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Songwriters on Process

by Ben Opipari

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Latest episodes

  • Chelsea Rifkin (Wilt)

    October 20, 2026 · 48 min

    "It's trash that evokes emotion," says Chelsea Rifkin of Wilt referring to her junk journal. The singer for the LA-based band uses this journal as an important part of her songwriting process. The title is literal: "It's a scrapbook of…

  • Joy Oladokun

    October 13, 2026 · 50 min

    "I get a prebiotic soda and some popcorn, then head upstairs to write. And if I'm not feeling it, I leave." Joy Oladokun is nothing if not brutally efficient in her songwriting process. There's no room for wasted time. "I work fast but…

  • Julia Jacklin

    October 5, 2026 · 57 min

    “I love to sing out loud there. No one can hear me because everyone is, well, underground,” says Julia Jacklin. And if that’s not the best reason for singing in a cemetery, I don’t know what is.  Walking is a daily and essential part of…

  • Brennan Wedl

    October 1, 2026 · 47 min

    "I like to write at my desk," says Brennan Wedl. It makes me feel like a professor, so it's correlated with discipline in my brain. It's like a writing altar." This tracks with Wedl's penchant for adhering to a writing ritual and its…

  • L'Rain (Taja Cheek)

    September 27, 2026 · 48 min

    "I have my best thoughts in total comfort and complete boredom," Taja Cheek (known professionally as L'Rain) says. After all, who doesn't prefer a good couch or bed when they write? But when it comes to pure inspiration, Cheek likes to be…

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  • Margaret Glaspy

    September 21, 2026 · 52 min

    "I like to do things that make me feel integrated with the environment," says Margaret Glaspy. Broadly, Glaspy's process involves a general resistance to technology, which is why we had a great discussion about the benefits of cursive. It…

  • Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show)

    September 16, 2026 · 43 min

    Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show is the first person I’ve interviewed to compare the songwriting process to feline copulation. But this unique metaphor actually reflects Secor’s deep introspection: only someone who reads all the time…

  • Lucius

    September 8, 2026 · 50 min

    "You need to be somewhere where you allow yourself to be totally stupid," say Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius. Not great life advice, but it's fantastic advice for the creative process. In other words, the initial stage of any…

  • Kyle Grim (Dogwood Tales)

    August 31, 2026 · 51 min

    Kyle Grim of Dogwood Tales was born in the wrong century. He really belonged among the Romantic poets, who saw the purity of nature as a source of renewal. I mentioned this to Grim after he told me that a large part of his process revolves…

  • Jim James (My Morning Jacket)

    August 27, 2026 · 50 min

    Jim James needs a bigger head. How else to accommodate all the bursts of creativity he has throughout the day? They happen all the time. The My Morning Jacket frontman finds art galleries to be a particularly rich source of inspiration…

  • Alicia Witt

    August 24, 2026 · 56 min

    You have seen Alicia Witt. Of that I can be sure since she's appeared in so many movies and tv shows. (She starred most recently opposite Nicolas Cage in Longlegs.) But Witt is also an accomplished piano player and singer/songwriter; it's…

  • hey, nothing

    August 20, 2026 · 46 min

    Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips of Athens-based hey, nothing have been friends since middle school. And when you've grown up with your songwriting partner, you have a good idea of what makes for an efficient writing process. Both have a…

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About the show

In-depth interviews with songwriters about their songwriting process. Nothing else. No talk of band drama, band names, or tour stories. Treating songwriters as writers, plain and simple. By Ben Opipari, English Lit Ph.D.