A Million Dreams Without Auto Tune

Starlite performing with Francis and the Lights at Webster Hall in New York City on October 12, 2010
Background information
BornJune 14, 1981 (age 38)
Oakland, California, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • record producer
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • dancer
Instruments
Years active1999–present

Francis Farewell Starlite is an American musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, dancer, and the founder and lead singer of the pop project Francis and the Lights. He is primarily a vocalist and pianist, and is often credited by the Francis and the Lights name for his solo work.

He is a frequent collaborator of multiple artists and producers, including Kanye West, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Chance the Rapper, Nico Segal, Frank Ocean and Banks.

Biography[edit]

Early life and education[edit]

Starlite was born Abe Morre Katz-Milder[1] on June 14, 1981 in Oakland, California.[2][unreliable source?] He was raised in Berkeley, California, and attended Berkeley High School, where he befriended future collaborators and Francis and the Lights members Rene Solomon and Jake Schreier. In 1999, Starlite enrolled at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Starlite befriended future Francis and the Lights collaborator Jake Rabinbach while a student at Wesleyan.[3] Starlite attended Wesleyan from 1999 before ultimately dropping out in 2002.[4] While there, Starlite and Rabinach were schoolmates of MGMT's members Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, whom they have since toured with.[5]

Francis and the Lights[edit]

  • Dec 08, 2017 About “A Million Dreams”. Is singing to Charity about what he dreams for his future when they’re kids. They sing together as adults later on. This beginning also shows the course of his life with his father until his father dies and then when he had to make a living for himself at a young age.
  • Mar 15, 2018  Provided to YouTube by Sony Music Entertainment A Million Dreams The Piano Guys Benj Pasek Justin Paul A Million Dreams ℗ 2018 TPG Productions LLC, under exclusive license to.

Starlite began traveling across the United States by train in an effort to find where he was going to take his life. While on a train traveling from Elkhart, Indiana to New Orleans, Starlite came to the decision that he was going to pursue his passion for music as a career path. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2010, he said, 'I had played music and loved it my entire life, but hadn’t fully committed to it. And there was a moment when I wrote down the different things I could do. And then I wrote down, 'I think I’ll give the band a go.'[4] Shortly afterwards, Starlite returned to his birthplace of Oakland, California, where he lived and worked in a rehearsal space at Soundwave Studios and wrote songs for close to a year. He subsequently drove across the U.S. in a decommissioned postal truck to New York City, where he then formed Francis and the Lights. The band rehearsed for an entire year before starting to perform through a series of invitation-only shows at a white fabric-draped warehouse space.

On November 3, 2008, Starlite incorporated Francis and the Lights, LLC, as a limited liability company, as an alternative to signing a record deal.[6] This was followed by an investment of $100,000 from the Normative Music Company, giving Francis and the Lights, LLC a valuation of $1 million.[7] Normative's president, Jake Lodwick, a friend of Starlite and a co-founder of Vimeo, said, 'Francis Starlite is an uncompromising musician and a strong leader. I believe he will bring Francis and the Lights to international stardom. The spectacular live shows, beautiful recordings, and his relentless character back me up.'[8] In late 2009, Normative Music Company shut down.[9] The duo have since collaborated on the music app Keezy.[10]

Lyrics to A Million Dreams by Ziv Zaifman from the The Greatest Showman Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album - including song video, artist biography, translations and more! Login The STANDS4 Network ☰.

Francis and the Lights have released four EPs and two albums, including Farewell, Starlite! (2016) and Just for Us (2017).

They provided the soundtrack for the film Robot & Frank (2012), directed by friend and collaborator Jake Schreier. Schreier has performed as part of Francis and the Lights, producing some of their work and directing a majority of their music videos.

Starlite works closely with Muxtape founder Justin Ouellette, who has designed several websites and HTML5 music players for Francis and the Lights releases.[11] Ouellette previously worked as engineer for Vimeo alongside Lodwick. He also met Schreier through Starlite and served as a designer for Robot & Frank.[12]

Production career[edit]

Starlite rose to prominence after producing and co-writing the song 'Karaoke' for Canadian rapper Drake from his 2010 debut album Thank Me Later.

