Singled Out: Alphanaut's Run

One of the many benefits of having a dog is learning some very simple life lessons from them. If we pay attention, they can be unique instructors on how to find pleasure in the most routine things. This was always the case with my first dog, Dingo. I wasn't at all prepared to be such a student, but it didn't take too long for me to get with the program. Out of everything I learned from this pup, the most important was the art of simply living in the moment. Like most of us, my life was often consumed with 'getting somewhere', and I rarely took the time to just 'be'.

The lyric for Run came to me one sunny day at a dog-friendly beach. Dingo was completely lost in the moment, running along the shore in total bliss, breathing in the briny air and feeling the cool sand under his paws.

For Dingo, the absolute greatest place to unwind was the beach. To say this dog was obsessed with the ocean would be an understatement. Riding in the car he would pace around, often jumping in the front passenger seat pushing the dashboard with his paw to get us there faster. The moment we'd turn onto Pacific Coast Highway, the smell of the salt air would elevate him to new levels of anticipation, just like a kid on their first trip to Disneyland.

The birth of the melody for Run started off with the bass line, which I thumbed out on my keyboard. I really wanted to keep the song groove-oriented, so I tried my best to keep the chord changes simple between verse and chorus. To me, the bass represents the pace and adrenaline we get from the experience of running, with the rest of the instrumentation painting the sensations of waves, wind, birds and other sea life.

The recording process for Run was fairly complex. It was one of just a handful of tracks on the new Little Sun album that required multiple studio days; which were drums, piano and a string session. The rest of the song, like most of the album, was recorded at my home in Los Angeles.

The two biggest highlights for me recording this song was working with bandoneon player Ben Bogart, and the session with the Stiletto Strings girls. What was produced on those two days really helped solidify the spirit and energy of the song, and took "Run" to a whole new level. If you've ever had the pleasure of hearing something you wrote come to life at the hands of skilled musicians, you'll understand the electricity I felt in those moments.