Listen to This: Robyn on Song Exploder
Sep 23, 2019
Unless you’re surrounded by other songwriters regularly, you might wonder about the ins and outs of how other writers work.
“Do other songwriters toil over their songs for weeks and months like me?”
“Did other songwriters struggle to find their way before they became successful?”
“Where do other songwriters find inspiration?”
Luckily for us, there are so many fantastic podcasts about songwriting and creativity that can give us new ideas, validate some things about our own process, and inspire us to keep working and growing!
Song Exploder is a songwriting and producing GOLD MINE.
Each episode features an artist discussing one of their songs. The artist breaks down their entire process, from the initial idea to the writing process and the production. They isolate instruments and vocals from the track so you can hear every element and lyric on its own as they talk about them.
Their recent episode with Swedish pop guru Robyn should be mandatory listening for every songwriter. She’s a brilliant artist and getting to hear about her creative process for her latest single “Honey” left us feeling so inspired.
The thing that really stood out to us most is just how long she labored over this song. She had an initial seed (a rhythmic bass line) for years. Over that time she fiddled with it, put it away for months, came back to it over and over and even used it as a warm-up writing exercise until it finally it started to take shape into something.
She didn’t know what that something was when she started writing it over 2 years earlier, but she allowed it room to develop at its own pace.
Taking your time and letting creativity simmer is not something that is really embraced or talked about in our culture.
photo by Heji Shin
We love how Robyn worked so patiently and diligently, not settling until it was what she wanted it to be. She knew the idea had potential and she didn’t give up on it when it didn’t work right away.
So the next time you have an idea that’s not taking shape quickly, channel a little bit of Robyn and give it time! Your song may be a bit of a mystery, but once you crack the code you’ll be happy you stuck with it.
Listen to Robyn’s episode of Song Exploder HERE.
Happy Writing,
Allie & Bess
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
