Songwriters on Process

"This is gonna sound gross, but I'm a 34 year old adult and I've just started flossing for the first time in my life."Come for the process, stay for the hygiene! Yes, there is a connection between Kevin Morby's songwriting process and his dental health: it all has to do with organization.But while Morby may not floss and write at the same time, he does have a few rituals. He likes a cheap Bic pen and a yellow legal pad for lyrics because the unfussiness of them allows him get messy. He likes to pace with a guitar on a hardwood floor when he creates music. And he uses running as a way to work through lyrical or musical conundrums. Many songwriters tell me that they use exercise to clear the brain, and it functions that way for Morby too. He's somewhat unique, though, in also using it to help him create in the moment. Kevin Morby's excellent new album is called This is a  Photograph (Dead Oceans). 

Martin Courtney of Real  Estate says that songwriting can be a "painstaking" process, so he's trying something new. "I'm trying to plow through it, take a step back, then chip away at it," he told me. He's also found fulfillment in writing about the small details of everyday life, trying to work those ideas into his songs.But he always has Strega Nona to fall back on.Courtney's new solo album is called Magic Sign. 

For Laura Veirs, the songwriting process involves giving the muse a good, long side eye. That's when she's not painting, surfing, reading, or exercising--all while being a  single parent. "I try to do several things at once so nothing becomes too precious or too obsessive," Veirs told me in our interview. 

Six-time GRAMMY nominees The Black Pumas are not a found sound band. But Adrian Quesada loves nothing more than a good turn signal. "I’m always superimposing a 6/4 rhythm on them whenever I’m at an intersection," he said. So much so that that his wife often has to remind him when the light turns green. This interview with Quesada and Eric Burton is from December 2020.

BJ Barham of American Aquarium & I were reading S.A. Cosby long before it was cool! But seriously, now that Cosby has received universal acclaim for his books RAZORBLADE TEARS and BLACKTOP WASTELAND, the secret's out. Listen to my conversation with these two master storytellers as we discussed the writing process!  (This interview is from April 2021).

"If the next record is about whaling, you'll know where that came from."Craig Finn takes it all in. He's the kind of songwriter who absorbs everything he sees and hears, and right now that involves reading "Moby Dick." Finn is a voracious reader, demonstrating something I've always maintained: the best lyricists read a lot. So when he sits down to write, he's efficient in his ritual: he writes quickly, usually giving himself 90 minutes to write four or five verses. Then he sets aside for a week, using fresh eyes in the revision process. This is the second time I've interviewed Finn; the first time was in 2011. As runners, we talked both times about how exercise helps our creative process. In fact, I wrote an article in the Washington Post about the link between aerobic exercise and higher order thinking, and in that article I quoted Finn.Craig Finn's latest solo release is called a Legacy of Rentals.

Fresh off their new release Headful of Sugar, Julia Cumming (bass, vocals) and Nick Kivlen (guitar, vocals) of Sunflower Bean discuss how their sometimes divergent creative processes coalesce into an efficient whole. 

“If I’m drawing a lot, I’m writing a lot. Those two processes are closely connected.” Bardo Martinez of Chicano Batman is, in his words, the “supreme doodler.” Whether he’s longboarding or reading to his kids or drawing, he's always thinking about his next song. This interview is from July 2021.

"I like to have structure in my songwriting process in order to let chaos rule."Jonathan Russell of The Head and the Heart loves structure. It helps him in his domestic life: he often finds missing bridges in his songs when he’s cleaning the house, for example. “I love order,” Russell told me. “Clean kitchen, happy brain.” And he loves using lists to make his day easier. When I asked Russell what kind of writing he does outside of songwriting, his immediate response was simple: “I’m a listmaker."Russell likes structure in his songwriting process too, but not for reasons you might expect. It lets him be chaotic. “Structure lets the chaos loose,” he told me. “As long as I have boundaries set up, I will allow myself to play like a five year old.”  And Russell often gets his best writing done, he says, “When I become aware that I’m anxious.”The Head and the Heart's latest album, out April 29, is called "Every Shade of Blue." 

"With the stuff I've been through, I would just go outside and immediately start to feel better."  S. Carey's (Sean Carey) new solo album Break Me Open was written during a time of tremendous domestic change: the dissolution of his marriage, the death of his father, and the growth of his children. Any three of these events, much less all three,  would be time for introspection.On the deeply personal lyrics of Break Me Open, Carey channels this introspection. And these periods of reflection were made easier by time spent outdoors: under the occasional tree, of course, but usually fly fishing. "It's my church," Carey told me. The gentle sounds of water moving past him, the scent of the foliage, the sight of fish breaking the plane of the river: all provided him with a contemplative self-examination that produced such a beautiful album.