MONDAY Q&A 3/9/20

Q: I know how much you like great lyrics, you work with artists who share that identity too. And with an artist like Ashton, who writes poetry and intense lyrics...I still wondering how do you work to build a song, is it lyrics first and music comes after or no rules ? Is it a four-handed writing or separately at beginning? Merci.

A: Interesting question, as I think BIC does it a bit different than maybe others write songs, mainly due to the fact that all BIC songs are true collaborations with singers. Of the 13 original songs on ‘'finding beauty in chaos’ all of the music was written prior to sending to the artists. Only the title song was written a bit different. I spoke with Ashton Nyte, telling him I wanted to end the record with a track that ‘felt’ like the ending … wrapping it all up. He sent me a short simple voice memo of him singing “finding beauty in chaos, watching as the embers fall and sway…”. From that lyric and melody, we built the title song. I do enjoy the process of seeing how a piece of music is interpreted by a singer …. meaning where it leads them melodically and lyrically. Each song was certainly a pleasant ‘surprise’ ! We followed this model also on our upcoming ‘the storm before the calm’ writing, but we did send the singers a bit more ‘open’ music tracks this time, meaning more sparse. I wanted to make sure that the music did not have too many ‘melodies’, etc .. anything that would paint-them-in-a-creative-corner so to speak. This allowed us to add more textures AFTER the lyrics and melody; which I also enjoyed. I think the singers in my ‘wheelhouse’ are all great lyricists, which is what attracts me to them; even as much as their voice. I think all great songs have a bit of beauty and chaos in them, it’s what makes them real. As I look forward to what comes after this new record, I many try some different things, maybe have a singer send us their lyrics and melody first, and write to that or even, if possible, write with them in person. We will see, as there are certainly no rules!

CHAMP and MC