Ben Arthur is a songwriter and published novelist who produces and hosts the PBS series SongCraft Presents. He is also the creator of the Song.Writer podcast in which an author reads a passage and a musician writes a song in response to the piece that is read. By phone, Arthur recently discussed the inspiration for the podcast, how art inspires art, and what to expect from the next season of the podcast.
Tell me about your musical background.
I’m really interested in songwriting. I’m fascinated by how words and music combine to form to create emotion.
What was the impetus for the Song.Writer Podcast?
There’s a cheat code around anxiety that most artists – and certainly I – feel when approaching any new work. That’s to use someone else’s art. All art responds to other art. When you look at a piece that you love and admire and find a way to respond to it, it gets around the fear of the blank page. For me it makes the process of starting a new work much easier. I started using that myself and I became interested in that. I was able to talk to and interact with artists I really admire. George Saunders is a writer I find extraordinary. We wrote some songs together. Jonathan Lethem is another writer that’s amazing, and we wrote some songs together based on the idea of using their work as a jumping-off point. I found it really satisfying. Telling stories within a podcast is awesome, and sharing the work of artists I admire. Also using that spotlight to shine a light on other artists. It’s a virtuous circle in a way – using one person’s art to shine a light on another person’s art. I get to be in the mix too, which is fun. I get to be next to people I think are breathtaking and have conversations with them about art and the creative process. I’m totally fascinated by it.
Do the songwriters on the podcast find it challenging to respond to something so specific?
No. I don’t get that. I also work on this PBS television show Songcraft Presents where I’ll sit down with an artist and record a song over the course of a day. There’s usually a lot of anxiety coming up to it. In reality, the artists I’ve a worked with are Olympic athletes. Their ability to react to a situation filled with fear and anxiety is extraordinary. Their ability to create something new. That’s what they do. It’s like that cheat code thing I was saying earlier. Most artists that have been part of the project have found that it’s much easier than they imagined. It’s a way of rooting out the obstacles that we place in our own way.
What has been the most surprising thing about the podcast so far?
It’s been surprising that people who I think are in a whole different world are willing to be a part. Sarah Jaffe is playing a show with me tonight. Her team reached out to me to be a part of this. I had to Google her name to see if I was confused. It’s been a joy to know that artists want to play. It’s a fun field to exercise on.
I’m not going to ask you to name a favorite episode of the podcast, but is there one episode that resonated with you more than others?
Yes. I love all the episodes. I wouldn’t put them out if I didn’t love them. There’s a guy named Dolan Morgan that I’ve done a reading with. He read some of his work and I played a song. I’d loved his work, and asked him if he’d be a part. He brought this incredibly dark, creepy, upsetting story about replacement. A sort of take on the horror movie trope of people being taken over. Except in his telling, it’s a medical procedure people go through when they have an incurable illness. It’s a portrait of the wife of the man who’s sick and her interactions with this new version of the person. It’s terrifying, upsetting, and weird. He suggested that we talk to his friend Emily Hope Price. I was just thinking about it last night because I want her to play on my new record. Just with her cello, she made this fascinatingly layered recording using this off-tempo harmonics process. She wrote this lovely, surprising song. That’s one that I love the story and was shocked by it. Then Emily’s song just took my breath away.
What can we expect from the next season of the podcast?
Some of my old friends. I just did a show with Joyce Carol Oates. She’ll be on the second season, where she reads a story of brutal murder in a public place. Steve Martin came to the show because a banjo player plays the song that is the response and he’s a big fan. Roxane Gay and I are about to do a show coming right up at the Harlem School of the Arts. We’ll have some new artists as well: Ethan Lipton and Malachi McCourt tells a really wild story about his childhood.
The Song.Writer Podcast is available on Apple Music and Spotify among other streaming services. To catch up with any episode of the podcast, visit Ben Arthur’s website.
Photo credit: Bernie DeChant
