Copyright Michael Wilson 2009

Doug Wamble is well-known in the jazz guitar community. Having cut his teeth playing with Madeline Peyroux, Cassandra Wilson, Wynton Marsalis, and being signed to Branford Marsalis’ record label, Wamble has established himself as a true spokesperson not only for jazz guitar, but guitar in general. His compositions span a wide range of styles and influences, including jazz, rock, blues, country, folk, soul, and gospel (to name a few).

When I approached Doug about doing an interview, I knew that I didn’t want to rehash the same questions everyone gets asked. Having the opportunity to speak with a well-respected guitarist who is carving his own musical path (very hard to do nowadays), the thought of asking him about his gear and string gauge just seemed trite and a waste of time.

After some thought, I came up with the idea to talk with Doug about songwriting. Luckily, he seemed quite happy and willing to discuss it with me. Enjoy!

On Songwriting

Do you find yourself usually starting a new song with a melody, chord idea, or general concept?

I’m all over the place with these things. Sometimes, I’ll hear a song that really gets in my head and I immediately want to cover it. Then I often wind up writing one that uses that song as inspiration. And that inspiration can come in the form of a melody, a particular chord movement, a drum groove, a bass line or a lyrical idea/concept. I can trace so many things I’ve written to their inspiration point, but it varies from song to song as to which part was the seed.

Does your approach change when writing a song that will be sung instead of an instrumental?

Not really. If an idea comes in, it usually just writes itself. I don’t work on things very hard. If it hasn’t been basically finished in an hour or so, I usually discard it. That goes for vocal as well as instrumental songs. I may tweak little things here and there later; maybe add a bar or two, change a chord here and there. But mostly, it gets written fast either way.

Only an hour or so? So you never force yourself to push through and finish something; not even to break through a mental block?

Very rarely. If I have to force it, it never makes the cut anyway. I’ve done that a few times and the music always felt boxed in to me. So I abandon things that are worked on too much. Now, I’ll write music for larger ensembles sometimes and really take time with things like voice leading, texture and arranging ideas. But that’s different than songwriting.

When you write for larger ensembles, do you use any writing aids – notation programs like Sibelius – or recording software (SONAR, ProTools) to get an idea of what the arrangements are going to sound like?

Absolutely. I’ve been using Finale since the Finale 97 version. I do miss the days of having a big score pad and a pencil and writing the old fashioned way. But you can’t beat Finale. Plus, you get to play the score back and check for typos as you work. The last time I had a big project for a large ensemble, and also had minimal rehearsal time, I imported the Finale files into Logic and made little mp3’s out of the tunes. Of course, they don’t sound good at all. But they do at least provide a context for the musicians to get the music in their ears. It made the rehearsals go a lot faster, I think.

How about the lyrics? Do they come easily for you as well?

Yeah, they do. Again, it’s all about getting in touch with the jet stream of ideas. Once I’m riding that, the song finishes itself.

Doug and his son, from a recent New York Times article

I often use a variety of dictionaries, thesauri (did I just make that word up?), and idiom dictionaries to help with my lyric writing. (Then again, I write progressive rock lyrics…) How do you generally approach your lyrics? You said they also come easy for you, so is it about “keep ‘em simple” and to the point, or try to be witty and play on words and use allusion and metaphor a la Kevin Gilbert (if you know who he is)?

Well, I use a lot of literary devices when I speak, so I just try and write from what I know. I rarely use reference materials. But sometimes I’ll read a book and take ideas from it. I do a lot of plays on words and allusions and metaphors. That’s part of making a song different from an essay or something. You gotta tart it up a little!

Do you write on different instruments other than the guitar?

Piano sometimes. And then sometimes I write without any instrument at all. I hear a melody and just write down the notes and rhythms on a scrap paper or into my BlackBerry. I use the Voice Recorder on there a lot too.

Doug's first CD - Country Libations

How do you decide on part order (head, bridge, chorus…)?

That comes from the overall structure when I write something. It can really vary. I mean, part of it is obvious. If I get a hook line, or a hook melody, I’ll want that to fall in a chorus, and naturally it will do that.

Does your actual playing on a song change when it’s a song with vocals?

