Here at Riffraf our recurring column Songwriting 101 focuses on the craft itself. Ray LaMontagne, Leonard Cohen, Julian Casablancas and New York indie songwriter Martin Rivas have all discussed their influences and the manner in which they "make music."
Recently, we caught up with saxophonist/producer Thomas Hutchings whose horn section The CNP Horns, has appeared on Linda Chorney's Grammy Nominated album, Emotional Jukebox. Hutchings' music has been heard on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Bad Girls Club, and Real World: Las Vegas. He has worked with Gavin Degraw, Stacie Rose, Laurance Rassin, Ron Claiborne, Don Imus, SaRon Crenshaw, The Niagaras, Shane Patrick, and Markeisha Ensley.
When did you consider yourself a professional musician?
I considered myself a professional artist when I started getting paid for it. I was 19 and still in college, studying music when I started playing at private events with bar bands for a living in Boise, Idaho. It was easier to be a full time musician at the time because housing and utilities were very affordable, and I was playing weekly gigs in a popular local band called the Rhythm Mob, making enough money to get by. It didn't take any dedication whatsoever. Playing music full time was a very organic process because people called me for recording sessions and gigs that actually paid enough to survive.
Describe your writing process.
I typically start with a beat that I like and add bass lines and chord elements like keys and guitar until I feel I have some inspiration. Then I grab my sax or Akai EWI wind synth, and play some melodies until something works that I like.
Do you ever work with another songwriter?
I mostly write music on my own with very little collaboration. I do like to have my friends over to lay down ideas once in a while to see if they can create instrumental parts that are interesting or better than what I could sample or come up with on my own.
I also work with a great songwriter named Stacie Rose regularly on a production and remix level, and we've had some success with our collaborations being placed on television, so I'm not opposed to collaborating, it just doesn't come up very often. I also collaborate with some artists that just need some saxophone solos or lines or some horn parts, so I started a horn section called The CNP Horns (CNP=CutNPaste) for that purpose.
Can you describe that collaborative process?
For remix production, I typically get the bare bones elements of a song - just vocals or vocals with guitar or piano - and have to create a new version of the entire song. I do this by adding and editing in loops and beats that might or might not be replaced by live instruments toward the end of production.
For horn arranging, I typically sit in the studio with the track rolling and record different horn part ideas until everything feels right. The CNP Horns, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album on Linda Chorney's Emotional Jukebox album, will either play parts that are already written or actually sit on sessions, trying to come up with some fun horn parts.
Do you have a motto or creed that as a songwriter you live by?
Save every idea! I say that because I find that sometimes something that doesn't work in one song might actually work well in another song, and if you're like me you have a lot of unfinished songs. So sometimes I go back and take parts of songs and mash them together to see if they'll fit and most of the time they do. I save everything.
What is the first song that had an impact on your songwriting?
I think the Sonny Rollins' tune "Doxy" on the Branford Marsalis album Trio Jeepy was what really made me think about writing music and recording it; before that, all I was thinking about was having fun playing some cool sax solos over nice grooves. I started thinking in terms of creative arrangements and melodies and started checking out more recordings of tenor saxophonists, their original songs and arrangements of standards.
How do you think Branford Marsalis' album, Trio Jeepy, influenced your writing?
The first music I listened to seriously as a teenager were saxophonists. The first young saxophonist that caught my ear was Branford Marsalis and his album Trio Jeepy. I heard it in a record store when I was in high school and was just blown away by the intensity of the music of the entire album. I bought a cassette and listened to it over and over. CASSETTES! HA HA HA!
What advice would you give a young songwriter?
Always write what you know from your heart and life experience. Also, I'd say you probably have an idea of what your music should sound like in your head and it's good to be true to that, but be flexible if you want to be in the music business because if you really want success, you can't always be in the driver's seat on all creative choices. People that are successful are that way because they know what works and what doesn't and are good at measuring risk. It's just the way it is and it's nothing personal. If you want to break the industry mold, don't expect immediate recognition.
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