Teddy Thompson and Kelly Jones talk about the writing of their excellent album Little Windows as well as tracks from their solo catalogues like ‘Love Her for That’, ‘I Should Get Up’, ‘In My Arms’, ‘The One I Can’t Have’ and ‘There Goes My Baby’. The pair also speak about collaborating with their co-writing partner Bill DeMain, and producer (and former Sodajerker guest) Mike Viola.
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Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy sits down in London with Simon and Brian to talk about the writing of his fantastic new album Foreverland and older classics from his catalogue like ‘At The Indie Disco’, ‘Our Mutual Friend’, ‘A Lady of a Certain Age’ and ‘National Express’. Neil also reflects on his love for vintage synthesisers and his work on projects such as The Duckworth Lewis Method and TV’s Father Ted.
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Peter and David Brewis of Field Music chat with Sodajerker about the creative process behind their critically acclaimed album Commontime and songs from their back catalogue. In addition to describing the writing of ‘Disappointed’, ‘The Noisy Days Are Over’, ‘Luck Is A Fine Thing’ and ‘Let’s Write a Book’, the brothers also discuss the time that the late Prince Rogers Nelson acknowledged their music on Twitter.
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Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers discuss the writing of their stunning album Cleopatra, including songs like ‘Ophelia’, ‘In the Light’, ‘Angela’ and ‘Gun Song’. The guys also detail their approach to penning the worldwide smash ‘Ho Hey’ and their work on ‘The Hanging Tree’ for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, as performed by Jennifer Lawrence.
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Multi Grammy Award-winning artist Alicia Keys sits down in London with Simon and Brian to discuss her new single ‘In Common’, her forthcoming sixth studio album, and her songwriting on a range of hits including ‘Fallin”, ‘A Woman’s Worth’, ‘If I Ain’t Got You’, ‘Put It In A Love Song’, ‘Empire State of Mind’ and ‘Girl On Fire.’ Alicia also describes her relationship with the late, great, Whitney Houston, and the circumstances that led to her co-writing the singer’s final hit, ‘Million Dollar Bill.’
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As principal songwriter and frontman for The Feeling, Dan Gillespie Sells has enjoyed a wide-ranging musical career. In this interview, Dan talks about the writing of The Feeling’s recent eponymous album, and revisits his process on a number of classic hits by the band, such as ‘Fill My Little World’, ‘Love It When You Call’, ‘Never Be Lonely’, ‘Join With Us’, ‘Blue Murder’ and ‘Rosé’. Dan also updates us on his progress with his forthcoming musical, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
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In this special episode, we meet with Paul Simon to talk about his stunning new album Stranger to Stranger and the writing processes behind songs like ‘Wristband’, ‘Street Angel’, ‘In A Parade’, ‘The Riverbank’ and ‘Cool Papa Bell’. In this interview, the legendary singer-songwriter reveals a profound curiosity for musical experimentation that goes some way to explaining both his incredible influence in popular music, and his timeless catalogue.
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Sodajerker are joined by Nashville great Beth Nielsen Chapman to talk about her approach to songwriting and creativity, and what it’s like to collaborate with artists like Willie Nelson, Neil Diamond and Elton John. Beth also tells the stories behind her classic country hits ‘This Kiss’ (Faith Hill), ‘Strong Enough to Bend’ (Tanya Tucker) and ‘Five Minutes’ (Lorrie Morgan) and details the writing processes behind beloved solo tracks like ‘Life Holds On’ and ‘Sand and Water’.
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Following the broadcast of our BBC World Service documentary The Secrets of Songwriting (available now on BBC iPlayer), BBC Music showcased us on their homepage. Thanks guys!
You can see BBC Music promo while its live, and listen to The Secrets of Songwriting online. The programme is also available as a podcast via the World Service on iTunes.
Following the broadcast of our BBC World Service documentary The Secrets of Songwriting (available on BBC iPlayer for the next 30 days), BBC News have produced a feature recounting some of the stories told on the podcast.
In the article, Motown legend Lamont Dozier talks about writing ‘Stop! In the Name of Love’ with the Holland brothers, Allee Willis describes the writing of ‘Boogie Wonderland’ for Earth, Wind & Fire, and Kenny Loggins talks about penning the Doobie Brothers hit ‘What a Fool Believes’ with Michael McDonald.
You can read the article on the BBC website, and listen to The Secrets of Songwriting on BBC iPlayer.
Simon Barber and Brian O’Connor of the Liverpool-based songwriting team Sodajerker are set to present a new one-hour BBC World Service radio documentary called The Secrets of Songwriting.
The programme, which derives from the duo’s hugely popular podcast, Sodajerker On Songwriting, features some of the world’s most renowned songwriters talking about their working processes and sharing the stories behind their biggest hits.
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Ben Watt discusses the writing of his new album Fever Dream as well as his work on previous solo albums like Hendra and North Marine Drive. Ben also delves into the songwriting processes behind some classic Everything But The Girl songs, such as ‘The Night I Heard Caruso Sing’, ’25th December’ and the smash hit ‘Missing’.
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Episode 292 – Black Country, New RoadJuly 11, 2025
Episode 291 – Jim JamesJuly 1, 2025
Episode 290 – Pete DohertyJune 4, 2025
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