And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

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.

And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan is a music podcast hosted by And The Writer Is, with 127 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

And The Writer Is hosts And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan, a music show with 127 episodes published.

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  And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

  Ep. 266: Tinashe’s Guide to Making It on Your Own Terms

  Sep 29, 20261h 18m

  Today’s guest is a singer, songwriter, producer and dancer who has spent her career trusting her own instincts—and building a world around them. From “2 On” to “Nasty” and “No Broke Boys,” Tinashe has kept releasing music through major-label deals, independent projects and viral breakthroughs. She’s collaborated with artists including Calvin Harris, Charli xcx and Kaytranada, and joins us to talk about the journey behind it all. And The Writer Is... Tinashe! 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.Splice, the best sample library on the market, period. and our lead sponsor, our Patreon page! We're still giving away free Universal Audio Recording Gear in our next zoom hang. Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/andthewriteris CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:46 Tinashe and Ross reconnect—back to The Stunners 3:48 “Deep in the Night”—the song she wrote at five 5:08 Tinashe’s French fry rankings 6:12 Child acting, Whoopi Goldberg, and moving to LA 9:11 Life in a girl group without creative control 11:22 Buying a microphone and building a bedroom studio 14:10 Getting signed—and expecting it to be easy 18:40 Join the ATWI Patreon 19:32 Splice: Sounds and Variations 20:39 Early Travis Scott sessions and being taken seriously in the studio 23:29 Recording 200 songs—and trusting the big producer’s opinion26:33 Trusting your gut and knowing when to leave a session 30:43 “2 On” takes off. What happens after the first hit? 36:03 Writing “2 On” in a garage with friends 37:37 Does having a hit teach you how to make one? 39:20 Leaving her label and rebuilding trust in her own ideas 43:29 What releasing music independently actually takes 46:10 Filming her own videos and building her visual world 48:14 How dancing shapes the way she writes songs 50:08 Working with a label again—and finding Ricky Reed 52:11 Getting the call from Calvin Harris 53:52 Why genre doesn’t define her music 55:19 “Nasty” takes off after she stops needing another hit 57:04 Why she won’t write for a TikTok trend 58:43 Charli xcx and finding freedom after early hits 1:00:41 The unexpected remix journey of “No Broke Boys” 1:03:31 Taking the Grammy off her lock screen after seven years 1:05:14 Making POPSTAR—and giving herself time to play 1:05:55 Which POPSTAR song fits every mood? 1:08:19 Claiming the pop star she’s always been 1:13:32 “Just don’t stop”—keep putting your music out 1:14:42 Her advice to young women in music: intuition Credits Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

