1.The First Song I Wrote
The first song I wrote was a ridiculously ordinary song called ‘The Stranger’ and I was in year six. Oh boy, it was bad, but for some reason I have a recollection of my class singing at an end of year assembly, or something like that. I wrote it with a friend of mine, Mat, but it was honestly about nothing. The chorus went, “There’s a stranger, a girl in danger / I should be paid for what I’ve done”. No idea what I was on about, but you’ve gotta start somewhere.
2. The Last Song I Released
The last song I released was a track called ‘True Or Nothing’. It came out in October last year and was a bit of a departure from everything I’d released before. I produced it with Beau Golden and we used a lot of different instrumentation to what I normally would. It was a good experiment and people seem to dig it, but it won’t be on an album. I’m going back to the old style for the new record.
3. Songwriting Secrets
If there’s a secret to songwriting then someone needs to tell me because I have no idea about it. I’ve picked up some tips and tricks along the way that have helped me get across the line with a song a few more times, but it’s a weird thing. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s impossible. My process is always guitar, melody, vowel sounds, hook, lyrics.
4. The Song That Makes Me Proud
My most successful song is definitely not my best song. I don’t know what my best song is. I know what I like, but I’m a guy who likes album tracks, not singles. I had one song of mine, ‘Walking On Me’, played on repeat in a line of clothing stores for three months. The poor staff had the same 17 songs to listen to all summer and that was one of them. Poor buggers. I got a $19 royalty cheque for it.
5. The Song That Changed My Life
I have no idea about this, but looking back I’m thinking maybe Incubus – ‘Drive’. Incubus were so damn cool at the time and then came out with a nice acoustic track with a cracking chorus and I was sold. That’s the music I’ve connected with most ever since.
Jordan Millar playsCourtyard Sessions 2016 at Seymour Centre on Friday February 19.
