Harder Than I Thought It Was & The Memories I Hold by Speirosmusic

Speirosmusic is the pseudonym of a singer/songwriter hailing from Sydney. He started out in music by singing in a band from New South Wales and went on to sing in several bands whilst developing his songwriting. He has a gentle singing voice and an understated vocal style that suits the mood of the music.

Harder Than I Thought It Was is a finger picked acoustic ballad that brings to mind songwriters like Nick Drake, John Martyn and Damien Rice. Lyrically, it is about the long and difficult journey of life with its many twists and turns: “Broken hearts and pain we’ve left behind us yet many more will cross our paths….”.

The Memories I Hold is another acoustic ballad with a reflective theme, this one featuring a mixture of spoken word and singing, which is effective in giving the song a sense of intimacy. This song is rather poignant, as it is about the love he has for his children, having not seen them growing up: “I’m not saying its easy being apart, but thick now are the scars that healed the wounds inside my heart….”. Particularly moving is the line, “They give me cause for breathing in my otherwise painful life….”.

Overall, these two songs are evidence of a fine songwriting talent, with an emotional rawness and honesty in the confessional lyrics that is brave, but which allows an intimate connection with the listener and makes the songs more moving. This aspect, along with a fine sense of melody and guitar playing ability, should mean he eventually connects with a wide audience and develops a large fanbase and shouldn’t let advancing years be a factor.

By Alex Faulkner

I’m 34 and a freelance music journalist, as well as a composer and producer. I’ve written reviews for UK newspapers and music websites. I run my own blog, reviewing the best new bands and artists . I’m very passionate and knowledgeable about music and that shows in my writing.

Radio Play via Exposed Vocals Broadcast Partners. 

Exclusive Interview:

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?

Speirosmusic:   It was when I joined Reverbnation last year that I heard about Exposed Vocals.  I saw the advertisement on the site there, and decided it was a great way to make a little more publicity for my artist name.

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Speirosmusic:   I was born in the UK, and travelled to Australia when I was a child.  I grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney, then moved to the Central Coast, and eventually started moving around after firstly travelling out west to Western NSW.  I lived in Melbourne for a bit, and will eventually travel back there.

It was the Central Coast where I first started playing in a band, where I was asked to front my friends’ band after their lead singer left.  Unfortunately, although a gig was arranged in a venue, we had split up before it ever happened.  A number of years later, I decided to front another friends band, but only as a guest frontman a few times.  It was here that I really enjoyed performing in front of a good-sized audience, whereas the only gigs I’d performed at prior was a small cafe of about 10 people.  Frankly, this is the kind of venue I prefer, although a few more than ten people would be good.

I auditioned for an AC/DC cover band, but erred in the guitar solo (I was the vocalist), and probably that is why I was unsuccessful, although the adrenalin from performing such a huge crows was FANTASTIC!!!

So I guess it is the adrenalin and excitement of live performances that I love that made me perform.  Nowadays it is trying to share feelings and thoughts with people that makes me keep it happening.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Speirosmusic:   Funnily enough, it is a mistaken understanding of the name Speiros.  I looked online and found the name to mean enigma, although a Greek friend has told me that it never means enigma unless in a metaphorical kind of way…that’s good enough for me…but anyway, speirosmusic is meant to mean “enigma music” or music  that puzzles as to what genre it is about and nobody is to know what kind of song will be released next time.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Speirosmusic:   Give it away?  I think that every artist should be paid for their works.  So give it away? No.  I allow people to listen, and I’m aware of people “stealing” it, but I hope that people will appreciate an artists talents and make amends for it when they’re ready.  Online music sharing is another way that artists now have to struggle to make any money off their creations.  The internet sucks, frankly.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Speirosmusic:   Yes, advertise.  Be polite, know your art, and KNOW YOUR BUSINESS!!!  It’s a business and a career, although we enjoy what we do.  The facts are though, to be successful in managing your career, you need to be aware of who is there to help you, and the vices that can take it away.  Also, knowing your legal rights and taxation laws are pretty important.  Sounds boring, but being a musician professionally means you’re a business.  So learn business.  It’s not a hard call, nor a long one.  Just the basics.  Also, learn to touch type so you’re not wasting time filling things out all day long.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Speirosmusic:    I always make mistakes.  Some I can cover over and others I recognise and try to work on better for next time.  It’s wrong to expect perfection, except in a decent recording.  There aren’t THAT many bands who don’t make any mistakes…we all do it as we’re all human.  Personally I think lip-syncing is acceptable if the objective is to not make mistakes.  I would rather make mistakes though.  Keeping it real, you know?

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Speirosmusic:   No, I don’t tour.

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

Speirosmusic:    A thought.  A sentence.  A riff.  All three of these contribute to my songwriting pool.  From this pool, I start with the riff for instance and consider the emotions in it.  If I start with a subject, Iconsider how to make the words express what I expect to feel or think to the listener.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Speirosmusic:   I have my main account with reverbnation.com/speirosmusic, but I also use my website speirosmusic.com, and next is twitter.  My music is always released through reverbnation, and from there I will go to other sites such as soundcloud etc.

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Speirosmusic:    Hahahaha, well…I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I guess embarrassment is too.  I’m not embarrassed by my songs, although my recordings are.   My first release was Goodbye – Rock version, but when I played it, the panning was all to the left and the front.  That was sad.  I have a song where I thought this was a good idea for one, where I had listened to the song on headphones, and had the vocals coming through the left ear on She’s Hot.  I personally like it with the panning to one side, but some others didn’t in a critique session, so I amended it.  I’ll be amending those songs a little more in the future.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Speirosmusic:    I’d record.  I wouldn’t take time off as such, but in saying that, my routine would stay exactly the same except I’d be able to get my songs perfected, and I’d have time to live my outside of work life that I have.  That would be why things wouldn’t change.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Speirosmusic:    Yes.  In time I’ll be recording more songs with a new venture that may be taking place here in the Central West, but I’ll have to see what happens first.  Besides, if I’m back in Melbourne, I’ll use various studios until I find one that is great for what I need.  There are quite a few there.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Speirosmusic:   Social Media is good for promoting music.  I know I said earlier that the internet sucks, which it does, as the amount of opportunities mean just as many importunities.  If we go back to the 80’s, we got the CD, and from there, we’ve been able to post, to ring on the phone, and these methods are still required today, although we now post online.  Besides this, I’m a songwriter, so I find advertising my songs publicly is great as a songwriter looking for artists, but I’m questioning whether having a public profile for my songs is necessary at all.

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Speirosmusic:   Neil Diamond, here in Australia.  Why?  Because Neil Diamond has GREAT songs.  Why Australia?  Because it’s cheaper for him to come here than me go there.:)

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Speirosmusic:   No, I’ll continue writing in many genres, and performing for the public.

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Speirosmusic:    Hopefully working in the food environment.  Never hungry there.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Speirosmusic:   I FOUND my first album.  It was AC/DC’s TNT.  I found it as a child on the milk run…a tape…and I took it home and played it.  It was awesome rock that has inspired me for many years.  It’s not the lifestyle that I live so I don’t perform that style anymore.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Speirosmusic:    In this order.  If it wasn’t for God, I’d have no family.  If it wasn’t for family, I’d have no me.  If it wasn’t for me, I’d make no music. So my career comes about third.  The rest of life isn’t too important after these three things.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

Speirosmusic:   New releases, professionally recorded and hopefully performed by other artists.  I will release most of my songs and I’ll be experimenting with other artists, instruments and lyrical journeys.