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Songwriters on Process

Songwriters on Process

By: Ben Opipari
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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.

© 2026 Songwriters on Process
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Episodes
  • King Tuff (Kyle Thomas)
    Mar 28 2026

    "I'm a jacket man," King Tuff (aka Kyle Thomas) told me as we discussed why feeling good is important to the songwriting process. I had mentioned a writer who told me that he must wear a winter coat when he writes--even during the Washington, DC summers where he lives. This is not a complicated idea: if we're in a good headspace, we're more likely to be productive and write good songs. "I want to feel like I'm sparkling and then want the songs to feel like treasure, like candy," Thomas says.

    But touch is not the only sense that puts King Tuff in creative mode. Like most of us, the primitive sense of smell does it for him. "I love the smell of hose water on cement and of wood smoke in the frozen air," he says.

    King Tuff's latest album is Moo.

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    50 mins
  • Snail Mail (Lindsey Jordan)
    Mar 24 2026

    "I very much consider myself a writer," Lindsey Jordan (Snail Mail) says. And any good writer has a ritual. Part of Jordan's ritual involves the balance between keeping the writing process precious and recognizing that too much preciousness can create a rut. Regardless, Jordan's love of reading (and poetry!) makes her one hell of a lyricist.

    Snail Mail's latest album is Ricochet.

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    49 mins
  • Nate Ruess
    Mar 17 2026

    Nate Ruess's songwriting catalog includes his Grammy winning band Fun; his co-write and co-performance with P!nk on "Just Give Me a Reason"; and songs for Hayley Williams, Kesha, and Young Thug. After feeling no urge to write for ten years, he's back with the first new material in twenty years for his band The Format. Their new album is Boycott Heaven. And as you'll hear, nothing gets Ruess in the songwriting groove quite like a good, long run along the beach.

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    41 mins
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