch-surfing, and going from bed to bed
Slow and steady wins the race, don’t worry about the rest
We don’t need to take the same path to be a big success


CHORUS
I’m much more settled in my life 
Even though I don’t fit in
We never know what’s coming up
You should always trust your gut 

You really need to settle down! 
You don’t have to dot this right now
There’s still so much to do in life
So don’t throw in the towel

There’s still so much to do in life
So don’t throw in the towel

Settle Down (co-written with Sherry Xu)

I wrote a song about one of my music friends, Nathan Eggins, in a previous term for I Heart Songwriting Club.  It was called "Conspiracy Of One", because that's the name he chose for himself as an artist.  It's also his favourite album by The Offpsring, but his music could not be more different to that of the American punk outfit!  I performed "Conspiracy Of One" for Nathan at an open mic event earlier this year, and he was both flattered and honoured all in one!  We had agreed to co-write a song late last year, but the hardest part was finding the time to do so.  He was busy touring to launch his latest album at the time, and unfortunately I missed out on going to of those gigs.  Eventually Nathan and I decided on a date and time that we would follow up on down the track.  He also said that he wanted more experience co-writing online than in person.  So we started out on Zoom, but we had all sorts of issues with the audio and not being able to hear each other.  In the end, we switched over to Facebook Messenger which worked so much better for us!

Our co-written song took us two online sessions to complete this demo.  I suggested that we write it in a reggae style, which is a genre that he had never tackled before.  I had written a few reggae songs before, so it was a really good challenge to take on a more stripped-back approach to this type of music.  We both collaborated on the lyrics, while he played acoustic guitars and sang.  I think I also offered assistance on the chord progression as well, and it all came together really nicely.  As for the song's lyrical content, it was one of those extremely hot summer days when we wrote this.  As such, I suggested we write to the theme Heat.  The first verse is about being a child in a playground, while the second verse is about being stuck in a day job.  There's a metaphor about life being a playground, and you could say the whole song is a coming of age story about growing up and realising the responsibilities of life.  You don't stay young forever, even if life may seem like a playground at times!  Nathan and I are both so proud of how this song turned out, and it would be nice to write with him again in future.


VERSE 1
It was a hot hot day
What a day to be in the shade
But there I was in the sun baking like a souffle

I should’ve stayed inside
But I had to go on the slide
When I reached the bottom I found that my bottom was fried
(Ow!)


PRE-CHORUS
If life’s a playground, then why was I stung?
If life's a playground, why can’t I stay young?


CHORUS 1
Roundabouts and swings
Ups and downs to everything
It was all fun and games, 
No such thing as shame

And when I heard the school bell ring 
I should have known what life would bring
Instead I chose to do my own thing


VERSE 2
Now I’m a drone in a hive
With too many files on my drive 
I’m doing what I can just trying to survive

Will I be in this job forever
Me and my colleagues together
We feel like we’re at the end of our tether


PRE-CHORUS
If life’s a playground, then why am I stuck?
If life's a playground, why am I in a rut?


CHORUS 2
Roundabouts and swings
Ups and downs to everything
It’s not all fun and games
I often feel the shame

As I work hard for the king
I’m still waiting for that bell to ring
For the next part of my life to begin


SOLO


CHORUS 3
Roundabouts and swings
Ups and downs to everything
I’ve had some fun and games
And grown out of shame

And when the church bell rings
The nice box they’ve laid me in
Will be a place to contemplate everything

Roundabouts & Swings (co-written with Nathan Eggins)

Protis has been writing music since 1998, when he was still in high school. The name Protis came about from watching the TV show Pokemon; his original name was Piggy, and just how Pikachu evolves into Raichu, well he decided that Piggy would evolve into Protis. The name has stuck ever since then.

Protis is a big fan of computer-based music.  The first computer program he used for music purposes was Cubase Lite on good ol' Windows 3.1 operating system.  Over the years he moved on to Cubast VST, where he further developed his skills as a songwriter.  Most of his early recordings were instrumental works, as at the time he was unable to compose decent lyrics.

After a while, Protis decided to leave the realm of General MIDI and progress into the world of loops and samples.  He accomplished this by using the ACID range of products.  Countless hours were spent with this brilliant piece of software, coming up with lots of cool beats.

Protis has also dabbled in the FruityLoops software, now called FL Studio.  He utilised FL Studio to write songs which contained his first self-penned lyrics.  He was surprised at just how well his lyrics came across in each song, fitting in well with the music.  And all this from someone who could never write words to his songs!