Songwriter, producer and founder of Pro7ect, which specialises in songwriting retreats and putting songwriters ‘in the room’ with some of the best music creators in the business, tells Headliner in her own words about the power of collaboration and the vast benefits the organisation’s sessions can offer…
I was a solitary songwriter for nearly 20 years, and it became a lonely game. It had served me well as a 20-something artist flying on a wing and prayer on a global, magical musical adventure. Solo songwriting helped me process all the emotional baggage, the lifestyle decisions, the risks, and sacrifices, loves and losses, and the many highs and lows that came with the choices I made to sustain my artistic life.
Then I started to feel like I was writing the same song over and over again.
I began to crave creative interaction. I wanted to learn how to share the raw intimacy and vulnerability of this songwriting game that I’d gambled on for so many years. I wanted to write songs for other artists and build future work and income opportunities outside my niche. I wanted to write with songwriters better than me, to lift my game and learn new skills and techniques.
But how? Who with? Where do I meet these songwriting collaborators? Will it be a waste of my time and resources? Am I good enough? So many questions, doubts, and fears.
It’s easy for high-profile, established songwriters to say that we are better working together, but how does a jobbing songwriter break into these professional collaborative writing sessions?
I knew I had to step outside of my comfort zone.
I approached this challenge like a research project, dedicating a day a week, at first, to my ‘Collaboration Navigation’ mission. I contacted other writer/producers via LinkedIn and collaborated remotely with music programmers, all with mixed success. I even went on a speed dating songwriting network event resulting in a collaborative project called ‘The Standing’ that went on to release the single with Creative Nation called “Inside Me”: https://vimeo.com/163290810
I joined professional music organisations and endured tedious industry networking events, all just re-affirming my notion that this ‘collaborative writing world’ I wanted so desperately to be a part of was a tight-knit, closed community, and a difficult nut to crack.
And then, I discovered songwriting retreats.