11.15.2020
ELVIS COSTELLO TALKS FEEDING CREATIVE CURIOSITY ON SONGCRAFT: SPOTLIGHT ON SONGWRITERS
American Songwriter: Delia Rowland November 12th 2020
Despite having such a wide-spanning musical catalogue which ranges from country covers to orchestral masterpieces, hosts Scott Bomar and Paul Duncan of the Songcraft podcast attempt to boil down just what makes the legendary musician Elvis Costello thrive as a songwriter.
As a seasoned veteran in the art of seamlessly melding melody and lyrics, Costello has no problem sharing his expertise on the fragile process which occurs when inspiration strikes. Speaking in an abstract way only a fellow musician might be able to decode, Costello advises his peers to consider two things when attempting to capture melody from thin air.
“One is the influence of ambient sound, which can include other music. And the second is the resistance to going to the instrument too soon before it is to some degree formed in your mind,” he says. “I think sometimes when you go to the instrument, it automatically formalizes the shape of the melody, in relation to rhythm, and even harmony, particularly if you play the guitar, a melody will appear to be, really in space and have so much freedom, and the minute you give it form with accompaniment, it loses some of that flight.”