I think writer's block really comes from the concept.
I think the only times people get writer's block is when they don't know what they're
saying, and if that's the case, don't write a song.
Because the whole point of writing a song is you've got to have something to say.
So there's no point in just going "ok let's just write a song about this guy who wanders
down the road..." ok fine, but is that really going to be it, there has to be a story.
There has to be something for a song to hang off.
There has got to be depth, whatever that depth is, I'm not saying it's got to be a concerto
or it's got to be the deepest, weirdest lyric in the world, or trying to be clever for the
sake of it.
What does it hang off?
Why are you doing it?
Why are you writing the song in the first place?
You're writing it because ultimately you are trying to say something, that's really what
songs should be about, and I think the great songs have always got a story behind them.
The great songs that stand the test of time, will have a story behind them.
What are they saying?
How are they communicating it?
Those creative ideas will hit you in the middle of the night, first thing in the morning,
someone says something to you, jot it down, make a note of it.
I've got a lyric book, I write things in there all the time, I draw in there, I've just got
ideas in there.
I've got my phone, with technology now it's so easy, voice notes...
I was walking round the other day singing on my phone in the train station with people
looking at me like I'm a bit odd, but at the same time I don't really care because it's
an idea and I don't want to lose it.
So yeah you just need to make sure that your creative ideas are not lost, and when you
don't have them, you can sort of go back to them and go "Actually that was really really
cool, so I'm going to flesh it out now, I'm going to work on that idea", until you get
a song at the end of it.
And Hopefully it's a good one, and if not, move on and don't worry about it.
You're not always going to write a great song, so just move on.
I think collaboration is a really good thing.
I can write a song on my own, but I find it a lot harder and a lot more challenging when
it's just myself, and I'm sure if you are a songwriter on your own, just working on
your own in your own space, wherever that may be, you don't have that other voice apart
from that own voice in your head to say "Is it good?
Is this cool?
Does that work?
Is it long enough?
Are people going to like it?
Oh my god!
Do I sound Ok on it?"
It's the demons, I call them, that fight with you when you're writing a song, and knowing
that is something that you're forever working out.
You've got to sometimes just draw a line under it.
I studied art, I did art a lot, and painted and stuff, and I always found that I use that
in the same reference with music.
Well when is the painting finished?
How many layers of paint can you put on, or how many things can you stick on it for it
to be whatever?
What texture is it?
When do you go "I've done it, there you go.
Finished."
That's one of the hardest parts, I think knowing that you can sort of put it to bed is a good
thing, and I think maybe undercook it.
I always will try and undercook it a tiny bit, I will try not to push it too far, and
I've been so guilty sometimes.
When I first started producing you put everything into it, and you get to the point where you're
like "hold on I've got cowbells, and kicks, and hi-hats, and tambourines, and shakers,
and this and that and that..."
Before you know it, the whole arrangement is like full to the brim with all this stuff
and you go "I've put too much in it, I've overcooked it, I've gone too far!
Because I'm excited and I want all these things to go on."
But when I've undercooked it a bit more, and underplayed it and not put in as much as maybe
I want to, then there's something quite nice about that.
I think with the writing process, to keep it moving forward you've got to keep referencing
what it's about.That's why I do this two day thing because you can sometimes deviate a
bit off there and you want to try and keep bringing it back, so when you have that headspace
after day one, and you've recorded it roughly, or the main bits of it are in place, like
the main statements are in there, then you know where you are going and you've got that
headspace that night to get wasted...no I'm joking, and then you can come back to it the
next day and go "Ahh ok this...we all agree now that we've lived with it a little bit,
and we're not in the studio and we're not in the room.
Ok cool that is right here, or we really don't like this part lets rework it."
There's nothing wrong with reworking it, nothing wrong with that at all and I think that it's
important to make sure that the lyrics are really strong.
Is that really the word you want to use?
Is that as good as it can be?
I would say the main thing you've got to be careful of is not to be like anybody else,
I mean I think we are all influenced by people and I think that is really important, but
I think don't make the mistake of just being "The Next Thing", because whats the point?
I think you've got to try and experiment with it, have fun with it.
The more fun and the more experimenting and the more things you do, you going to fall
onto things that haven't been done that way before.
It'll make you happy, that's what I'm trying to say, I think it will make you happy if
you're doing things that feel right.
Don't just go for the "oh yeah I'm going to make loads of money cos that's gonna be really
great", ok well is that really...in the long term, are you going to be that happy a few
years down the line.
Think about it.
We all need to pay the bills but try and balance it out, because it's a life, and it's your
life and you want to make sure that you're making the right decisions.