TGA for songwriters

I'm a songwriter in Atlanta, and i found myself as a musician listening to Brian Fallon's raspy brilliance. He's been an influence on me as a songwriter, and also as a person; talking to him when we met changed my life.

I'm sure there are a lot of songwriters on here, so, how has TGA affected you? What specifically do you try to incorporate into your own style? And what stories do you have that relate to being both a songwriter and a TGA fan?

yeh i write the occasional song but really im a much better guitarist than singer or songwriter. To me Gaslight have got this perfect balance of emotion and nostalgia without ever venturing towards becoming cheesy or un-original which i think is an incredibly difficult thing to do with any kind of sincerity.

If i try to copy that style i find myself thinking what is my equivalent of the diner and the ferris wheel and i cannot see them where i live. I also dont want to write about where i live because i think its un-interesting. So the more socially driven lyrics on American Slang speak to me more and songs like 1930 and the 59 sound that are more story driven. Brians ability to create stories and images in your head without using weird abstract language or tired metaphors is pretty genius. So i think about all of these things when writing a song.

Yea, the weird abstract metaphors can get old. So often with songwriting you have the really direct songwriters that, even when they're really passionate, they're just telling a story we've all heard before in a way that isn't particularly creative. Then you have other songwriters who, to escape that fad, write really abstract and psychadelically imagist songs that are really outside of reality, even if they're very good poetically. The thing about Brian (and bruce, and dylan, so we know where it came from) is that he can find the images that drive poetic songwriting in the everyday stories that we're tired of hearing about from other songwriters. So, it's as though he's writing extremely realistic poetry, with the artistic merit of Dante scribbling out the divine comedy in exile from Florence, with the sincerity and trustworthiness of a guy having a beer with you after work in Andy Diamond's bar.

I write songs, or try to at least. TGA is the reason for it. I have always loved music and the art of songwriting but I never tried until after I saw a TGA concert. They pushed me to it. When I write a song about half the time I'm listening to a song on my computer. The song I write may sound similar to the other song I'm listening to but most times it doesn't, and if I ever hit a dry spell I put on a TGA song, and I know something is bound to manifest itself.

I write a lot of songs, but I don't feel like any of them are really directly influenced by TGA. It's just not my writing style, as much as I wish it was haha.

simo wrote:

I write a lot of songs, but I don't feel like any of them are really directly influenced by TGA. It's just not my writing style, as much as I wish it was haha.

Nahh, everyone has a different style. So long as you're not going all Bieber on us, I'm sure you're alright. In most cases, if you really feel the music you like, you will find an audience. Even music I don't like, I respect if it seems to have real heart behind it.

And, GraveRobbers, I have the same experience. Having never heard "1930" or "The Patient Ferris Wheel," i accidentally wrote two songs taht sound a bit like them, but when I listen to TGA when I write, it always sounds original. And, I saw your other post stating you were at a show in Atlanta. Do you live in the atlanta area? I live in Douglasville, near where Six Flags is.

MyFirstSin wrote:

simo wrote:

I write a lot of songs, but I don't feel like any of them are really directly influenced by TGA. It's just not my writing style, as much as I wish it was haha.

Nahh, everyone has a different style. So long as you're not going all Bieber on us, I'm sure you're alright. In most cases, if you really feel the music you like, you will find an audience. Even music I don't like, I respect if it seems to have real heart behind it.

And, GraveRobbers, I have the same experience. Having never heard "1930" or "The Patient Ferris Wheel," i accidentally wrote two songs taht sound a bit like them, but when I listen to TGA when I write, it always sounds original. And, I saw your other post stating you were at a show in Atlanta. Do you live in the atlanta area? I live in Douglasville, near where Six Flags is.

Nah I'm from the South Carolina side of Augusta, and I travel a lot. I just happened to be home when the concert was in Atlanta, and I couldn't miss it. So the 150 up and back was no big deal.

Damn. I was hoping for a collaborator, or even just someone to jam with, lol. I'm in an industrial/progressive band right now, and while I respect the music my buddy Joe writes, and enjoy it, I don't feel it expresses me as much as a rock 'n roll band would. Then again, that translates into "I identify more with singing and playing my songs than playing guitar on someone else's," which i guess is kind of obvious.

