PODCAST · music
How did you write that song?
by Paul Marsh
Not only rock stars write songs. Lots of people with busy lives do it. In this podcast I'll have discussions with people who write songs about how they do it, why they do it and the things songwriting has done for them. In each episode we'll discuss and play an original song by the featured songwriter and get right down into how that song came to be. Relevant resources and links to things we've discussed will be included in the episode notes. If you write songs, or would like to write songs but haven't started yet, this podcast could be for you.Look forward to connecting with you, Paul.
Episodes
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Inside the Song with Lisa Richards, Jo Evans and Fiona Bolton
In a departure from our normal format this is your front row seat to a fabulous "songwriters in the round" show recorded at Smiths Alternative in Canberra in 2026. Local songwriters Lisa Richards, Jo Evans and Fiona Bolton performed 15 of their songs and covered every possible angle on how they...
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How Did You Write That Song Dingo?
Brandon Dodd, aka Dingo, guitarist in Kasey Chambers band, solo artist and producer very kindly agreed to stop by for a chat about songwriting. We went back to where it all started for Dingo as a kid playing guitar in his bedroom and then with Grizzlee Train in 2015. We discussed how he got into...
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How did you write that song DJ Gosper and Jeff Prime?
Canberra songwriters Dorothy Jane (DJ) Gosper and Jeff Prime have been doing their stuff for many years in many different genres across the blues, jazz, rock and folk spectrum. It was great to catch up with them and hear some of their songwriting insights from their many years experience of…
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How did you write that song Shark and Fox?
Shark & Fox consists of Jaron Freeman-Fox on violin, 12-string viola d’amor and fretless guitar, Emily-Rose Sharkova on accordion and keyboards, and Rose Callaghan on the drums, with all three members lending their voices in a collective roar, or intricate harmony. Their music ranges from crazy...
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How did you write that song Broken Creek?
I was lucky enough to catch up with Erin and Lachlan from Victorian folk duo Broken Creek when they were briefly in Canberra for a gig. They've got a great complementary approach to songwriting - Erin writes the lyrics and Lachlan writes the music..... well it's not quite that straightforward!...
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How did you write that song Chris Johnson?
Chris Johnson is a long time songwriter and lover of guitars. He came to the studio for a chat with his custom-made acoustic guitar built from exclusively Australian timber that he once wrote a book about! Chris has been writing songs since he was in primary school in Brisbane and has always been...
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How did you write that song Dandelion Highway?
I had a phone chat with Chris and Kayleigh from Canadian folk duo Dandelion Highway whilst they were sitting in their car on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls just before a gig in a vintage record store! They both love songwriting and have written songs independently for many years. Kayleigh who...
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How did you write that song Matt Holborow
Matt Holborow writes songs and makes guitars! He approaches both in a similar way - learning by doing, trial and error and gradually gaining confidence. Matt has been known by friends and colleagues for a long time as a musician and someone who can change the lyrics of existing songs for a…
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How did you write that song James Fahy?
I had the great fortune to chat about songwriting with legendary, and now Melbourne-based, singer/songwriter James Fahy when he was back in Canberra recently. For James, getting going with songwriting during his school and uni years empowered him at a time when things were difficult. He's never...
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How did you write that song Rachel Hore?
Rachel Hore is a songwriter, a teacher and a choir leader who started writing songs in an a cappella group and got into writing folk songs (with instruments) much later. The strength of Rachel's voice skills and experience is clear in her songs but she says that she is so busy with her choral…
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How did you write that song David Mason?
Canberra-based singer/songwriter David Mason grew up in the Yorkshire Dales in the UK. Whilst he's played music at various points in his life starting out as a drummer and then a guitar player, he only wrote his first song during the Covid lockdowns. David's songwriting is shaped by his interest…
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How did you write that song Lisa Richards?
Lisa Richards is an acclaimed singer, songwriter, musician and voice teacher. She very kindly found the time to stop by the studio to discuss songwriting and play one of her songs live just ahead of a busy tour. In fact it was the first singing performance she had done for a few months after an...
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How did you write that song Mikelangelo?
