Annie Le ’27
Walking through the halls of the Crawford Campus Center, it is easy to see how EA’s community is filled with original artwork. One is immediately showered with photography, paintings, color, and sculpture; brightening our hallways and providing a glance into the imagination of our talented students. Visual art, however, is not the only medium through which EA artists express themselves. In fact, EA has recently seen a surge in the practice of a new artistic medium: songwriting.
While EA takes great pride in its well-crafted performances and art shows, the craft of songwriting often remains unnoticed by many within our school community. However, in the rare moments in which a musician is able to showcase their original work, they shine light on the creativity, emotional maturity, and musical talent hiding among the student body.
EA students craft original music in varying ways, employing diverse instruments like the piano or guitar. Investing countless hours into composing lyrics and melodies, these musicians often lack opportunities for collaboration. Songwriting requires an intense level of focus that tends to attract individual work. Art is collaborative, however, and a handful of EA faculty and students have developed a way to help songwriters connect at school: Songwriting Club. Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic and currently run by Douglas Parsons, Upper School English teacher, Songwriting Club fosters a space for idea exchange and collaboration.
The club began as a virtual academic course on songwriting taught by Mr. Parsons, who describes, “I created this course with the idea that it might inspire me to write a song that I was actually proud of.” In this course, students learned about chord progressions, musical scales, basic songwriting skills, and music theory. Several students who completed the course found it so enjoyable that they established the Songwriting Club, providing a platform for fellow students to delve deeper into music with their peers. Nik Athwal ‘24, current leader of Songwriting Club, comments, “Over the years I have had the privilege to work with some amazing writers [in Songwriting Club]. Whenever we are jamming or writing music something great comes out of it…”
Motivations for writing songs vary, ranging from storytelling to expressing emotion. Parsons states, “When I write a song, I’m trying to create a good story. One of [the songs I wrote,] ‘Ghost Song’, [is] a narrative about a guy trying to get home. And the thing is that he’s a ghost but doesn’t realize it [at first, and] he slowly realizes that [throughout] the song.” Danity Pike ’27 remarks, “[It’s a great] creative outlet for me to pour my emotions into…it’s like a coping mechanism.”
Others use songwriting as a way to bond with their community. Athwal comments, “I write music because I don’t think [anything else] in the world can bring people together like song. That is why Songwriting Club is so important to me; it’s a time when friends can get together and share music and workshop ideas. It brings out a level of creativity and enthusiasm like no other activity.” Will Esterhai ’24 adds, “Writing my own music brings me a lot of joy and fulfillment.”
Photo courtesy of @ea1785 Instagram
No matter how talented an artist may be, everybody needs a bit of inspiration once in a while, and EA students discover this in many different ways. Some writers take inspiration from various artists and melodies. Athwal notes, “My biggest inspirations for songwriting [are] Prince, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles. I grew up listening to their music, [which] always [has] a special place in my life. Those artists really influenced my style.” Others simply draw from their own experiences. Pike comments, “I feel like the most [authentic] output is [to] write about things that I’ve experienced, [like] things I’ve done.”
With songwriting, there is never a concrete formula. There are general guidelines and styles to choose from, but no formal rules. Songwriters tend to have their own unique process for creating a composition. For example, Parsons prefers to build the music before matching lyrics to it: “Once I [get] the music going, it [helps] me get a good story going.” Esterhai has a similar process: “I usually write all my music on the piano first, then [I add the] lyrics.” This method does not work for everyone, however. Pike describes, “Typically, I write songs in math class when I’m bored or in my notes app on the bus, somewhere where I don’t have any distractions and I’m just free to write. So I [generally] do lyrics first, and then the melody [on the piano or guitar].”
Creating original pieces can be a frightening and vulnerable endeavor. It requires musicians to share a part of themselves in an intimate way. Parsons advises our new generation of songwriters. “You can’t censor yourself,” he says. “You just have to say, ‘This is my idea for today. This is the one I’m going with.’ You [can’t] get hung up on [judging yourself]. And it’s hard to do.”
Parsons encourages anyone to explore music creation: “…there are [many] people who want to write songs, and they just dismiss it because they don’t play an instrument or they’re not educated in [music theory], but that, it’s [quite] easy to learn. They probably know more than they think.”