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.

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202 episodes
Updated July 27
Explicit

Episodes202

Newest first

Nov 29, 2023 · 46 min
Buffalo Nichols
"The times when I'm writing the most are when I'm reading a lot," Carl "Buffalo" Nichols says on today's podcast. And wow is this true: you cannot be a writer of any stripe unless you read. Nichols likes to read voices that he cannot relate to. He mentions writers like Flannery O' Connor and H.L. Mencken, as well as books like A Clockwork Orange and A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He didn't even like them all, but he still felt that hearing those voices makes him a better writer. So on this episode we talk about how reading makes him a better songwriter, why being tired and cranky makes him a good editor, and why he likes to stop writing when he knows he still has something left in the tank. Nichols' latest album The Fatalist is out now on Fat Possum Records.
Nov 8, 2023 · 54 min
Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses
Duff McKagan's latest solo album Lighthouse is dedicated to Cormac McCarthy, which is no surprise given the importance McKagan places on reading. The Guns N' Roses bassist reads without fail every day, so you get some great book recommendations in this episode of the podcast. McKagan doesn't just read for pleasure; he reads to make himself a better person. There's a great post on his Insta page of McKagan in the stacks at the Library of Congress, and he is one happy man in that photo. You'll also learn in this episode why McKagan still has to write lyrics on a Blackberry, how he wrote one song in his head while carrying his dog, and why the New York Times crossword is a part of his daily ritual.
Oct 27, 2023 · 54 min
Jonny Pierce of The Drums
Jonny Pierce says that The Drums’ new album Jonny is “a little less practice, a little more mess.” That messiness finally made songwriting enjoyable for him because for a long time, it wasn’t. “I never loved songwriting. I was never the type of songwriter who couldn’t wait to get to the studio,” Pierce says on the podcast. It was always something stressful, he said, because he equated it with literal survival. But now Pierce is trying something different: the mess. Which includes, as you’ll hear, slithering down walls. And he’s much happier for it. Jonny is out on ANTI- records.
Oct 12, 2023 · 44 min
Clem Creevy of Cherry Glazerr
“I’m allergic to routine. I wake up and follow all my whims and desires. But inspiration strikes every couple of days, and when it does you don’t want to be around me because I have a one track mind,” Clem Creevy of Cherry Glazerr says. That applies even when Creevy’s on a date: she once rolled over in bed and starting singing a beat into her phone, much to the confusion of her bedmate. But when she’s not getting inspired in bed, many of Creevy’s songs start on the bass. She likes windowless rooms and prefers a messy ball point pen for her lyrics. Creevy also finds inspiration while driving, but unlike most songwriters it’s not the solitude that does it. In fact, horrible LA traffic puts her in state of zen. “I love that kind of energy when I’m in a situation that seems scary and hard.” Cherry Glazerr’s latest album "I Don’t Want You Anymore" is out now on Secretly Canadian.
Sep 28, 2023 · 38 min
Genesis Owusu
Genesis Owusu is the first songwriter to cite Samuel Beckett’s "Waiting for Godot" and Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" as influences. Owusu stops by the podcast to talk about why he's such a huge fan of Beckett and Kafka, what it means to be a "selfish" songwriter, and why he never trusts lyrics that take too long to write. I saw Owusu this summer when he opened for Paramore. What a live show. And his music blows me away; I'm a huge fan. Owusu’s latest album Struggler is out now.
Sep 16, 2023 · 52 min
Devendra Banhart
"If you're writing alone, you're still collaborating," Devendra Banhart says on this episode of the podcast. I love that idea: even in solitary writing, you're always running ideas by yourself. Is it the unconscious against the conscious? Reminds me of the time Matt Nathanson told me that he calls his writing partner "The Assassin." What you can't see in the podcast is that behind Banhart was an entire wall of floor to ceiling books as we talked. You can't be a good (song)writer unless you read. No exceptions. And I loved our discussion of why poetry is so important. Banhart's latest album Flying Wig is out September 22.
Sep 10, 2023 · 57 min
M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger
“Surprising yourself is the only way to stay inspired,” M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger says in this episode of the podcast. This is the second time I've interviewed Taylor, and here are three things I love about him: He's still the only songwriter in thirteen years of this site to discuss his love for haiku and how it influences his process. The thoughtful pause before he responds makes for some incredible answers. Everyone in the Taylor family--MC, wife, and kids--starts their day reading and ends their day reading (not collectively). HGM's latest album Jump for Joy is out now on Merge Records.
