The Songwriters Survival Kit
What’s in your songwriter’s survival kit? Do you require an assortment of tools, oddities, or instruments to help you tap into 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.
These past few months I’ve been lugging my Songwriting Survival Kit around Australia and Asia. It’s an interesting challenge packing all the tools you need to support your practice into the smallest bag possible. And even more of a challenge to carry it with you wherever you go - boat, plane, train, or trek. I’m used to writing in locations other than my home studio, and can be pretty minimal with my kit, but long-hall travel and the financially restrictions of excess luggage has reduced my songwriting survival kit in a whole new way.
“First thing, I throw on some jeans, a T-shirt and my Keds sneakers and make a coffee. That is actually my favourite time of the day. That is when I do my songwriting, when I’m in writing mode.”
– Lucinda Williams
I’ve made a list of the essential things in my own Songwriters Survival Kit. I’ve divided my list into 2 categories… essentials, and luxuries. I’ve also asked some of my writer/producer friends and comrades what in their Songwriting Survival Kits.
LISA FITZ’S SONGWRITERS SURVIVAL KIT – essentials:
Lisa Fitzgibbon at Rockfield Studios with her Taylor guitar
1) Acoustic Guitar – Taylor if I’m touring and writing in the UK, Takamine if I’m travelling abroad and not gigging. My Taka is my ‘campfire’ guitar. I love it, and have written many songs on it, but I travel with it when I’m not recording or gigging (it’s electrics aren’t great and it’s a bit buzzy), so it doesn’t give me anxiety if it has to go in the plane hold or sit in a tent in a cold field for a week.
My lovely Taylor comes on tour and to the studio with me.
2) Audio voice notes – either a dictaphone or my voice notes on my phone, to capture all the ideas and sound that I find in any moment.
3) Music-free zone – I can write with the sounds of the sea, the wind, nature, even traffic in the background if I have to. Birdsong can be nice, and the sound of the rain can be inspiring. I cannot ever write when there is a radio, TV or any music playing. It’s too distracting and makes it impossible to focus.
4) Blank page – My writing room is full of songbooks that I’ve collected and been gifted over the decades. I love a blank page. There’s something about the space that excites me and the written word, without lines to keep it ordered, feels more inspiring.
5) Tea – white with a ¼ teaspoon of honey if you will.
LISA FITZ’S SONGWRITERS SURVIVAL KIT – luxuries:
6) My MacBook Pro – I do a lot of writing in the box now-days and use Logic to get these idea demo’s up to speed before I record or share them with my band, or send them to other collaborators.
7) A View to sing to – I know many songwriters that prefer a blank wall or a simple picture in their writing space. I love a great view so I can look out and engage with nature whilst I’m wigging out on a song idea. I used to take myself away for solo writing retreats to the Isle of Man. The room I used looked over Snaefell Mountain and I found the all-weather sky to be a real inspiration, especially to the bleaker songs in my repertoire. My home studio now has a view down the Slad Valley in the Cotswolds, and this view is the inspiration for my latest project ‘Down in the Valley – songs of landscape and legend” www.downinthevalley.co.uk
8) Collaborators – I enjoy the benefits of collaborative songwriting more and more. I’ve spent 20 years writing songs about how I feel alone. I’ve recorded and toured with this material but there is something so liberating about collaborative songwriting, especially for more social songwriters, like me. This is why I setup Pro7ect residential songwriting retreats at Rockfield Studios. It allows me to meet and work with other writer/producers in a supported residential environment. It’s an investment in my craft, my learning, and my growing community of amazing songwriters from around the world. You can join us this July by applying to: www.pro7ect.com/apply
I asked some of my friends and comrades what’s in their Songwriters Survival Kit.
Andrew Levy, Co-founder of pioneering acid jazz band The Brand New Heavies is a bassist, writer, producer and Pro7ect Headline Producer:
When asked about his songwriting process, he says "I always try to do as little arranging as possible and really, really focus on the lyrics. When you’re in an acid-jazz/funk/sort-of-dance band, you want to do your riffs and focus on the groove of the bassline, and I’ve got to stop myself. If a song’s really going to travel, you’ve got to pull back and make sure that the song is the star, as well as the lyrics and the singer.”
And what’s in your Songwriters Survival Kit Andrew?
1) My Shazam playlist for inspiration
2) Ice cold Sparkling water in the day, and a single shot of tequila when we are working in the evenings.
3) My Fender Jazz bass
4) A good night’s sleep pre session
Will Cox is a Songwriter, Musician, Storyteller, Poet and Pro7ect alumnus. His anticipated Debut Album ‘A Darkling Shore’ is a neo-classical homage to a number of musical styles, from hard rock to blues, soul to punk, pastoral folk to classical romanticism. The album was a consequence of Will attending the Pro7ect Songwriting retreat and many artists he met at Pro7ect feature on his album.
What’s in your Songwriting Survival Kit Will?
1) coffee/tea/booze (depending on time of day)
2) cigarettes
3) notepad, or phone.
4) An instrument
5) A persistent, nagging feeling, (normally existential angst.)
