And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

And The Writer Is
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Music
  • Updated twice weekly

Every week, we sit down with an acclaimed and venerable songwriter to intimately discuss what happens behind closed doors in the music industry. There are millions of singers, thousands of artists, and only 40 top songs per genre at a time... this podcast is about the people who make them. Produced by Joe London & Ross Golan in association with Big Deal Music & Mega House Music. And The Writer Is... ™ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 14 min ago

    Ep. 263: Ziggy Marley on Family Rules for Life, Music, and Success

    Today's guest is a Grammy-winning songwriter, bandleader and activist who has spent four decades inside the most famous name in reggae — but whose real story isn't the inheritance. It's the set of rules underneath it, the ones the family actually lives by, which turn out to have almost nothing to do with music. And The Writer Is... Ziggy Marley! Subscribe to our channel and follow us on socials @andthewriteris Every week we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music. A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible. Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us. And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period. Chapters: 0:00 He inherited a legacy and built a voice of his own 0:45 Why reggae heals 4:53 What makes the Marley family so consistent 6:43 Seven kids, and the family business that isn't music 8:36 Why the whole album is tuned to 432 12:32 The one song he left at 440 16:06 What makes this album different from the other fifteen 18:11 Finishing the songs before going into the studio 20:37 Why he wrote "Many Mourn For Bob" 45 years later 24:54 Umbrella or shadow: being a Marley 26:39 The funeral, and the drive to Nine Miles 30:54 NMPA + Splice 33:15 Breaking the four-bar on "Racism" 36:03 "It sounds light, but it's heavy underneath" 38:37 What "Beach in Hawaii" is actually about 43:37 How he found out "Tomorrow People" was a hit 46:14 The Melody Makers, and the line you don't cross 49:15 "Create your own space" 53:45 Advice to the next Marleys 55:27 "You can't just ChatGPT life experience" 59:12 "When the fridge was empty, I was happy" 1:00:26 "I know my value" 1:03:07 "It's always new. Still a kid." Credits: Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ep. 263: Ziggy Marley on Family Rules for Life, Music, and Success

  2. 4 days ago

    And The Update Is...The Industry Mourns Dolly, AI Music, $11 BILLION in Ticket Fees & Ella Langley Takes Over the Charts

    And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    And The Update Is...The Industry Mourns Dolly, AI Music, $11 BILLION in Ticket Fees & Ella Langley Takes Over the Charts

  3. 6 days ago

    Ep. 262: Ryan Beatty | How to Make It in Music Without Losing Yourself

    Today's guest is an artist and songwriter whose career has taken him from teenage YouTube covers to working with Beyoncé, Tyler, The Creator, Brockhampton, Miley Cyrus and Jack Antonoff. But this conversation is really about something bigger: How to build a career in music without losing yourself along the way. Ryan talks about learning to trust his own taste, being grateful he never had a hit record, protecting what makes an artist special, and refusing to let success, algorithms or other people's expectations define him. We also get into Boy in Jeans, Brockhampton, Tyler the Creator's unexpected DM, writing four songs on Cowboy Carter, the making of "Bruises Off the Peach," and his new album Sweet Fortune. And The Writer Is... Ryan Beatty! Subscribe for more conversations with the artists, songwriters and producers shaping music. Follow us: @andthewriteris A special thank you to our sponsors: NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association Splice — the best sample library on the market. Period. Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:36 The Greek, Hollywood Bowl & Pokémon evolutions 3:08 Being made fun of for singing 4:09 “I refuse to continue just being one thing” 8:32 Why being hard to define is freedom 9:52 How Ryan approaches a songwriting session 11:52 Teach people how to treat you 13:43 “I’m grateful I’ve never had a hit record” 14:12 What success feels like vs. what it looks like 20:08 “I didn’t feel smart enough to be a songwriter” 20:55 Boy in Jeans — finding his voice as a songwriter 26:42 Jack Antonoff and an unexpected Broadway placement 27:30 NMPA + Splice 29:19 His advice for artists going viral 31:55 The moment he decided to do it his way 34:06 Brockhampton, Kevin Abstract & finding confidence 37:05 Why Ryan never pitches songs 40:43 Tyler, The Creator’s unexpected DM 42:35 Dreaming of David, touring & burnout 44:52 Making “Bruises Off the Peach” 48:17 Finding his actual singing voice 50:30 Cowboy Carter — four songs, told nobody 54:30 Making Sweet Fortune & chasing timelessness 57:32 How he wants listeners to see themselves in his songs 59:36 Amy Allen, Clairo & making the studio a place of joy 1:04:25 “Doing this is scary for me” Credits Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad Edited by Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ep. 262: Ryan Beatty | How to Make It in Music Without Losing Yourself

