Aug 3, 2024 · 44 min
SO
Music
Songwriters on Process
Ben Opipari
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.
- 202 episodes
- Updated July 27
- Explicit
Episodes202
- SOJul 12, 2024 · 50 min
Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds of Summer)
Ashton Irwin, drummer for 5 Seconds of Summer, often writes songs out of necessity. While he likes to journal, Irwin finds songwriting a much more effective vehicle for maintaining his mental health. And there's a routine to the songwriting process: from 11a-3p when the caffeine is at its peak, with a Moleskin journal and a black ink pen. Irwin likes to write lyrics during the day; the songs he writes at night are different. "I’m less concerned with being tricky with the wordplay," he explains. "The songs I write at night are more beat driven and animalistic, conjuring the energies of the night." Irwin's latest solo album, his second, is called Blood on the Drums.
- SOJul 3, 2024 · 39 min
Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing
ED NOTE: This is from 2021, before this was a podcast and I was posting the video interviews to YouTube. I've taken the audio from that interview and turned it into podcast form. As you can tell at the beginning, we did this in the middle of the pandemic, hence our discussion about the creative process during COVID. Mike Doughty believes that discipline is a necessary part of the songwriting process. Doughty made his name as the founder of Soul Coughing, but he's had a prolific career as a solo singer/songwriter. “I believe in discipline and the idea of working every day. I do like to look back at the end of the day with a sense of accomplishment.” That feeling of accomplishment comes after some consistent journaling each morning and evening. It’s decidedly vintage: he uses an IBM Electric typewriter in the morning (“The blank white page is filled with light and hope) and a 1983 Apple IIe computer at night (“The glowing green has a definite night vibe.”). And he saves those evening journal entries on a five inch floppy disk.
- SOJun 10, 2024 · 57 min
Bonny Light Horseman
The circle is complete. I’ve had recent interviews with Anais Mitchell (together with Charlotte Cornfield) and with Eric D. Johnson, but now that we’ve added Josh Kaufman, this is a full-on Bonny Light Horseman episode. I enjoyed this conversation immensely because we dove into their collective process, not just their individual processes. And listening to them talk for even a few seconds makes one thing immediately clear: the songwriting is great because the chemistry among them is so powerful. Bonny Light Horseman’s new double album Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free is out now on Jagjaguwar Records.
- SOMay 28, 2024 · 58 min
DIIV
All four members of DIIV (Zachary Cole Smith, Andrew Bailey, Colin Caulfield, Ben Newman) joined me to talk about their individual songwriting processes. This interview could've gone on forever because they are so passionate about creativity. What's interesting is that their individual songwriting processes don't have too much in common, but perhaps how those differences play off each other is why they make such good music. DIIV's new album Frog in Boiling Water is out now on Fantasy Records.
- SOMay 19, 2024 · 50 min
Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper
Does the mind of Eric Earley from Blitzen Trapper ever rest? I think not. After all, he told me that he liked to solve math problems in college while he was making breakfast. Earley is a voracious reader who just finished his self-proclaimed "Time of the Tomes," in which he read nothing but, well, tomes. (The longer, the better. Infinite Jest? Please. Kid's stuff). Earley has a family and his other occupation involves working with the homeless population in Portland, so he's not quite as active as he used to be. But that's only because he doesn't have as much time, although now he's quite invested in meditation and dream journals. And songwriting, of course. This is the second time I've interviewed Earley; the first was in 2018, when he told me that he'd written five unpublished novels "just for fun." Earley is also responsible for turning me on to the great short story writer Breece D'J Pancake. Blitzen Trapper's latest album 100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions is out now on Yep Roc Records.
- SOMay 11, 2024 · 54 min
Deerlady
Deerlady is Mali Obomsawin and Magdalena Abrego, and their debut album Greatest Hits is my favorite album of the year, and this is also one of my favorite interviews because we had so much fun. I first heard Deerlady while listening to my old college radio station, WTHS at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. They played "Bounty," and it was one of those moments when you hear a song for the first time, stop whatever it is that you're doing, love it immediately, then listen to the entire album. The backstory to Greatest Hits is fascinating. Obomsawin is a citizen of Odanak First Nation. She's a Berkelee-trained composer and bassist who leads the Mali Obomsawin Sextet, a jazz group. Abrego , a composer and guitarist, started at Berkelee before finishing at New England Conservatory, where she's on the faculty. These are not, as you can tell, rock gigs. And that's why Obomsawin and Abrego love Deerlady: it's an unveiling! Greatest Hits is full of incredible guitar work and stunning vocals. Obomsawin told Stereogum, "It feels great to be in a rock band, like that's my natural state," while Abrego says that the band "feels like an unmasking." I'm loathe to categorize music, but others have called their music shoegaze, goth, slowcore. Whatever. I just love this album.
- SOApr 28, 2024 · 46 min
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Aaron Lee Tasjan has a pretty simple writing process: he gets up around 8am, has a glass of water, and pets his cat. Then he writes. But not every day. "I only write when my body tells me to, when I can go off yesterday's fumes," he told me. And in one of the best rituals I've ever heard, Tasjan always writes with a pencil--but never uses the eraser. "I hate erasers," he says. Tasjan lives in Nashville, where the Frist Art Museum serves as a tremendous source of inspiration for his songs. His new album Stellar Evolution is out now on Blue Elan Records.
- SOApr 15, 2024 · 50 min
Jane Penny (TOPS)
Jane Penny, co-founder of TOPS, makes her solo debut with her fantastic EP Surfacing, out now on Luminelle Recordings. Penny stops by the podcast to talk about how Barry White has influenced her songwriting; why she has to write her lyrics in cursive; and why when you see her in the audience at a show and she's looking at her phone, she's actually deeply engaged in the creative process. She promises! I'm a big fan of TOPS, so this was a lot of of fun.
