Much has been made of the influence that artists like Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, and Phil Spector have had on the Postelles' songs. Singer and songwriter Daniel Balk's affinity for these bands is genuine: after all, how many singers in their 20s listen to Motown to rid themselves of writer's block? But what I found most interesting is that Balk counts Woody Allen's writing as a big influence. Certainly this is unique among the songwriters I've interviewed, but it makes sense: Woody Allen's writing (books like Without Feathers and Side Effects) is filled with hilarious one-liners. And the success of a one-liner depends on the weight of the words: none can be wasted, and all must be relevant. (Hence why it's a one-liner.) Balk's songwriting process follows a similar routine in that every word counts. He likes his lyrics to be clever with a touch of irony, and the importance he places on them is reflected in that fact that he sends the lyrics to his bandmates for their opinion.
The Postelles deput album is out June 7 on +1 Records. Read my interview with Daniel Balk after the video.
I used to, but at this point I focus on songwriting. When I have time to do anything else creative, I always start thinking about songwriting. I used to write short stories, and I still do a little, but I only do that if I get bored with songwriting, which is rare.
Do you turn to those stories when you are struggling or in a rut?
I wouldn't say struggling, but I went through a phase when I wrote short stories when the band wasn't together after high school. We all met in high school, and after that Dave and John went to college for a year. That year, I was trying other things to expand my creative outlook on everything. But when they came back to New York, it was full on songwriting.
You talk about short stories, so I have to ask: how much reading do you get done now?
It's nice being on tour, though I have trouble reading on the road in a moving vehicle. The last tour we were on I read Keith Richards' book Life. And I flew through that. It was great. He's actually a beautiful writer; there were some letters he wrote to his mother as a young kid that were really great. That was my last read.
Does what you read influence your songwriting, when it comes to constructing words on the page?
Yeah. The biggest influence on me lyrically as a songwriter is Woody Allen. I've always been fascinated by how he writes about the most depressing moments in his life but always has a laugh at the end. And bands like the Kinks, the Beatles, and Dylan mix humor with the sadness. Woody Allen has always done that with his writing and his films, and that's my favorite way of writing. I try that in every song, even if it's a song about a breakup. There's always a little bit of irony or humor.
Do you have a somewhat typical songwriting process? Do you start with the lyrics or the music?
It's rarely ever lyrics first, because I want to think of them in the whole context of the song. Every once in a while, I start with a clever line, but usually I wait until the end to write the lyrics. Songs usually start with a basic melody in my head by accident. I'll be walking around, and all of the sudden the melody appears. And I run to a guitar immediately to put the chord progression together. The best songs come out of nowhere, where for a split second you aren't thinking and it just creeps in.
But it depends on so much. When I write a song alone and it isn't there yet, I need the rest of the band to help push it out of me. They might come up with a riff, and that gets another melody going. Those are the best moments: in a rehearsal space with the other guys when we all look at each other and know that what's there is exactly what we were going for.
You mention a melody just popping into your head, but do you ever wonder if there's a common element to your environment when that happens? Are those moments really that random?
I think a lot of time it's about listening to a song that then just sits there for two days afterwards without you even knowing. Then something comes out of that song, almost subconsciously. Or someone says something at a bar that you don't even really notice, but it sits in the back of your head and days later, when you are alone, it comes out. If you think too much about what someone says and think, "I'm gonna write a song about that," it seems forced. And I think that can lead to writer's block. I have this idea that writing music is like filling up a glass of water. If you have an empty glass, it's perfect. But when you get to the top, you have to stop and let it out again. That's the best time to write music: when you're least expecting it.
Do you make a conscious effort to seek inspiration? A lot of veteran songwriters, like Chris Difford, tell me that you have to go out and seek it.
I totally agree with that. But you can find it anywhere, whether it's traveling across the world or siting in your bed.
photo courtesy of Big Hassle
For example, Andy McCluskey of OMD goes to art galleries. But some people think the muse just washes over them, so they just wait for it to come.
I love going to galleries and seeing how other artists create. I wouldn't say that Woody Allen directly influences me to write a song. That only rarely happens. I'm probably of the John Lennon style of writing. He said he was the laziest person in the world and could stay in bed all day. I can't do that, but I tend to write a lot of songs alone. It's not like the moment of inspiration for me is when I'm with a bunch of people in an art gallery discussing the art.
I live in New York City, and often I'll leave the city to be by myself in the countryside in the middle of nowhere. That's a huge time for me to create. There are ideas every day in the city, since there's so much going on. And when you leave is the time when they come out. Being alone is great for me.
