working with producers

Neel, Phil, and Matt

Chord Progression Tips with Matt Zaddy

With a sound that seamlessly blends folk-rock and modern soul, there’s something for every music fan to love about singer/songwriter Matt Zaddy. A storyteller at heart, his music is filled with tales of life, love, hardship and redemption. As someone who has shared stages with a diverse array of artists including K’Naan, Francesco Yates, and …

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Nabs-D, Neel, and Teresa

Funky Collaboration with Nabs-D & Teresa

Nab-s D & Teresa is a new Toronto-based duo featuring funky basslines and powerful, soulful vocals. They featured their new single On The Run on the podcast this week. We talked about: writing an instrumental bed to support a singer leaving room for spontaneity in the studio structuring your song with very high contrast between sections …

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Neel, Phil, and Vivek

Self-Healing Through Hip-hop with Vivek Mehmi

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! (Please note, …

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Mike, Neel, Phil, and AV

Songs with a social stance with Ann Vriend

The two-time Maple Blues Award songwriting recipient and two-time Edmonton Music Award recipient is an internationally recognized musician known for her soaring vocals, socially conscious lyrics, and outstanding musicianship. With a vintage sound reminiscent of the Roots/Blues style of Stax Records and Muscle Shoals recordings, singles from the album have already found their way onto …

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Phil, Neel, and Mike

Mike Fuller and the Joy and Hard Work of SongWriting

Mike Fuller’s rock and roll roots run deep. The son of a church organist and a cover band singer/rock and roll enthusiast, it seemed only natural Fuller would follow the musical path laid by his parents and find himself writing a collection of uptempo, foot-stomping tunes. Mike spent much of the pandemic like many of …

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Writing Harmonies with Quote The Raven

This week SongTalk welcomed Newfoundland Americana/Folk duo Quote the Raven. Jordan Coaker and Kirsten Rodden-Clarke have been bewitching audiences with haunting harmonies and East-Coast meets Americana songwriting for a decade. Their album Golden Hour (2018) earned multiple nominations including the 2019 ECMA Rising Artist and the award for 2019 MusicNL’s Group of the year. After …

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