Parisian piggy banks rejoice?

[Heidi writes]

I’ve been a songwriter and a teacher of songwriting for some time, but I still find it thrilling to witness the writing process of my fellow songwriters. At SWF you can hear songs being “born” at all times of the day (and night!). These songs are then performed a few hours later in the open mic nights – many of them backed by the excellent house band. There’s something about being given such a tight deadline that really drives everyone to pull the rabbit out of the hat – and whether the songs have been written by total beginners or experienced writers, they have all sounded just wonderful.

I wanted to understand more about the background of the songs and what it feels like to write in such a hotbed of creativity, so I caught up with a few of the songwriters yesterday.

I found Graham on the steps of one of the beautiful buildings overlooking the lake, guitar at his side and writing in a notebook. Graham told me he felt he was coming to songwriting “a little late” though it was something he’d always wanted to do. He said that just being here and helped “clear a creative blockage” and the song ideas were really flowing. He’d also been encouraged by the supportive atmosphere of the open mic evening gigs.  I asked him what he was writing and he dreamily replied that the view of the lake as seen through the trees was making him think of Paris. Not wanting to disturb his creative flow, I bid him farewell and left him writing a romantic song about strolling along the Left Bank in the springtime.

Later in the day I spoke to Paul and Jules, an experienced songwriting duo from Dubai. Their song ‘Rejoice’, a life-affirming gospel-influenced anthem had earned them a heartfelt standing ovation when they performed it for the first time on Tuesday night. Seated in the SWF café, they seemed much more down to earth than the god-and-goddess personas I had witnessed on stage. (Thankfully – I don’t think I’d have had the courage to speak to them otherwise!) Jules told me, “We were looking to write something that reflected the creative energy we found here. It was all about newness and freshness. The idea was that there is nothing else but now – and we really should rejoice.” Paul continued, “We came here because we had been performing a lot of cover songs and wanted to write more originals. We had the title first, and we wanted to write a song with a simple title and a positive message. We wanted it to be uplifting, but not a cliche.” Talking to them I could see that this was a song that came from a very sincere place, perhaps this is why it communicated so strongly.

I also managed to catch up Norwegian songwriter Sibeth in the SWF café. The blogging team had captured her in full victory pose after completing her first ever song on Monday.  Amazingly, here she was on Wednesday – writing a second song,  accompanied by tutor Jez Ashurst!  Big Piggy Bank is an excellent pop song and she was kind enough to let me film her performing it. I didn’t have to ask how she felt about having now doubled her output – her  expression says it all. I am very thrilled for her.

Heidi