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.
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Today we hear from JUSTIN MAURER of the Nashville orchestra-pop band COLORFEELS. I love this band and their psychedelic happy music — think the Shins meet the Flaming Lips. Go catch them live, they are truly fantastic. I thought it’d be a welcome change to hear from a band-member rather than a singer-songwriter. Justin contributes song ideas with his band mates and talks a bit about writing for a group vs. writing for himself. They have a catchy new single, SHAPES available for free download. Thanks to Justin!
1. What is your typical work day?
I have been doing freelance web development/design recently, so I work from home. That means that I don’t leave the house much. Bad for social life, good for writing music. I try to spend an hour in the mornings learning something new, whether it be learning a new piece of code or just reading a book. Then, the rest of the “work day” is spent mostly in my office, with frequent back porch or piano breaks. Most of the time that I spend really working on songs happens in the late afternoon, when no one is home, and I can be as ridiculous or as serious as I need to be.
2. What tools do you use to keep you organized and productive? (Do you have a favorite notebook/pen?
3. Do you have any habits, exercises or activities that jumpstart your creativity?
Coffee and breakfast food
4. Are there any specific books, films, lectures, etc. that have impacted your creative process?
I love watching or reading about how the world works. A lot of my free time is spent watching documentaries, listening to RadioLab, reading about modern science, and other nerdy activities. I am just constantly fascinated by the huge amount of information that humans have learned throughout their existence. But with all of that knowledge, life is still completely unpredictable, and we really know so little. Dr. David Eagleman gave a lecture about an idea called Possibilianism that has kept me thinking for a couple of years now. And strangely enough, the idea of exploring what we don’t know, rather than making assumptions based on what we do know is very useful to me in songwriting, as well as many other areas of my life.
5. Where do you get your best work done?
At home in front of my piano or on my back porch with friends and guitars.
6. How do you combat writer’s block?
For me, just the act of switching instruments is often effective. I find that I think about music differently when I’m holding a guitar or an autoharp rather than sitting at a piano.
7. Who is your songwriting hero?
The songwriter I have looked up to the most is probably Richard Swift. He never ceases to have the coolest melodies and maintain consistency while touching on just about every ‘sound’ you could want. Swift’s songs also have this sense of fun that I am, and will always be, in pursuit of in my own songwriting. Tom Waits, Jon Brion, and Damon Albarn are among my other favorite song writing heroes.
8. Do you have any advice to offer a new songwriter?
**Bonus question for extra credit**
9. How is it different writing songs for your band instead of writing songs for yourself?
Colorfeels began as a kind of collaborative songwriting experiment. I had never co-written a song before (at least in the traditional sense). The first batch of songs were almost all written with two or three of us sitting in a room together talking about every chord change and lyric. This process can really slow things down, but the end product is something unique that never would have happened had someone just brought a completed song to the group. I guess the main difference for me is letting go of some of the vision to make room for other peoples’ ideas. It’s hard for us selfish humans to do, but totally worth it in the end.
