In this series, I ask other songwriters about their quest for inspiration and how they tackle the day-to-day tasks of writing quality, engaging songs. Behind every good song is a hard-worker. I want to know how songwriters work and how they fill their well so it never goes dry.
DEAD GAZE is the brain child of R. Cole Furlow whose dreamy, textured pop songs pull from his life in Mississippi. He writes pop songs (like Flaming Lips & Nilsson write pop songs) layered with interesting arrangements and surrealist lyrics that seem so natural and visceral. It’s a different perspective compared to some of the more commercial writers we’ve heard from here. These song are born from within and you can tell you are listening to an extension of himself. His interview is very inspiring…
1. What is your typical work day?
I have a day job at a restaurant in Oxford. If I work that day there I tend to wake up early and drink coffee. Ill go to work and the immediate moment I get home I start working on something musical. Most of the time I’m answering emails to people who have too many emails to answer already especially from people like me. But lately the business aspect of things has been more important than the making music aspect of things. I try and spend a good amount of time on business and making sure everything is up to date. And then once most of that is done I’ll maybe write something, play the guitar, or make something on the computer. I obsess over everything all day, and then pray something creative comes about. It actually sounds worse than it probably is.
2. What tools do you use to keep you organized and productive?
I’m a bit of a music hoarder and very much stuck in my ways. I believe in lucky things and have plenty of idiosyncratic behaviors that tend to lean on the obsessive side. When doing something as delicate as writing melodies, I think it’s quite okay to behave in naturally weird ways to ensure your brain firing on all it’s creative cylinders. I use my iPhone for recording demos and writing lyrics. I use my ipad for writing melodies with portable keyboard apps. I use the notepad on my big computer to remember session file names and different ideas for songs and melodies. I have one of those huge moleskins that gets pretty much everything I just mentioned and more. Mostly I use 3 different guitars that just live around me at all times and those guys are the ones that get the most abuse as far as writing goes. I have an old organ in my studio that I sit at and act like the phantom of the opera. I write on it as well. Anything that makes me feel natural and “at home” works or is up for being used in the creative process.
3. Do you have any habits, exercises or activities that jumpstart your creativity?
Coffee and cigarettes sadly enough are my habits while recording/writing. I like being comfortable. When it’s hot I record in my underwear. When it’s cold I record in my corduroy robe. I move around a lot when I’m in a session so I feel like my heart is probably beating a bit faster than normal. I tend to get anxious before cutting takes. Oddly enough, it’s very similar to the feelings I felt when I played high school football. You know…you just don’t want to mess up. Every take is the most important thing you’ve done in your life up and to this point. I look at making music like there is nothing more important in your life at that moment. You have to display the fearful and confident emotions you feel as an artist while making the art within the work. I make it feel like its a war. Some people want to make it feel like its a book club. I just want the intensity in the process to parallel the intensity or emotion being conveyed. That’s the only way to be in my book. Hair on fire.
4. Are there any specific (or favorite) books, films, lectures, etc. that have impacted your creative process?
No. And that’s probably sad to many but a good thing to me. Recording/writing/being creative is about being natural. Some people may find being natural in the works of other people. I’ve found that my natural is something I grew into, something that couldn’t be taught or imitated. My process is 100% mine. Which it should be for how long I spend on it. I’ve been influenced by many in other ways. But in my process I stay very close to what I know. I probably should read more though…
5. Where do you find inspiration for songs? How do you catalog it?
I find inspiration in melody almost always over topical things. Songs literally just come. I can’t explain it. They are almost like these little living things that get born to you. And whether or not you use them or manipulate them in your fashion is solely up to you. There are billions of songs that have come through you or haven’t yet and will that u don’t even know about. It’s always in the eye of the beholder whether or not those songs come to be or not. The worst thing for me is forgetting the melodies! One day I’ll wake up with the most amazing thing ever and then one hour later it’s gone. McCartney said you always remember the best ones, and I think that’s true. The best songs want to live and be famous, it’s all up to you on how you get them there.
6. How do you combat writer’s block?
I go do something else. Once again you have to be natural about it. Nothing is forced. Writers block is just a way for your brain to tell you the vibe isn’t right for what you are trying to convey at that time. Back off, go do something else and almost always you’ll find yourself running back to the guitar or piano with something. Who knows if it’ll win a Grammy, but something will come if you believe in yourself.
7. Who is your songwriting hero?
I have lots. But I’d probably say Harry Nilsson. He was so smart and classic. His voice was pure. His songs were true. He bled nuance and those people are the ones I’m interested in. Go listen to the song “Good Old Desk” on Aerial Ballet. Listen to the words and how the words are married to the melody. And then go back knowing that that particular song was about his faith in religion. The initials G O D in Good Old Desk spell out God. It’s such a clever way of not being heavy about something massively heavy. It’s not always all about being direct to the audience, but being direct in the way YOU want to be direct. The songwriter doesn’t owe the audience anything.
8. Do you have any advice to offer a new songwriter?
Just like anything in life – there are good days and bad days. Be prepared for both. The maturity and character lie in the times when songs aren’t just flying around you. Inspiration can’t be forced. Live life with an open mind. Accept and harbor feelings you think are important. And capitalize on the places in your brain you never want to visit. The hardest things to think about make the best songs. Remember every single feeling you had when those things happen to you, and use them! Emotion is currency in our world. Use it.
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I loved Cole’s interview… the way Cole sees the world really comes out in his writing, and for him, his art is an extension of that perspective. That raw honesty makes him a really compelling and unique writer. His advice to a new songwriter is exactly what I needed to read today.
DEAD GAZE’s self-titled debut full length is OUT TODAY in the US on Fat Cat Records — get it here.
