"Melodic math" describes an extremely analytical approach to songwriting. Martin shares how he developed his own method of melodic math and incorporated it into his melody-writing process, to varying degrees of success.  .....  The two books discussed in this episode are "The Song Machine: Inside The Hit Factory" by John Seabrook and "The Sense of Music" by Victor Zuckerkandl. ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music.

Why are so many songs about romantic relationships? Kate Cosentino, artist-songwriter, joins the pod to help answer this question, as well as share her experience writing both romantic and non-romantic songs. ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music. ....... Citation for journal article: Christenson PG, de Haan-Rietdijk S, Roberts DF, ter Bogt TFM. What has America been singing about? Trends in themes in the U.S. top-40 songs: 1960–2010. Psychology of Music. 2019;47(2):194-212.

Martin talks about applying to get into the songwriting program at Belmont University over and over and over again ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music.

Martin shares his story of searching for colleges that offered majors in songwriting, and then applying to those schools by submitting original songs. ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music.

Janna Jamison (alt-pop artist) and Martin talk about their opinions on the 2021 Grammy Awards: Is Beyoncé overrated? Did Taylor Swift deserve to win Album of the Year? How did the 2021 awards handle issues of racial representation and diversity? ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music. ..... EDIT: Beyoncé has the most Grammy awards out of any female artist.

Janna Jamison (alt-pop artist) and Martin talk about their opinions on the 2021 Grammy Awards: Is Beyoncé overrated? Did Taylor Swift deserve to win Album of the Year? How did the 2021 awards handle issues of racial representation and diversity? ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music.

What is the meaning of ice? Is ice really just frozen water? How does the nature of the frozen substance affect the individual's relationship to the experience with the ice? ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast that is abbreviated to ESANOIS, because it looks more visually appealing in my opinion than ESANOI (which would technically be correct).

Martin explains how he once spent 350 hours writing a song, describing that process step-by-step. DISCLAIMER: I do not recommend this songwriting method. It was highly inefficient, and I do not use it anymore. The purpose of sharing this story is just to reflect on my own personal journey. ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music.

Liam Salziger (composer/producer) joins the podcast to talk about MELODY. Liam and Martin experiment with creating melodies on the spot, and discuss the source of their melodic ideas. ..... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music. ..... Lyrics: Where is all this coming from / Is it deep within my mind / Or little fragments here and there / That I collected over time?

Martin shares the story of how his life transformed after he made the choice to focus on songwriting instead of performing. .... Everyone's Special and No One Is is a podcast about obscure, misunderstood, and/or controversial topics related to music.