The Song Talk Radio team of Bruce, Neel, and Phil received an education in Industrial music with Eric Scrape. Here’s some of what you can learn by listening to the show:
Emily Mac is a singer-songwriter and a regular at our Songwriter’s Roundtable Meetup. She joined us with piano player Joel to perform and talk about two of her songs, Back to the Rhythm and When It’s Gone. Special guest host Carmen Toth filled in for Neel. We talked about:
how learning to play an instrument helps to ground your accapella writing
why it’s good to be the stupidest person in the room (when collaborating)
For our Valentine’s Day special, each member of the Song Talk Radio team brought a favourite love song too woo our listeners. All the songs were very different, and we each had a different take on what makes a good love song:
Bruce appreciates authentic, honest expressions of love
Neel likes it when there’s a nuanced message
Vanessa looks for a specific emotional response in the listener
Etain likes sincere and from the heart love songs that you can dance to
Phil likes honesty and originality in his “happy” love songs, and
favourite twitter follower of the show, Sharon (@SharonRose2012), said “Love songs should make you remember what it’s like to be in love.”
We also talked out:
writing songs from a gay perspective
modern songwriting melodies
ska music vs. reggae
verse / refrain / B section song structure
Putting a twist on the default “I love you” message
Listen to the whole show:
Check out the love songs we love to love:
Here’s the team’s top picks, and even some great love songs that didn’t make it to show!
Bruce’s pick for the show was a song written by a gay songwriter:
And Bruce’s runner-up pick, a classic love song:
Etain’s pick for the show was a quirky and cheeky 80’s song:
Neel’s pick was an earnest and upbeat, catchy love song with a twist:
and Neel’s second choice (not featured on the show) was a quirky duet about loving in the biggest way possible:
Phil chose the first song he ever heard when he realized “that’s a great song”:
Phil also considered a beautiful new wave song for the show:
Vanessa brought a gorgeous, folky ballad by Jewel:
She also considered a collaboration song by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
And our twitter followers contributed to the conversation with their favourites:
The extraordinarily talented singer-songwriter and producer Marlon Chaplin joined us to talk about his crafty approach to songwriting, and share two songs. Dave Miner also joined us to fill in for Bruce as co-host. Thanks a million, Dave, you were great!
A very special show with Song Talk Radio’s co-host and co-creator Bruce Harrott, showcasing and discussing the process behind some of his best songs. We talked about:
Bruce’s traditional approach with writing lyrics first, and trying a different approach now
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