Yooooo wazzam, welcome to 10 Grand Music! I am suuuper appreciative for you hoppin on the site; you’re a good friend. If you wanna just wanna listen to the music, be my guest! Scroll down and enjoyyy. But I try to be as transparent as possible, so I thought I’d write a lil synopsis.
Growing up listening to music, I’ve always respected when artists can put together a complete and cohesive album. I’ve never been one to make a playlist with various singles, but rather I would always just put on albums and listen to them all the way through. Yes, I know I’m in the minority here. The only times I ever really made playlists was when I would use artist’s music to stitch together a “mock album” of what I would want mine to be like. While I’m sure this will seem weird to many people, what this did for me was spark the desire to have one of my own. Jesus did the rest.
“Psalms of Paris” is a musical demonstration of 10 songs I’ve written to my God. I call it a musical demonstration because its purpose is to demonstrate me and Thrive’s creativity and ability, but at the same time we understand that this isn’t professional work. The theme of this project was the story of Gideon. Gideon, as it was put to me by my classmate Gideon, was the original 300 story. Essentially, God took Gideon’s army of 32,000 and narrowed it down to 300 to defeat an army of 100,000+. How it applies to the process of creating “Psalms of Paris”: God can do more with less. No recording studio, no expensive mic, no autotune or any type of pitch correction; just Garageband with stock plugins, a few Christians, and a lot of God. Nonetheless, I do believe we’ve come out with something special and pleasing to God.
Beyond the final product, the virtues I’ve improved upon and people I was able to collaborate with have been priceless. A lot of obstacles were overcome creating this project, helping me improve my patience, trust, and grace. It also allowed me to strengthen relationships that were already strong, as well as newer ones in bud. I love God because it was never His intention for me to just make this music to glorify myself and then move on. He used my desire to teach me valuable lessons, strengthen relationships, and ultimately give Him all the glory. That’s my God, and I’m excited for you to hear what He’s done through me and Thrive.
So who is Thrive? Thrive is the name of the wonderful church I had the privilege to be a member of in Ithaca, and subsequently the name of our band. The members consist of me, Bryan Wakeman, Hannah Ruth, and Thomas Finney. Hannah Ruth and Thomas Finney were both instrumental in composition, and Hannah Ruth also recorded organ. As of now, my tools as a musician are limited, so I was literally reliant on all of Thrive, but not enough can be said about the contribution of Bryan Wakeman. As the guitarist, to me, he’s what makes this project what it is. Beyond that, his knowledge and suggestions to me during the mixing stage was crucial, and even more, he’s just my partner in crime (Christ). If you’re in the Ithaca area, I highly recommend checking out Thrive. The Holy Spirit dwells powerfully there and it changed my life. I owe everything to them.
Puppet Master
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Bryan Wakeman, Darius Scott, Paris Howland, and Thomas Finney
“Puppet Master” was actually the first song I ever wrote through and through, which is part of the reason I made it the intro track. I must have been under the influence of The Holy Spirit (as I was with all of the songs) because I have no recollection of writing it, where I got the inspiration from, or why I wrote it in the way that I did. I wasn’t even that into Jesus when I wrote it. The other reason I made it the intro was that it served as the template for the rest of the songs. One day God was like, “we should make more songs with the structure of ‘Puppet Master’” and thus “Psalms of Paris” was born.
Lightning God
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Bryan Wakeman and Paris Howland
This is my personal favorite track. The scene it captures was me watching a lightning storm from my room. Not a thunderstorm, a lightning storm. I just laid on my bed watching God illuminate the night sky. No rain, no thunder, just lightning. The meaning pertains to my communication with God, which happens through a complex combination of signs, symbols, and most importantly, timing. One way or another, I was talking to God through the lightning.
Overcom33 Paris
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Bryan Wakeman, Paris Howland, and Thomas Finney
This was one of the songs in which the structure was strongly influenced by “Puppet Master”. However, the lyrics are completely separate. What it means for me to “Overcome Paris” has evolved over time. Originally, it meant to beat my smoking addiction. I knew that I couldn’t be who I wanted to be in this world while being a pothead, but I just couldn’t put it down. Luckily God freed me and has kept me since. Now, overcoming Paris for me means overcoming my pride, and I’m sure it will continue to evolve for the rest of my life.
Crusader
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Bryan Wakeman, Paris Howland, and Thomas Finney
Another song whose structure is modeled off of Puppet Master. “Crusader” is a declaration song for me. The jist is that I give my life to Christ, and I want to make Him more famous. I’m a crusader. Simple.
ApPraised, Matthew 13:45-46
Written by: Paris Howland
Music by: LM25
As stated in the title, the song is based on Matthew 13:45-46. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!”
The Almighty
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Paris Howland
Similar to “Puppet Master”, I must have been under the influence of The Holy Spirit writing this, cuz I have no clue where it came from. However, I do know that the song expresses my “ninja way” as a Christian. Bring Glory to God in everything I do. The outro was just me messing around lol.
Escap33 Artist
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Jason Lan and Paris Howland
Watching other people record instruments was a great joy of creating this project. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a campus ministry, Cru Cornell, filled with such talented individuals. Cru members Frank Fang and Jason Lan played cello and violin respectively and absolutely crushed it. The song is about my time as a habitual smoker, and my tendency to run away from God. This is the one song that talks about my struggles as a Christian. I don’t look to glorify that, but rather to be a point of relation for other Christians or anyone running away from something they know they belong to.
Stringed instruments are my favorite category of instruments, and this track added a reason why. If you play a note on the piano, the note is gonna come out the same no matter what, and there’s little room for error. However, stringed instruments, similar to the voice, are subject to falter. It takes an immense amount of focus and stability to hold a note well, making a lot of room for imperfection. Therefore, strings are perfect for this song, because it’s about being imperfect. This was the thought of Jason Lan.
Imaginary Friend
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Bryan Wakeman and Paris Howland
This song serves as a reminder to me that Jesus is always with me. When I say I walk with Jesus, I mean that literally.
Little Lamb
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Bryan Wakeman, Pamela Dillard, and Paris Howland
The purpose of this was to create a nursery rhyme type of track. It was amazing to be able to harmonize with my opera singing mother, Pamela Dillard, my best friend and guitarist, Bryan Wakeman, and my campus ministry, Cru Cornell. Eternally grateful for them all.
A Miracle
Written by: Paris Howland
Composed by: Bryan Wakeman, Hannah Ruth, Pamela Dillard, and Paris Howland
I knew I was under the influence of The Holy Spirit because I wrote the intro in 15 minutes. This song was another opportunity to collaborate with a lot of people I love. If you listen well you can even hear my grandma on the song. But at end, you hear arguably my favorite part of the entire album, my two little sisters, Grace and Paloma, in which one of them is playing the piano. I love them and everyone who was a part of this project so so much.