His recent production work is primarily through credits with other producers such as Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Rostam Batmanglij, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Ryan Tedder.

He is the inventor of a layered vocal effect he refers to as the 'Prismizer.' It features prominently on many of his productions, including 'Close to You' by Frank Ocean and throughout Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper. Justin Vernon sought to create a real-time solution capable of implementing the effect without latency for use in live performance and on his Bon Iver album 22, A Million. The result was a combination of hardware and software nicknamed 'The Messina' after audio engineer Chris Messina.[13]

Starlite worked with Kanye West on his 2018 albums ye and Kids See Ghosts. Starlite is credited as a writer and producer on ye's 'I Thought About Killing You,' and as a producer on 'All Mine,' and 'Ghost Town'. On Kids See Ghosts, Starlite is credited as a producer on 'Feel the Love.'

Personal life[edit]

Starlite legally changed his name to Francis Farewell Starlite in 2004[14]. When asked in an interview with Entertainment Weekly why he had changed his name, he answered:[4]

Let me think about how I want to answer that question. Let me think for a moment. [One minute passes] It’s very difficult because I’m very proud of the fact that I changed my name. It has meaning to me. I believe that people change, and that you are what you make of yourself. And that that is true. That’s true … I don’t want to, I don’t want to … The problem is that I feel like when I start talking about these things, I start to say things that I wouldn’t necessarily want to read myself saying. They might be too easily misinterpreted. So I think I’ll just leave it at that. I’m proud of the fact that I changed my name. I am what I make of myself.

Discography[edit]

Francis and the Lights[edit]

  • Striking (2007)
  • A Modern Promise (2008)
  • It'll Be Better (2010)
  • Robot & Frank (2012)
  • Like a Dream (2013)
  • Farewell, Starlite! (2016)
  • Just for Us (2017)
  • Same Night Different Dream (TBA)[15]

Credits[edit]

  • 'Karaoke' (Drake, Thank Me Later) (2010)
  • 'Something Better' (Lyrics Born, As U Were) (2010)
  • 'Celebration' (Das Racist, Relax) (2011)
  • 'I'll Never Forget You' (Birdy, Birdy) (2011)
  • 'Chameleon/Comedian' (Kathleen Edwards, Voyageur) (2012)
  • 'La crise' (Brice Guilbert, Feitsong) (2012)
  • 'Wonderful Everyday: Arthur' (Chance the Rapper with The Social Experiment) (2014)
  • Big Grrrl Small World (Lizzo) (2015)
  • Surf (Nico Segal & The Social Experiment) (2015)
  • Coloring Book (Chance the Rapper) (2016)
  • 'Wild Love' (Cashmere Cat featuring The Weeknd, 9) (2016)
  • 'Close to You' (Frank Ocean, Blonde) (2016)
  • 'Faith' (Stevie Wonder featuring Ariana Grande, Sing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2016)
  • 'IT'S ALRITE 2 CRY' (Kool A.D. featuring Francis Starlite, HAVE A NICE DREAM) (2016)
  • 'Dear Theodosia' (Chance the Rapper, The Hamilton Mixtape) (2016)
  • Merry Christmas Lil' Mama (Jeremih and Chance the Rapper) (2016)
  • 'New Man' (Ed Sheeran, ÷) (2017)
  • 'Hold You' (Rostam featuring Angel Deradoorian, Half-Light) (2017)
  • 'Sam' (Jessie Ware, Glasshouse) (2017)
  • ye (Kanye West) (2018)
  • 'Feel the Love' (Kids See Ghosts featuring Pusha T, Kids See Ghosts) (2018)
  • 'Just for Us, Pt. 2' (Benny Blanco, Friends Keep Secrets) (2018)
  • 'Forgiven' (2 Chainz featuring Marsha Ambrosius, Rap or Go to the League) (2019)
  • Intellexual (Intellexual) (2019)
  • 'The Most' (Miley Cyrus, She Is Coming) (2019)
  • 'Look What You're Doing to Me' (Banks, III) (2019)
  • 'To Someone Else' (Kacy Hill) (2019)
  • The Big Day (Chance the Rapper) (2019)
  • 'Faith' (Bon Iver, I, I) (2019)
  • 'I CRY 3' (93PUNX, 93PUNX) (2019)
  • 'For Your Eyes Only' (Cashmere Cat, Princess Catgirl) (2019)
  • 'Selah' (Kanye West, Jesus Is King) (2019)