The style of music dictates more than whether or not it’s a vocal piece.

Do you like to keep the harmony simple or do you add in the extensions and alterations?

It really depends. One of the great things about studying so much jazz and classical music is that a lot of harmony sounds really normal to me. So my ear can go a lot of places, and it’s up to me to figure out when to scale it back. Sometimes a triad is all you need.

But other times, a melody takes on a whole new vibe if it’s in an upper extension, and the same goes for the chord structure. It all depends on the particular piece.

Do you ever self-impose writing limitations to challenge yourself?

On occasion. Recently, a good friend and great songwriter started a “Song Club.” He gives a title and sends it to a few people to write a song with that lyric in it. It’s been a lot of fun.

Who are your songwriting influences?

Jeff Buckley, Chris Whitley, Elton John, Jonah Smith, Coby Brown, Charlie Wood, Leah Siegel, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Mose Allison, Prince, Duke Ellington, Richard Rodgers, Sarah Siskind, Stevie Wonder, Fiona Apple, Jimi Hendrix, Lowell George, MeShell Ndegeocello, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Norah Jones, John Mayer, Martin Sexton, Elvis Costello, Ryan Scott, Ray LaMontagne, Willie Nelson, David Porter, Dave Grohl, Ray Charles, Donny Hathaway

That’s a great list! Do you listen to music when you are in writing mode?

Absolutely. If not for that, how would I steal?

Doug's CD "Bluestate"

Then how do you give yourself a reality-check to make sure that what you’re writing isn’t TOO derivative of what you’re listening to?

Eh…I never care, really. It’s all relative. I’m sure I hear the ripoffs more than someone who didn’t know the reference. But even if someone heard the influence, or ripoff, it’s OK. We all steal.

What’s the last song you heard that really knocked you on your butt and inspired you?

I can think of two: “L.A.” by Elliott Smith and “Flume” by Bon Iver.

What was it about those songs that moved you so much?

I’ve slowly begun to fall in love with LA, and my dear friend Tim Luntzel turned me on to that Smith song while I was in LA and Tim and I were chatting online. I just loved the vibe of it and what he had to say and how he said it. Elliott was something special.

The Bon Iver song is the first of the debut album, “For Emma Forever Ago.” That record just really got to me on a cellular level. First off, I love that Justin Vernon (the singer and songwriter) plays old resonator guitars. I use them a lot, too, and it’s a great sonic tool. I just found his layering of voices, his use of texture and ambience, along with plain old good songwriting to be a potent combination. The sound of that record just grabbed me from the first few seconds and everytime I hear it that mood gets recaptured.

Are your songs recorded organically – solos take as long as they take – or do you specify number of choruses?

Again, it all depends on the style of music. I’ve primarily made jazz-oriented records before, and they were usually done very organically. The solos took as long as needed and we went with it. But on my new record, it’s song-oriented and not jazz in any way, shape or form. So the solos that are there are a specific length, since they serve a different function than they do in jazz.

Can you tell us a little bit about the songwriting on the new CD, which drops in April?

The process for writing this record was very different for me. Previously, I’d been a bandleader on the road as a jazz musician leading a jazz band, even though we played a lot of music that wasn’t necessarily coming from jazz source material. We put everything through that filter, though. So I always wrote from the perspective of trying to develop the band.

Once the cycle of my last record ended, I had a lot of life changes. Had a two big knee operations, my wife gave birth to our son, and I was off the road for quite a while. So I found myself writing songs instead of writing for the band. And I didn’t really know what I was going to do with the songs. At that point, I planned on continuing the path I was on in the jazz world. But things rarely go as you think they will, and I started writing more and more of the material that would wind up on this new record.

Since then, I’ve gotten more into doing this kind of thing and it seems to be where my head is at for the time being. Who knows how long it will last. I try not to think about it too much. I’d hate to be the pretentious songwriter that tries to write symphonies when he’s 55, but I’ll never say never. I hear the guy from Winger is doing that now, so more power to him! But I’m more likely to be in a Winger Tribute band…

Hear Tracks From Doug’s New CD

Doug’s new CD drops in April; check out this youTube audio compilation of the new songs! You can also get more information about Doug from his website – www.dougwamble.com.