The Cover Sheet

Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to self produce an album of original songs and play all of the instruments. Although different iterations of my home studio could accomodate this over the years, I could never get the sound quality that I wanted. My voice over career along with the pandemic changed all of this. I upgraded my recording booth for voice over, but had the foresight to make it large enough to accomodate acoustic guitars and percussion. I then added a high-end analog signal path, a midi drum kit, and various other pro-audio odds and ends. The sounds I was recording were the best I had ever produced! It seemed like a now or never moment. I had everything that I needed to make this dream come true, except the songs. The fateful moment came a few months later in 2022. I was brushing my teeth one morning when I thought, "I have never written a love song. I should write an album of love songs." That was it really. I sat down a couple evenings a week for about 10 weeks and sketched out 23 tunes all dealing with various aspects of the love theme. I added a few tunes that I had written in the past that could be tweaked to fit the theme, then spent the next year and a half recording, learning, re-recording, learning some more, recording some more, and finally mixing and mastering the 10 songs that you hear on Secret Weapon.

Why Secret Weapon?

I noticed that I had the habit of describing different aspects of my studio to friends as "my secret weapon." This instrument was my secret weapon, my booth was my secret weapon, this plug-in was my secret weapon, etc... As I began to realize how ridiculous this habit was, I thought, "I should just call the album Secret Weapon." It certainly was a good-enough working title. Not long after this, the war in Ukraine started. I was listening to a news report that was interviewing a young mother that was fleeing the country with her two small children while her husband went to fight. The reporter asked her, "How are you managing all of this?" She replied, "My secret weapon is my heart." Wow! That hit hard, and in that instant the cover art design flashed in my mind's eye. That was it. Secret Weapon was the title.

Although the love theme goes throughout the album, it is really a collection of singles. If you are wondering where's the best place to start, or which will be the best to play on your radio station, try these first...

I Am the King

She Thinks Otherwise

Things Are Getting Better

Lady Love

I hope you enjoy it!

Best regards,

Darren