  4. 18 Aug

    Ep. 261: Travis Barker | Survival and Building a Legendary Career out of the Ashes

    Today's guest is the drummer who took punk out of the garage, put it on your radio, then on MTV, then on your body. But his real story isn't the discography. It's what he did with everything that was supposed to end him. From a four-piece kit in Fontana to the center of the album cover, Travis carries three things simultaneously that most musicians never figure out how to hold at once: the craft of writing a drum part as a hook — singing it in his head before his hands ever get there; the conviction that no genre gets to own him, and no one else gets to write his ending; and the contrarian edge to ban Auto-Tune, editing, and drum samples from his own studio at the exact moment the rest of the industry is sprinting toward machine-clean. And The Writer Is... Travis Barker! Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music. Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/andthewriteris We're giving away 4 pieces of premium recording gear on zoom on August 25th! Join Patreon for details. Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible. Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us. And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:51 Why the documentary sat for nine years 3:18 The producers pitch an ending: "Can you just walk onto a plane?" 4:51 Survivor's guilt: "They wouldn't want me to sit here and not fly again" 6:33 "The doc was dead to me" — and living your life like it's a movie 9:41 "I don't make beats." "Now you do. I need it in two days." 12:23 Beastie Boys, Bad Brains, Buck Owens — refusing the box 15:28 The drums are a hook, not a timekeeper 15:54 "That's not music" — the teacher who wouldn't teach him rock 17:25 How he actually writes a part: "I sing it in my head" 18:21 Learning the whole blink-182 set in an hour 21:29 Trash men in Laguna, and one store that sold their tape 22:52 The untitled album, and the day the process changed 25:57 The lyrics he wrote: "We'll have Halloween on Christmas" 27:15 "I Miss You" — the loop he had to convince them to keep 28:07 "You have to put your ego away to be a drummer who's a songwriter" 35:46 The burn center: "How am I going to play drums?" 36:25 The hand he couldn't feel, and why he told no one 43:20 "Too heavy for blink" — Boxcar Racer, and Mark 56:30 "There was no therapy for what happened" 1:10:19 What drummers should actually practice 1:19:29 AI: "I hate it" — no Auto-Tune, no editing, no samples 1:31:20 "All the Small Things" — the day Tom told him to open the valve 1:33:33 "Where's all the hits?" — the note that made Rock Show and First Date 1:35:15 "One More Time": writing about your own band breaking up Credits: Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ep. 261: Travis Barker | Survival and Building a Legendary Career out of the Ashes

  5. 11 Aug

    Ep. 260: Role Model | Being Discovered by Mac Miller & How Getting Signed Changed His Music

    Today's guest is an artist most people meet through the bit: the deadpan internet, the cowboy suit, the one-sided war he's been waging with Harry Styles for a year that Harry Styles knows nothing about. So this is the other version of him. A kid in Pittsburgh with a borrowed mic and beats ripped off YouTube, broke and failing out of school, who gets a message that Mac Miller loves a song off his first EP — and uses those three days in LA to convince his parents to let him drop out. It's also one of the more honest conversations we've had about what the industry's upgrades actually cost you. Not the version where getting signed is the happy ending — the version where the nice studio, the engineer recording your vocals, and the A&R in your ear slowly make music that isn't yours. Chuck Timely & The Hourglass is what's on the other side of that: a record about time, made by someone who spent years trying to get his own back. And the only person who ever told him not to make it was his mother. And The Writer Is... Role Model! A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible. Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us. And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period. They are also maybe the only ethical ai-integrated sample library and they pay creators for using their work in the new Variations update and beyond. Chapters 0:00 Intro 2:00 The year-long war with Harry Styles that Harry Styles knows nothing about 2:41 Mac Miller and Odd Future on Vine are why he finally said yes to TikTok 3:33 The message about "Stolen Car" that came while he was failing out of school 15:01 "Did you scrub the internet?" — "Yes. Because I was embarrassed." 16:13 "I was trying to impress a label. I just made s****y music." 24:16 A 16-year-old in Portland, Maine, and an EP made entirely over email 25:44 The labels start calling: "I was a sitting duck" 27:01 The studio trap — how nice rooms take the music out of your hands 28:01 The two EPs he's blocked out: "I don't remember making that music" 28:54 Why he won't pitch songs to other artists 31:06 The 80s synth album they made for two months and scrapped 34:33 The two rules: no synths, no drum machines 35:06 His mom: "There's country in it? Your fans are gonna hate that." 37:39 "Sally," written in the 30 minutes a session ran short 42:09 "But who is Chuck?" — inventing Chuck Timely 47:12 Ross defines a good song: "This will piss off a lot of people" 53:10 What he'd say to Mac Miller 54:44 "Look at That Woman" started as a joke — and why the loose ones win 56:27 The permission Kansas Anymore gave other songwriters Credits: Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ep. 260: Role Model | Being Discovered by Mac Miller & How Getting Signed Changed His Music

