Songwriters on Process

If you took a contemporary poetry class in college in the last 30 years, Paul Muldoon was probably on your syllabus. The New York Times has called him “one of the great poets of the past hundred years. . . . Only Yeats before him could write with such measured fury.” The Times Literary Supplement referred to Muldoon as “the most significant English-language poet born since the Second World War.” He's a Pulitzer Prize winner, a former poetry editor at The New Yorker, and currently a professor at Princeton University. But Muldoon has a side gig as a songwriter, which is why he’s here. So if you’re a writer in any capacity, songwriter or not, listen to this episode as we go deep into the writing process of one of the most significant poets of the past hundred years. The latest album by Paul Muldoon & Rogue Elephant is Visible From Space.

Patrick Hetherington of Parcels says that the urge to write usually strikes when he's had some kind of new input, but then he needs distance from that input to be able to process it and write about it. And a good sunset is mandatory. "I need to touch base with the sunset every day. I take a walk at sunset to feel that change, that shift in the day."The latest album by Parcels is Loved. 

Molly Tuttle, a GRAMMY-winning bluegrass musician, discusses her disciplined approach to songwriting and reflects on how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped her creative process. She reveals her motivation to limit distractions with a flip phone during her studies at Berklee. Tuttle emphasizes the evolution of songwriting from metaphor to personal expression and the importance of journaling. She also shares insights on the contrast between effortlessly crafted songs and those requiring revision, along with her love for reading and its influence on her music.

Scott McCaughey, a founding member of The Minus Five and an auxiliary member of R.E.M., shares his songwriting journey and creative process. He discusses how daily routines can spark inspiration and reveals his knack for effortlessly transforming ideas into songs. McCaughey reflects on his stroke recovery, which reignited his passion for music, and emphasizes the power of language in songwriting. With his latest album, 'Oar On, Penelope!', he encourages artists to embrace creativity in all its forms, blending spontaneity with structure.

Dev Hynes had me at the bookshelves.All those bookshelves behind him on our Zoom interview, rising to the ceiling and stuffed with books. Small wonder, then, that Hynes works best in daily consumption mode rather than creation mode. He's adamant about not writing every day.The creative process is all about keeping it fun for Hynes. He likes to write in the afternoon for the simple reason that he likes his mornings, and who wants to write at night? Hynes isn't big on fancy equipment: he bought his third and fourth guitars only a couple of months ago. "Nothing matters to me as far as equipment," Hynes says. And when he hits a wall in the songwriting process, he doesn't push things too far if it looks like things aren't working. "I won't fold, but I'll see how hollow the wall is," he explains. The new Blood Orange album is called Essex Honey.

There's a difference between wanting to write and needing to write. For Will Taylor of Flyte, it's usually a need. Taylor says that he doesn't write every day, but instead writes after an accumulation of experiences. "I know it's time because a sadness comes over me. It's a quite noticeable funk, and the clouds need to break," says Taylor. But for Taylor and his bandmate Nicolas Hill, that need to write doesn't mean inefficiency. As you'll hear, they have little patience for those songs that take too long to finish. "We have no problem throwing songs away immediately if they aren't working. We don't keep them lying around to work on them later."Flyte's latest album is Between You and Me. 

Meg Duffy, the talented musician behind Hand Habits and creator of the album Blue Reminder, shares her unique approach to songwriting. She highlights how inspiration can strike in unexpected moments, even during mundane tasks like oil changes. Duffy emphasizes 'summoning' creativity, balancing routine with spontaneity, and reveals the emotional challenges of songwriting. With anecdotes about her life below fellow artist Kyle Thomas, this conversation offers insight into the quirks that drive her artistic process.

The theme of today's podcast is nourishment.It dawned on me a few minutes into my conversation with Hannah Cohen that when she said proper nourishment was critical to her writing process, she was being literal.  It was no metaphor. If Cohen's not hydrated and fed, the creative process becomes much more arduous. She's the first songwriter to ever tell me that. But when Cohen also told me that "the body keeps score," she was now talking nourishment as metaphor. She expressed a view that every writer knows: your writing process is always taking place. It's happening when you're eating, sleeping, working, talking, moving, whatever. Pen hitting paper is only a small part of that process. Cohen tells a great story in this episode of how her new song "Rag" came about. Back to the literal: it started with an actual rag on the side of the road. Cohen's latest album is Earthstar Mountain,

Ed Note: Lzzy Hale has collaborated with Mark Morton (Lamb of God) in the past. I co-authored Mark's new book Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir, hence the occasional reference to Mark and our book in this episode.Many songwriters I interview have a journal. Very few have two. Lzzy Hale of Halestorm is the only one who has three. She has a five-year journal, a freewrite journal, and a pocket field note journal "for when the mood strikes." Which, judging by our conversation, happens every waking moment for Hale. And probably a lot of sleeping moments too. Even a cursory listen to this episode will reveal Hale's enthusiasm for the creative process. She loves talking about it. Her passion for writing flows literally: she uses a fountain pen! Hale calls herself "a serial eavesdropper" as she's always listening for song ideas. And most importantly: she's not afraid to write the bad stuff to get to the good. "Every good songwriter has songs under their bed that suck," Hale says. Halestorm's new album Everest is out now. 

You think you're busy? You're not busy. Sophie Payten (known professionally as Gordi) is busy. She's a songwriter AND a physician. On this episode, we discuss how she finds time to do anything. We also explore how she so beautifully weaves themes from the world of patient care into her songwriting.Gordi's latest album, Like Plasticine, is out now.