production

Writing in a rock band with Billy Lunn of The Subways

Billy Lunn is the singer, guitarist, songwriter, and producer of the UK-based rock band The Subways. The Subways released their debut album Young for Eternity in 2005, and they’ve just released their fifth album, Uncertain Joys, on January 13, 2023. Billy grew up on a swirling mix of Motown, rock, disco, dance, hip-hop, and pop, which he gently weaves into the band’s own alternative rock sound.… Read the rest

Writing a long song with Civil Wray

by Neel Modi

Sparkle. It’s exactly what Civil Wray does on her brand-new single, appropriately entitled “Sparkle”. Civil Wray, the nom de plume of Toronto singer songwriter Andrea de Boer, worked with producer Matt DeMatteo (Danko Jones, Big Wreck, Ashley MacIsaac) in creating an ethereal, dreampop song, that may remind listeners of artists like Fiona Apple, David Bowie, and Tame Impala.… Read the rest

Happy New Year and some random stuff

by Neel Modi

For our first episode of 2023, Phil and Neel hung out to talk about a bunch of things on our minds.

We talked about:

Our upcoming songwriting challenge to write in an unusual mode
Peter Gabriel is releasing his first album of original songs since 2002
The Dreamtonics Synthesizer V virtual singer software, and Neel’s testing of it with his recent holiday song
Plugin Alliance, a great site for plug-ins from many different brands
The passing of Jeff Beck and Terry Hall (The Specials)
Song lengths in the age of streaming music
Mathematics and music

… Read the rest

Songwriting Challenge 2022: The Hosts Revisit their Songs

by Neel Modi

We welcomed the return of our ex-co-host Michael Proudfoot, joining us to review our updated answers to the 2022 Songwriting Challenge.

We talked about:

Our new Songwriting Challenge webpage, featuring the original versions of our songs, plus listener song episodes
The Song Talk Meetup
Mashing up various styles and instruments
Reaching out to other songwriters to help make sure every lyric lands with the most impact (Neel would like to thank Sarah Peterson for her review of his lyrics and her great suggestions!)

… Read the rest

Self-Healing Through Hip-hop with Vivek Mehmi

by Neel Modi

Mississauga-based hip-hop artist Vivek Mehmi talks about his creative process through hardships, beat-making, poetry, and his song Around Your Finger.

We talked about:

Hip-hop songs structures with verses and hooks
Striking a balance between a hook’s catchiness, flow, and message
Taking inspiration from the 80s – objectively, the greatest decade ever in music!

… Read the rest

Song structure choices with Mike’s Songwriting Challenge

by Neel Modi

For our second host answer episode for our 2022 Songwriting Challenge, Mike shared his journey with the structure, arrangement, and production of his song.

Download the lyrics.

We talked about:

Are Pop Lyrics Getting More Repetitive?
Primus to Pay Tribute to Rush on 2022 North American Tour
structural weirdness in Mike’s song
writing a “tough love” song
keeping a dummy lyric if it makes sense for the song

… Read the rest

The multi-media mind of Darden Smith

by Neel Modi

Open and empty. That’s how singer-songwriter Darden Smith describes the Texas landscape that inspired his creative new multi-media project, ‘Western Skies,’ available now.

Comprising a new studio record, a book of photography, lyrics, and essays, and an accompanying album of readings set to music, Smith’s ‘Western Skies’ is an immersive journey.… Read the rest

Lessons from The Rutles – Songwriting Satire

by Michael Proudfoot

This week we took a dive into the 1978 mockumentary – The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash – a satire of Beatlemania and the Fab Four. Aside from being one of the first mock-docs, it is also a very funny film featuring some Monty Python alumnae, a few famous faces from early SNL and one Beatle.… Read the rest