The Long Way Home, Returning to the Artist Within

The Long Way Home, Returning to the Artist Within

Abstract

This project documents the creation of Long Way Home, a nine-song album written, recorded, and produced at Berklee Valencia following a period of creative disconnection after three years of writing commercial music for jingles and sync licensing. The purpose was to create a deeply personal body of work authentically reflecting the author's musical voice through themes of love, relationships, and self-growth — and to present that work in a way that extends beyond the traditional album format. The album is delivered through a custom-built MaxMSP interface modeled after a retro television, navigated by physical Video Home System (VHS) tapes, transforming a linear listening experience into a self-directed, non-linear audiovisual journey. Compositionally, the project draws on diverse songwriting approaches, blending structures from pop, folk, and R&B while maintaining the emotional sincerity of the Americana singer-songwriter tradition. The result is a project that sits at the intersection of intimate personal songwriting and interactive media practice — a combination that remains largely unexplored within this genre.

Publication Date

7-1-2026

Campus

Valencia (Spain) Campus

Keywords

Album; music production; Americana; interactive media; MaxMSP; songwriting

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The Long Way Home, Returning to the Artist Within

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