Songwriting Idiots

We've reached the end of a road, friends. This is the last episode of Songwriting Idiots and we are going out with a bang!

Here's the weird thing. We've been doing this show for over two years now. We've tackled almost 20 genres and yet ... somehow we still haven't talked about the biggest genre in the world right now: Hip Hop. Well, boys and girls: Today it is time to change that!

The sound system's booming through the streets, deep bass caressing your chest and sweet sweet autotune taking you to a place of pure bliss – a place where nothing matters. Well ... that's at least one way to describe Dancehall. Here we go!

Here we go again. Season 3 of Songwriting Idiots is here and oh boy – what a strong start it is! This month, you asked us to tackle to iconic German genre of "Neue Deutsche Welle" or German New Wave. It's pure 80s bliss all about the relatable song topic "The floor is lava". Enjoy!

Just before the start of season three of Songwriting Idiots, we were wondering one last time. Wondering about one-hit wonders. So we are taking on another all time classic this time: Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners. And what an utterly weird song that is! This really begs the question: Why did it become such a massive hit and why did the band never manage to produce another one?

We are in between seasons here at Songwriting Idiots and we were wondering ... Wondering about one-hit wonders. It just all seems so terribly unlikely. One would think a band or artist either cracks the code and they don't. It's either a big career with loads of hits or no hits at all. But the artists and songs we discuss in this mini series prove the opposite and we start with a big one: Black Betty by Ram Jam!

Time flies when you're having fun. We just started into the new season (or so it seems) with Death Metal and now it's already over again. This means it's time for our review special where we look back at the season that was and talk about what we enjoyed most (and more importantly: least). Also: We have at least two exciting updates to share with you so take a listen!

It's January. A wonderful time: Peak skiing season, peak Corona season ... (we wonder if there is any connection?). Ah well anyway, we are luckily not here to talk about any of that. Because this is the big finale of season two where Dan and Ralf join forces to bring you the ultimate party anthem of this winter. Oh and some other cool stuff towards the end of the episode as well. Take a listen!

Oh the wonderful world of Folk music! It can truly be everything and nothing – never have the Songwriting Idiots been challenged by such a hard to define genre. But truth be told: We both enjoyed it tremendously and you can listen to the results now. In this penultimate episode of Songwriting Idiots season two!

Do you wanna hear something that will blow your mind? None of us is a woman, let alone a girl. So ... you know ... just one question: WHY THE F*** DID YOU GIVE US GIRL GROUPS AS A GENRE?? Just wanna get a couple things clear here. One: Girl groups consist of girls, that's kinda how this works. Ralf and Dan - not girls. And two: Girl group is not even a goddamn genre, it's a description of who is in a band. But Ok, we're losing our temper here ... let's just forget this ever happened and get on with it, shall we?

Remember the year 1991 also known as the year that changed music forever? Nirvana released their second album "Nevermind" including the hit single "Smells like teen spirit" and the world was never again the same. Or so the story goes ... But do you know what song was Number 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 that year? Well: It was "(Everything I do) I do it for you" by Brian Adams - a Rock Ballad. And why? Because Rock Ballads f**** rock! No matter if it's 1973, 1991 or 2021. Time for us Songwriting Idiots to also take a hit at this legendary genre!

We want to make one thing very clear: While we are both enthusiastic guitarists, this one did not necessarily fill us with confidence. Cause if there's one thing that terrifies us, it's having to (pretend to) play Jazz. But what can you do. Here it comes, ladies and gents. Take a seat, grab a glass of Whiskey, imagine you're in a smokey night club in 1930s France and listen to some Gypsy Jazz tunes by yours truly.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to PARTY! Because this month, the Songwriting Idiots are tackling the genre of Disco. So get your perms ready, put on that white suite and get your body moving. We are about to hit the dancefloor with a Nigerian prince, just trying to share his wealth.

Do you want to know a secret? We both LOVE our instruments and believe it or not ... by now we even know how to use them (kinda). This makes what you guys did to us even more painful. Because for this month, you beautiful people out there decided to task us with writing an A Capella song about how to remove a tick from the center of your anus. Yup.

Season 2 of Songwriting Idiots is starting with a bang! Or more accurately: A beat. A blast beat. That's right. For our first episode of the new season we are tackling the ridiculous genre of Death Metal! Take a listen to find out how Dan's trusty old Jazz guitar is handling all the gain, what Ralf is doing alone in the wood with an axe and perhaps most importantly: Who killed the DJ.

It's April 2021 and we are nearing the end of our break. Season Two of Songwriting Idiots will commence in May! But there is of course one thing still missing ... We need to know what genre and topic our first two songs will be about! Let us tell you all about it in this short teaser.

