Interviews

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What struck me most about my conversation with Ritzy Bryan--the lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter for The Joy Formidable--was the dichotomy of her creative process. On one hand, it's an abstract idea: she uses words like imagination, inspiration, and mind, all of which are channeled through her stream-of-consciousness writing process. And yet she explains all of this so well. It's not easy to talk about vague concepts like these so concretely, but it's a testament to her intelligence and metacognition that she has such a handle on her creative process. Of course, it also helps that she devours books: the back lounge of the band's tour bus is a mini-library.

The Joy Formidable is legendary for their incessant touring schedule. This means that Bryan does a lot of writing on the road, and she can't worry about finding that right moment to write. She describes her writing process--even her actual words on the page--as "chaotic." Bryan never, ever forces the writing process; setting aside time to write, she says, will ruin her creativity. And like any good writer, she recognizes that a large part of her creative process involves soaking up every part of her environment and finding inspiration everywhere, because, in her words, "there's so much variety, even in the most mundane day-to-day schedule." As a result, her songbook is a "mixture of more fully-realized poems and very chaotic words: just word combinations, wordplay, and imagery."

Alternative, Dream Pop, Indie, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Post PunkBen OpipariMay 27, 2013ritzy bryan, the joy formidable Comment

Tim Kasher, Cursive

Tim Kasher of Cursive is a multidisciplinary writer: he writes songs, but he also writes screenplays and short stories. It's no surprise that the process of songwriting and the process of writing long form pieces influence each other. What does surprise me, though, is that the process of the former has made him more disciplined when it comes to the latter: Kasher has long been able to sit for long stretches and write songs, something that's more common to fiction writers. Then again, Kasher's songwriting process is somewhat unconventional: this a guy whose ideas come best in the morning after a good night's sleep. That's rare among the 120+ songwriters I've interviewed, most of whom say they work best in the late hours of the night. The phrase "in the morning after a good night's sleep" is not often associated with indie songwriters.

Alternative, Folk Rock, Indie Rock, Saddle Creek RecordsBen OpipariJune 14, 2012cursive, i am gemini, saddle creek, tim kasherComment

Catherine Pierce, The Pierces

The sisters Catherine and Allison Pierce make up The Pierces. With a musician for a father and a painter for a mother, they've been around some form of art all their lives, so it's no surprise that Catherine has always been creative. She writes songs, she loves to paint, she's an accomplished ballerina, and she's even a creative writer. When it comes to inspiration, she takes the active route; in her words, she's "always looking for the muse." As a result, the initial inspiration for a song doesn't come from a melody; instead, it usually comes from a random line that pops into her head. The inspiration for their song "Secrets," for example, came from a Ben Franklin quote that she saw on a t-shirt in a restaurant.

Psych Rock, Pop, AlternativeBen OpipariApril 19, 2012allison pierce, birmingham, catherine pierce, coldplay, secrets, the pierces Comments

Craig Finn, The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady will begin writing material for their sixth album over the next few months. But Craig Finn, the band's lyricist, has probably been writing that material for a long time. As any good writer knows, the key to become a good writer is daily practice, just like the key to being good at anything is practice. So Finn makes a point to write every day in his journals. Though he tries to write a song each day, a lot of what he writes is reflection: what he did that day, his thoughts on the movie he saw, or what he thinks about the book he just read. When he does write a song, he does what good writers do: he lets it sit for a while, untouched, then comes back to it later when he has a new perspective.

Vagrant Records, Alternative, Indie Rock, Post Punk, Partisan Records, InfluencersBen OpipariAugust 25, 2011crag finn, the hold steadyComment

Chris Collingwood, Fountains of Wayne

My family and I lived in upstate New York for four years, from 2002 to 2006, before we beat a hasty retreat back to our hometown of Washington, DC. We lived in the small town of Hamilton, New York, near Syracuse, where winters can start in October and end in May. The snow never ends and the cold is unrelenting (we had 190 inches of snow our last winter there). Yes, the countryside is beautiful, and the other three seasons are sublime--but they are far too short to really enjoy.

For some writers, this situation is ideal. The forced isolation (unless you have snowshoes) and creative output go hand in hand: armed with bottomless hot chocolate, a pen, and a not unreasonable desire to stay warm, you can really crank out the words. Pete Yorn, for instance, told me that if it weren't for the brutally cold winters during his undergrad days at Syracuse University, he may not have become a songwriter.

Alternative, Pop, Power Pop, Yep Roc Records, InfluencersBen OpipariJuly 25, 2011chris collingwood, fountains of wayne, sky full of holes Comments

Matt Embree, RX Bandits

The RX Bandits sound fuses elements of rock, reggae, ska, and jazz. Their multi-dimensional approach should come as no surprise, though, once you understand the creative process of songwriter Matt Embree. He writes all the time, and not just songs: Embree is an avid poet. And like any good poet, he finds inspiration everywhere. He doesn't necessarily seek out inspiration, but he puts himself in situations where it comes easily: he's gone on a 2,000 mile motorcycle ride, and he's hitchhiked all throughout Central America. When you engage with your environment as much as Embree does - whether it's the physical environment of the wilderness or the people in a small village in Costa Rica - inspiration is easy to come by. And the songs that are the product of that creative process are rich in their influences.

