I’ve been working in the studio the past few weeks. Man, that is grueling work. Until you’re done laying down your tracks. Then it’s all about sitting on your ass with a beer in one hand and a handful of smart ass comments in the other. The guy we’re working with is Kevin McCarthy. He really knows his stuff and it has been a great experience. By the way, for more info on Kevin and his studio, City View Recording, just call (503)371-8418. Just tell him Azaroth sent you!

Anyway, between conversations in the studio and watching Josie and the Pussycats and Rockstar in one night, I had a few thoughts on song writing.

I don’t just mean lyrics. Any schmuck can crap out some words and call himself a songwriter. No, I’m talking about the guy that writes the lyrics, composes the riffs and then turns the whole thing into a song.

Almost everyone is, or knows someone, that thinks that they’re a songwriter. In any given day, 1000 songs are written by "songwriters" all across the USA. Of those 1000, 250 will never even be heard by anyone, 500 will be almost exact copies of someone else’s work, 200 will be played by "garage" or "local" bands and possibly end up on a recording, 40 will be recorded by an artist on a record label, 9 will make it onto a major label’s release, and less than one of them will be a hit. Man, those are pretty tough odds, eh?

If, after hearing that, you still want to give it a shot, then I’ve got a few pointers. Write about something you know. Make sure your song has a "hook". You know, that part of the song that you can’t get out of your head...the part that ‘hooks’ you. Finally, send it to someone else. You see, even if you write a great song, someone else (a record exec, a fellow band member, your girlfriend, your Mom) is going to make changes. If you can’t handle that, then GET OUT OF THIS BUSINESS!!!

If you ever get your "big shot", it will go exactly like this: "I am so glad to be here." "We loved your song. We see big things in your future, kid." "Great! Let’s get started. Here’s my song." "Oh yeah...you’re song. Well, here’s the band that’s gonna record it for you, and here are the changes we’ve all made."

With that, they unroll a HUGE list of changes and your song doesn’t sound anything like yours originally did. Here’s my advice: JUST ACCEPT IT.

Wow...I headed off on a tangent there, huh? Well, the long and the short of it is this: Song writing may seem like something simple to do...but to really do it, and make it good, it is very, very difficult.