How do songwriters Collaborate?
Inside Pro7ect’s Residential Songwriting Retreats with Founder Lisa Fitz.
“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
Elle Exxe - Singer/songwriter & Pro7ect alumni.
Day 3 of the Pro7ect Residential Songwriting Retreat & I’m feeling excited, exhausted, overwhelmed and totally up for it. Yesterday’s writing session has emotionally & creatively purged my musical battery, so my fear at the start of the day is that I’ve peaked too soon.
Teams are announced at breakfast, & I’m working with Featured Artist Elle Exxe, Headline Producer Ian Wallman and top-line writer Christine Kowalchuk.
The hardest part of a session, for me, is the unfolding sacred moments before we focus on the job at hand… walking into the room… finding your space.
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when two fold ‘em…”
– ‘The Gambler’ by Kenny Rogers
Pro7ect Headline Producer Ian Wallman takes control & makes us all feel at home. His laid-back demeanour steers the morning’s session, & we smoothly settle into our respective roles.
TOP TIP: if you are struggling at the start of a writing session step back and allow someone else to shape the space.
We spend the first hour drinking coffee & talking about life. Elle Exxe is on a mission to write songs for her upcoming album ‘Love Fuelled Hate’, a concept immersed in the disparate emotions experienced in, & out, of love. She’s written the ‘Love’ part of the album, easy… but needs help with the ‘Hate’ side of the story. No worries… we can all channel this little monster!
“If you’ve got a really strong concept, then it’s easy to write. Whereas if you’re not sure what the true story is, it’s bloody hard.”
– ‘Shelly Pool’ (singer/songwriter) Alisha’s Attic
Elle and Christina bond straight away over an experience that frames the story of the song about to become ‘The Hammer’.
Elle recounts a gritty, humbling situation, where expectation & ambition collided with disappointment, provoking an abrasive realization… all lived out by a young, aspiring musician, determined to make her mark.
TOP TIP: keep it real. Honesty is the best policy when you are songwriting, with a team or on your own. Even if you are writing conceptually, being honest about how you feel & what you think will help with the vocabulary & workflow.
Sitting at the computer, Ian & I start with a bass line & beats, then adding rhythmical loops, we then find a chord progression that reflects the pathos of the conversation. I love this part of the songwriting process… filtering a story or feeling through a mesh of musical possibilities is like translating what we feel into what we hear.
We discover a sound that makes our bones shake, transpose it an octave lower, to give it even more wedge, & this becomes the bass sound & the tonal impetus for ‘The Hammer’.
Just when we thought we’d nailed it, Elle steps up to the midi keyboard & changes one note in the bass line. It sounds a little odd, so Ian tries steering her back towards our original idea, but she stands fast, insisting we keep it.
“Be your own artist & always be confident in what you’re doing. If you’re not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it”
Adjusting our ears to this new melodic direction is a challenge at first, but as our ears adjust, & as we starts tracking the top-line melody, this new bass line becomes a totally irreplaceable part of the song.
TOP TIP: give new idea’s time to settle. Sometimes our ears make us think too much and we miss out on opportunities.
We tighten the top line, write a few extra verses kindred to the initial idea, & Elle smashes the vocals down, mostly in one take.
I feel a real sense of satisfaction as we play ‘The Hammer’ to the other teams at the evening’s listening session.
Elle Exxe - Performing ‘The Hammer’, live in London.
“I was expecting to write a song, or more, a day and I did. I expected to meet some cool people and I did… perfect!”
2. Pro7ect 2015: ‘The Hammer’ writing team - Lisa Fitz, Christina Kowalchuk, Elle Exxe, Ian Wallman.
Now in our 7th year, Pro7ect songwriting retreats at the world famous Rockfield Studios, is the only residential songwriting retreat in the UK offering music production in the room and an opportunity to collaborate with internationally acclaimed writer/producers.
Pro7ect Headline producers include Stew Jackson (Massive Attack), Youth (Sir Paul McCartney, The Verve, The Orb), Roni Size (Reprazent), John Fortis (Razorlight, Ellie Goulding), Iain Archer (Snow Patrol, James Bay), Andrew Levy (Brand New Heavies) and Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh OBE.
Pro7ect Session Notes is an insider’s guide to real life songwriting, collaboration, and music production experiences from Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats Creative Director Lisa Fitzgibbon.
Pro7ect is proudly sponsored by Prism Sound.
3. Pro7ect 2019: Elle Exxe (Featured Artist): in a songwriting session at Pro7ect songwriting retreat UK. Photo by Ian Wallman.
I look forward to sharing with you in this monthly column songwriting & music production experiences, advise, tips and insider secrets that I’ve discovered along my Pro7ect Collaboration Navigation adventure.
Take risks,
Lisa Fitz
Pro7ect Session Notes is an insider’s guide to real life songwriting, collaboration, and music production experiences from Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats Creative Director Lisa Fitzgibbon.
Links to media mentioned in this blog: https://www.pro7ect.com/session-notes
The Hammer - Elle Exxe (written by Elle Exxe, Ian Wallman, Lisa Fitzgibbon & Christina Kuwalchuk: https://youtu.be/00nUyMbDtgI
For more information and to apply for Pro7ect songwriting retreats and Masterclasses: www.pro7ect.com
Pro7ect is proudly sponsored by Prism Sound.
Images: by Ian Wallman
1. Pro7ect 2019: Elle Exxe by Ian Wallman
2. Pro7ect 2015 - left to right: Lisa Fitz, Christina Kuwalchuk, Elle Exxe (Featured Artist), Ian Wallman (Headline Producer).
3. Pro7ect 2019: Elle Exxe by Ian Wallman