"I'm so much more prolific when I exercise." Tim Burgess of The Charlatans admitted to me during episode 55 of the podcast that "rock stars aren't supposed to exercise, but we all have our secrets, don't we?" Well, the cat's out of the bag. Burgess loves to exercise, and it's an important part of his songwriting process. Many of his song ideas come to him at the gym as he's listening to music and watching whatever is playing on the television there. But physical activity as way to stimulate creativity underscores a bigger theme in his process: "When I'm preoccupied, that's when t ..read more

   S.G. Goodman was raised a farmer's daughter and studied philosophy in college. Which means that she loves to ponder and has time do it on those long days in the field. The product of all that pondering? Amazing lyrics. It's not a surprise that Goodman doesn't like to write on tour and doesn't like to be inside at all when she writes. In fact, when she's on tour, she can't wait to get back home, where she can be outside and work with her hands. "Whenever I can, I try to get outside and do some kind of manual labor. That's when I'm the most creative," Goodman told me. In this inte ..read more

   Julian Lage has been hailed as one of the "most prodigious guitarists of his generation," so this was a new one for me: an interview with a songwriter who doesn't write lyrics, only instrumentals. As someone steeped in improvisation, Lage isn't one for specific rituals. And that's why I loved this conversation: it's a deep dive into the abstract elements of creativity as we try to figure out where it all comes from. Lage is on the faculty at The New School, so we talked teaching philosophy too. (I'm a former academic.) Lage's latest album is called A View With a Room, out now on ..read more

   “A good song has fragmented fireworks. It needs to pull people in with interesting turns of phrases, word combinations that no one has heard before.” Hear Gavin Rossdale of Bush explain why the painters Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud are far and away the biggest inspirations to his creative process. We also discuss why great writers are so important to his songwriting and how he gets so many ideas while walking. (Audio note: I interviewed Rossdale while he was on his tour bus, so audio is a bit muffled.)        ..read more

   “I write all day, every day. When I’m in the thick of it, it’s a struggle to focus on anything else" For Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. , there’s no such thing as a writing ritual if you never stop writing. Chatten calls his writing process his "constant annoying companion. I have writing on speed dial 24/7." But he says that he's always had a healthy relationship with writing because he's never forcing it. The key is to not take it too seriously or to make it appear to precious. "I treat it with as little importance as possible," he says. “There’s a degree of flippancy. No judge ..read more

  “When you have a regimen, it's ok to let up on yourself. Because you know that tomorrow, you'll be doing it again." Madison Cunningham firmly believes in the writer's regimen. You have to put in the work every day. No waiting for inspiration. "Words on a page every day, even if it's not songwriting," she says. So she starts each day by writing for ten minutes because everyone can make time for ten minutes. No excuses. Cunningham also reads voraciously. "Books are one of my favorite wells to draw from," she says in this episode. She draws inspiration from iconic writers like Mary Ol ..read more

  “If I have one piece of advice to give, it would be to write something the moment you wake up.” Will Sheff of Okkervil River likes a good writing ritual. He believes in writing every day, just as a professional athlete needs to practice every day. “If I don’t, I feel like I’m going to shrivel up,” Sheff says. But as you'll hear in this episode, Sheff also believes that not writing is a great way to be productive. “It’s also important to loaf,” he says, referencing Walt Whitman’s opening lines in “Song of Myself.” Loafing, Sheff maintains, gives the writer an open state of mind. “Th ..read more

  “When we’re in the studio and I see someone dozing off, my first thought is ‘Ooh, that’s gonna be good.’” In most workplaces, falling asleep on the job is not a good thing. But if you’re in Metric, singer and songwriter Emily Haines says it's a great thing. In fact, she and her bandmates love it when they catch each other napping in the studio. Because that means they're being productive. On this latest Songwriters on Process podcast, Haines talks about how sleeping in the studio leads to creative breakthroughs. We talk about how running is an important part of her creative process ..read more

   "I still have your cutlery, by the way," Butch Walker tells Matt Nathanson in this episode. Nathanson's latest album Boston Accent was produced by Walker. And while the two may have shared kitchen space and maybe even a kitchen utensil or two, their relationship in the studio worked because their creative processes were symbiotic: the limitation in one was offset by the complementary strength in the other. That in itself doesn't necessarily make for a good working relationship. But the Nathanson/Walker combo was a success because of their self-awareness. As you’ll hear, each one k ..read more

  People tell John Moreland that he writes "bummer songs," which we both agreed is ironic gives that he cannot be in a bummer mood when he writes. "If I'm doing anything creative, my mind needs to be in a good space," Moreland told me. "I need a measure of self-acceptance when I write." And when Moreland writes, he has a ritual. He likes to write between midnight and 4am. It has to be dark, and it has to be cool/cold, so he sets the thermostat to around 66 F. And here's my favorite part: Tokyo walking videos. When Moreland is stuck, he turns to YouTube and watches these videos for a ..read more