Every musician—Jay-Z and Ryan Adams included—comes down with writer’s block at some point in his or her career. Just like swine flu, there’s very little you can do to prevent it. Then again, like swine flu, a full recovery can be made with a little help.
When you feel your creative juices dwindling, or when your well of ideas is as dry as the Sahara, use these simple tips as fodder for songwriting success.
• Feed your inspiration. If you’re running low on good ideas for lyrics, go take a walk around your neighborhood, read a book or watch the news. Keep a notebook on hand to jot down ideas. Sooner or later a story will present itself to you. If you’re looking for musical inspiration, turn on your iPod. What songs move you? Figure out precisely what element is resonating. Don’t try to copy it; simply use it as a starting point for your own journey.
• Stay focused. Keep whatever first inspired you to write the song (be it a lyric, melody, chord progression, etc.) as your focus. Don’t second guess that.
• Know when to take a break. It’s easy to loose perspective if you’ve been working on one song for too long. Put it down and come back to it.
• Record yourself. Even if it’s with a crappy handheld tape recorder. You will hear the song in a whole new light when you’re not distracted by the physical aspect of playing and/or singing.
• Call for backup. Sometimes two or three heads are better than one. Many great ideas come from collaborative environments. Recruit some of your musician friends and, for lack of a better term, jam. See what ideas rise to the top.
Follow these guidelines, and the symptoms of your writer’s block should improve. Truly great songs are a labor of love, so hang in there.
Before the days of listening to an album in the record store or online, music shopping was more of a gamble. And, believe it or not, a lot of bets were placed solely on album art. I remember trading a Tiffany cassette for Poison’s Look What The Cat Dragged In because I thought the girls on the cover had better hair and makeup. Thus began the seminal hair metal phase of my adolescence (Do not judge me).
Now that you’ve written all the material for your new album, the hard part’s over, right? Eh, maybe not. The recording process can be a long, strange trip, but the best way to avoid speed bumps along the way is to lock in with the right producer at the start. You’ll want one who’s intuitively able to understand what you mean when you say, “I’d like the vocals to sound like a really rusty robot crying through a megaphone.” One who can pull your best performance out of you without alienating you in the process. One who partners with you and commits to your vision as if it were his or her own. Here are some tips to help you find “the one” and optimize the production experience:
In music, the adage that it’s what’s on the inside that counts holds true … sometimes. Though there are countless mainstream performers out there who possess both musical ability and style, there are few who only possess the former (We’re looking at you, Susan Boyle.) In fact, if you had to choose between the two, it’s almost safer to go for style over substance (Hey, Britney).
