Who are you? Tell us more about yourselves.
Tim Gordon: My name is Tim and I live in a small town in western Germany. I don’t do much except for music. Until recently I went to school and my plan is to study music next year.
Human8: I am Human8.
Devon Graves: I am an American singer/songwriter based in Paris, France. I was born and raised in Kentucky, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee to study voice and songwriting. I lived there for seven years, touring across the US with my band, Mosaic, before moving to Paris. I work here as a singer, lyricist, topline writer, composer, and lyric adapter (adapting French lyrics into English).
Vyel: My name is Vincent Lévêque, I am 29 years old and I live in Paris (France), working full time in the IT field and producing music besides that!
When did you start working with music?
Tim Gordon: I can’t remember the exact date. I guess I started trying out in FL Studio about four years ago. But you couldn’t really call that music production for the first months.
Human8: Music production started for me in 2015. I remember buying my first keyboard at a store in Berlin, not knowing much about music theory. From there on I was just having fun in the studio and now I’m here.
Devon Graves: I wrote my first song when I was 13 years old and it just continued from there!
Vyel: I started playing music when I was 8 years old, by learning how to play the French horn. I did a music school to learn music theory. A few years later, I learned the guitar & the bass guitar by myself. I started producing music in 2011 on Reason, then moved to Logic Pro X in 2014 and finally on Ableton Live in 2016.
What does “music” mean to you?
Tim Gordon: I would say passion. Something that always keeps me happy and is part of my life.
Human8: Music means everything to me. I can’t live 24 hours without it.
Devon Graves: Music is the soundtrack of my life 🙂 it’s a mix of sounds that express emotions and experiences; a mix of sounds that helps me express myself, both when I create it and when I listen to it.
Vyel: I’m always listening to music, 24/7. Music is my company. It wakes me up in the morning, keeps me going during the day, and helps me to relax in the evening. It’s also something that I want to share with my family and friends. And sometimes, when I have an idea and that it has never been done yet, I create a whole new track.
On average, how much time do you spend on a given piece?
Tim Gordon: It really depends on the song. I made some songs in 12 hours but sometimes I spend more than 120 hours on it.
Human8: The time I spend on a song varies a lot. Sometimes it takes one day, sometimes two years, as we can see on this record.
Devon Graves: It can be a few days, it can be a few months; it depends on the project. Some songs practically write themselves and others need more reflection and more fine-tuning. Sometimes I start a song and by the time I’m finished, it’s turned into a completely different song. I think that’s the fun part–creating something from nothing is exciting and you never know exactly where it will go.
Vyel: I can spend from 30 to 100 hours on average on a single track.
How did you come up with the idea for this track?
Tim Gordon: I met [Human8] in Berlin. He showed me a cool idea and I immediately saw the potential it had. I started working with him in the studio and we came up with a really good idea which was a lot different than the actual idea. Then I contacted Vyel for the songwriting. Devon and Vyel came up with the great songwriting. After lots of different versions and spending many many hours on the songs we came up with the final result.
Human8: The first version of the song was born in 2018. I was messing around with some sounds and invited Tim to Berlin. I showed him the song and he saw a lot of potential in it. So we started working and it changed a lot over time but in a good way. Tim took this record to a whole new level. He contacted the amazing songwriters Devon and Vyel. They came up with amazing lyrics that fit the song perfectly.
Devon Graves: Tim sent us the track that he’d produced, and the first thing that came to me was the concept of not giving up–it definitely had a tenacious, hopeful vibe to it. Vyel and I wrote a topline together with that theme in mind, and then I wrote lyrics after.
Vyel: Tim sent me the idea and when I listened to it, I immediately knew it had potential. I had some fragments of topline ideas, but couldn’t manage to find something coherent. I asked Devon if she would be up to write the lyrics and the topline with me. She did an amazing job writing the lyrics and as she’s a native American singer, she helped me a lot getting the accent right on this track. We did some melody adjustments together and sent files back and forth to Tim until we got the final version. I did some creative work on the vocals for the hook, then did a part of the vocal processing and mixing.
How long did it take you to bring it to life?
Tim Gordon: It took around 120 – 140 hours.
Human8: After 2 years we finally see the finished version of the song.
Devon Graves: It came together pretty quickly; it only took us a few days to get everything written. The recording process took a little longer because we put a LOT of tracks down and bounced a lot of musical ideas back and forth… I think it took about three weeks to finish.
Vyel: For my part, a few hours here and there. It’s a long process. It took more than a year, besides my other projects. There were a lot of adjustments and edits to do to this song.
What is this track about?
Devon Graves: It’s about not giving up or giving in, despite all the odds. Even when everyone and everything seems to be against you, you can still dig down deep within yourself and find strength. When you know your purpose and where you’re headed, don’t let anyone or anything discourage you.
Vyel: This is a track for all the dreamers and the ones that want to achieve big goals in their life. Sometimes, you find yourself at the lowest point and wonder if you’ll be brave enough to achieve them. It requires effort and perseverance. It requires sweat and tears. By saying to yourself “No, I won’t give up, I’ll never back down, I’ll stand my ground”, you get the right mindset needed to overcome all obstacles and tough situations. We’ve all been through them, and there will be other ones.
Did you have creative differences when working on this track?
Devon Graves: I don’t think we did; we exchanged a lot of ideas and tried out several options, but we were all on the same page from the beginning. I loved working with this team; each of us contributed to make the track what it is and it came together in an awesome way.
Vyel: The final version is very different from the first version we sent to Tim. He asked us to do some changes multiple times, but I think it was because we didn’t have the same vision for this track at first. He guided us in our work by telling us what he liked, what he didn’t like, and what he had in mind. We trusted him. And we knew deep down that the final result had to be great.
Any important people in your life you wanna mention, thank or talk about?
Tim Gordon: Thanks to Devon, Jonas, Vyel, and Eonity for helping to get the song we like!
Human8: I wanna thank my grandfather who is motivating me to keep going every single day.
Devon Graves: “Stand My Ground” was a true collaboration between Tim, Human8, Vyel, and I (Tim and Jonas wrote and produced the track, and Vyel and I wrote the topline and lyrics). I loved working with them and it was awesome to be part of such a great team.
Vyel: Thanks to the Eonity team for helping us with the promotion and distribution of this track!
Thank you very much for your time!
Human8: Thanks for having me. Stay HUMAN.
Do you want more from these awesome artists?
Songs that Devon Graves co-wrote:
“Come Away” by Celestal ft. ANGIE: https://open.spotify.com/track/4fytJghjLpjjrugl2NJsvP?si=G8b74Ro8Rj6w7-wcLWRVzQ
“Yeah I Don’t Mind” by Nemo Schiffman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuIq4XHXrT4
“Got 2 Be” by Sophia Grace: https://open.spotify.com/track/18O7n7D0SOvAyJn1DwhTFS?si=fj83NwpzSqqqzN-Y1DUdGw
Vyel’s cover of “Hymn for the Weekend”
https://open.spotify.com/track/0KZIuumBtAeHUuZc9hq480?si=nMzHZJtXSMa1Q0Wb1eMnYQ
and his podcast Vyel Radio Show: https://soundcloud.com/vyelradioshow
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