Neptune’s backstory is packed with a lot of symbolism and circumstance that would take me way too long to connect for you here. I’ll give you the cliffs. notes version. I wrote this song while living in Fort Myers, Florida. My apartment building called Franklin Arms was within arm’s reach of the Art Center just across the street. A building I saw every single day. How I managed to miss the fact they were holding a songwriting contest is beyond me. I caught wind the day before submissions were due. Luckily, I was already in the thick of my forthcoming album titled “Quarter Past Maybe”. Neptune would become the fourth song to join “Scratch,” “Famous Last Words.” and “The Fountain” and, fingers crossed, get a little limelight. It didn’t. I didn’t even make it into the competition. The song was done, but it sounded like shit. Did I forget to mention that I am, and still am a terrible producer and still learning? But a lack of producing skills isn’t the only reason Neptune was neglected.
I was also driving Uber at the time (in addition to my full-time job). While returning home that night — ready to finish up Neptune, I notice a woman crying and shouting at the parking garage pay kiosk. I approached and noticed she was pissed and drunk. She couldn’t get her debit card to work in the machine. The machine and the card weren’t the problem. Long story short, I convinced her to let me drive her home. That ordeal took quite some time. because as we pulled into her driveway, she informed me that she left her keys in the car. When we got back to the parking garage, no keys were in the car. From there, we retraced her steps. They weren’t at the bar she’d been at. Where did they turn up? Her purse. I eventually returned home at nearly four or 5 sam. Neptune was due in 12 hours. Saving a woman’s life was and still is more important.
Fast forward to me moving back to Las Vegas. I eventually found a producer and lifesaver for Neptune. Max Barkell with ILL Music Records. We’re now working on the album’ s second single title “Mio Anima Mate.” It means “My Soul Mate” in Latin. Want a good laugh? As I sit here writing this post (for no other reason than I need to have a public link to Neptune for another songwriting contest) take a look a the deadline. I can’t even make this stuff up.
