She_Gunner_Wales wrote:Inch, do you write your own stuff?
I used to write alot of lyrics/poems myself, sort of started as a hobby kind of thing when i was seeing a bassist in a band many years ago, (they could have gone onto great things if the drummer hadnt got stage fright! long story), i aint written nothing for years though, but was registered with teh National Songwriters Association.
Still love live music, the sort where bands are jamming in a pub! get a real kick out of it.
Yes and no.
I've never tried to write lyrics because it's an art that I don't think I have and I don't have the patience to learn.
I tried to write songs as in stringing a few chords together on the old geetar and putting a vocal melody over the top of it and some of them came out ok but when you're in a band with really talented songwriters your own stuff is going to look lame by comparison so you don't even want to suggest playing it.
One thing I did all the time though is re-write other peoples stuff. The singer/songwriter in my last band would bring a new unfinished idea into rehearsal and play it to us.
I'd then set about rearranging it completely until the choruses, verses, middle eight etc. were all in completely different places and totally different lengths than they were in the first place.
Sometimes I'd also change the tempo if necessary.
We'd all then get together and write a far better intro for it and a better way to end it and when it all came together well it was extremely satisfying.
Not exactly songwriting but I suppose you could call it arranging. I could hear the raw bones of a song and know what it needed in order to have maximum impact if that makes sense.
I miss all that. Note to self - must join new band.