Songs That Are Authentic And Honest

Sister Hazel

[From the Interview with Sister Hazel]

Cris Cohen: I was talking with Emerson Hart from Tonic, and he was talking about co-writing the song, “Hole In Your Life” (with Drew). He said that you guys had “this long, great conversation before we even wrote the song. We talked about what was going on in our lives, the places that were full, the places that we questioned, the places that were empty, all those things. That’s what made it great. The craft comes later.”

What are the advantages to backing into a song that way?

Drew Copeland: I feel like people can tell when you’re being honest or not. Not to say that there aren’t a lot of songs that we’ve written that are not actual life moments for us. But I think those are the ones that probably connect more when you’re actually putting something real into the song.

It’s funny because, Emerson and I, we’ve been going back and forth over the past couple of weeks, and it’s always fairly deep stuff.

Jett Beres: He’s not very surface-y. [laughs]

Drew Copeland: No, he’s not very surface-y, which I dig. I like that a lot.

But, yes, I do recall that. And I do think that that’s the kind of stuff that people tend to gravitate towards… songs that are authentic and honest. You can feel it.

Cris Cohen: So it’s like, “Let’s try and get real with ourselves. And the better we are at that, the better the material”?

Ken Block: We should try that. [laughs]

Drew Copeland: No, surface is good. [laughs]