Today, we sat down with Christina and Jordan from Deep Talk to discuss their music writing inspiration, type of music listening to while growing up and much more! Be sure to check out Deep Talk on Spotify below right after the interview!
Interview:
What is your inspiration to write your music? Is it your surroundings?
Christina: Some cultural and physical surroundings, some observations of my friend’s lives, and some of my own experiences after heavy processing. For most of the songs, I don’t realize what I’m writing about until after I’ve written it and come back to the song with new ears. With me, consciously writing about a topic or story usually produces a song that’s a little corny.
Jordan: I’m just a big music geek. Sometimes there are certain sounds or feels that I aim for, but often I just see where experimentation takes me.
What type of music did you listen to growing up?
Christina: A lot of alt rock in middle school – Muse, Green Day, Liz Phair’s Exile from Guyville album, Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cake, 311, all of that. Then in high school it got a little more avant-garde – Radiohead, Spoon, TV on the Radio, Corinne Bailey Rae’s The Sea album.
Jordan: I didn’t get really into music until late high school, but my parents’ music really ended up as a gateway for me, in particular Talking Heads, Oingo Boingo, The B-52s, Jonathan Richman, and of course, the Beatles.
Is there someone you looked up as a hero?
Christina: I love Tracy Chapman. Maybe it’s because growing up my first image of a woman with an acoustic guitar was Phoebe from Friends, but the “singer-songwriter” genre seemed really corny to me. I say this even though my high school music was very, very “singer-songwriter”! But Tracy Chapman’s songwriting and performing is intimate without cringe.
Jordan: Tons. Paul Westerberg’s brilliant songwriting. Les Claypool’s bonkers bass chops. David Bowie, Sparks, and Weird Al’s talent as charming musical shapeshifters.
If you weren’t a musician, would you be doing today?
Christina: Probably the same stuff I’m doing now, but I’d have less on my plate. Writing, organizing art, working, volunteering, and doing side projects. One side project I would spend more time on is researching the life of a female pirate who was active in the South China Seas from 1802-1809 and ran the largest pirate fleet in history. She’s known in most modern documents as Chang Yi Sao.
Jordan: Mustard consultant.
What advice do you have for our fans out there that want to create music?
Christina: Just do it! It’s easier than ever to learn with YouTube University and online DAW’s like Soundtrap. I highly, highly recommend reading Jeff Tweedy’s book “How to Write One Song” and try to build the habit of doing something creative every day.
Jordan: Agreed! Just dive in.
Music:
