ALL ABOUT: Songwriting, an In-Depth Conversation hosted by Katie Melua
Last night, we stood witness to a truly astonishing panel of incredibly gifted songwriters. At our first All About event of 2017, Katie Melua hosted an in-depth conversation about the craft of songwriting, joined by lyricist Don Black, top liner Carla Marie Williams, artist/songwriter/producer MNEK and producer William Orbit.
Here are a few highlights:
“A great lyric should be a sung conversation.” (Don)
Carla explained how when she’s writing for other people it’s predominantly about song choices. “How would they sing it?”
Everybody’s approach is different and it’s great to know what works for you when you’re working with others. “Understand your process.” (Carla)
The panel agrees that though it can be helpful to understand music theory and know the rules, one should not “loose the feel in favour of rules”, as Katie put it.
MNEK shared that quite often when producing, he thinks of the sounds from a dancer’s perspective. “I ask myself: ’Would a dancer want to dance to this?’”
“A great song is not for anyone in particular. It’s for everyone.” (Don)
Many thanks to all the panelists and our fabulous host Katie of course, as well as our friends at BASCA - and of course thanks for coming, lovely members :)
Were you there? Please share your highlights and other feedback with us at info@thefac.org
More info about the event: AA Songwriting - Event Outline