About a year and a half ago, I had a discouraging thought that wouldn’t let go: All the songs I’d written and recorded over the years—now scattered across hard drives, some literally gathering dust in my closets—were headed for a landfill unless I did something about it.

I originally moved to Los Angeles to become a rock star, but my professional life took a different path. I spent most of my artistic career as a novelist and screenwriter, but I never stopped writing and playing music. In fact, I recorded several albums, including Trick of the Light, which featured one of my heroes, Garth Hudson of The Band. Hearing him play saxophone and accordion on “Wild Child” and “Lemon Midnight” remains one of the great thrills of my life.

Long ago, I accepted the fact that I was never going to become a rock star. No one is waiting breathlessly for the next Stephen Smoke album, and I’m at peace with that. What bothered me was the thought that thousands of hours of creative work would simply vanish.

I knew I could upload my songs to streaming services—I’d done it before—but if I wanted to release my best work while maintaining full control over the process and avoiding endless and exorbitant production fees, I needed to learn how to mix and master properly.

That decision launched the Parallel Project.