Songwriters on Process
In-depth interviews with songwriters about their songwriting process. That's it. 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.
Episodes
109 episodes since 2020
Jake Duzsik of HEALTH
Here's a sampling of the authors and artists that Jake Duzsik of HEALTH mentioned in our conversation: Pascal, T.S. Eliot, William Blake, Vonnegut, Joan Didion, Truman Capote, Oscar Wilde, Thom...
September 16, 2024
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Episode 109
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1:05:07
Pete Yorn
Does writer's block really exist? Or is it just a reluctance to write the bad stuff? The writer Anthony Doerr once told me that writer's block is just "a failure of courage." Pete Yorn tends to agree. ...
September 09, 2024
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Episode 108
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42:51
Jacob Slater of Wunderhorse
Wunderhorse is why you should always get to the show early to see the support act. I was introduced to Jacob Slater's band when I saw them open for Fontaines D.C. (
September 03, 2024
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Episode 107
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38:30
Kevin Barnes (of Montreal) and Kishi Bashi
It’s always fun to interview two songwriters who have a history together! Before his solo career, Kishi Bashi was a member of Kevin Barnes’ band of Montreal.&nb...
August 26, 2024
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Episode 106
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46:44
Magdalena Bay
Mica Tenenbaum and Matt Lewin of Magdalena Bay love hybrid cars. While I’m sure they appreciate the environmental benefits, it’s the humming sound the cars make that the duo finds inspiring. In fact, the...
August 23, 2024
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Episode 105
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47:04
Eva Hendricks of Charly Bliss
"I'm always writing and always creating. I relate to the world by writing," Eva Hendricks of Charly Bliss told me on the podcast. Besides songwriting, she's written a YA novel and is a big journaler. Hec...
August 15, 2024
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Episode 104
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46:22
Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura
Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura has a superpower: she's able to write entire songs in her head before putting them to paper. If Campbell gets an idea and can't write it down immediately, she'll ...
August 11, 2024
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Episode 103
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55:30
Matthew Koma of Winnetka Bowling League
Matthew Koma of Winnetka Bowling League stops by the podcast to talk about how writing a song is like solving a crossword puzzle, why he doesn't like to dig through discarded melodic and lyrical ideas for...
August 02, 2024
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Episode 102
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44:37
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 vehicl...
July 12, 2024
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Episode 101
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50:00
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 th...
July 02, 2024
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Episode 100
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39:18
Bonny Light Horseman
The circle is complete. I’ve had recent interviews with Anais Mitchell (together with Charlotte Cornfield) and with
June 09, 2024
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Episode 99
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57:19
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...
May 28, 2024
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Episode 98
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58:16
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 voraci...
May 19, 2024
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Episode 97
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50:51
Deerlady
Deerlady is Mali Obomsawin and Magdalena Abrego, and their debut album
May 10, 2024
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Episode 96
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54:04
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 ...
April 28, 2024
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Episode 95
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46:51
Jane Penny (TOPS)
Jane Penny, co-founder of TOPS, makes her solo debut with her fantastic EP Surfacing, out now on
April 15, 2024
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Episode 94
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50:04
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 some...
March 30, 2024
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Episode 93
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47:26
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 dista...
March 24, 2024
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Episode 92
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42:32
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. McG...
March 10, 2024
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Episode 91
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54:22
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 Wel...
March 03, 2024
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Episode 90
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47:24
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 w...
February 20, 2024
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Episode 89
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43:57
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...
February 09, 2024
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Episode 88
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55:48
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. F...
January 30, 2024
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Episode 87
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49:24