Dr. Winston O'Boogie
After the very long interview about being on stages in the 80s I found myself writing a new song about talking with a journalist. A girl at the back of the room at the Harris institute asked me what strategies I had for writer's block. The first problem is a person who even asks that question because they're breathing life into it by positing it as existing and needing fixing. I started this new song by writing about the experience in a stream of consciousness way, no concern about rhymes and then fine tuned the story before doubling back and considering the phrasing and only then the fun of making it rhyme. I also told her go to open stages. That's how thought works right? If you are around people always talking about interest rates you will be wondering when they are going up or down, you might even worry about it. You think writer's block is a thing it will be a thing. Go to where people are playing all their new material every week, you will write, you will want to catch up to them, to share space with them. There was an interview with John Lennon near his death where he talked about noticing how he acts like the people he is around. He had such a wonderful interest in being daring and innocent at the same time in all his observations.