A decade of music under deadline: N.L. RPM Challenge turns 10

February: the month when musicians, both professional and novice, put their talents and work ethic to the test.

The RPM — or Record Production Month — Challenge begins Wednesday.

"I've found my calling through the RPM, I really have. Just encouraging people to make music or make art or just be creative is something that I really love," Elling Lien, who first brought RPM to Newfoundland through his now-defunct paper, the Scope, told CBC Radio's Weekend AM.

"I look forward to the RPM challenge every year."

You have the power within you to create something.- Elling Lien

Now in its 10th cycle, RPM is organized by Unpossible NL, a group that aims to encourage creativity and community in the province by giving people of all ages and all skill levels "non-competitive, fun opportunities to push themselves creatively."

The goal of RPM is for participants to complete an album of 10 songs or 35 minutes of audio within the month of February. Though most people see this as a music challenge, Lien said it can be anything.

"I like to leave it open for people to record stuff other than music, even field recordings, or poetry," he said. "If they wanted to do an audio book, that's fine. It's just a creative challenge to anyone to see if they can do it."

RPM: a musical jump-start

According to Unpossible's website, past participants of the challenge include award-winning artists like the Domestics, Kat McLevey and Steve Maloney, all of whom got their first significant leap into recording music through RPM.

"Professional musicians do this every year as a way of pushing themselves creatively, to try new new things, and to keep things fresh for themselves," Lien said.

While some award-winning artists have taken part, the challenge is free and open to anybody.

"We live in a time when the internet provides us with so many kinds of learning opportunities … any cellphone has a microphone in it now, and you can download an app on an iPhone that is a multitrack [recorder]," Lien said.

RPM 2017

One of this year's participants is musicians is Chris Postill. Last year for the challenge he recorded one song for every day in February.

"To be honest with you I misunderstood what RPM was and I thought that was the challenge, but I now realize that you just need to make an album," Postill said.

This year he is doing things a little differently.

"This may be just as insane," he said.

"Instead of doing a song every day, I decided to do a whole album in one day," he said. Postill said he'll be setting up in at the Rocket Room at Rocket Bakery in downtown St. John's.

"We're going to make music all day long. And anyone is invited to come add to it whatever you like, you don't need musical skill," he said. "We're just going to make music all day long and an album will come out of it."  

For people interested in joining the challenge, there are resources and workshops available through Unpossible, including open meet-ups every Monday in February from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Rocket Room.

For Lien, the most important part of the RPM Challenge is the encouragement of creativity.

"That's what Unpossible is based around, the idea is that everybody is an artist," he said.

"You have the power within you to create something."