I had a fabulous chat with internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Michael Simic (aka Mikelangelo) when he was in Canberra workshopping a new solo musical theatre production. Michael writes dark, funny, crooning folk songs influenced by his European heritage, often with a raucous theatrical...
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How did you write that song Margaret Lewis?
In this episode it was great to catch up with Margaret Lewis who is literally at the very start of her songwriting journey. Margaret stopped by for a chat with Jo Evans who was the subject of last week's episode. Margaret has spent her whole life loving music and singing in choirs and in her…
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How did you write that song Jo Evans?
Jo Evans writes folk songs about important times, places and people in her life. She is an accomplished singer from years of choir singing and has actively taken up songwriting quite recently. Jo talked about some of the important influences and mentors which have encouraged her to write songs...
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How did you write that song Napoleon Ice Cream?
Resh, Sofia, Sylvia and Brian from Napoleon Ice Cream stopped by for a songwriting chat and to play some acoustic versions of their songs live in the studio. Describing themselves as "Aussie Asian Nerds who should be home studying but snuck away to make rock music instead", Napoleon Ice Cream…
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How did you write that song Ben Drysdale
Ben Drysdale has been writing and performing songs for 20 years in various duo and band projects. For much of that time he was a solo songwriter but more recently has got into collaborative songwriting which has significantly increased his output. Curiously collaborative songwriting has also...
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How did you write that song Jenny Spear and Bridget Croft?
Jenny Spear and Bridget Croft are two good friends who write intense, energetic songs with awesome harmonies - think Vika and Linda meet Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings in a roadside diner. They have both written and performed songs separately in different bands over many years but are really...
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How did you write that song Nick Lee-Murphy?
Nick-Lee Murphy lives for music, by day fixing guitars at a music store and at other times playing in bands and musically supporting a bunch of different community groups. Nick started writing songs out of a feeling of envy when he saw his mates performing their own songs so he got a guitar and...
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How did you write that song Heather Hill?
Canadian singer-songwriter Heather Hill and I caught up just after the release of her fourth album "Twilight Mist". Heather's songwriting is strongly influenced by the natural environment around her home in Canada and the twilight is a particularly productive time for her to write both in terms…
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How did you write that song Amber Susan?
Amber Susan started to write songs after many years of classical music training in voice and piano. She had some jazz lessons, learnt how to improvise and stepped over the threshold into the murky world of playing by ear, feeling the vibe and writing songs - she hasn't looked back! Amber and I...
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How did you write that song A.J. Leonard?
Songwriter, multi instrumentalist and ukulele virtuoso, A.J. Leonard has been writing songs for 50 years. Sometimes he can write one in a single sitting, others are still not finished after decades. He sees songwriting as an alchemy which he can't quite explain but he recognises that there are...
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How did you write that song Kim Yang?
I caught up with Taiwanese-Australian singer-songwriter Kim Yang when she was in Australia briefly to perform at the 2024 National Folk Festival. Kim started writing songs in her mid-twenties partly to articulate important issues in her life. Kim says that, as a shy person, she finds it…
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How did you write that song Kieren Phillips and Luke Folkard?
Kieren and Luke from the band Adventure Street have got to be the most enthusiastic music besties I've ever met! They've known each other and played music together since they were kids and spent many years living next door to each other on (yes you've guessed it) Adventure Street which is a real...
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How did you write that song Fiona Bolton and Randall Blair?
Fiona and Blair have been songwriters and performers in various musical projects for a long time. Fairly recently they pooled their songwriting talents in the band The Lonely Fates. It was a real pleasure to hear how these two talented songwriters collaborate to build songs from the ground up.…
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How did you write that song Alec Randles?
Alec Randles trained as a finger-style guitarist strongly influenced by Celtic and classical music. He then started writing songs, pop songs coming first, and then songs more and more connected to his Celtic and classical training. In our discussion Alec describes how he needs to be inspired by…
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How did you write that song Bec Taylor?
Bec Taylor's songwriting started with big ambitions when as a 12 year old she and a friend decided to put MacBeth to music! She's written and performed a huge number of songs over the years across just about every genre you can imagine. One of her friends refers to her as the Swiss army knife of...