RX Bandits are now on their farewell summer tour, though according to band member Steve Choi, they aren't breaking up. Rather, they are just doing their last tour. So have no fear, RX Bandits fans, they will not disappear.

Sargent House Records, Psych Rock, AlternativeBen OpipariJuly 1, 2011matt embree, rx bandits Comment

Jimmy Chamberlin, Smashing Pumpkins

Ah, the life of the rock star: adoring fans, packed gigs, fame, global travel, and . . . Montessori schools? Such is the happy life of Jimmy Chamberlin. He's been involved in music for 38 years, most famously as the drummer for the Smashing Pumpkins and most recently with his new band Skysaw. His time as a musician has given him a unique perspective on the role of the songwriter in society, a role that transcends merely traveling from city to city playing music. For Chamberlin, it's much bigger than that.

According to him, the songwriter, like any other writer, has a duty to "put the sophistication back in society." Chamberlin does his part: he reads constantly, often three or four books at a time, and makes sure that his young children see him reading so that they follow suit. As a result, they've become bookworms (his 8 year-old has read The Hobbit). And this brings us to his children's Montessori school, where he sits on the board of directors and champions the importance of reading. Chamberlin's love of the written word is not surprising, given that his favorite writer is Emily Dickinson.

Alternative, RockBen OpipariJune 28, 2011jimmy chamberlin, no one can tell, skysaw Comment

David Kilgour (The Clean, and David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights)

In the late 1970s, David Kilgour formed The Clean, one of the most popular bands in New Zealand and responsible for the development of the punk scene there. The Clean were pioneers of the Dunedin Sound and one of the original signees to Flying Nun Records. Kilgour has long been recognized as one of the biggest (and most respected) songwriters and guitarists to come from New Zealand. But did you know he's also a pretty good painter, a creative outlet that also serves him well as a songwriter?

Merge Records, Flying Nun Records, Alternative, Indie RockBen OpipariMay 31, 2011david kilgour, dunedin sound, flying nun, heavy eights, merge, the clean Comments

Nat Baldwin, Dirty Projectors

Nat Baldwin has two things going for him that are unique among the songwriters I've interviewed. The Dirty Projectors' bassist lives on the coast of Maine, an environment perfectly suited to the ideal writing environment he needs in order to be creative: total seclusion. And his background as a basketball player provides him with the inherent discipline needed to spend hours in such seclusion, immersed in the creative process.

Alternative, Indie, Western Vinyl RecordsBen OpipariMay 17, 2011dirty projectors, nat baldwin, people changes, weightsComment

James Vincent McMorrow

James Vincent McMorrow is nothing if not patient and methodical. A lesser songwriter might be driven crazy by the snail's pace of his writing process: it took McMorrow nearly six months to write his debut Early in the Morning (Vagrant Records). Some days he wrote only a few sentences; on others, just a few words. It would be easy to call this writer's block; after all, if you sit for a whole day and only write five or six sentences, surely your creative spigot is closed.

But this is all part of McMorrow's process, and here's the difference. Any good writer will tell you that their writing process never stops. It's happening when they eat, sleep, talk, stare, read, whatever. The actual pen-to-paper part, the end product, is only a small part of that process. Sure, it's the most gratifying, but it's only one part of many. So it's not that McMorrow writes slowly. (Well, he might, since I've haven't seen the speed of his penmanship.) Instead, he writes deliberately. And he's fine with that.

Singer/Songwriter, Folk, Alternative, Vagrant RecordsBen OpipariApril 26, 2011early in the morning, james vincent mcmorrowComment

Pete Yorn

It's not that often that a songwriter says that majoring in the humanities was the perfect preparation for being a singer/songwriter. But that's what happened for Pete Yorn. He was a speech communications major at Syracuse University (it's now called "communication and rhetorical studies" there). He had planned on going to law school and figured that a major emphasizing public speaking was good preparation. Yorn was "petrified" of getting in front of a group, so the major helped him work through that fear and become comfortable with public performances.

Yorn's college experience honed his songwriting skills in another way. If you've ever spent any time near Syracuse, one image comes to mind: snow. The area is closing in on 200 inches of snow this winter. I spent four years living in the Syracuse area. The cold and snowy winters there are soul-crushing. But ask Yorn about his time as an undergrad at SU, and he'll tell you that if it weren't for all that snow, he might never have become a songwriter. What others might see as limiting--the fact that you can't really go outside--Yorn saw as the perfect opportunity to stay inside and do some writing. "I credit those winters," he says, "as a catalyst to my songwriting."

Alternative, Indie, Indie Folk, Indie Rock, Vagrant Records, Singer/SongwriterBen OpipariMarch 9, 2011black album, pete yorn, vagrant Comment

Bill Janovitz, Buffalo Tom

It's not too often that I get to trade lines of T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" with anyone. So when I had the chance to do that with Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom, I jumped, even though the lines we traded spoke of depressing topics like unrequited love and growing old. Such is the mind of Janovitz, though, an introspective guy whose thoughtful lyrics demand as much attention as the music. Again, not surprising considering Janovitz references Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther in conversation.

Alternative, Power PopBen OpipariMarch 7, 2011arise and watch, bill janovitz- skins, buffalo tom, three easy piecesComment

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