Recording Showcase 2020
“Love Lasts”
written & performed by The Astronomers
Ben Baker
Sophomore, Business Major
Michael Stensland
Sophomore, Music Industry Minor
Introduction
I wrote this song back in December over winter break with Eric, a good buddy of mine. Right away I told him that I wanted the song to be about appreciating the little things. The goal was to have lyric after lyric be personal yet very relatable with an ultimate mindset of realization. I wanted people to really feel what I was saying because the truth is, you truly never know how long love will last. It sounds cheesy and sentimental but I really wanted to write about it.
Recently this song has meant more to us than ever.
With the CoronaVirus impacting our everyday lives like never before we decided to make this release our top priority. The hope of this song is to not be the cure for CoronaVirus by any means, although that’d be frickin awesome if it was. The goal is for you to really take in each moment and embrace every little thing that happens in your life. Because who knows when you’ll have that last car drive with your best friend, that last conversation with your parents or loved ones, that last party in your dorm room, that last cry in your bedroom, that last breath, its not morbid, its the truth. All i will say is don’t let these things be. Don’t let them pass. Just make sure you take your time to appreciate them while love lasts.
Michael Stensland
About the producer
Ben Baker and Michael Stensland formed the Astronomers in February 2019. But before Ben asked Michael to be part of this new group, Ben produced music under the name DJ Baker.
For about a year and a half, Ben created gaming music so people could use his songs in their Youtube videos. A music distribution/label company by the name of Woods Entertainment Group reached out to Ben after they heard his song “Orion’s Belt.” Ben released one song with Woods, “The Astronomer,” and that success got Ben thinking that he could take his music to the next level.
Ben reached out to artists familiar to Woods so he could start adding vocals to his songs. An artist by the name of Hunter Reece agreed to sing on one of his tracks, “All In.” Hunter recommended Alessandra Boldrini from London as a second vocalist. As the work on this song began to move forward, Ben started to think he could use some help. He called his friend Michael Stensland and together they formed “The Astronomers.” At the time, Ben and Michael were attending different universities, creating some obstacles when it came to working together on their music. Soon, though, they released their first song “All In,” on May 24, 2019. “All In” hit the ground running, as it was picked up by Release Radar and Discover Weekly, which are Spotify algorithmic playlists. “All In” currently has 180,000 streams and counting, and it ranks on top of the duos singles in terms of streams.
During summer 2019, Ben was a constant fixture at Michael’s house, where they worked on music every night after their day jobs. The second single, “Settle Down” ft. JENSYN, was released July 26, the day Ben and Michael took a flight to Los Angeles. The boys are serious about their music and they knew a trip to LA would give them face time with some key musicians. On that trip, they spent time with collaborator Hunter Reece and also had a chance to meet up with Dru Decarro, Grammy nominated producer.
On Sept. 20, 2019, a couple of weeks after Ben and Michael moved in together in a residence hall at UWO, they released “Area 51” ft. Zach Paridis. Ben and Michael have released two more songs since moving their music studio to UWO, “Please Don’t” and “Love Lasts,” while also working on their debut Ep scheduled for release in late spring 2020.
About The Process
Started on piano. Piano led to lyrics. Lyrics lead to production. Production led to mixing. Mixing led to mastering. Mastering led to geeking out over the final product.
Credits
Michael Stensland, Eric Reid – Writing
Ben Baker – Production
Anna Mauthe, Eric Reid, Michael Stensland, Ben Baker, Jordon Payne – Performing
Mix – Taylor Hahn
What Do You Think?
We encourage you to leave a respectful note, thought or comment below for the student as a means of engaging with them. Your responses are appreciated and the students will be participating in the conversation.
2 Comments
Submit a Comment
Thank you for listening to work from the Music Industry Program!
We hope you are inspired by the musical excellence of our UW Oshkosh Titans.
UW Oshkosh Music Department
800 Algoma Blvd.
Oshkosh, WI 54901
Arts & Communications
Phone: (920) 424-4224
Email: music@uwosh.edu
Fantastic work everyone! Wonderful sounds, great lyrics, awesome production. Keep it coming!
Listening to WIXX in Appleton tonight. Heard “Hotel Rooms”. Absolutely love it!!
I hope to see you at the Mile of Music this year.