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How did you write that song Areta
Areta is a songwriter who, through her songwriting, invites us right in to share the things that are important and powerful in her life. She has been writing poems and songs for many years but only started performing them fairly recently. Areta plays live her song "Inconsolable Thoughts" and we...
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How did you write that song Fred Smith?
Award-winning folk singer/songwriter Fred Smith has seen many things, written many songs and the world is a better place for it. In this episode Fred talks about how he started off in music playing covers in a restaurant for 20 bucks and a bowl of spaghetti and spent years writing comedy songs....
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How did you write that song Larissa Swan?
In this episode my guest is Larissa Swan who writes beautiful songs for and about people who mean a lot to her. Larissa writes songs to help process big issues in her life and has made great connections with people through songwriting. Sometimes the people she writes songs for reciprocate and…
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How did you write seven songs in seven days? Part 2
Part 2 of a discussion about a crazy, wonderful week of songwriting. In this episode, Ryland Newstead, Jasmine Fellows, Scott Lennard and I discuss the second part of the seven songs in seven days songwriting challenge that we participated in recently. We discuss how, as the week progressed, it…
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How did you write seven songs in seven days? part 1
Write seven songs in seven days - no way! A songwriter friend of mine organised an online songwriting challenge to write and share in real time an original song every day for a week. 12 songwriters participated and this is the first of a two part account of an amazing, raw, unfiltered and...
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How did you write that song Daniel Champagne?
Daniel Champagne is an incredible acoustic guitar player and songwriter. I had the great fortune to chat with him whilst he was in Australia for one show in-between North American and European tours. In this interview Daniel takes us back to when he wrote his first songs as a kid on the New South...
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How did you write that Cashews song Alison and Pete?
In this episode I have the great pleasure of chatting with Canberra duo, The Cashews. Pete Lyon and Alison Procter write songs about people and places that are close to them and often "pop up" in the places that they have written about to perform those songs. In the interview we learn about how...
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How did you write that song Nigel McRae? (explicit)
Nigel McRae is well known around Canberra as the owner of Smith's Alternative, a music venue that strongly supports local songwriters and original bands. But he also has been a prolific songwriter. In this episode Nigel tells us how he came to write 100 songs in 10 years and then virtually no…
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How did you write that song Meredith Harper?
Meredith has her own music podcast and a band. She considers herself an occasional songwriter and has written two songs. In this episode Meredith explains how she was scared of writing songs for many years until one day she needed to write an original theme tune for her podcast and... bingo! We...
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How did you write that song Ryland Newstead?
Ryland Newstead has been writing songs for most of his life. Inspired initially by his musical heroes The Beatles and Oasis, Ryland tried to play their songs but wasn't happy with the result. So he decided he needed to write his own songs in his own style whilst applying what he'd learned from…
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How did you write that song Joanne Craigie?
In this episode, singer, songwriter and ukulele player Joanne Craigie tells us about how she didn't write songs for a big part of her life until one day..... she started and hasn't looked back. She tells us how she keeps a collection of song ideas that randomly emerge and how she once wrote a…
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How did you write that song Jasmine Fellows?
Did you know there is a box of cards to help you write songs and that you can get different emotional vibes just playing the white keys on a piano without needing to understand music theory? In this first episode of "How did you write that song?" Jasmine Fellows explains how these things and the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Not only rock stars write songs. Lots of people with busy lives do it. In this podcast I'll have discussions with people who write songs about how they do it, why they do it and the things songwriting has done for them. In each episode we'll discuss and play an original song by the featured songwriter and get right down into how that song came to be. Relevant resources and links to things we've discussed will be included in the episode notes. If you write songs, or would like to write songs but haven't started yet, this podcast could be for you.Look forward to connecting with you, Paul.
HOSTED BY
Paul Marsh
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How did you write that song? currently has 39 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is How did you write that song? about?
Not only rock stars write songs. Lots of people with busy lives do it. In this podcast I'll have discussions with people who write songs about how they do it, why they do it and the things songwriting has done for them. In each episode we'll discuss and play an original song by the featured...
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How did you write that song? has 39 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Who hosts How did you write that song??
How did you write that song? is created and hosted by Paul Marsh.
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