Thank you for writing such incredible music <3 The Answer Key and KILL U GIRL have been keeping me going for a while now. If you’re willing to share, I’m curious what your music writing process looks like? Lyrics or the actual production, either way I’d love any sort of insight!
I somehow never thought to check my Tumblr askbox after all this time...
I've talked a little bit about it on my Twitter, but generally a song idea is sparked after Something Brews Within Me/Something Happens To Me. Whether that be an impactful experience, a long-time emotion, or a random burst of something or another. The other main ingredient to one of my songs is if I discover a new musical artist or a genre that particularly piques my interest. That's happened a number of times, but my most recent notable inspiration has been of Wallsocket (underscores) which is now one of my favorite albums of all time! As an experimental musician, sticking to one style has never occured to me. I believe there are markers that an artist naturally has that connects all of their works together, and often times that is just their heart. In that way, it's a gamble when clicking on a new song of mine.
I usually lay down a melody or chords in piano and then build off of that. I love to mix electronic, rock, and orchestration elements to make a song feel more intense vs. more bright depending on the mood of a song. I feel like electronic drums give a track a sense of pep and flow, while strings, winds, etc. give a track the touch of a human hand. Guitar is super versatile. I feel like specifically strings can evoke such a powerful feeling in the listener, so I tend to use them quite a bit. Generally, I work from verse to chorus, and then after that it's pretty much fair game for the structure of the song. Sometimes I completely throw that out the window, though (The Answer Key). I would probably die if I was forced to write verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus for every song of mine. I find it more fun to create structure based on story, pausing to breathe when needed. Protégé is my favorite example of mixing classic structure with eclectic structure.
Lyrically, it's all just straight from temple to page with me. Sometimes I'll think of a super heavy phrase and throw it in the google doc that i'm writing the song in and then simply reformat it to fit the cadence of the melody. Most of the lyrics of mine that you hear are first drafts! I honestly try not to overturn my lyrics too much to keep them as raw as possible. Topline/lyrics usually come last for me, though. That way I can make sure that the instrumentals stay in focus. I believe that vocals should act as another instrument instead of necessarily the main event.
Mostly, though, my works are the essence of myself, and my deep love, my deepest love, of poetry.
(Excerpts of two of my unseen poems)