Does the role of motion play a part in your creative process?
No question. I'm bad with technology. All my friends have Pro Tools and cool gadgets like that, and I have nothing. But I have my phone, and I always get a melody in my head when I'm walking on the street that I record into my phone. Two times stick out my head. Once when I was on a plane on the way back from Paris, the melody for the song "Looking Glass" came into my head. I wrote the entire song on the plane with our drummer sleeping on my shoulder. I think I still have that recording, and you can hear the plane engine. The other time, I wrote the melody for "Can't Stand Still" while in a cab going to Mercury Lounge to see a show. Just as I was getting out of the cab, the melody came into my head.
What do you do when you get writer's block?
I start listening to old records. Once when I was blocked I went through the entire singles collection of the Motown era. Sometimes I'll sing an old melody from a Supremes song, then I'll twist it, then twist it again a little more, and then I'm not blocked. I may not use it in the end, but it gets me back on track. So if you have writer's block, listen to someone else, someone you love. Start playing their music, and you'll get something out of it.
Would you call yourself disciplined writer?
I never ever plan my day around writing a song or say that I am going to write from 2 to 4pm, for example. That's how you get writer's block. That just forces it. I think it's best to wait until you have that urge, but if you really love to play music, you'll get that urge a lot. If you're sitting around with a guitar, or out to dinner and you get the urge to play the piano, that's when you should do it.
When do you write songs?
I like to do it late at night. I'm more of a night person. I'll stay up way later than anyone else and write. I have hundreds of personal recordings of me whispering lyrics into a computer since I can't wake anyone up that late. David, our guitarist, makes fun of me because I send him demos with what he calls my "sleeping voice."
Why do so many artists like to create when everyone else is asleep?
It's a time when we can't be interrupted. I do know that when I write during the day and someone comes into the room, I have this stupid temper tantrum because I think the whole world should stop while I write a song. Which, of course, is silly. At night, that can't happen. Also, I think it's the fact that no one is listening and there's no insecurity. You're not vulnerable.
How important is it for you to start and finish a song in the same sitting?
That's changed for me. It depends on the song. If it's a catchy song with a great hook, I want to finish it as soon as possible. But if it's a ballad, I want to let it sit. I used to think "verse, chorus, bridge" when I wrote. It was mechanical. But now, songs don't have to have that booming chorus or in-your-face verse. As long as it flows, that's fine. The early Beatles are a great example of that. A lot of their songs don't have choruses. If you start writing a song, just let it happen. There should be no pressure. Unless you're on a major label. Laughs.
What have you learning about your creative process from your bandmates?
I've learned that I can be really controlling and can get easily frustrated. If I write an entire song and show it to the band, I sometimes act as if they were in the room when I was writing it, and if they don't get it, I get really angry. That's a flaw. I'm not patient enough. But I've also learned that the best songs in this band come when we are jamming out. Recently, we've been going more in that direction.
What was the easiest song on this album to write?
The easiest was probably "Stella." I think I might have written that song in the same amount it takes to play. We were in a rehearsal space in Connecticut. We wanted to leave the city to write, because New York can be so distracting.
What was the hardest song?
There's a ton, but with "1-2-3 Stop," I had the melody for the verse for maybe a year and a half before the song happened. I loved the melody, but it was never the right time because I couldn't get it to work with the chorus or any part of the song. All the sudden one day, David played a great riff then a simple blues progression, just a basic scale, and I think I sang the melody as a joke. And we all looked at each other and realized that was it. That was a year and a half after writing the melody. "Can't Stand Still" was much the same way.
How much revision do you do to your lyrics?
I write a first draft and let it all come out. Then I wait a bit and read each line. With some of them, I realize they are horrible because I've just rhymed random words. I want every line to be something. It has to be clever. So the first draft has a lot of rhyming, then I go over it and take it to Billy. I read it to him. My lyrics always go through a few drafts.
When you say every line has to be clever, that's a lot to live up to. Seems like it could make the writing process exhausting.
Yeah, but that's the Woody Allen influence. I like to write lyrics that make you smile if you read them because they're clever. But it is exhausting.
There's nothing worse, though, than people who think they are clever writers when they really aren't. That's when a good editor comes into play.
You're totally right. And that's why other band members read the lyrics and tell me when they're stupid. John gets it a lot, since he is a great writer. He writes short stories all the time. I love when he reads a line and smiles. That's when I know it's good.
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