Technique, reviews, news and interviews featuring Gary Barlow, Wayne Coyne, Bróna McVittie, KT Tunstall, Tom Walker, Elles Bailey and more
Winter 2020
Articles
The acclaimed Take That star and Britain’s greatest songwriter reveals some valuable insights into his incredible career and new album
The psychedelic warrior on how 70s teenage angst influenced their latest album ‘American Head’ and his partnership with Steven Drozd
Not content with just reinterpreting the past, the County Down artist is adding her own folk tales to the genre
The Scottish singer-songwriter looks back upon the enduring success of his debut album and the most brilliant of smash singles
Through easing the lockdown blues with a series of cover shows, a new album was born for the award-winning songwriter
Nashville-based songwriting coach Mark Cawley looks at the core music-making element and how to open up new possibilities for melody...
Our regular contributor, performing songwriter and singing coach Lisa Redford takes a look at the influence of place on songwriting...
Writer and musician Ellie Mckinsey explores one of the most common chord sequences and explains how to harness its power...
The man behind the music of The Wombles and Katie Melua shares his tips for digging deeper with your songwriting
It sometimes helps to go back to basics. So here’s a useful cheatsheet taken from writer Ed Bell’s latest book...
The talented Scot shares some valuable lessons learned from an illustrious career, “a lot of heartache” and the Skywalker Ranch
How I wrote 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' by The Darkness' Justin Hawkins
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How I wrote 'Enola Gay' by OMD's Andy McCluskey
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How I wrote 'Luka' by Suzanne Vega
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How I wrote ‘Beds Are Burning’ by Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst
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How I wrote 'Zombie' by The Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan
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Interview: Tori Amos
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16 song starters
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Shelf help: 10 of the best books for songwriters
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How I wrote 'Turning Japanese' by The Vapors' David Fenton
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How I wrote ‘Save Tonight’ by Eagle-Eye Cherry
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Comments
I have been writing songs now for over 40 years and I am not about to stop.
Notebook writing even day
I wrote 'Start a party' for Freedom day and the nightclub scene. It all started with Gary Barlow's course, I am now on the TSA
I have plenty of ideas and try to get one end product at one time! Focus, making, listen to it until I am satisfied with
Continue to build an incredible music catalogue
I have been writing songs privately for the last 5 years, but never recorded any. I almost gave up on recording, and was going to
It's my passion, to be honest.