I usually start with a lyric and see where that takes me.
From Adam Schlesinger
For me, it's just more satisfying when you follow the rules rather than just make a bunch of sounds. The magic of just making noise in the studio goes away after a while.
A band can define their own success.
I just try to tell a story rather than present an open diary to the world.
If you're sitting in a place like Martha's Vineyard, I don't think you're going to write a song about a ski resort.
Andy Chase and I were keyboard players originally, and we became guitarists later. But it's fun for us to focus more on the keyboard stuff sometimes.
I always have to be thinking about who's going to be singing this song, what the context is. I don't sit around just writing in a vacuum, ever.
With Fountains Of Wayne, I almost always start with lyrics - maybe not the entire lyric, but I almost always need a couplet or something, and then I work from there. With Ivy, it's much more about the atmosphere and the vibe.
What should a song be about? It's a trick question for songwriters because lots of amazing songs aren't 'about' anything. Or, at least, they're not about anything that's obvious or logical.
I tend to write songs that are about something pretty specific. A lot of them tell some kind of little made-up story.
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