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SODAJERKER ’ S SONGWRITING PODCAST CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
Over the last few years , Mersey Life has been delighted to share an insight into how some of the most legendary songwriters came up with some of the most listened to songs in the world via the Liverpool based Sodajerker podcast .
The podcast , which began with two childhood friends in a loft in South Liverpool , is now celebrating its 10th anniversary having created more than 200 episodes with artists such as Sir Paul McCartney , Paul Simon , Sting , Emeli Sande , Alicia Keys , Nile Rodgers , and Jon Bon Jovi .
Simon Barber and Brian O ' Connor , who have been writing songs together since they were teenagers , are the creative partnership Sodajerker . Their independent podcast , Sodajerker on Songwriting , features in-depth discussions with songwriters , becoming the world ’ s most expansive archive of audio interviews about the creative process . It has been downloaded more than five million times by music fans the world over hitting the charts in more than 80 countries .
We caught up with them to find out how it all started …
Where did it all begin ? Simon : Well , we met at school , I think we were 13 or 14 , we were in the same class at St Francis Xavier ’ s College in Woolton . I was already writing songs by then ; I was in a little band called ‘ Blue Rinse ’ with some of my classmates . Brian started playing bass in it and we just started writing songs together .
We used to go and hang out in the music room at school and rehearse . Then we started recording demos in my living room on a four track the size of a mini fridge until such time as we were old enough to go out doing gigs and go on tour with a full band which we did for quite a while .
We studied music together at LIPA , we were touring with our band , and then we got a single on the radio . We thought it was all going to go fantastic from there , but like a lot of bands , people get life responsibilities they get married and have kids , they move away , you know ?
How did you come up with the idea ? Simon : Well , we had lots of songs written , and we thought that we might get more attention if people knew how interested we were in music and songwriting , so we thought hey - let ’ s start a podcast to talk about songwriting .
Brian : We were creating songs for other people to perform rather than for us to perform you know , we were a songwriting team for hire and we thought maybe we could raise our profile a bit by asking other songwriters how they came up with their ideas . We certainly raised our profile , but it was in a totally different way than we expected !
What ’ s it like interviewing your idols ? Simon : I still have to pinch myself sometimes ! We could have never imagined some of the amazing experiences we ’ ve had and some of the legends we ’ ve come face to face with . I mean watching Paul McCartney pull his phone out and start sharing ideas he ’ s had with you , or Sting , we went to his house for that one , and seeing him picking up his guitar and launching into Roxanne when he ’ s at the dining table two feet away - totally amazing - I feel extremely privileged to get to experience that .
Brian : Paul Simon was the first major name we didn ’ t have to explain to our mothers . I was terrified . I remember standing in this hotel room in Claridge ’ s and hearing his voice and thinking wow this is a major guest . Sparks as well would be one for me , I was so nervous about that one . I think my fandom was getting in the way .
Simon : It ’ s not just meeting them either , it ’ s the reaction we ’ ve had from people across the world and the impact the podcast has had on them . We have songwriters contact us about their songs and others tell us how they have been inspired and it ’ s a strange feeling to have influenced their creativity . We ’ re really thankful for all the support and encouragement we ’ ve had over the years , and long may the podcast continue .
You can hear all the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcasts on the Sodajerker website at : www . sodajerker . com
So in about 2010 we started Sodajerker , which was just us two writing songs under that name and recording the demos and that led to Sodajerker on Songwriting . merseylife . com 55