References[edit]

  1. ^Ugwu, Reggie (12 March 2020). 'Francis and the Lights, Pop Star Interrupted'. New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  2. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^O'Donnell, Kevin (25 February 2009). 'The Excess and Eccentricity of Francis and the Lights'. villagevoice.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  4. ^ abcWete, Brad (26 April 2010). 'Drake tourmate Francis Farewell Starlite: A Music Mix Q&A'. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  5. ^O'Donnell, Kevin (5 August 2010). 'Artist of the Week: Francis and the Lights'. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. ^Bychawski, Adam (4 November 2008). 'Indie band turns itself into company instead of signing record deal'. NME. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. ^Allen, Dustin (4 November 2008). 'Indie Band Goes Venture Capitalist'. American Songwriter. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  8. ^'Francis and the Lights Incorporates With $1 Million Valuation'. The Normatist. Normative Music Company. 3 November 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 2016-08-21.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  9. ^Lodwick, Jake. 'Entrepreneur Bio'. Jake Lodwick. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  10. ^https://vimeo.com/80036953
  11. ^https://jstn.tumblr.com/post/150959998236
  12. ^https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/one-on-one-justin-ouellette-designer-of-interfaces-for-robot-frank/
  13. ^https://www.wmagazine.com/story/the-engineer-behind-bon-ivers-22-a-million-clears-up-any-confusion-about-its-high-tech-sound
  14. ^Ugwu, Reggie (12 March 2020). 'Francis and the Lights, Pop Star Interrupted'. New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  15. ^https://twitter.com/andthelights/status/1190188817489121281
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'The Sound of a Million Dreams'
Single by David Nail
from the album The Sound of a Million Dreams
ReleasedMarch 24, 2012
GenreCountry
Length3:55
LabelMCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)Phil Vassar, Scooter Carusoe
Producer(s)Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell
David Nail singles chronology
'Let It Rain'
(2011)
'The Sound of a Million Dreams'
(2012)
'Someone Like You'
(2012)

'The Sound of a Million Dreams' is a song recorded by American country music artist David Nail. It was released in March 2012 as the second single and title track from the album The Sound of a Million Dreams. The song reached #38 on the BillboardHot Country Songs chart.[1] The song was written by Phil Vassar and Scooter Carusoe.

Content[edit]

The song is a nostalgic look at music by which the narrator was inspired. It contains lyrical references to 'Mainstreet' by Bob Seger, 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen, and 'Mama Tried' by Merle Haggard.[2] It is a piano ballad in the key of E major with a slow tempo of 60 beats per minute in 4/4 time signature. The song features a primary chord pattern of A2-B7-Cm three times, followed by A-Bsus-E-A/E-E.[3]

According to co-writer Phil Vassar, the idea came during a writing session with Scooter Carusoe when the latter presented the phrase 'the sound of a million dreams'. This phrase inspired the two to begin talking about songs that had been inspirational to them. Vassar complimented Nail's recording of the song, saying that 'it's so simple, they didn't overproduce it. It's just him singing a song.'[4]

Chart performance[edit]

Chart (2012)Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5]38

A Million Dreams Without Autotune Download

References[edit]

A Million Dreams Without Auto Tune

A Million Dreams Without Autotune Youtube

  1. ^Whitburn, Joel (2013). Hot Country Songs: 1944-2012, Eighth edition. Record Research. p. 235.
  2. ^Thom Jurek. 'The Sound of a Million Dreams review'. AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  3. ^''The Sound of a Million Dreams' sheet music'. MusicNotes.com. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  4. ^Lorie Hollabaugh, Angela Stefano (May 20, 2015). 'Story behind the song: David Nail, 'The Sound of a Million Dreams''. The Boot. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  5. ^'David Nail Chart History (Hot Country Songs)'. Billboard.

A Million Dreams Lyrics Pink

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