Questions w/ Andrew Osenga (part three)

Well, it's January 2010, which means StSL is now a whopping six months old! It's hard to believe. I've had so much fun, it feels like I've been doing it forever. Anyhow, when I was just getting started, I took a chance and sent an e-mail to one of my very favorite songwriters, Andrew Osenga, to see if he'd be willing to do an interview. He graciously accepted and thus began the "Questions" interview series! Since then, I've had the chance to interact with several more artists and it's been a wonderful ride. Now it only seems appropriate that we kick off the new year by going back to where it all began. Andy has been hard at work these past six months producing, touring, and even putting out a new album. Amidst it all, he found time to answer some more questions for us. So, I'm really excited to bring you part THREE of "Questions" w/ Andrew Osenga...

StSL – Welcome back, Andy! Thanks so much for talking with us again. What have you been up to since your last interview back in June?

Andrew – Well, it’s been pretty busy. I moved into a new studio space (I no longer share my room with anybody else) and I’ve been writing a ton and produced a couple records. I also did some touring with Jars of Clay, I filled on in guitar for Matt (Odmark) for a few shows then Steve (Mason) for a few shows, and Andrew Peterson’s Christmas tour. Also I just released a new collection of songs called “Choosing Sides”, which is basically the year’s Brite Revolution songs on one disc.

StSL – I can’t resist a good “behind the song” story, so this time I’m going to ask about one of my favorites from "Choosing Sides", “I’m On Your Side”. Can you share that story?

Andrew – It’s about a point that happens in certain relationships where you come up to the place where the other person has put up defenses, places they’ve been hurt before, and trying to love them through it to some sort of healing.

StSL – I’d have to say that 2009 was a good year for new music. What were some of your favorite albums from last year?

Andrew – Man, I wish I had time to listen to more music. I loved the new U2 and that Phoenix record “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”, though the lyrics aren’t great. I think of his voice as an instrument and them as an instrumental-only band and then I love them. Big Bang put out another great one, though I think only people in Sweden know or care. Also Eric Peters “Chrome” is fantastic.

Did that Killers record “Day and Age” come out in 09? That was supremely awesome. OH. And the new Jars record. “Long Fall Back to Earth” Holy Wow, Batman, that record was amazing. I’ve always followed them, they were one of the first bands I got into when I started playing guitar, and this was honestly my favorite thing they’d ever done. For me, it’s the first record where the lyrics are as great as the music. It just connects. It’s so intimate, but so bold. I freaked out over it. Then getting to play it live was just a blast. Such fun songs to play!

StSL – You’ve mentioned, on your blog, that you were looking at doing some seminars on songwriting and the creative process. How did that idea come about?

Andrew – Well, I moved to Nashville to go to college to be an English teacher. I love love love novels and short stories. Hemingway, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Vonnegut, the Russians: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov. I love that stuff. I could talk about it all day. A few years ago, I noticed that in the studio when I produced records I was talking about the Beatles and U2 and the Beach Boys the same way. I love love love those records, the process, the technologies, the ends AND the means. I love talking about the songs and WHY they work.

Producing or writing with artists I spend a lot of time tearing apart songs the artist thought was finished, or helping them figure out what a song is actually about. We work on tightening the lyric, setting the melody free to go places, being intentional with instrumental passages, all that stuff... It’s my favorite part of the record making process and it’s something that no writer can learn enough about.

Records are only as good as their songs. No amount of clever production can make bad songs into a good record. No one becomes a good artist without good songs. It’s at the heart of everything and it’s something I love to do and I love to talk about. So why not go and talk about it. (And hopefully make a little cash doing so...)

StSL – I posed this question to Andrew Peterson, and I know you’re a fan too, so here goes: Who is your favorite Battlestar Galactica character and why?

Andrew – Baltar. Hands down. So complex, so funny, and so constantly impossible to nail down. And that season he spent as basically a messiah? I know that bugged a lot of people but I thought it was brilliant, and a lesser actor could not have pulled it off. In such a great show that dealt so wonderfully with religion and belief, watching somebody fake his belief until he actually came to believe it himself was, I thought, quite fascinating.

To learn more about Andrew, visit www.AndyOsenga.com or check out parts one and two of his "Questions" interview. Also, be sure to check back right here tomorrow for part four!