The beginning
“I had a listen and I actually think I would be a great fit for your project.”
Chris to Tierre
Dreams Cost · The story behind the album
The story was always bigger than the songs.
I made Dreams Cost by paying for the work myself, recording in the rooms I could reach, and learning every part of getting a record into the world. The songs came out in 2016. This return brings the whole story with them.
- Original release
- September 2, 2016
- Songs
- Ten
- Producer
- Chris Hayman
ListenDreams Cost · 2016
The arc
The songs hold the story.
The album begins with one plan ending, moves through ambition, love, regret, family, and accountability, then closes with the choice to give the gift a chance to live.
I built the album as one emotional sequence. Each song carries into the next.
What the title meant
I knew what I was paying.
I paid for Dreams Cost myself. I was working, writing, recording, paying for production, and preparing the release without a label paying the bill.
I was also living out of my car. Keeping my expenses low left me with more money to put into the music. I could have kept doing that, but I decided I wanted a place to live and a life I could maintain. When the math changed, the pace changed too.
I made both choices. I chose the music, and I chose a different path at that time in my life. The music is still mine.
“I’m maxing cards and I’ve exhausted all my savings. Funding myself, not sitting around waiting.”
Dreams Cost
Making the record
I found Chris on Craigslist.
I did not have a label setting up meetings. I was looking for a producer who could hear what I was trying to make and take the work seriously. Chris Hayman answered that search. We talked through the sound, the business, and the budget, then built the record one exchange at a time.
Produced, mixed and mastered by Chris Hayman.
Recording anywhere
The vocals came from the rooms I could reach.
I recorded raw vocal guides in my aunt’s bathroom in Inglewood, my grandma’s basement in Omaha, and a hotel room in El Segundo. Chris built the production around what I sent. In that hotel room, I decided to add What’s Next and I Remember, turning the first eight-song plan into a ten-song album.
The middle
“I love this music! You really brought it to life.”
Tierre to Chris, on Two Weeks
The finish
“The finish line is in sight and you have yourself a fantastic record here. Congratulations.”
Chris to Tierre
Getting the music into the world
Finishing the record was not the finish line.
After the masters were complete, I still had to handle registration, artwork, distribution, platform approvals, and follow-up.
The masters were finished.
Chris checked the record across multiple systems and prepared the final and performance masters. That was the end of production, but it was not the end of the work.
The album entered distribution.
DistroKid confirmed delivery to Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, YouTube Music, Shazam, and other services. The artwork and audio cleared processing, and the record entered YouTube Content ID.
The registrations kept moving.
The songs were registered with BMI. The album was also submitted for consideration in the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. It was a submission for consideration, not a nomination.
Dreams Cost was live.
Release notices confirmed the original album on Spotify, iTunes, and Google Play. Amazon had gone live earlier, on July 30.
Pandora approved the album.
The Pandora notice was one more reminder that every platform had its own process. Getting the music into the world meant following each path through to the end.
The What’s Next video
The record had to be seen too.
While I was living in my car, I worked with Bryant “Bizzy B” McCain on a visual for the title track. I was trying to make the money, schedule, and creative plan work together at the same time.
The official What’s Next video followed later in 2016. On February 23, 2017, it became the center of a premiere and concert at Love’s Jazz & Art Center in Omaha.
Watch on YouTubeOriginal packaging
The original three-panel digipak.
The original digipak held the photographs and credits around the music.
Photography by 12pastseven.
Photo archive
Dreams Cost, photographed by 12pastseven.
The Dreams Cost book
The story, the songs, and the handwritten pages.
The book brings together the life behind the album, my correspondence with Chris, photographs, release records, and all ten songs as handwritten pages and typed lyrics.
Inside the book
- How the title became real in my own life
- Finding Chris through Craigslist and finishing the album
- Distribution, Pandora approval, and the video story
- Ten song essays with handwritten and typed lyrics
- Family, fatherhood, gratitude, and the life I have now
The book
This is the book I plan to release with Dreams Cost.
It holds the life behind the music and what the songs mean to me now.
Stay connectedThe chapter I am in now
“My life today holds fatherhood, partnership, family, friendship, work, health, peace, and creativity.”
I am thankful for the life I have now. It is what I worked so hard for and what has always mattered to me. Returning to Dreams Cost is part of that life. It does not require me to leave the rest of it behind.
Stay connected
Follow the return of Dreams Cost.
I’ll share more stories from the album, lyric notes, and news about the book.