On Songwriting & Creativity.
Writing songs was my first creative writing project.
Earlier this week I was going through some old papers, assorted ephemera from my old band The Shockwaves. From about 2012-2018 my brother Eric Walpole and I performed in our rock trio around the New York City and Long Island areas. Since then we’ve continued writing songs but haven’t gigged in a few years.
The papers were stuffed into an old folder. Set lists, lyrics scrawled on bits of paper, drawings, notes on mixes, a permit for amplified sound and more. Sometimes I find it hard to listen back to our music. I hear the things I could’ve improved. But looking back over these old papers was…fun.
We put a lot of work into the band and our music, these papers are evidence of that. Some notes and lyrics worked their way into a song, while others didn’t. Included were my handwritten lyrics of the first song Eric and I ever wrote (pictured above), my hand-drawn design of the band’s logo, and Eric’s notes on guitar amp settings and chord changes.
My writing has it’s roots in this music, my first real creative project. What was contained in this folder of ephemera was written notes and lyrics. I wasn’t listening to old recordings or watching videos from our shows, which can make me uneasy and slightly embarrassed. Rather, I was sifting through our writing. Before we began performing and throughout our time as a band, our music, plans, and creativity took shape through these pages of notes.
I’m always searching for tips and tricks on writing and the creative process, hoping to garner new bits of information which will unlock something in my writing. Looking over these old notes I see that there’s already a process I’ve been following, of trusting my instinct to begin by hand, by brainstorming, by thinking with pen and paper, and then sorting it all into something cohesive. Before I journaled, before I wrote this newsletter, before I wrote fiction, I wrote songs.
Playing and listening to music still unlocks my creativity. Sometimes while I’m playing the drums, I’ll have an idea for a writing project I’m working on. I can always put on some music or work on a song and become re-inspired, re-invigorated, when new pathways and ideas emerge from working creatively in a different medium. As I continue to write, music will always be at the core of my creativity.