Aug 28, 2023 · 52 min
Blondshell
Sabrina Teitelbaum (aka Blondshell) wants more joy in her songs. But that can be a problem because happiness is not a productive state for her songwriting process. "When I'm happy, I don't feel the need to write as much," she told me. No matter her emotional state, though, the key Teitelbaum's fruitful songwriting process is not making it look too much like a process. The more precious she makes the process, the harder it can be to write. "Normalizing it makes me more productive," she says. For example, Teitelbaum often finds herself inspired at inopportune times, like when she's rushing to get somewhere. Yet some awareness of what works is important too, which is why I love the perfect balance in her credo: "Know your process but respect the mystery." Blondshell's self-titled debut album is out now on Partisan Records. It's really, really good.
Aug 23, 2023 · 49 min
Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads
At some point in my interview with Jerry Harrison, guitarist and keyboardist for Talking Heads, I asked him to respond to a quote by the iconic Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Harrison told me that Ginsberg was a friend. And that is why he is Jerry Harrison. Talking Heads are one of the most influential acts of the past 50 years. Call it new wave, art pop, post punk, whatever: any act with that label can at least partially thank Talking Heads. This conversation centers not just on the writing process--Harrison loves felt tip pens because of the "scraping feeling," by the way--but on literature. We talked extensively about prose and poetry, which should tell you something. Great musical artists are voracious readers. As for the writing ritual, Harrison said, "The rituals are a way for our minds to accept that we're writing. They create signals of positive reinforcement as a way of saying, 'There are no excuses since I'm in my writing space.'" Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense is considered one of the greatest concert films, and in September it's being re-released in 4k. The band will reunite for the first time in 21 years for a Q&A with Spike Lee at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11. ED NOTE: yes, it's "Talking Heads," not "The Talking Heads."
Aug 17, 2023 · 49 min
Jenny Owen Youngs
Jenny Owen Youngs had me at "Shitty First Drafts." This is the Anne Lamott essay espousing the idea that the first draft of anything is supposed to be atrocious. Just get it down, dammit. "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts," Lamott writes. The polish comes later. I always assigned this essay to my students when I was a professor. The challenge comes when you're a parent, as Youngs is. (We have four kids, so I know the feeling.) How do you even find the time to create multiple drafts and feel like you're not wasting your time by intentionally writing a terrible one? As you'll hear, the shitty first draft method is not only a more efficient process, but when your time is no longer your own, you become a much more efficient writer. So a win all around. Youngs's new album Avalanche is fantastic and is out September 22 on Yep Roc Records.
Jul 28, 2023 · 45 min
Bethany Cosentino
ED note: I mispronounced Cosentino’s name in the podcast intro: the first “o” should be long (as in snow), but I used a short “o” (as in top). I’m sorry Bethany! If you have plans to meet Bethany Cosentino and she’s late, look outside. There’s a good chance she’s there writing. Cosentino loves to write in her car—when it’s not moving, of course. She gets great ideas just sitting in it. “I’ll be late to things because I’ve been sitting in my car for too long. I’ll get there early or on time and then just sit there,” she told me on this episode of the podcast. This is my third time interviewing Cosentino (the others were 2010 and 2015). Each has been so enjoyable because her answers were always different and always so expansive. There’s a reason for that: each album embraces a different process. Cosentino wrote one in front of a TV on mute and another in front of a big window. She wrote a good chunk of her debut solo album Natural Disaster on the floor.
Jul 19, 2023 · 45 min
John McCauley & Ian O'Neil of Deer Tick
John McCauley and Ian O’Neil of Deer Tick stop by talk about what makes for an effective songwriting process. In no particular order: laundry rooms, a kitchen, a nice rug, running shoes, recumbent bikes, Raymond Carver, and turn signals. Deer Tick’s latest album is Emotional Contracts, out now on ATO Records.
