Steve Gunn
Listen On
“My receptors are always on because I don’t want to miss anything I see or hear. I try to collect everything.”—Steve Gunn
The songwriting process is 24/7 for Gunn. Even when he’s not putting pencil to paper, he’s creating.
Since 2010, I've interviewed over 200 songwriters all about their songwriting process. Many offer some variation of the following: "I don't really have a specific process. It doesn't matter where or when, but I know when it's time to write." Those songwriters tend to fall into the "when the muse strikes" category. Others have a general routine: they write every day, regardless of inspiration, and they usually follow a ritual.
Then there's Steve Gunn. "I am very specific with my needs," Gunn told me in our interview. Indeed, Gunn writes every day. He has two notebooks, each a certain type and a certain color. He uses a mechanical pencil. And there's a certain setup he prefers when he's at his desk.
But Gunn is not so tied to this routine that he'll stay at that desk all day. In fact, Gunn monitors his process, fine tuning it as needed. He recognizes when something isn’t working and tries something else. "I can't sit at my desk with my head in my hands all day," he says. So movement is an important part of the process. He walks, he runs, he goes to Prospect Park, he goes to art galleries, and he drives.
All of this movement is necessary because of Gunn's "receptors," as he calls them. "They're always on," he says. "I don't want to miss anything, so I'm constantly collecting what I see and hear." You'll rarely find Gunn without pencil and notebook in hand—in fact, he’s even holding them in our interview. This brings up an important point about the writing process: it never stops. It’s not just about that interval when pen hits paper. Your process is happening when you’re sleeping, walking, talking, eating, whatever. When you’re observing, you’re creating, and that’s why Gunn’s receptors (he uses this term often) are always on.
As I said, I've done over 200 interviews with songwriters for my site. And I don't think I've ever heard this thoughtful of a dissection of someone’s songwriting process. The minutia of Gunn's process is fascinating.
Steve Gunn's new album Other You is out August 27 on Matador Records.
