Introducing… Funkus Maximus
Anyone that knows me knows that I love funk music. As a bass player I almost think it’s somehow my duty to devote some of my playing, practising and songwriting time to the dark arts of FUNK. As I mentioned in a previous post “How Music Has Shaped My Life (So Far…)” I was part…
One Songwriter’s Trash Is Another Songwriter’s Treasure
You would’ve guessed by now through reading my posts that I’m a real fan of the songwriting process and the many ways that a song can be created. I’m also a great believer in not throwing any songwriting ideas away, no matter how small, bland, banal, silly or trivial you might think they are. Now…
The Illusion Of Songwriting Perfection
I remember chatting to a songwriter friend of mine a while ago about the pain he was experiencing when writing songs. He said to me that he was great at starting songs but really lousy at finishing them (well, aren’t we all). He also told me his main philosophy for his songwriting process and to…
50 Songs In 90 Days… Can I Do It?
With today being the 4th of July I’ll again be participating in this years 50/90 Songwriting Challenge as I have done for the last 11 years. Sometimes I do think that I’m batshit CRAZY. For those of you that have no idea what I’m talking about, the 50/90 Songwriting Challenge (also known as 50/90) requires the participant to write 50…
Recording Old Songs With New Ears
While going through my song archives some time ago I noticed that I have a lot of songs written in the very early days of my musical journey that would never see the light of day. However, I still remember how these songs go in my head as if I’d written them yesterday. I thought…
Songwriting Tips – 10 Of The Best From David Foster
When accepting his BMI Icon award in 2010, songwriter David Foster gave a speech which was more like a ten commandments for all songwriters to live by. Here are those ten songwriting tips in a nutshell: Save your moneyDon’t get marriedLearn an instrumentDon’t be too precious about your songsBe genuinely happy for someone else’s successPhone people backGive your career everything…
Songwriting – The More You Know, The More You Need To Learn
In order to master the craft of songwriting you must first fully embrace the fact that there’s always something to learn about it. The more you know, the more you need to learn. I know of some songwriters that are either bored or restless with their craft. They complain that everything that they do all…
Songwriting Process: Oblique Strategies With Brian Eno
Here is a very interesting video I found recently of one of my favourite musicians and sound artists of all time, Brian Eno being interviewed by Jools Holland in 2001. In the video, Eno talks about the concept of his Oblique Strategies cards and how they can be of immense help to songwriters, performers, studio musicians and even brain surgeons. Speaking…
Some Things To Think About When Writing Songs
Sometimes writing songs is a linear experience. You come across a possible song title that jumps out at you and after writing the first line of the first verse, a first draft is suddenly completed from start to finish. Sometimes writing songs is a puzzle solving exercise. You take a piece here, a song title…
Songwriting – The Blank Page Is Your Friend
Just think, as songwriters, every time we write a song we start off with a blank page. It sits there and it waits patiently for us to pick up our pen and pour out our songwriting ideas from our hearts and minds onto its surface however, a blank page can mean one of two things to…