A few weeks ago, I completed the composition and demo-level production of 25 song tracks (https://lnkd.in/ga4cDgDs), and plan to go into the studio later this year. I started this journey about 18 months ago; my goal was to write a single song. Here a few lessons and thoughts.
1. Make the things you want to exist in the world. Even if nobody ever listens to a song I wrote, I still always have it for myself. To play, to listen to, to take me back to the time that I wrote it. A song is a creation to share with others, but ultimately it’s a gift to yourself.
2. Creativity doesn’t just happen. It arises from a deliberate process. Some days nothing good happens. But it is impossible to catch a fish if you don’t drop a line in the pond.
3. It’s impossible to predict when the good idea, riff, couplet, will come. Keep something to jot it down at all times. I’ve used voice memos to sing a melody that has popped into my head on a run. I carry a notebook at all times.
4. Don’t hold your first draft to the standard of someone else’s finished product.
5. There is always something new to learn. It’s a firehose: lyrics, instrumentation, arrangement, skill in playing an instrument, and even production and performance. This is both overwhelming and a blessing. If I am feeling left brained, I work on production. If I am feeling right brained, I work on composition. Some days, I work on playing the instrument.
6. It takes time to find your voice, your sound, and your audience.
7. Not everything you make will be good. A lot of it will, in fact, be bad. That is OK; it is completely part of the process.
8. Surround yourself with good people. I’ve found it helpful to have three types of people in my circle of artists: supporters, thoughtful critics, and teachers. Sometimes one person can fill more than one of these roles.
9. Finish the song. Many times I’ve felt stuck, or that I don’t like the song, but I force myself to finish it anyway. Sometimes the finished product really surprises me, far exceeding my expectations. An unfinished song is useless. Better done than perfect.
10. The only standards that matter are the ones you set for yourself.
11. Be curious about the world around you. Ask questions. Meet people. Have experiences. Make connections. Be interested. Interested people are interesting and tend to have interesting things to say and write about.
12. Aim to create just beyond your skill level, and simultaneously work on improving your skills. Some real magic often happens in the liminal space just beyond your current skill level where your brain doesn’t enforce all of the “rules”.
13. Share your art. One of my most fulfilling experiences as a songwriter is when someone tells me how much a song I wrote spoke to them. It’s a uniquely deep form of human connection.
14. Virtuosity is not the same as emotion, and the latter makes the song.
15. Play does not take away from work; it is essential for good work.
16. The next 25 songs will be better.
Inspiring list, thanks. I myself am collecting these bits of wisdom as a side quest of my interviews with artists of different mediums
This is a great list. I have written a lot of songs and recorded 2 albums and performed hundreds of shows but I'm getting back into it after an extended break (career, child-rearing, etc). I feel like a beginner again in some ways. Anyways, thanks for sharing this and I think it is spot on.