I'd love to listen to what you've got, or read some stuff that you've written. I'm not an expert, but I love listening to music and just hearing new stuff. What's your band called? I posted some random lyrics over on my lyrics thread on the general discussion board, if you want to check them out.

Just reivisiting this after about a billion years, cool to see that Shaun Holland was one of the first to respond!

yeh, thats nice of you to say! we should revitalise this thread it was interesting , i read this website all the time its great : http://www.writersonprocess.com/

Yea, I dug hte Brian Fallon, Chuck Ragan, and Chris Farren interviews. They need a Frank Turner and Tom Gabel.

But, yea, now that it's at the top of list again folks might stumble across it. Someone get Speakman on this!

Do you know any similar websites or books, or anything that may help with writing?

I spend literally hours a week on youtube, but I don't really use any other sites. I follow the songwriters on process guy on twitter, so I get that in my news feed, but mostly it's just youtube. That and whatever gets posted in the Street Choir. Interviews are cool, but in my experience (and the experience of tons of other writers), the key to writing good songs is writing absolute mountains of crap and listening to lots of good music. Also, figuring out random stuff on guitar helps. Usually lyrics come first to me, but on the occasion guitar comes first, it's fantastic.

Also, I never close the book on a song. Even "Soldiers of Fortune," about the Street Choir and on my solo record, has been lyrically edited and will be re-released on my band's first album. If something comes, I say stick with it. If releasing different versions of songs is good enough for Tom Gabel and Bruce Springsteen, it's good enough for me.

I get a song lyric popping into my head, and then try to write it down before I forget, or else I keep repeating it in my head till I can. I then try to write a song around that lyric with the rhythm only slightly known.

I do the same thing jimmy. thats cool i dont know any other writers who do that

i think when you try to emulate one writer/band, you end up with a bastardized version of one of their deep tracks. i've tried to mix springsteen, fallon, and willie nile. i think brian tries to mix tom waits, mike ness, and springsteen for his songs. music of social d, stories of the boss, and the phrasing of tom waits.
everyone has their different stuff

yeah, I have that problem. I have this song that I think would sound amazing on Piano, But I am worried it would sound to much like After the Gold Rush...that and I cannot play Piano that well.

I don't think Neil Young really knew how to play piano all that well either, honestly. He sure made it work though.

The way I write music is I carry around this little notebook and a pen wherever I go. Sometimes your best lines just pop into your head when you're doing something completely unrelated, like riding the bus, buying groceries, hanging out with friends, whatever.
I think a lot about emotional experiences I've had, and I love words and language so I often formulate different thoughts into sort of poetic banter in my head. As soon as I get something, I write it down. A chord progression, melody, lyrics, whatever.

Other times I find myself playing something really good on the guitar from outta nowhere. Inspiration can come from anywhere, really.

As far as being inspired by The Gaslight Anthem is concerned, I think it's cool that they literally play punkrock. It's like classic rock played through a punk filter, or punk played through a classic rock filter. Also, Brian Fallon has this really, really simple approach to songs. More often than not he writes music that makes me feel like "Wow, I coulda done that". Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm as good as Brian Fallon, but his music has this simplicity to it that is very approachable from a songwriting standpoint.

I know what you mean. There's the old saying about "three chords and the truth." Well, if you want to be Brian Fallon, you just gotta throw in a fourth chord.

gaslight is how i learned guitar

^thats why he had nils lofgren

I definitely agree that emulating one artist is bad, and it's dishonest in a sense. I think emulating any three artists is bad. It's like Brian said, everyone knows chili has tomato sauce and hamburger meat, it's all the spices that make it what it is. Sometimes I feel more defined by minor influences like Social D, The Loved Ones, or something like that than by my big nine major influences.

I do the same thing with song lines. Not so much anymore, I've just recently been able to sit down and say "this is what I want to write a song about," and do it. Most of my songs have come from a single line idea, then I write about half a song, figure out what it's about, then finish it and edit anything that's inconsistent. Often I'll have severall ine ideas, and I'll open a word document and type them up, then figure out ways to synthesize them all into one coherent piece. I approach lots of songs with the idea that I'll write some multi-movement rock opera like Bohemian Rhapsody or Jesus of Suburbia, and progressively make it more dense and cohesive.

Speaking of nine big major influences, Simo, over a year ago I saw your tagline and googled the lyrics. Discovering "Something About England" was one of the biggest reasons I became a Clash fan. Thanks a ton, man.