Songwriters on Process

“I love to sing out loud there. No one can hear me because everyone is, well, underground,” says Julia Jacklin. And if that’s not the best reason for singing in a cemetery, I don’t know what is. Walking is a daily and essential part of Jacklin’s process. “I’m obsessed with walking,” she says. There are two kinds of walks to Jacklin’s process. The first is when she goes with nothing on her mind; this is for filling the well with inspiration. The second is what she calls “intentional walk...

"I like to write at my desk," says Brennan Wedl. It makes me feel like a professor, so it's correlated with discipline in my brain. It's like a writing altar." This tracks with Wedl's penchant for adhering to a writing ritual and its attendant discipline. She's a big fan of Post-it notes, loves to get up early and feel the sun on a morning walk, and believes in the power of a schedule. But as you'll hear, when she really wants to "lock it in," she turns to the power of chewing gum. Brennan We...

"I have my best thoughts in total comfort and complete boredom," Taja Cheek (known professionally as L'Rain) says. After all, who doesn't prefer a good couch or bed when they write? But when it comes to pure inspiration, Cheek likes to be "alone together": around people but deep in her own thoughts. That's why she loves the New York City subway and what she calls "intentional walking" on the city streets amidst all its distractions. But as you'll hear, nothing beats a good cab ride. L'R...

"I like to do things that make me feel integrated with the environment," says Margaret Glaspy. Broadly, Glaspy's process involves a general resistance to technology, which is why we had a great discussion about the benefits of cursive. It should also come as no surprise that Glaspy believes in pen and paper (and very specific kinds) for her lyrics. This resistance to technology is borne out the correct belief that it destroys our ability to focus, so Glaspy writes in fifteen minute incr...

Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show is the first person I’ve interviewed to compare the songwriting process to feline copulation. But this unique metaphor actually reflects Secor’s deep introspection: only someone who reads all the time would even consider how these two events are related. And Secor reads. All. The. Time. Old Crow Medicine Show’s latest album is Union Made.