Bev Lee Harling, singer, songwriter, violinist, composer and Pro7ect alumnus is a prolific artist who is currently touring her solo autobiographical music theatre show, ‘Ploughing the Sea Salt’, drawing on her recently discovered rich heritage of centuries old, fishing family roots in Hastings. The narrative, drawn from the suds of the Old Town Wash House, told through the eyes of the overlooked women, seeks to rewrite their stories of boats lost at sea and local life, back into our current consciousness through original and traditional folk song.
Bev shares her Songwriters Survival Kit secret ingredients with us:
Make it stand out
When I’m songwriting I need…
1) Solitude
2) Tea
3) Space to walk
4) Access to soup making facilities….I need space in between the music creation to create in a different way.
https://www.bevleeharling.com/projects/ploughing-the-salt-sea/
Frank Turner is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and is about to release his 10th studio album ‘Undefeated’ which he describes as “a summation of what I’m trying to say with this record, a record about survival and defiance, but also one with a sense of fun and self-deprecation. 19 years into my solo career, I’m still standing up and putting out some of my best work. It feels good.”
Frank discussed the essential things in his Songwriters Survival Kit with our partners at Songwriter Magazine:
(for the full interview go to https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/gear/frank-turners-songwriting-survival-kit)
1. GIBSON COUNTRY & WESTERN 1957 ACOUSTIC GUITAR
I bought this guitar a few years ago, it didn’t come cheap, but it’s in absolutely mint condition, and I absolutely love old Gibson’s. Something about a guitar that plays easy, that has a great sound and has age and wisdom, helps my fingers find the right places for new songs.
2. MY MUM’S UPRIGHT PIANO
My mother got an upright piano from her parents for her 21st birthday, and it was in the house when I was growing up. My sisters and I used to argue about who would inherit it, but one day my mum was moving house and just decided she didn’t need it in the new place, so I snaffled it.
3. NOTEPADS
I have quite a complicated and arcane system of notepads. Currently, I’m running about five. I have a couple of small Moleskins and some larger, cheaper ones. Some of them were gifts – from my partner, from a friend. Different types of words go into different notebooks, it’s difficult to explain what the breakdown is, it’s instinctive. A few years ago I ditched computers and typing for writing lyrics, apart from for final drafts. I find the physical act of writing much more satisfying, and I like being able to look back through my crossed-out edits.
4. MACBOOK
I carry my MacBook and my audio interface with me pretty much everywhere I go. I use a simple SM58 for vocals and DI my guitars and use Logic to put together demos of new songs. They’re very rough sketches, structural mostly, with basic arrangement ideas, which I then take to my band.
5. BOOKS
I read voraciously, and that helps keep my mind ticking over when it comes to writing. I read a lot of poetry, novels, literary and artistic criticism (especially Clive James).
6. NONE OF THE ABOVE
Actually, songwriting remains an entirely ephemeral act for me. Some of the best stuff I’ve written has been jotted down on a supermarket receipt, hammered out on a broken ukulele at a friend’s house. I don’t get much say over how and when the good stuff comes, you just have to be ready for it. Afterwards, you sit down and build songs from the nuggets of inspiration, but that central moment, when things just arrive, is delightfully ineluctable, and always will be.
Whether you’re a prolific or an occasional songwriter, it’s handy to have your Songwriters Survival Kit ready for when the mood takes you. These tools will help your confidence, workflow and inspiration… and goodness knows we need as much of those three things as we can get.
Good luck on your creative adventures and we hope to see you at a Pro7ect Songwriting retreat some time soon.
Pro7ect 2022 Residential Songwriting Retreat at Rockfield Studios
Since its launch in 2013, Pro7ect has brought together over 120 artists, songwriters, musicians, and producers. These collaborations have resulted in nearly 100 tracks written and recorded, 18 of which have been released. There have also been four syncs, three albums produced by P7 artist collaborators and many production opportunities for participating Headline Producers through the P7 Alumni.
Pro7ect’s success lies in its ability to pair artists and songwriters with internationally acclaimed producers who are there to guide the recording process and capture the collaborative efforts of our writing teams. Limited places are available so apply today…
Dates and Prices for Pro7ect 2024 are:
Residential: 16th – 20th July - £1795
Fee includes four nights’ accommodation (twin share), three writing days and all meals, studios, and equipment.
Masterclass: 20th July: 10am - 5pm - £225.
The price includes studio, equipment, producer fees and lunch.
Applicants do not need to have any previous songwriting experience to attend the Masterclasses.
The Masterclass is open to anyone. No previous songwriting experience required.
“A friend suggested I go on a songwriting retreat
…and it changed my life!”
- Lisa Fitzgibbon (singer, songwriter, music producer)
Pro7ect is proudly sponsored by Prism Sound.
P7 Headline producers include Stew Jackson (Massive Attack), Youth (Sir Paul McCartney, The Verve, The Orb), Roni Size (Reprazent), John Fortis (Razorlight, Ellie Goulding), Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers), Iain Archer (Snow Patrol, James Bay), Andrew Levy (Brand New Heavies) and Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh, just to name a few.