“When I go to the grocery store, that’s part of the songwriting process. When I work on my truck, that’s part of my songwriting process. Every aspect of our life feeds into our creativity. The more present I can be, the better the songs,” says Buck Meek.

Meek, the guitarist in Big Thief, is the first songwriter to discuss how “fluid dynamics” impact his songwriting. The ocean—with its waves, shifting sand, temperature fluctuation, and changing tides—inspires him because these shifting elements mirror his creative process. And when Meek towels off, getting started is usually easy because he doesn’t believe in writer’s block, calling it "a privileged idea that comes from a pursuit of excellence or even perfection. I start my process with as little preciousness as possible by allowing myself to be trite, silly, childish, or playful, for example. I’m much more likely to experiment when I start in these states.”

Buck Meek’s latest album is The Mirror. Here’s the link to my 2017 transcribed interview with Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker.

Jade Long and Jessica Thompson of Athens, Georgia based Hotel Fiction have a simple routine for their songwriting sessions: make some brownies, pour some wine. And they like to be outside. It's not complicated.

But while finding fuel in food and drink is hardly novel and the outdoors is a common source of inspiration to songwriters, one element of their writing process is unique. When they're outside, they often prefer the top of a parking deck on the University of Georgia's campus. (Long and Thompson are both UGA alums.)

I've been a big Hotel Fiction fan ever since discovering them on a trip to Athens a few years ago. Our daughter is also a UGA alum and still lives in Athens, so we go there often. The city obviously has a rich music history, and there's still a lot of great music there.

Hotel Fiction's latest album is Staring at the Sun.

Nat and Alex Wolff had me at Sam Shepard. The playwright/writer/actor was one of my dissertation topics and the brothers acted in his plays, so we agreed early on that he's one of our favorite writers. (After you listen, please read Shepard's Pulitzer Prize winning play Buried Child.)

I’ve interviewed other actors who are also songwriters, and as you’ll hear, all channel their stage experience when they write songs. The Wolff brothers call these elements “artistic nutrients”: all the things we ingest that help us hone our craft.

As an aside, this could’ve been the most fun I’ve had on a podcast. And in a first, we were somehow able to connect Watergate to the songwriting process.

Nat and Alex Wolff's self-titled album is out now.