All Interviews

“If the next album is about whaling, you’ll know where that came from.” For Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, any good creative process involves paying attention to every external stimuli. Even Ishmael.

Julia Cumming and Nick Kivlen of Sunflower Bean don’t share many similarities in their writing process, but both agree that’s a boon to their creativity.

Jonathan Russell of The Head and the Heart loves structure in his life, from a clean kitchen to his songwriting process. And it’s that structure in his songwriting process that lets the chaos loose and allows him to “play like a five year old.”

S. Carey (Sean Carey) wrote his new solo album Break Me Open during a time of tremendous domestic change: the dissolution of his marriage, the death of his father, and the growth of his children. Fly fishing helped him through it.

Why do songwriters always sing about “walkin’ down the street”? And should you always write when you’re hungry? Listen to Tim Kasher answer those questions as we delve into his songwriting process.

Eric Pulido of Midlake loves a good run to stimulate his songwriting process. For proof, here’s Pulido midrun with bandmates while at SXSW!

“If I have anything to give the world as a songwriter, I’m trying to explore the middle ground. That's not the most effective for songwriters since the most provocative things are clear statements of good and evil,” Anand Wilder says.