Along with the changing seasons, as the year draws to a close, we inevitably start reflecting on the past, whilst turning our thoughts to the future. As songwriters and artists, our creative energy is directly influenced by these seasons, and the changes and evolution of nature.

In this month’s Session Notes blog, Project 7 Songwriting Retreats Creative Director, Lisa Fitz, looks for inspiration in the changing seasons as she shares some top tips on how you can harness this inspiration for the greater good of your songwriting practise.  

The art of writing lyrics is an understated skill. The ebb and flow of finding the perfect words to express a feeling and then shaping these words with melody over musical accompaniment… well, the alchemy is both challenging and liberating.

In this month’s Session Notes blog, Project 7 Songwriting Retreats Creative Director, and songwriter Lisa Fitz discusses the dark art of writing lyrics, offering some top tips for capturing these precious little words and feelings as they flow.

As songwriters, we know the magic that happens when we sit down at a piano, strum a guitar, or scribble out lyrics in the middle of the night. Songwriting is not just an industry - it’s an art form, a way to process emotions and work through the complexities of life. But now, as AI makes bigger waves in the music industry, we're left wondering: will AI help us capture that magic, or will it somehow change the way we create?

In this month’s Session Notes blog, Project 7 Songwriting Retreats Creative Director Lisa Fitz discusses the big, scary, hairy AI mammoth in the songwriting rooms around the world

For the past decade, the Project7 Songwriting Camps have been a beacon of creativity and collaboration in the music industry. Every year, songwriters, musicians, producers, and artists from around the globe converge at these retreats to experience the unique Pro7ect way of crafting music. Over 140 songs have been written and recorded from scratch by more than 200 artists during these intense, residential hothouse events. Many of these tracks have gone on to find their way into the world, marking the success of Pro7ect’s approach.

In this month’s Session Notes blog, we had the pleasure of speaking with Lisa Fitzgibbon, Creative Director of Pro7ect, to explore the motivation, origins, and future of these groundbreaking songwriting camps.

In July 2024, 26 songwriters travelled from across the UK, and from around the world, to the Mecca of contemporary Music - Rockfield Studios. These pilgrims experienced a creatively inspiring, life changing week of collaborative music creation at the UK’s premier residential songwriting retreat.

The traditional job of a songwriter is to develop the chord structure, musical arrangement and lyric/melody of a song. However, in today’s world of collaborative songwriting and music production, a new role has emerged for melodic and lyric specialists. It’s called Toplining, and in this month’s Session Notes Blog, songwriter and Project7 Songwriting Retreats Creative Director Lisa Fitz lifts the lid on the integral role of the Topliner in todays writing rooms.

Songwriting can often feel like a solitary endeavour, but there's something truly special about bringing together a group of creative minds. Collaboration opens up a world of possibilities, allowing songwriters to blend their unique styles, ideas, and strengths. It's about creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

In this month’s Session Notes blog, ‘Find Your Crew’, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon takes a deep dive into the why, how and who of collaborative songwriting.

Prism Sound’s hugely popular 8 Hours At Rockfield music production educational event will be returning to the historic Rockfield Studios in Wales on July 16th 2024.

Held in conjunction with Project7 Residential Songwriting Retreats, 8 Hours At Rockfield gives participants an opportunity to learn about some of the most advanced pro audio technology on the market today.

What’s in your songwriter’s survival kit? Do you require an assortment of tools, oddities, or instruments to help you tap the magic? Do you need to be wearing a particular jumper, bracelet, or lucky pair of socks? Or does your muse flow straight from life at any time of the day, no matter where you are or what you’re doing? In this month’s Session Notes blog, ‘Songwriters Survival Kit’, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon digs into these practical needs and superstitious practises.

According to a recent study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, female representation has barely budged in the past decade. Only around 12.7% of songwriters and 21.8% of artists were women from 2012 to 2021. And behind the scenes? A measly 2.8% of producers were women. In this month’s Session Notes blog, ‘The Only Woman in the Room’, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon delves into the dark arts of gendered roles and lived experiences in these creative spaces.

We're in the midst of a crazy change in how songwriters do their thing, get creative, and team up. Thanks to the pandemic and some cool tech advances, remote recording has become a game-changer for musicians, singer-songwriters, and producers. It's like breaking down the walls of the old-school studio, letting people collaborate easily and virtually, no matter where they are, their time zone, or geographical location. In this month’s Session Notes blog, ‘The Irks and Perks of Remote Songwriting’, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon digs into why remote recording matters, the tech behind it, the gear you need, the irksomeness and the benefits of working remotely.

All songwriters, no matter how successful, face the almighty fear of being trapped in the dark, dank space that writers block creates. In this month’s Session Notes blog, ‘5 ways to beat the block’, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon dives into the murky depths of songwriting impotence and shares some tasty tips to help navigate the art of beating the block.

The art of recording amazing Backing Vocals is a specialist skill, and there are so many different tracking, delivery, and production techniques you can utilise whilst recording these vocal contours. In this month’s Session Notes blog, The Art of Backing Vocals Part 2, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon shares some BV recording nuggets of info that will improve your sound and your experience.

In this month’s Session Notes blog, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon announces the dates, Headline Producer details, and early bird offers for P724.

In this month’s Session Notes blog, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon shares her personal experience of co-writing the song ‘Eyes Wide Open’ with her Day 3 team in the Coach House studio.

26 artists travelled from around the world to write and record 15 songs at the 8th annual Pro7ect residential songwriting retreat at Rockfield Studios, in July 2023.
In this month’s Session Notes blog, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon shares her experience of running, writing and realizing this collaboration dream machine. We follow Lisa as she prepares the writing suites, welcomes the artists, and tackles her first songwriting day in her Coach House studio writing room.

Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon talks with Headline Producer Gethin Pearson (Badly Drawn Boy, Charlie XCX) about working with artists, his production process, songwriting inspiration and experiences.

BVs are the icing on the cake for songwriters and vocal producers who get a kick out of the performance and production power of the voice. In this month’s Session Notes blog, Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats founder and songwriter Lisa Fitzgibbon explains some of the options available when writing and arranging these top-line vocal shades.

How do you know if a song is finished? And, what if (trigger warning) some songs are never finished? What then? Do you release or perform it in an incomplete state? Do you load it on the hard drive, next to all the other half-baked loaves, and hope that one day it will get the attention it deserves?

In this month’s Session Notes blog I’m deep diving into the subterranean musical universe of songwriting closure and will try to shine some light on the ‘finishing that song’ dilemma.

Project7 brings songwriters, musicians, composers, and music producers together for their 8th annual residential songwriting retreat at Rockfield Studios in Wales this July.

As the leading songwriting retreat in the UK, Project7 offers artists the unique opportunity to live, write and collaborate with internationally respected music producers in the studio’s where Queen wrote and recorded ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and where the Wonder Wall sits outside the very Studio where Oasis made musical history.