Songwriting .. The impossible craft! How far do I have to dig to make it real?
When I was younger I always wanted to be a singer, I really didn't want a bar of the songwriting part, I decided that I would be a good enough singer so I could have people want to write for me. It wasn't until I wrote my first single "Overdrive" that I started really wanting to work on the craft of songwriting. Overdrive was a song that came naturally, in fact it only took 20 minutes to write. The song was born from anger and frustration at a person who lacks compassion, empathy and all of the characteristics of a decent human being, a person so enraged with anger that they would stop at no one and nothing to inflict pain, as long as they felt better, all the while proclaiming their innocence and belief that they were right, at that point in time, my hands were tied and all I could do was write about my feelings, so that's what I did, I wrote Overdrive and put it out in the world, these days i'm in a far better place and because of that, at times I find it really hard to write! I'm not the type of person to walk past a tree and use that as a topic to write about, I can't just make up a story, although I am improving with that skill, but up until now I have always liked to write from real life experiences, so writing is such a slow process for me, sure I can write a lot of songs but, I only finish the ones that I know have that special something! I actually just finished two new songs this week, one is possibly the best song I have written to date! But again I honestly struggle to write great songs, usually because it requires digging deep and at times talking about things that I would prefer to forget. My first EP includes a song titled "Let me introduce myself" a song I wrote about growing up, a very painful, soul baring song that I still really struggle to sing live, a lot of times I will leave it out. My childhood was far from perfect, in fact, closer to hell really, and although I don't go into great detail with the song, it does go through school life, which I feel was only made harder because I had shut down, alienated myself from friends, from teachers, anyone that would or could possibly peer in and see what was happening to me, what kind of life I was living. Bullies seem to be able to pick the ones that are struggling through life, so on top of trying to survive at home, I endured consistent bullying, mostly about my singing, the one thing I had to cling to I was bullied for, perhaps if we had Idol or The Voice back then, it may not have been as bad, but eventually I left at 17, had a break from music, spent a lifetime learning to heal and don't really talk about the life I had lived, because from the day I left, I chose to live this life and songwriting is one of my avenues for working through life. However, as I said, I'm happy now, I love my life, I make the most of every minute, but happiness doesn't always make for a great song, especially when I seem to have been blessed with the skill of writing angry LOL.
I now spend a lot of time co-writing, listening to songwriting podcasts, reading, completing workshops and writing at home, i'm forever trying to do it better, there is a formula to a great song, when it comes to Country Music, the best thing is, the formula is usually not as important as the content, as the lyrics and the meaning, so I guess that's why I relate to and love Country Music so dearly.
I'm headed to LA and Nashville to continue working on my songwriting this Easter Sunday, we have brilliant writers in Australia and I will continue to write with the extraordinary talent we have, America is just for a change of scenery, fresh new ideas and motivation and I can't wait to share with you what I have been and will be working on.
I have also started a new weekly video called the "Songday Sessions" these will be posted to Facebook and put on YouTube each Sunday , it will be a mix of covers and originals, I have included the first edition below for you guys to check out.
Remember, if you decide to write a song, write about something you're passionate about
and it will be amazing!
Live, Life, Love
Kj
