Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to
the Crazy Brave Songwriter
Podcast.
This is a podcast about themagic of making music one song
at a time.
My name is Lisa Gui.
I'm happy to be your host fortoday I chose the music of
singer songwriter Avery Quinn.
Simply because her music touchesme so much, I find her to be a
(00:23):
consummate storyteller with deeppersonal lyrics, music
production that highlights thesoft quality of her vocals that
are moody and memorable.
Emmy Award nominated producerJosh a again joins us to talk a
little about the productionprocess too.
Today we are highlighting twosongs.
The first is the Song Hazel thattells a simple story of a person
(00:47):
who has a crush on another.
And then there is the beautifulethereal song October, A deeply
moving idea about what you mightsay to the month of October if
you were to write her a letterdirectly.
Enjoy this episode and I'll seeyou on the other side.
Check
Speaker 2 (01:03):
One, two, check one,
two, testing, testing.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So I, I've been
making up songs since I was like
two.
I've just always been likemaking up weird little jingles
and stuff since I was a kid.
And so I had all these likepoems written.
I started taking voice lessonsand that's when I started to
like turn them into songs.
My vocal coach was like, Haveyou ever written any songs like
of your own?
And I was like, Yeah, but I'venever played them for anybody.
(01:28):
I played her like one of themand she's like, You should start
doing that a little moreseriously because I think that
was really good and that waslike the only positive feedback
I've ever heard from like my ownsongs.
And so that gave me someconfidence to start like
pursuing songwriting.
I always hesitate to call mysongwriting process like a
process cuz it's kind of allover the place.
But usually songs just come tome like all at once.
(01:51):
Like it's not like the lyricsfirst or the melody first.
It's like if I'm writing lyricsI can also hear the melody in my
head and if I'm thinking of amelody I can kind of hear words.
To me It's been really cool towork with the producer because
(02:12):
before when I was trying to justdo stuff on my own I could hear
it but it's just, it's just myvoice.
And like piano, like I couldhear the songs potential but no
one else could really understandlike what I was trying to make
it.
I'll play it for Josh, just likethe plain simple version that I
have of like just me singing andthen like piano or something and
then I'll tell him all theselike weird ideas that I have.
(02:34):
Like this is what I think thesong kind of sounds like.
It's kind of this kind of vibe.
Sometimes I'll like play othersongs, I feel like kind of
capture the sound that I'm goingfor, hoping that he'll get the
idea.
And then sometimes it ends upbeing something completely
different and it sounds waybetter than what I thought.
So that to me is the best partwhere was like, oh that's not
what I was thinking, but it's abetter idea.
(02:55):
?
Well on my album it's calledHalf Truth and half of the songs
are like about me.
They're just like completelyautobiographical songs.
And then half of them arestories that I made up.
One of the songs Hazel, it'sjust a story that I made up in
my head about a kid who has acrush on a girl named Hazel.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Hazel Friend was
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I found that piano is
actually easier for me to write
even though I feel like I playguitar better and more
comfortable with guitar, I tryto write something every day.
I have like a little poetryjournal and that's usually like
where it'll start or sometimesI'm like recording a voice memo
in my car of just like sounds,but I can think what the lyrics
(04:06):
will probably be in my head.
So October is another one of mysongs that started out as a
poem.
It's the earliest song that Iwrote.
Whenever the seasons change, Istart to have like existential
crisis and I start to thinkabout like my own mortality and
stuff, which is really dramaticand weird.
But I'd just gone through like alot of major life transitions
and I was like this, it justfeels like everything's changing
(04:30):
all around me and I just reallywant things to change for the
better this time.
And I sat down under a tree andI just started writing this poem
that was like a letter to themonth of October.
Just imagining like what itwould be like if things changed
the way I'd hope them to.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
October.
The color sky is getting colder.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
I'm not very good
with like expressing my emotions
to other people and even tomyself.
And I think that writing is myway of just like getting that
out of my system and looking atit and being like, oh that's
something that a lot of peoplefeel.
And when you turn that into asong, sometimes it's scary for
me to like share my raw feelingslike that.
(05:13):
And so when I hear other peoplerespond to it like oh I really
connected with that song, itmakes me realize like, oh I'm
not actually alone in what I wasfeeling.
Like it's a very universalthing.
Who told you that I'm someheartless loner?
Don't you know that depends onyou.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
October, I think you
something.
I watch you Tuesday.
I'll meet you at the place wefirst met Tuesday.
Who told you that I'm someheartless lone owner.
Don't you know, that depends onyou.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So that, that's
actually my favorite part in
this song.
It's me also talking to thisimaginary person in my head.
Like, I think you have somethingI want you to say.
I was imagining this person likeconfessing their feelings to me
having something I want them tosay, Who told you I was some
heartless loner?
Don't you know that depends onyou.
October.
Um, just feeling like that wasthe impression I had of myself
(06:10):
at that time in my life.
I was just like this kind ofcold person with no friends,
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Love a poet and a
page and queen and you'll be
every star inside a galaxy.
She know you like nobody
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Knows the lyric.
That lyric and the bridge isreally funny.
The, you could love a poet and apageant queen.
I definitely don't think ofmyself as a pageant queen.
I just really like how it rhymedwith galaxy honestly.
And I like the alliteration withpoet and then another word that
started with P.
So yeah, that wasn't meant to bean expression of vanity at all.
My biggest tip for anysongwriter, musician, anyone in
(06:54):
that field is just don't stop.
I try to write something everyday.
Is it good every day?
Absolutely not.
I'd say maybe 5% of the songs Iwrite end up getting recorded
and end up being like goodsongs.
But in order to get those 5%, Ihave to write that other 95% cuz
like you're not gonna write ahit song every single time you
write something.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
And now for your
listening pleasure, the song
October in its entirety
Speaker 4 (07:39):
October, the color
sky is getting cold.
My heart is getting, gettingfeeling faces.
What?
Don't just, He's so like acandle that I wanna burn and
(08:05):
don't you know why we couldnever be friends?
I know you like nobody, you'llknow you like this, you sweater
and October when we were onlystrangers in September, if you
(08:31):
would've told me, I would'vesaid never.
The feelings change.
We could then what the, And nowI I think you something.
I want you Tuesday.
I'll meet you at the place wefirst met Tuesday.
(08:56):
Who told you that I'm someheartless lone owner?
Don't you know?
That depends on you.
October, just think how it, ifyou poet ended every star inside
(09:19):
her gala.
That precisely.
What s you, uh, to No, no.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
This is Lisa again
and I wanna take this moment to
applaud the team at love andlaughter music group.com.
A safe, knowledgeable spot formusicians who wish to learn more
about writing songs andrecording great music.
This episode is a product ofliving Crazy brave.com, another
hub where musicians cancultivate new awareness about
what it takes to honor thesacred art of making honest
(10:36):
music.
The stories we think about arelike spiritual connection
between ourselves and theuniverse.
We accomplish this in threeways.
We write songs for ourselves aswe seek to make sense of the
emotional and situationalexperiences we live through.
We write songs to others as aprayer that our songs will
(10:59):
uplift and heal and we writesongs with others to remind
ourselves that we are not aloneand that there are other
storytellers out there just likeus.