  6. 7 Aug

    And The Update Is...Suno Loses Copyright Case, Spotify Hits 300M & YouTube Music Dominates

    And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    And The Update Is...Suno Loses Copyright Case, Spotify Hits 300M & YouTube Music Dominates

  7. 4 Aug

    Ep. 259: Jessi Alexander on Writing "The Climb" The Week She Almost Quit... + What It Takes To Last as a Nashville Songwriter

    Today's guest wrote "The Climb." She also wrote "I Drive Your Truck," "Mine Would Be You," "Don't Think Jesus," and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma." But her real story isn't the hits. It's the ten years before the first one, the five years after it when the phone stopped ringing, and what she figured out in between about how to actually last in this business. From a dropped record deal and years as what she calls a washed-up artist nobody would write with, to Song of the Year, a Grammy nomination, and a run of hits she wrote while raising three kids under three. She carries three things at once that almost no writer figures out how to hold together: a working method she can actually teach, a conviction that this is a calling and not a job, and a refusal to write the safe version of anything. And The Writer Is... Jessi Alexander! Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music. Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible. Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us. 0:00 Intro 0:48 Her favorite non-songwriting songwriter trick 1:54 "How do you make unavailable country men emotional?" 5:33 The five songs on her Hall of Fame plaque 11:07 Pool halls and stick shifts: "that color is what I draw from" 12:42 The artist deal that fizzled — "I wasn't the artist type" 13:31 No man's land: "no one took me seriously, I was a washed-up artist" 14:01 The insane story behind writing The Climb: "just another damn day" 20:11 Bud Light, a guitar pull, and a British director 22:07 Being told The Climb would change her life "Sir, that doesnt happen to people like me" 28:08 Nashville still said No 30:38 Getting men to sing: long notes and the falsetto flip 31:44 "What part of their tool belt have they not used?" 34:32 The professor who told her to quit school 36:18 Her album, the mergers, and Redneck Woman 40:27 New mom: "they'll just put someone else in my spot" 45:30 Good mom or good at work — never both 46:16 2015 to 2020: "the water just turned off" 48:23 Advice for the writer whose phone stopped ringing 50:24 The song that rang every bell 57:21 Concept-first or melody-first: "I'm the director" 61:16 Songwriters own it. Screenwriters sell it. 64:16 Imposter syndrome and the Billy Strings answer 65:24 What makes Morgan Wallen great 69:46 "I don't like to not know where all the bodies are buried" 71:43 I Drive Your Truck (Crazy story) 74:37 Her granddad's truck in the driveway 75:44 "Call in the third. Call in the fourth. Call in the 10th." 76:46 No #1 party until they found him 80:36 The truck-song traffic jam they were worried sick about 85:38 "Keep your head down." Still the only answer. Credits: Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ep. 259: Jessi Alexander on Writing "The Climb" The Week She Almost Quit... + What It Takes To Last as a Nashville Songwriter

  8. 2 Aug

    And The Update Is…Labels Rein In AI, Miley Signs to Atlantic & Deezer Turns a Profit

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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About

Every week, we sit down with an acclaimed and venerable songwriter to intimately discuss what happens behind closed doors in the music industry. There are millions of singers, thousands of artists, and only 40 top songs per genre at a time... this podcast is about the people who make them. Produced by Joe London & Ross Golan in association with Big Deal Music & Mega House Music. And The Writer Is... ™ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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