Omargeddon: Project Closure Report

My attitude to creative writing projects is best contextualised by misquoting Zapp Brannigan’s take on pick-up lines: write as many of them as you can, as fast as you can. I know this is probably unwise, yet I feel compelled to start a project going hell for leather until I get bored or frustrated, and then start something else entirely. Unshockingly, it means I take forever to finish anything. Last June was probably the most bonkers kind of this: in addition to Omargeddon, I had committed to posting weekly Why, Claudius recaps, which entailed several hours of close rewatching in addition to the actual writing, while also writing 1k of fiction per day as part of Writers’ HQ’s Wild Draft month. Further reducing my output is the fact that I’m a slow-ass writer so please do side-eye the ‘as fast as you can’ part. Still, slow progress is still progress, and Omargeddon has now officially concluded.

Project background

Seven years ago today, I announced my intention to review every Omar Rodríguez-López solo album, which at the time totalled 53. This was largely influenced by the several dozen digital downloads released on a fortnightly schedule for most of 2016-17 which had inspired me to make a concerted effort to hear his entire back catalogue. I was really excited by the range of genres present, especially the pop records, and I wanted to signal boost my favourites. I also thought it might be fun to create a catalogue “of a fashion” so that I could educate myself on the progression of certain tracks and motifs and to chronicle my efforts in constructing a narrative across my experiences with them.

Time / mental budget

I began – quelle surprise! bursting with energy, believing I could complete two reviews a month and complete the project in about two years; maybe three, if I gave myself some leeway. I fell off that schedule almost immediately when I remembered I had other shit to do, and that really, really wishing it was otherwise does not stop me from being a slow-ass writer. Once I accepted I was in it for the long haul (I’d marry it’s fuckin’ ass), I was able to create a realistic timetable and mostly stuck to it.

Scope

I have not reviewed the entire ORL oeuvre: the below fell out of the project’s scope:

Challenges

I was already three months behind schedule in November 2019 when I was made redundant and promptly spiralled into panic and guilt-based freakouts. It’s well-known that falling out of habits is a lot easier than establishing a committed practice, but also it didn’t help that job-hunting left me exhausted and depressed and far more invested in my new project, watching all of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Netflix. I knew I wasn’t ready to give up on Omargeddon, but I also began fretting I would give up, which would mean FAILURE. I finally posted the day before the first lockdown was announced, and got back on track once I secured a job (and one I really enjoyed) which meant I could focus on writing things that weren’t personal statements. I wish past-me could have watched Dr Tracey Marks’s excellent video about overcoming setbacks which would have been perfect for this situation. Thankfully, there were far more highlights.

Highlights

There is a kind of magic when you hear a record for the first time and it send chills down your spine, knowing this just the start of an evolving relationship: Un Escorpión Perfumado, Corazones, Umbrella Mistress, and Arañas en la Sombra in particular were such moments, and inspired me want to go back to my established favourites and see how they fit into the narrative.

Every review I’ve written was copyedited by my dear chum Glynnis, who always gave notes that were both helpful and encouraging. They asked me to explore some ideas a bit more, advised me on grammar and made suggestions for improvements in syntax. Knowing I had her help made letting go of the zero and first drafts a lot easier.

What also helped was that for the last two years, I’ve had the support of online accountability sessions capably cat-herded by the excellent Gemma and attended by various lovely Write Like A Grrrl alumni. Gemma would argue that she just sends the link and it’s up to us to show up and do the work – and she’s right – but also anyone who reliably sorts the admin is a hero – for real – and having dedicated time twice a week to write in companionship has been a real game changer and is a large part of why I was able to take on three big projects last June, and indeed, finish this one.

Lessons learned

I thought I could have some kind of comprehensive list denoting where Song A is reworked as Song B, or Song C, but that soon proved a fool’s errand since I soon realised that the release schedule was no indication of when the song was written, so I really couldn’t say with any confidence which element or motif was influencing another. The Cartesian graph of my febrile imagination will remain there to quietly influence my subconscious via abstract dreams.

The main lesson I learned – and only really properly understood this recently when engaging with end-of-year pop polls – is that I am incapable of ranking art. It’s not that I don’t love lists – I love a good Top Ten Books/TV Shows/whatever, and my life is structured around my bullet journal. But increasingly, I’ve accepted that I can’t in good faith place favourites in any meaningful order. I do find genres generally helpful for categorising, in that it helps me parse out what I’m craving, but to elevate one electro track as better than a Latin prog or indie rock, etc. is an insurmountable task which kind of makes me cranky. I guess to me, any kind of ranking is analogous to The Barnet Ape’s short lived ‘Condiment or Cereal’ game. I won’t pick one dammit, they are very different, two different things!

Recommendations

I thought about doing a playlist but it would be gargantuan, and we all know I’m an albums guy. I also just said I hated ranking shit and can’t pick favourites, but of the favourites I don’t have, “Houses Full of Hurt” sends me into floods of tears every damn time.

And I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t bring it all home with “Old Money”.

Conclusion

I’m very grateful to Tom for letting me use FreakyTrigger for this limited-appeal series :) I’m sure it won’t be long before there’s a new solo album, but I think as it stands, I’m donezo. Having said that, my first series for FreakyTrigger was an extremely silly Game of Thrones recap, which I began full of vim and vigour, and by the end swore I’d never recap another TV show ever again. And then I totally did, in even more laborious detail for Why, Claudius. You’ll be unsurprised to hear Shiny New Project Syndrome has already reared shkler head, and I’m considering a song-by-song exploration of the story/concept behind Frances the Mute which I don’t think I would have considered had I not undertaken Omargeddon. But as much as I enjoyed this project, I’m equally happy it has now concluded.