Stephanie Sammons: I've learned a lot about how to find imagery and use imagery for what you're trying to say. Instead of just saying it, how can I show this and convey this message in a way that can be visualized?
I've learned that as a songwriter through mentors that I've worked with, how to get better at that.
Cris Cohen: As you get better at that, does the song come in your mind via the imagery? Or is it a case of: here's the idea, you write down the song, and then you go back and shift it into something with more imagery?
Stephanie Sammons: That's a great question. I'm trying to live in this state of being very aware at all times. It's impossible, but it's something I really have to work at, because I'm also an ADHD person, as we all are, probably, to some extent.
But I have a running list of interesting observations, things that move me, things that resonate with me. And then I'm always looking for, “What's the metaphor for this song, or the image? What is it that can really bring this song to light?”
Then I'll find that thing, whether it's out in nature, whether it's an experience. But I'll find that thing, and then I'll marry it with one of my topics that I've observed, where I just couldn't get the words out, or couldn't get the song written, but it's there. And I know I want to write a song about this. And then I find the right images to put it together.
Cris Cohen: Has it been a gradual transformation, where you're more attuned to those little moments in life? Are you naturally, or even subconsciously, looking for those things now?
Stephanie Sammons: I think I've always been that way, but I filed away those thoughts and those feelings growing up. Now I try to go back and access those feelings and those observations from as far back as I can remember. But it has definitely been more of a learned process for me… learning to be aware, learning to listen more intently in conversations, learning to observe people and circumstances, what's going on in the world, to be awake and aware in the world.
Like I said, it's hard to do all the time, but I've learned to get better at that.
Stephanie Sammons website: https://stephaniesammons.com/
I help professional musicians tell their stories.
Custom content development through interviews.
Free e-Book
