Collaborative Magic: How we compose together as a duo

So how do we go about composing songs?

There is no straightforward answer to that, and I think all songwriters have some differences in their approach to writing. I don’t think we have a particular formula for this (maybe we should) and I think we both get frustrated sometimes when we maybe get ‘writer’s block’ and stare at a blank piece of paper or screen just ‘willing’ for inspiration to make an appearance. Fortunately this ‘doldrum’ doesn’t usually hit us both simultaneously and what helps us somewhat is always having a list of ‘work in progress’ ideas we can fall back on. Melanie in particular is always coming up with either snippets of a chorus or a verse or just a title from which we can build a story or emotion.

Some of our songs just come from messing around and jamming. For example, ‘Watch The World Go Round’ sort of just happened while we were sitting in the garden on a warm summer day and having a bit of a jam. I started playing around with a chord sequence which Melanie spontaneously put some lyrics to. That song actually came quite quickly although we recorded it sometime later.

It would be remiss of me to not mention ‘Hope’, as this was the song that started our musical journey together. This was one of the first songs Melanie wrote. I found it really inspirational and something about it just made me want to record and produce it. Melanie had the entire song as a Piano & Vocal and, in what almost seems as being destiny, coincided with me getting some basic recording gear. I have always felt Melanie’s piano and vocal on ‘Hope’ to be exceptional and I definitely had ‘goosebump’ moments when we did this song. Just as an anecdote, we entered this and were Semi Finalists in the UK Songwriting Competition a couple of years ago.

That kind of kicked it all off. Fairly soon after that there was a song that I had been messing around with for years as a sort of Bluesey structure and Melanie came up with lyrics for it. ‘Always In My Dreams’ with once again a vocal by Melanie that gave me goosebumps when recording.  

So generally our approach is a bit multi-directional in our songwriting. Either sitting down together and coming up with a chord structure and melody, or one of us having an idea that we both then cultivate, or perhaps one of us coming up with a complete song that we then turn into a production. I think one of the important ‘takes’ from this is that all of our songs are a collaboration.

In terms of ‘themes’ and inspiration, again this is quite varied. Songs like ‘Hope’ and ‘Moral Compass’ (another of my favourites) have come from a reaction to significant disasters or world events. Melanie’s lyrics on these two songs are particularly poignant. Other songs are maybe more personally related, such as ‘The Way We Do’ which actually references a period when I was away from home a lot. ‘What We Do It For’ looks a bit at parenting and sacrifices we make for our kids. Most songs though take a theme and then have fictional characters, sometimes expounding our own sentiments and thoughts. Other times just totally made up. I think the important point is to try to tell a story and hope to make it relatable in some way.

Everything is always a Work In Progress, even Songwriting…