Simple, the online-only bank, recently approached me to be the Simple Musician in Residence. It was a flattering request on the surface, but I’m not sure I fully knew what I was getting into. It was fun and games … and a challenge!
How it worked: Simple and I prompted our followers to share their various “money wins” (i.e., paying off a loan, saving for a vacation, etc.). Then, Simple sent me 6–8 submissions each day that I needed to turn into tunes. Not all of the tweets rhymed (in fact, it was few did), so the real trick was wordsmithing, identifying/developing hooks, varying my melodies, making something from nothing, and keeping it catchy.
Oh, and I only had one hour to do this—one hour to craft the jingles, perform and record them to a decent level, and send the final videos back to the Simple team. Talk about an intense hour of frantic creation!
In total, I was the Simple Musician in Residence for seven days, submitting roughly 50 videos across the project (a select few included below). I had a ton of fun putting my songwriting to the test and hopefully, if I did it right, I brightened a few days along the way.
Thank you, Simple. I appreciate the opportunity. Much love.
MAKING THE ANNOUNCEMENT: TYLER STENSON – SIMPLE MUSICIAN IN RESIDENCE
Weddings, student loan payoff, new 🚗, new 🐶, new 🐢 – what have you saved for recently? Send us your best 💰 prose and you might get a 🎵 treat!
— Simple (@simple) March 23, 2018
Know someone worth celebrating? Tag a friend whose had a recent 💵 win, and we might surprise them with a little melody 🎙
— Simple (@simple) March 26, 2018
Share your financial victory, big or small, and if you’re lucky we’ll sing them all!🎤
— Simple (@simple) March 28, 2018
Excited to say I’m Simple’s “musician in residence” for the next week! Send @Simple your savings wins and you could get a musical surprise from me! pic.twitter.com/ieirJF9LoP
— Tyler Stenson (@tylerstenson) March 21, 2018
THE REAL FUN BEGINS: TURNING TWEETS INTO TUNES
— Simple (@simple) March 24, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 24, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 23, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 23, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 23, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 24, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 22, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 22, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 22, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 21, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 21, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 21, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 21, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 21, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 28, 2018
@jon_prosser pic.twitter.com/xjU9bFntpa
— Simple (@simple) March 26, 2018
@KMuncie pic.twitter.com/oQQqli33yd
— Simple (@simple) March 26, 2018
@ffmirza pic.twitter.com/80CF9GH7hJ
— Simple (@simple) March 26, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 28, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 28, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 28, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 28, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 27, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 27, 2018
— Simple (@simple) March 27, 2018