In the first of the CJSW Music Departments’ songwriting series, Jenna interviews Foon Yap (Foon Yap and the Roar, Wood Pigeon) about her creative process. Foon’s first song was folky, much like Wood Pigeon, and told the story of her first bike ride of spring.
Foon pushes herself forward with new creative endeavors, methods of writing and ideas. In fact, she even admits that she’s still not comfortable with the process and is “always trying to figure out new ways” to write songs. Her current strategy is more post-modern and involves “collecting sounds or collecting words and [writing] them down” and then putting the ones she likes together. But even at that she’s hoping to try new things.
Foon encourages other songwriters to “just do it.” This is apparent in her modus operandi. She brazenly approached her current drummer to help her, tries new songs at shows that she’s never played before and pushes full steam ahead in recording. It is this attitude that helps her find the right people to help her make and record music.
