Written by Monica Ortiz

I was in the studio working with Matt Odmark (Jars of Clay) recording some meditations for my app (Masters of Mindfulness) when I shared with him that I wanted to sing a fun song that was uplifting. He told me that he thought he had something in his song vault that he thought I would like and would send it to me.

A few days later, he sent me a demo of “On My Side” written by him (Matt Odmark) and Heather Bond. I thought it was so much fun, and I knew that it was definitely a song I wanted to sing. You know when you first hear a song and you like it and then you listen to it over and over again and you discover different nuances that make you like it even more? Well, when I listened to the music of this song, what I heard externally wasn’t what I heard internally (if that makes sense). While the demo was fun, what I heard internally was this really fun, groovy, reggae-esque song. 

So, my good friend and music producer Michael Gigante, David “Dave” Dattner (songwriter and musician), and I got together and started working it out. I hired additional musicians, went into the studio, and we all continued to work it out until we got it right. On this song, Dave played bass, Nathan Wahlman played drums, Michael Gigante played keys, Smith Curry played guitars, and additional guitars were played by Lij Shaw.

Watching masters at their craft is an amazing experience as I got to see the process they go through and the sincerity and enthusiasm of wanting to do their absolute best. I definitely recognize this trait, can relate to it, and I am sure you can too.

We took some behind-the-scenes images during the recording and you can see them on my Gallery page. The shots of the happy smile on my face in the images you see is really how the song makes me feel. It’s a fun tune that always makes me smile when I hear it. I hope it makes you smile as well. The song will be released as a single in December (perfect for keeping things fun during the holidays) and will also be included on my album which will be released in January 2019.