- wöchentlichErscheinungsrhythmus
- 50 mintypische Länge
- 27. Okt.letzte Folge
In-depth interviews with songwriters about their songwriting process. Nothing else. No talk of band drama, band names, or tour stories. Treating songwriters as writers, plain and simple. By Ben Opipari, English Lit Ph.D.
Folgen
Claud
"My ideas are the most plentiful when I just put something out into the world," says Claud (https://claud.online). "I immediately start thinking about all the stuff I want to do next time." Some of that stuff comes from consistent journal w
Chelsea Rifkin (Wilt)
"It's trash that evokes emotion," says Chelsea Rifkin of Wilt (https://www.wiltband.com) referring to her junk journal. The singer for the LA-based band uses this journal as an important part of her songwriting process. The title is literal
Joy Oladokun
"I get a prebiotic soda and some popcorn, then head upstairs to write. And if I'm not feeling it, I leave." Joy Oladokun (https://joyoladokun.com) is nothing if not brutally efficient in her songwriting process. There's no room for wasted t
Julia Jacklin
“I love to sing out loud there. No one can hear me because everyone is, well, underground,” says Julia Jacklin (https://juliajacklin.com/). And if that’s not the best reason for singing in a cemetery, I don’t know what is. Walking is a dail
Brennan Wedl
"I like to write at my desk," says Brennan Wedl (https://www.brennanwedl.com). It makes me feel like a professor, so it's correlated with discipline in my brain. It's like a writing altar." This tracks with Wedl's penchant for adhering to a
L'Rain (Taja Cheek)
"I have my best thoughts in total comfort and complete boredom," Taja Cheek (known professionally as L'Rain (https://www.lrain.info)) says. After all, who doesn't prefer a good couch or bed when they write? But when it comes to pure inspira
Margaret Glaspy
"I like to do things that make me feel integrated with the environment," says Margaret Glaspy (https://margaretglaspy.com/home). Broadly, Glaspy's process involves a general resistance to technology, which is why we had a great discussion a
Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show)
Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show (https://www.crowmedicine.com/) is the first person I’ve interviewed to compare the songwriting process to feline copulation. But this unique metaphor actually reflects Secor’s deep introspection: only
Lucius
"You need to be somewhere where you allow yourself to be totally stupid," say Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius (https://www.ilovelucius.com). Not great life advice, but it's fantastic advice for the creative process. In other words, t
Kyle Grim (Dogwood Tales)
Kyle Grim of Dogwood Tales (https://www.dogwoodtalesmusic.com) was born in the wrong century. He really belonged among the Romantic poets, who saw the purity of nature as a source of renewal. I mentioned this to Grim after he told me that a
Jim James (My Morning Jacket)
Jim James (https://www.jimjames.com/) needs a bigger head. How else to accommodate all the bursts of creativity he has throughout the day? They happen all the time. The My Morning Jacket (https://mymorningjacket.com/)frontman finds art gall
Alicia Witt
You have seen Alicia Witt (https://www.aliciawittmusic.com). Of that I can be sure since she's appeared in so many movies and tv shows (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Witt). (She starred most recently opposite Nicolas Cage in Longlegs
hey, nothing
Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips of Athens-based hey, nothing (https://www.heynothing.com) have been friends since middle school. And when you've grown up with your songwriting partner, you have a good idea of what makes for an efficient wri
David Shaw (The Revivalists)
Took a wonderfully deep dive into the songwriting process with David Shaw of The Revivalists (https://www.therevivalists.com). We discuss middle of the night epiphanies, how mishearing a lyric can make for a better lyric, and how reading gr
Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Band)
Lenny Kaye (https://www.instagram.com/lenny_kaye/?hl=en)'s tenure as Patti Smith's guitarist and collaborator extends from 1971 to the present, but the 79 year old is only now releasing his debut solo album. (https://lennykaye.lnk.to/GoinLo
Alex Cameron
"I don't like closing a book on words, not even my laptop," says Alex Cameron (https://www.alkcm.com). This is no metaphor. Cameron means this literally because he always wants to be able to see his words. He keeps a giant piece of butcher
Bedouine (Azniv Korkejian)
"You don't have to be a tortured artist to write a song, but it's important to write about what you're feeling and not run away from it," Azniv Korkejian (aka Bedouine) (https://www.bedouinemusic.com) says about her songwriting process. As
Dragos Chiriac (Men I Trust)
It's not often (ever?) that I get to talk Hegel, Jung, and Goethe with songwriters. But Dragos Chiriac of Men I Trust (https://menitrust.com) and I go deep into philosophy in this episode. I am a huge fan of the band and enjoyed our discuss
Keenan O'Meara
"The failure is not in writing a bad song. The failure is in writing no song." Keenan O'Meara (https://www.keenanomeara.com) has always honored the value of work. Maybe it's because he's also a carpenter by trade, but discipline is his asse
Jason Newsted
Jason Newsted (https://www.chophouseband.com) blends words and acrylics. Literally. The former Metallica bassist and leader of Jason Newsted and the Chophouse Band (https://www.chophouseband.com) is also an accomplished painter, and to get
Molly Hamilton (Widowspeak)
I'd like to call myself an OG Widowspeak (https://www.widowspeakforever.com)fan, as I told Molly Hamilton. I saw them when they opened for 2:54 back in 2011 or 2012 on their first tour, and I became an instant fan. Hamilton and I go deep in
Nick Allbrook (Pond)
"Hard work is important, and it feels good. My family put a lot of stake into working hard, so it's been ingrained in me," Nick Allbrook of Pond (https://pond.band) told me. We did this interview at 6:30am his time, so that's all you need t
Futurebirds
Go Dawgs! Loved having the Athens-bred Futurebirds (https://www.futurebirdsmusic.com) on the pod. They're no longer college students at the University of Georgia, of course, but as longtime friends and bandmates they've evolved from student
Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie)
"If I could sum up my process, it would be this: finish everything," says Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (https://www.deathcabforcutie.com). "I finish every song I start even if I know in the first verse that it’s a complete pile of shi
Greg Mendez
Greg Mendez (https://www.gregmendez.net/) has a shelved album concept that he says you can have if you're a songwriter. The plan was to center each song around the rhythm of a different car's turn signal, and the title of the song would sim
Euan Manning (Cardinals)
The formula is simple. Step one, read great Irish literature. Step two, write killer songs. It's worked pretty well for Euan Manning of Cardinals (https://www.cardinals.band) so far. The Irish songwriter for the Cork-based band rattles off
Rostam
"A great way to write is to overwrite. Write more verses than could be contained in a song. Then take the best of what's there," says Rostam Batmanglij (https://officialrostam.com). I cannot agree more: good writers know that the first pass
Emma Jansson (Girl Scout)
"When I'm not self-conscious, I tend to write better stuff. I need the dud sessions before I make progress," says Emma Jansson of Girl Scout (https://www.girlscouttheband.com). Good writing in the initial stages is indeed all about getting
Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene)
"We should see how many disco records were made in the winter," Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene (https://brokensocialscene.myshopify.com) said. And with that, we ventured into the intersection of songwriting and meteorology: how weather p
Jena Malone
Jena Malone (https://www.jenamalone.com/) had me at the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. When the actor/songwriter started our discussion talking about Millay and the profound effect poetry has on her songwriting process, I swooned. There’s a
