Writing for a Band

Writing for a band

In which I try to get out from under the enormity of a song.

For the past 15 years or so, whenever I’ve sat down to write a song, I’ve almost always written with the intention of the song being performed as a solo acoustic pieces. Maybe I’ll write a placeholder on the page for a mandolin solo, or I’ll add some harmonica fills to break up the verses a bit. But in my head they’ve all been stripped down songs, with all the parts performed by myself.

Because I was writing very sparse arrangements, I tended to only be able to think of a song in its entirety. A guitar, and a voice, and some strong lyrics with a steady melody - that was as small as I could think. Over time, that mindset became very limiting.

But now my pop-punk band Jersey Calling has been working on material for a new album, and I’m trying to get out of that rut. Writing for the band also allows me to think about a song as a composite of its parts, which has slowed my writing process and made the music a lot more deliberate. And because I know our sound and I know the talents each band member brings to the group, I can imagine songs as more robust, with several instruments and musicians contributing to the whole.

As we’ve been writing and rehearsing the new material, I’ve also been going on long morning walks and listening to the Song Exploder podcast while I shiver my way through the neighborhood.. Those podcast episodes have reminded me that there is no wrong way to create a song — everyone does something different. For me, I’m trying to zoom into tiny sections of the songs — a verse, a piece of a bridge, or just a half-measure in the chorus — and really see what that tiny section can handle. Maybe it’s a guitar fill (I’m partial to those), or a backing vocal to give the song a bit more headroom. Or maybe it needs less, and dialing back can add drama or tension.

One last benefit to writing for a full band: it takes some pressure off the lyrics, and I’m always hyper-critical of my lyrics. But with the band I can let the arrangement speak a bit louder, where words might fail.