This is the last of our in between seasons specials and man ... have we got a treat for you! Our guest today is Tommy Krappweis. Originally we got him on the show to talk all about the blues. And we do - kinda. We also discuss everything from working at a German Wild West theme park in the 90s, the worst school band ever and how Dan managed to share a stage with Babyshambles as a teenager. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

In this special episode, we talk to Lyon based songwriter and long-time listener of the show, Livv! Livv is a singer and ukulele player originally from Mali, who started sharing her music on Instagram a couple of months ago. We took the chance to talk about that, find out how her experiences were this far and what social media can do for musicians in general. Take a listen!

This is a very special episode for us: This week, we released our very first single with our band! Now ... you might be thinking: What band? You guys never mentioned a band! Was everything you ever did just a big lie?! And you'd be right to think that. So of course, we also took the chance to get the entire crew in front of the mics so you can get to know them. May we introduce: ERNST and our first single "Goodbye".

Luke Leighfield is a London-based songwriter and got himself into an utterly ridiculous project for 2021: He wants to write and release a new song every single week! We here at Songwriting Idiots find it hard enough to come up with a song each month so we simply had to get Luke on the show to find out he he does it. So that's what we discuss in this special in between seasons episode. On top of that, we talk about Luke's songwriting process, tech and - most importantly perhaps - his dog.

This is the first in a series of special episodes coming your way until Season 2 hits off in May. Today, we are talking with Mirco, the man behind the "USR", a project he doesn't like to call electronic music (opinions do differ). For his current EP, Mirco asked us (of all people) to remix one of his songs for the B-Side. And well ... we did and show him the shocking result for the first time on the show. On top of that, we talked a whole lot about analog synthesizers, the songwriting process, how to remodel a track ... all the good stuff - you know.

Guys ... it's incredible. We made it through an entire season of this madness we call Songwriting Idiots. Crazy. As promised though, we've got a whole series of in-between-seasons specials lined up for you, starting today! In this episode, we take a look back at 8 episodes and 15 songs, share our highs and (mostly) lows and ... play a LIVE PERFORMANCE of "Secret Santa" in seven styles! You probably wanna hang around for that trainwreck.

It's that time of the year. The time we've all been waiting for: End of season time here at Songwriting Idiots! And to end season one of the show with a blast, we take a bow to the other thing happening right now: Christmas. Or more specifically, Christmas songs. This time, however, we changed things up and joined forces in order to write and produce the ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SONG. Promising too much? You'll be the judge ...

Ralf dreaded this episode and not even Dan was excited (which means something, that man has no standards). You charged us with writing a Ska song about our aunt's obsession with Crocs shoes ... Well truth be told: We enjoyed it more than we thought. Turns out there is more to Ska than the hideous Ska Punk we both remember from the 90s, thank f***! As for everything else, you know the drill: We both wrote and recorded a song and present them to you and each other in this newest episode of the show. Enjoy!

For this episode of the Songwriting Idiots Podcast, you have once more forced us to introduce a new language. After having done songs in English, Spanish and Italian, it is now time to get into some German here! And not just any German, mind you. We are talking proper gangster German - cause what else would be appropriate for the genre of German hip hop? And for the rest ... You know the drill: We both wrote and recorded a song, this time on the topic of the UK's response to Covid 19 (was there any?), and present them to you and each other. Enjoy!

Most musicians suffer from chronic GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome, that is. And while both of us are actually quite minimalistic compared to most of our peers, the gear we do use, is obviously quite important to what we do. So in this bonus episode of the podcast, we want to give you an insight into what instruments, microphones, amps, software etc. we use to produce all the seminal hits you hear every month.

In this episode of the Songwriting Idiots Podcast, you asked us to write an Italo-Dance song each. To Ralf, having grown up close to the Italian border, this came naturally. To Dan ... not so much. Well, you know the drill: We both wrote and recorded a song, present it to each other live on the show and discuss the outcome. Take a listen!

Storytelling is quite the hype these days, as I'm sure you've realized. And this doesn't only apply to marketing or writing fiction, but is also very much true for songwriting. There are actually loads of ways to tell a story in a song, both lyrically and musically. To talk about that, the story of our own Disney movie and the songs we wrote about it, we invited the creator of "The Wall", Nicole Salomon, to the podcast for this week's bonus episode!

In this episode of the Songwriting Idiots Podcast, we attempt to write our very own Disney song for our very own Disney movie! You know the drill: We both wrote and recorded a song in that genre, present it to each other live on the show and discuss the outcome. Take a listen!

In this episode of the Songwriting Idiots Podcast, we do our very best to recreate the iconic sound of Motown! You know the drill: We both wrote and recorded a song in that genre, present it to each other live on the show and discuss the outcome. Take a listen!

This is a short trailer telling you what the songwriting idiots podcast is all about!