Written on . Posted in Essays & Interviews.
This is my interview with musician, author and podcast host Nikhil Hogan, via Skype—with Nikhil in Singapore and me in Rochester. We were introduced remotely by Dr Joseph Curiale, a wonderful composer and mutual friend. This was one of the most delightful interviews I’ve done; I found Nikhil’s questions to be most interesting and on point.
74: Lorraine Feather2:10 What were some of the records that you grew up listening to that were influential in your development?5:00 On hanging around famous musicians as a kid6:20 Were you an avid reader and writer growing up?7:34 Did you father encourage you to write?8:42 What was it like studying with John Mehegan?9:54 How much did you write as a child?13:24 Did you ever take singing lessons?14:33 When did you start writing lyrics to songs?15:55 On writing for Full Swing16:37 What was it like writing for that first album for Full Swing?18:34 What notes did Richard Perry give you on your lyrics?20:25 Did you ever take music theory lessons or study music?21:17 Talk about writing your first album, “The Body Remembers”24:39 What is the Lorraine Feather method to writing lyrics?26:69 How did you write “Smashing Thirds”?28:10 How long would it take you to write one of the Fats Waller songs?29:21 When is the best time of day to write a song?30:29 Do you rewrite a lot?30:52 What do you look for in a co-writer?34:28 How do you deal with writer's block?35:10 What was the writing process behind Math Camp’s “I don’t mean to make a big deal of it”?36:13 Did you write the lyrics before hearing the music?38:08 How long did it take to write all the tunes in Math Camp?39:10 What are the things that are important and interesting to you in lyric writing?40:14 If you compare your current self to yourself 10-20 years ago, what’s the difference in your writing?41:40 What was the most difficult song for you to write?44:14 What was the easiest song for you to write?46:03 What’s your biggest regret in music?46:57 What is your proudest musical moment?47:39 If you could go back in time and co-write with anyone of your choice, who would it be?48:07 Who is your opinion, are the best lyricists in jazz and pop?50:15 What 3 albums would you recommend a new listener to start with?51:09 Can songwriting be learned?51:52 What’s the best advice for someone who wants to get into the music industry?52:54 Wrapping up—–I’m so thrilled to talk to my guest today, 3-Time GRAMMY nominated Jazz Singer and 7-Time EMMY nominated Lyricist, Lorraine Feather!As an artist she has recorded 12 albums. Her 2010 release, Ages, featured songs with her lyrics, and music by Eddie Arkin, Shelly Berg, Russell Ferrante, Dick Hyman and Béla Fleck. It brought Lorraine her first (2011) Grammy nomination, in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category. In 2013, her album Attachments was nominated for the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal album. In 2015, her album Flirting with Disaster was also nominated for the GRAMMY for best jazz vocal album.Lorraine has received 7 Emmy nominations writing for Television. Some of her credits include, Disney’s Dinosaurs and Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween, PBS’s Make Way for Noddy, the MGM animated film Babes in Toyland, Hasbro’s My Little Pony series. Some of the Film work she’s done includes The Jungle Book 2, The Princess Diaries 2, All Dogs Go to Heaven, the Lionhearts and much more.Her latest album is 2018’s Math Camp. It was produced with longtime co-writer Eddie Arkin; with seven of the songs being written with Arkin and three with Shelly Berg.
Posted by The Nikhil Hogan Show on Wednesday, October 16, 2019