Here is part two of "Questions" w/ Steven Wesley Guiles. Enjoy the interview and be sure to visit the links at the bottom to learn more about Steven Wesley Guiles.
StSL – I know you love songwriting process, so let’s touch on that a bit. Lyrics or music first? Do you have a certain environment you prefer to write in? Where do you draw inspiration from?
SWG – I do love songwriting! Sometimes the process has been painful and slow, but I've learned a lot since I started writing my own songs.
Lyrics or music? Both. Lately I've been coming up with lyrical ideas more often because it really helps in creating the flow and feel of the melody, but I've just as often picked up a guitar and started strumming and then sang whatever came to my head. I guess I'd say that I rarely write an entire piece of music first and THEN apply lyrics and melody, it usually happens at the same time. I'll start playing a riff or a chord progression that sounds good to me and then I'll just sing something that comes to mind or something I've been thinking of and develop the idea from there. On this new album track 2, As They Please, was written and recorded in one take. I tuned my guitar to a tuning I didn't normally use and I started plucking out a pattern that sounded cool. I turned on Pro Tools and hit record and then just sang whatever came out. That doesn't happen very often, but when it does I accept it as a gift.
I tend to do a lot of my writing in my studio where I can concentrate and focus on the songwriting itself. But I write lyrics and melodies wherever I go. Sometimes I'm at work and I'll just turn on a simple recording program and hum my idea and send it to myself as an email. I used to keep a tape recorder with me at all times so that if an idea came I could record it because I found out that even if I thought a song was amazing, I'd inevitably forget it a few minutes later. I have a really short commute to work, but I'll get ideas in the car and hum them into my phone so I can do more with them later.
Inspiration comes from everywhere. Sermons. Songs. Bits of overheard conversations at the park. From other great songwriters. My interactions with my family, friends, and co-workers. All of them inspire me to write songs. I love Bono's lyric in The Fly "Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief/All kill their inspiration and sing about their grief". I'm sure I've cannibalized and stolen from many different sources to create a song. Sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. Sometimes I'll take a chord progression from a song I really like and then change the key and sing a totally different melody. I try and help inspiration out as much as I can.
StSL – February Artist Writing Month (FAWM.org) is one of the tools you’ve used to stretch your own creativity. What is that program all about?
SWG – FAWM.org is arguably responsible for the release of my solo album. Actually, I have to give about 99% of the credit to Garret Gengler, my producer and mixer for this album. He helped me sort through the mess of songs I wrote for FAWM. But without FAWM I wouldn't have had the songs for Garret to produce.
FAWM was a creative jump start for me. The goal is to try and write fourteen songs in twenty eight days. One song every two days. At first I thought that sounded crazy, but then I'd always heard of bands writing entire albums in a couple of weeks so I figured I'd at least give it a shot. The worst that could happen is I'd have a few new songs. So, participants receive no prize other than the satisfaction of knowing you wrote some new songs. The community aspect of FAWM.ORG is amazing and supportive. It's the reason I continue to participate in it because it's a great supportive environment for all kinds of songwriters. Brand new, first time writers to veteran touring musicians participate in it. People will give you the kind of feedback you'd like. You get out of it what you're willing to put into it. I found that the more I listened and commented on other songwriter's tunes, the more feedback I'd get on mine. Plus, I got lots of great ideas from other songwriters in style and approach.
In 2008 I participated in my first FAWM and wrote twenty two songs. The very first song I wrote for that is going to be the lead track on an upcoming E.P. and easily half of the songs on We Will All Be Lifted are from the songs written in February of 2008. That summer they had another event called 50/90 where you try and write fifty songs in ninety days. Again, I thought it was insane, but I attempted it anyway and found that I wrote fifty songs in about two months. I added songs from that set into the mix of songs on WWABL.
StSL – I really enjoyed visiting your San Dimas Songwriters Showcase last month. How did that come about and what do you hope to accomplish through it?
SWG – I planned the first show as a FAMW Over Party to celebrate with fellow FAWMers the completion of the February Album Writing Month. We had 19 performers each performing 1 or 2 songs in less than three hours. It was awesome and went really well. I then wanted to use that as a jumping off point for future shows at the same venue. I wanted a show that I could easily play at that would take people at all different levels. I know a lot of great musicians so I would have a venue for them to play in and then I wanted to provide a place for people who have never performed before but wanted a safe place to try out their songs.
I hope to continue encouraging the local musicians in the San Dimas and surrounding areas to play live. I guess I'm hoping to create a scene of my own in this area. I think so far it's going quite well. We have a really diverse group of musicians coming out and I hope to see more and more in the future. You can find out more at NewCoolNow.com.
StSL – What are you working on right now and what can we expect in the near future from Steven Wesley Guiles?
SWG – I've been discussing the creation of a music video with several different directors and filmmakers, so watch for that in the next year. I also have a 6 song E.P. that's already completed and mastered that came out of the same sessions I did for the WWABL sessions. It's not a set of reject songs either. It's songs that didn't seem to fit stylistically because they were a little more rock/band style as opposed to the more acoustic/organic nature of the WWABL songs. I'm planning on releasing it in 2010.
Thanks so much to Steven Wesley Guiles for taking the time to talk to us. Please visit the links below to learn more about Steven, and join us back here in two weeks for "Questions" w/ Joy Williams!
Steven's Official Site
Steven on MySpace
New Cool Now Official Site
FAWM.org
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