by Mike Errico | Jan 31, 2022 | Uncategorized
So, this was fun. Thank you to David Constabile, Peter Zizzo, Ed Grauer, Jacob Slichter, Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and all at...
by Mike Errico | Jan 3, 2022 | Books, Music Lyrics and Life, Teaching, Text Journalism
This is a great one, written by Matthew Wang. Congrats on your book, Music, Lyrics, and Life: A Field Guide For the Advancing Songwriter. Can you talk about some of your former songwriting students, some of whom are interviewed in the book? First off, I’m grateful that so many of them came out to be a part of the book—and that includes you, my friend. I really think of us as a team, and I spend a lot of time trying to find opportunities to connect former students to each other. There’s an Instagram account dedicated to the amazing stuff everybody’s doing, and there’s also a Facebook page where we share job opportunities, gear, etc…, but that one’s secret. Can songwriting be taught? Partially, yes. And to a specific subsection of the songwriting community, absolutely yes. Mke Errico connects through songwriting. (Photo Credit: Stan Horaczek) Of course, there are the people who walk into my class with an innate gift of how melody and structure flows, and for them, sometimes all I can do is encourage them to finish as much as possible, and to challenge them to stretch into areas they hadn’t considered. Which, frankly, is a lot. But the writers I can help most obviously are the ones who are maybe not as gifted naturally, but who make up for it by being hell-bent to be a songwriter. They’re early for class; they set up weekly office hours; they apply for all the internships; they co-write with everyone they possibly can; they wake up in the morning wondering how they can get better. I work hard to...
by Mike Errico | Dec 14, 2021 | Music
BUY: https://mikeerrico.bandcamp.com/track/youre-no-santa You’re No Santa © Mike Errico (Sky Blue Coupe De Ville Music, ASCAP) Darkened windows Neon signs turned inward to the bar Last call for alcohol this Christmas Who knows who we are In all the science A silver lining through the microscope A light that goes out in the tunnel Provides a kind of hope The names are nameless The work is solemn and unsung The sign that’s hanging on the doorframe Is not for everyone Open for business The Christmas gift on no one’s Christmas list Take the mask off Two weeks and soon you won’t be missed You’re no Santa You’re no Santa Claus Karaoke We got Bob Seger on the mic The coughing suits him Somehow it makes it feel all right To be broken To be one thing I never learned to fix To forget is to forgive Two weeks we’ll all be in a ditch...
by Mike Errico | Nov 29, 2021 | Books, Music Lyrics and Life
Master mixologist Lindsay Merbaum has custom-concocted a ‘booktail’ to aid in your digestion of “Music, Lyrics, and Life.” Here she is, now: “There’s no such thing as being alone while writing,” claims Mike Errico in his newly-released book, Music, Lyrics, and Life: A Field Guide for the Advancing Songwriter. As a reader and a creative, I certainly found pleasant company in Errico’s writing itself, along with doses of humor and the occasional kick in the butt: “Each fear that stops you from writing is a writing prompt,” the author aptly nudges the reader. Cheers to that, as well as gems like these: “What I’ve concluded is that notes are nice and all, but if you don’t have something to say that improves on silence, then don’t say it.” By now you might’ve realized this is more than a book about songwriting, though it is enormously helpful and insightful on that subject: “A song is a conversation between you and history,” Errico tells us when discussing song structure and musical patterns over time. Music, Lyrics, and Life is also a meditation on the creative process that doles out revelations and advice in the way of the very best teachers. There is a whole passage addressing the hypothetical challenge of a hypothetical student who questions the assumption tires must be round. In return, Errico interviews Jennifer Basl, a mechanical engineer at Goodyear whose job is to design tires. The subsequent conversation is fascinating. There are also interviews with people like Eric Bazilian, songwriter and founding member of the Hooters; Grammy-nominee Raul Midón; professor, author, Guggenheim Fellow, and cosmologist Janna Levin; actor...
by Mike Errico | Nov 16, 2021 | Music Lyrics and Life, Teaching
Excerpted from Music, Lyrics, and Life: Signed copies: Bandcamp If you’re a Bruce Springsteen fan, you know that he’s from New Jersey. If you’ve ever listened to Eminem, chances are excellent that you know he’s from Detroit. You may know Kendrick Lamar is from Compton, Jennifer Lopez is from the Bronx, Pitbull is from Miami, and the North Mississippi Allstars are from . . . you get it. How do you know where they’re from? Because they told you—a million times. In song after song, they’ve created a world by planting signifying flags, both literal and metaphorical, in the hopes that you will identify with their artistic journey and want to be a part of it. Let’s call these musical flag plantings Mission Songs. If you’ve ever had to write a topic sentence for a paper or read the mission statement of a school or company, you’re familiar with the concept. Mission Songs lay out the story of the artist—what they believe in, where they’re from, what they want. They’re decoding glasses. Here’s an example of a Mission Song success story, ripped from the pages of music history. You’ve heard of Kiss? With the makeup, the dragon boots, the breathing fire, and all that? Of course you have. Picture this as a songwriting challenge: bassist Gene Simmons was a kabuki-inspired demon who’d pop blood capsules in his mouth and “bleed” all over his ax-shaped bass; guitarist Ace Frehley was “from space”; singer/guitarist Paul Stanley was vaguely described as a “star-child”; and drummer Peter Criss was (checks notes) a cat? This was a band that needed a musical decoder ring....
