Writing

When I am making a new instrumental album, I usually begin with writing down an imagined list of song titles, just a collection of titles that I like the sound of, and then I begin to imagine what the melodies would be like. Just imagining it before I even have the music, helps. And then as I set my attention to the project and focus on where I would like to go, the whole thing becomes more real. Then as I begin writing and get a set of songs in place, I keep replacing the songs with better songs as I go along until I eventually have a completed song list.

Sometimes when I am writing and I come across an idea which is good, I get a strange feeling. Something magical happens, and it's almost like I go into a trance. It's hard to explain, but it's as if you enter a different level of consciousness, and you become very focused and alert.

Maybe that is what songwriter Brendan Graham refers to when he described his writing process as an «emptying of self that leads to the 'other' self.» It's like a «different you» takes over, and all your creative senses are sharpened.