I’ve always loved to write, and when I was younger, I wanted to sing too. I had a pretty good voice back then, but I never really did anything with it. Life went in other directions.
Then Parkinson’s came along.
Over the years, my voice got softer and weaker. At some point, I pretty much accepted that Parkinson’s had taken that away from me. After DBS surgery in 2020, I started getting back into writing. I pulled out poems I’d written over the past 30 years and started playing around with the idea of turning some of them into songs.
Visit Animal Speak Music on YouTubeThat’s really how my music project, Animal Speak, started.
I couldn’t have done it without my friend and musician Griffin Breshears, who I’ve worked with on many songs over the years. I usually come in with the words and an idea of how I want the song to sound, and then Griffin and I start working through it together. I’ll have thoughts about the composition and direction, he’ll bring his own ideas, and we go back and forth from there. It’s a pretty organic process. Sometimes we end up somewhere completely different from where we started, but eventually we find the sound that feels right.
Writing has been good for me too. If I’m trying to figure out a lyric or working through an idea for a song, my mind is busy with something other than Parkinson’s. That’s important to me.
While working on the new Animal Speak album, I decided to do something I wasn’t sure I could do.
There’s a song called “In My Shoes,” and I recite some of the lyrics myself.
For somebody else, that might not seem like much. For me, it was a pretty big deal. I hadn’t thought of my voice as something I would ever put on a record. It’s not the voice I had when I was younger. Parkinson’s has changed it, and I can hear that.
I was nervous when we recorded it, but I did it. And I’m glad I did.
I don’t know if I’ll ever suddenly start calling myself a singer. Probably not. I’m still a writer first. But this whole experience has reminded me how much I enjoy making something with other people and trying things I’m not completely comfortable doing.
Parkinson’s has taken plenty from me over the years. I thought my voice was one of those things. Maybe I was a little too quick to give it up.
Staying Patiently Persistent,
– Frank Antonicelli