  Ep. 265: How Remi Wolf Built Her Career: Study the Greats, Take the Gig, Say Yes

  Sep 22, 20261h 36m

  Today’s guest is one of the most unmistakable voices in modern pop — an artist, songwriter and producer who has built a career by making music that sounds like nobody else. Her catalog has passed two billion global streams. She’s played top billing at festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands, opened for Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde and Paramore, and collaborated with artists including Nile Rodgers, Beck, Dominic Fike and Sylvan Esso. And The Writer Is... Remi Wolf! In this episode, we get into - The USC training that rebuilt her voice - Waiting tables and taking Craigslist gigs while building a career - The 30-minute session behind “Photo ID,” - Industry lessons for every artist to take notes on... and much more. 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 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. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:40 “You can’t teach tone” — how Remi found hers 2:13 USC: “We’re going to beat you down until you feel like you’re nothing” 6:15 Fourteen, busking the Bay Area, and writing songs in Chloe’s kitchen 13:40 “Carousel” — the first song she ever wrote 15:41 A substitute teacher, an apartment, and her first recording 18:05 Ski racer by day, songwriter by night 19:05 Meeting Jared Solomon at 15 — then finding each other again 21:07 Applebee’s on tour — and the road to sobriety 24:04 Rehab, writing Juno sober, and why clarity changed the songs 29:02 “It’s not ready” — why she refused to release music in college 30:22 Six songs in one week — the reunion that started everything 34:24 Restaurant shifts and Craigslist gigs: how she paid to keep making music 39:26 The Sofar show that led to her first manager 42:39 “I had no expectations” — making music before the industry got involved 45:28 35,000 decisions a day — what creative control actually costs 49:22 “You have to start protecting yourself” 51:34 What is the goal? Redefining success 56:51 Her first album rollout sober 59:21 Social media, warped expectations, and screaming into the void 63:22 “Photo ID,” TikTok, and the accident that helped it explode 66:40 “Photo ID” took 30 minutes — and she thought it was horrible 70:15 Her first professional topline session: “I was overcome with social anxiety” 72:11 Why I’m Allergic to Dogs worked during lockdown 74:56 Why Juno is called Juno 78:50 Hayley Williams and singing with another “belt queen” 82:25 Five years of nonstop touring — and finally hitting pause 87:15 “I Won’t Cry” — her favorite song she’s ever written 89:15 “I was sick of the uptempo shit” — writing 130 songs for Mud 90:49 Her first pitch session was for BTS 92:34 Which Mud song fits every mood 94:10 “I’m the happiest I’ve been in my life” Credits Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

  And The Update Is...Ella Langley Makes Billboard History, UMG Sues DistroKid & Songwriters Fight for Healthcare

  Sep 19, 20264 min

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

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  Episode #264

  Ep. 264: How Aaron Dessner Became an Industry Favorite and the 3AM Text That Became 'folklore'

  Sep 15, 20261h 22m

  Today's guest is a musician's musician who co-founded The National, the Grammy-winning band behind Boxer, High Violet and Sleep Well Beast. He co-wrote and produced Taylor Swift's folklore and evermore, including cardigan and willow. folklore won Album of the Year at the Grammys. He worked on The Tortured Poets Department and produced Ed Sheeran's Subtract. He's behind Gracie Abrams' I Love You, I'm Sorry and Noah Kahan's Porch Light. In the last year alone, he's made records with Mumford & Sons, Florence + the Machine, Brandi Carlile, Sam Barber, Kevin Morby and Suki Waterhouse. He's one half of Big Red Machine with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. And he built Long Pond, the Hudson Valley studio where many of these songs were made. And The Writer Is... Aaron Dessner! 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. Amazon Music for Songwriters. Your support means the world to us. And SONA — Songwriters of North America. If you write songs, join them. They fight for us. 0:00 Intro 1:00 Cardigan, willow, Porch Light — and eight albums in a year 5:26 Why "I Love You, I'm Sorry" was never the single 7:27 Secretly rooting for the weird song 8:17 When a pop star needs a single right now 10:25 Don't fill the space: how he walks into a session 12:12 Long Pond and "you never make a mistake investing in your creativity" 17:24 Twin brothers and their dad's jazz drums 22:48 "We faked it": how The National got signed 26:48 Playing to no one — then 500 strangers in Michigan 30:05 "Did you lose yourself?" 33:14 When one bandmate starts writing hits for other people 35:38 On stage with Taylor: "You're playing a stadium. It's okay." 37:27 "Hey, it's Taylor": the text in 2020 40:34 The Dropbox folder — and cardigan by 3 a.m. 47:45 The thank-you note that became willow 51:49 Meeting Gracie Abrams — and 2–3 songs a day 57:47 How an instrumentalist became the storyteller's whisperer 1:01:11 Why his albums don't get shelved: finishing Prizefighter 1:04:23 Studio stories: Gracie, Brandi Carlile, Florence, Sam Barber 1:11:40 Noah Kahan arrives burnt out — and Porch Light 1:15:41 Live Q&A: finding the corners, his first key change 1:18:24 Advice for musicians with day jobs 1:20:07 What all the greats have in common Credits: Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  Episode #263

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

  Sep 8, 20261h 4m

  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.

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