Jul 3, 2023 · 40 min
Emile Mosseri
Academy Award nominee Emile Mosseri stops by the podcast to talk about the challenges that come with writing a solo album when all you’ve known is collaboration (his time in The Dig) and film & television composing (like his film score for Minari , for which he received a 2021 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score). We talk about why he likes to write when he’s not supposed to be writing, why having a child is often good for his process, and why social media is never good for it. Mosseri’s debut solo album Heaven Hunters is out now on Greedy Heart Records.
Jun 16, 2023 · 47 min
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter stops by Songwriters on Process to declare that while we like to think he writes with a quill pen, he actually writes almost all of his lyrics on his phone. That's a first: many songwriters tell me they write on a computer, but Ritter eschews even that because he prefers the spontaneity that his phone provides. Ritter's latest album is Spectral Lines, out now.
Jun 5, 2023 · 49 min
Jess Williamson
"I'm pretty much always thinking about lyrics every day of my life." That quote represents the energy that Jess Williamson brings to this episode of the podcast. Her level of introspection and enthusiasm made this conversation so much fun. But what happens when you're always thinking about songwriting and you can't write a song? Williamson discusses the anxiety she felt during a year-long songwriting draught that lasted for all of 2022 and even into 2023. It eventually broke one day when she "threw the capo on the sixth fret, started playing some chords, and that was it." Williamson's new album is called Time Ain't Accidental, out June 9 on Mexican Summer Records. In 2022, Williamson and Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee formed Plains and put out their debut album I Walked With You a Ways.
May 14, 2023 · 52 min
Etta Friedman & Allegra Weingarten of Momma
"We don't write on lined paper. That's a big no-no." This episode with Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten of Momma goes deep. We dig into the whys of the writing process, not just the hows. We also discuss, for example, why mundane activities are never good for their creative process--a pretty unique answer among the songwriters I've interviewed. Most tell me that walking stimulates the writing process, but not these two: they use mundane activities like walking as a means to escape, not to create. I LOVE this band. Love them. Their 2022 album Household Name was one of my favorites of 2022 and heck even 2023. I am a huge fan, so this conversation was a blast.
May 2, 2023 · 40 min
Dave Lombardo of Slayer, Testament, Mr. Bungle
"A washing machine with a clumpy pair of shoes can be a beautiful thing." Legendary drummer Dave Lombardo, a founding member of Slayer, finds beauty in the mundane. And also in the annoying: "Even the rhythm of a jackhammer and the bumps in a road can be inspiring," he says in the latest Songwriters on Process podcast. Lombardo's debut solo album Rites of Percussion (Ipecac Recordings) is an instrumental effort consisting entirely of percussive instruments. What kind? Here's the list: two drum sets (single and double bass kits), a large concert bass drum, a timpani, a grand piano, and a flock of shakers, maracas, Chinese and symphonic gongs, Native American drums, congas, timbales, bongos, batás, wood blocks, djembes, ibos, darbukas, octobans, cajóns, and cymbals.
Apr 20, 2023 · 52 min
Joseph
Sisters Natalie, Allison, and Meegan from Joseph talk about their individual and collective songwriting processes in this episode. And in that discussion, they each learn something about the others that they didn't know! Joseph's new album The Sun is out April 28 on ATO Records.
Apr 11, 2023 · 41 min
Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats/Bonny Light Horseman
"I'm a wrong hallway person. I like to make wrong turns." Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats and Bonny Light Horseman makes a lot of mistakes. And that's a good thing, he says, because that's when the good stuff happens. "The excitement is in the mistakes," he says. "The song is a house, and sometimes you walk into the wrong room." Johnson's talking in metaphors, of course, but his literal rooms need to be a place of chaos too. The room where he writes starts off clean, but by the end there's stuff everywhere: cables, papers, notebooks, assorted musical accessories strewn all about. "The room has to be neat to start, but the good stuff happens when the room is a disaster." The Fruit Bats' new album A River Running to Your Heart is out April 14 on Merge Records. Listen now to my latest episode with Eric D. Johnson!
Mar 29, 2023 · 59 min
Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) and H.C. McEntire
"I've written whole songs on dog walks," says Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls. "I write a lot when I'm on the lawnmower, says H.C. McEntire. What a great time this was listening to these two friends and fantastic songwriters go deep into their songwriting processes. For Ray, it involves writing five times a week for no more than two hours a day. For McEntire, it involves cork boards. We also discuss our shared love for Anne Lamott and Sharon Olds. Catch them on on tour together this May.