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Songwriters on Process

Ben Opipari
Songwriters on Process
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  • Jade Bird
    "I'm realizing how neurotic my process is as I'm talking to you," Jade Bird said, laughing, during our conversation. Indeed, Bird is pretty specific about her writing ritual, which can be intense: she usually takes a walk after writing to relieve back stiffness that comes from hunching over her notebook. And while many songwriters boost their creativity through movement, Bird says that there's nothing like a good nap.Bird's latest album is Who Wants to Talk About Love on Glassnote Records.
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  • Purity Ring
    At some point I told Megan James and Corin Roddick, who compose Purity Ring, that this was the bizarro episode: I'd mention something that a lot of songwriters do, and they told me that they actually did the opposite. But that's why I love this band because the music they create is so incredibly unique.Their latest album is the self-titled Purity Ring.
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  • The Swell Season
    Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová of The Swell Season feel no need to write every day. They both wait patiently for a spark. "I have no worries if I don't write anything. I'm available 24/7," Hansard says. "I never noodle, never rehearse, never just play around." For Irglová, she feels a current. "There's something calling me to the piano. There's a feeling. I plant the seed, then let it ruminate by doing something else like taking a walk," she says. Both can write most anywhere. Hansard wrote his song "Her Mercy" while waiting at a baggage claim in New Zealand. Irglová only needs space: she can't write in a busy place, which is why Iceland, where she lives, is ideal.The Swell Season won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly". Their latest album is Forward.
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  • John Gourley (Portugal. The Man)
    "I'm always chasing that ADHD thing: whatever it tells me to do, I just do it," John Gourley of Portugal. The Man told me. This episode hit hard. I used to be a middle school special education teacher. I taught kids with severe learning disabilities, and most also had severe ADHD. A big misconception is that people with ADHD can't focus on anything, when in fact the opposite is true: they focus on everything. "ADHD is a driver of my process," Gourley says, and as you'll hear he harnesses it to write some pretty amazing songs. Portugal. The Man's latest EP uLu Selects Vol. #2 is out now.
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    49:26
  • Laura Stevenson
    Laura Stevenson returns to the pod! This was an easy decision to have her on again (the first time was 2011) because I love her music and she's one of the funniest songwriters I've ever interviewed.I don't know how Stevenson has time to make music. We might imagine artists creating their art free of life's responsibilities, but Stevenson has responsibilities and then some: she's a mother, she's a music therapist, and she's getting her graduate degree. (She took Zoom calls with her thesis advisor in the car outside the studio while making this album.) Any one of these activities could derail the other the other three, so I left this podcast in awe.Stevenson's latest album is Late Great on Really Records.
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About Songwriters on Process

In-depth interviews with songwriters about their songwriting process. 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.
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