Songwriters on Process

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. 

Tim Kasher's latest solo album is called MIDDLING AGE. The Cursive frontman explains why he's a "militant reader" and why he doesn't subscribe to the Hemingway credo of "write first, read later." But does he believe that you should always write when you're hungry? Listen for the answer to that, and hear why he thinks songwriters always sing about "walkin' down the street."

“I’m better at writing songs after I’ve processed an emotion. I have to let myself feel an emotion before I can write about it.”—Katie Pruitt.

"I write the best when I’m not putting pressure on myself to write about what’s happening around me.”—Molly Tuttle.

For Pruitt and Tuttle, dreams are an especially fruitful time for song ideas: both women have been awoken in the middle of the night by incredible melodies running through their head. (And as you’ll also hear, one of those daytime melodies actually caused a car crash.)

Katie Pruitt's debut album Expectations (Rounder Records) came out in 2020, and it's one of my favorite albums of that year. Molly Tuttle released her debut When You’re Ready (Compass Records) in 2019. In 2017, Tuttle was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year award. She won the award in 2018 too, when she was also named the Americana Music Association's Instrumentalist of the Year.

"The more evolved periods of my life are when I’m journaling. My journal is a backbone to my life, a conversation with my subconscious. It makes for a healthy mind and spirit.” For Grammy winner Paula Cole, the songwriting process is deeply contemplative and kinesthetic.

But journaling is just one part of Cole’s very kinesthetic writing process. “I feel it in my body,” she told me. “It’s like feeling creatively pregnant.” Cole uses movement to bear those songs. They come from walking, swimming, gardening, and dancing (to Donna Summer, natch). Even the keyboard plays a role: the deeper the key travel, the better. And then there’s this advice she gives to songwriters: “Drink drink drink, pee pee pee.” (This interview is from April 2021.)