- SOMar 30, 2024 · 47 min
Grace Cummings
On this episode of the podcast, Grace Cummings talks about why her phone has been such a drain on her creativity and why she's making a conscious effort to stay away from it. But sometimes that phone can be pretty useful. For one, it allows Cummings to create her alter ego Cheryl. (You'll understand once you listen.) And it also allows her to create a fantastic filing system for her song ideas with labels like "excellent" and "very excellent" that we both agreed are pretty good mini pep-talks. Cummings's new album Ramona is out April 5 on ATO Records.
- SOMar 24, 2024 · 42 min
Hovvdy
Will Taylor and Charlie Martin of Hovvdy take a deep dive into their songwriting processes on the podcast. We delve into, among other things, the nuts and bolts of the revision process and whether distance is important when writing about an event. Hovvdy's new (double!) album Hovvdy is out April 26 on Arts & Crafts Records.
- SOMar 10, 2024 · 54 min
Ducks Ltd.
Evan Lewis and Tom McGreevy of Ducks Ltd seem to be at opposite ends of the creative spectrum when it comes to organization. Lewis likes chaos: "The process should be a disaster," he says. McGreevy, on the other hand, needs order. His writing process involves emailing lyrics to himself, editing them, then sending the edited version to himself. Over and over. This allows McGreevy to see the version history of the lyrics in one giant email thread. The new Ducks Ltd. album Harm's Way is out now on Carpark Records. I'm very proud that not once in this podcast will you hear the term "jangle pop."
- SOMar 3, 2024 · 47 min
Future Islands
Future Islands stops by today to talk about their individual and collective processes, which sometimes involves folding laundry and listening to trains. They've also earned the title of Most Well-Read Band I've Ever Interviewed: just listen to the dizzying number of favorite authors and literary influences they all have. That discussion alone could've been an entire episode. The new album by Future Islands is called People Who Aren't There Anymore, out now on 4AD Records.
- SOFeb 20, 2024 · 43 min
Martin Courtney of Real Estate, the sequel
I had such a good time interviewing Martin Courtney of Real Estate back in 2022 for his solo album that we're doing it again! This time, Real Estate has a great new album out called Daniel on Domino Records. Courtney and I once again go deep into his songwriting process, including how it's changed since his solo album. And of course we talk children's literature too.
- SOFeb 9, 2024 · 55 min
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr (The Smiths, The Cribs, Modest Mouse, The The, so many more) is arguably one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of the last 50 years. So don't waste any time reading this intro. Just listen to the podcast. It's one of my favorites. Lots of talk about our favorite authors and some great stories too! Marr's latest album Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr is out now. His book Marr's Guitars is out too.
- SOJan 31, 2024 · 49 min
Mary Timony
Untame the Tiger (Merge Records) is Mary Timony's first solo album in 15 years, and it's so good, from start to finish. For the uninitiated: Timony's bands have included Helium, Autoclave, Wild Flag, and Ex-Hex. All fantastic. Last year Rolling Stone named her #95 on the top 200 greatest guitarists of all time. To get to this stage of excellence, Timony's process involves writing garbage. "The only thing that works for me is writing a lot of bad stuff I really don't like," she says. Timony writes in the morning then sets it aside. "The most important part of my process is that I have to forget everything I just did, then go about my day. If the song comes back to me, maybe three hours later, then I can judge it. That new person that I am who hasn’t written the song has to judge it. And 99 percent of the time, I don’t like it." All the garbage just gave us one hell of an album. *Here's my recent interview with Carrie Brownstein
- SOJan 23, 2024 · 54 min
Eliza McLamb & Sarah Tudzin
You get two for one in this episode with Eliza McLamb and Sarah Tudzin! Both are songwriters: McLamb's debut album Going Through It is out now, and Tudzin is the founder and frontperson for Illuminati Hotties. We're here this week because Tudzin also produced McLamb's album. But you may also know McLamb as the co-host of the Binchtopia podcast, and I have a feeling you'll be hearing Tudzin's name a couple of times on February 4 because she has three GRAMMY nominations for her work on the boygenius album.
- SOJan 14, 2024 · 49 min
Carrrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney
"Writing is a form of contemplation," says Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney on the podcast. And while it's true that the actual act of putting pen to paper involves contemplating, Brownstein and I agree that the writing process is happening 24/7, not just during the act of transcription. You may not realize it, but you're writing and contemplating as you walk, talk, listen, sleep, eat, watch tv, whatever. But when it comes time for Brownstein to actually put pen to paper, nothing beats a good old cheap couch she found on Craigslist. As you'll hear, it's the cheapness that makes it such an important part of her ritual. Sleater-Kinney's latest album Little Rope is fantastic. *Here's my 2010 interview with Corin Tucker.
- SOJan 1, 2024 · 50 min
Josh Radnor
"When I write songs, I put on a miner's light and try to make it around the next corner." Josh Radnor found fame playing Ted Mosby on "How I Met Your Mother," but he's also a terrific songwriter (and stage actor) with a new album Eulogy: Volume 1. Radnor stops by the podcast as we take a deep dive into his songwriting process. We talk about how his creative process as an actor intersects with his songwriting process, why he often starts with a lyrical idea and not a melody, and why procrastination can be a very good thing. Oh, and how food poisoning can give rise to a great song.
- SODec 19, 2023 · 47 min
Jaime Wyatt
I was already a Jaime Wyatt fan before we talked, but our shared affinity for the poet E.E. Cummings made this episode even more fun. I also knew this would be a good convo after reading an Instagram post where Wyatt declared, "I love words. And language. Always been a word nerd and love phrases that have dual meanings." Amazing! Wyatt's latest album Feel Good is out now on New West Records.