FRANK’S NEW BEST OF ALBUM SONGBOOK IS OUT NOW. MORE INFO AT FRANK-TURNER.COM- GIBSON COUNTRY
& WESTERN 1957
ACOUSTIC GUITAR
I bought this guitar a few years ago, it
didn’t come cheap, but it’s in absolutely
mint condition, and I absolutely love old
Gibsons. Something about a guitar that
plays easy, that has a great sound, and
has age and wisdom, helps my fingers
find the right places for new songs. - MY MUM’S UPRIGHT
PIANO
My mother got an upright piano from
her parents for her 21st birthday, and it
was in the house when I was growing
up. My sisters and I used to argue about
who would inherit it, but one day my
mum was moving house and just decided
she didn’t need it in the new place, so I
snaffled it.
“It’s not the best piano, but it has
charm and memories. I’m also not the
best pianist, but when I get stuck in a rut
musically, shifting to a different physical
layout often helps me find my way
through to where I’m going.
3. NOTEPADS
I have quite a complicated and arcane
system of notepads. Currently I’m
running about 5. I have a couple of small
Moleskins and some larger, cheaper
ones. Some of them were gifts - from my
partner, from a friend. Different types of
words go into different notebooks, it’s
difficult to explain what the breakdown
is, it’s instinctive. A few years ago I
ditched computers and typing for writing
lyrics, apart from for final drafts. I find
the physical act of writing much more
satisfying, and I like being able to look
back through my crossed-out edits.
4. MACBOOK
“I carry my MacBook and my audio
interface with me pretty much
everywhere I go. I use a simple SM58 for
vocals and DI my guitars, and use Logic
to put together demos of new songs.
They’re very rough sketches, structural
mostly, with basic arrangement ideas,
which I then take to my band, The
Sleeping Souls, to work up. It’s good for
me to get my basic arrangement ideas
down first so the others can see where
I’m heading.
Technology has made all this so
insanely easy these days. I used to have a
Tascam 4-track, and I don’t miss it.”- BOOKS
I read voraciously, and that helps keep
my mind ticking over when it comes to
writing. I read a lot of poetry, novels,
literary and artistic criticism (especially
Clive James). I don’t regard myself as
a poet - lyrics are a separate discipline,
to me - but keeping a steady diet of
interesting words and ideas coming in
pushes me to be more ambitious in my
own wordsmithery. - NONE OF THE ABOVE
Actually, songwriting remains an entirely
ephemeral act for me. Some of the best
stuff I’ve written has been jotted down on
a supermarket receipt, hammered out on a
broken ukulele at a friend’s house. I don’t
get much say over how and when the good
stuff comes, you just have to be ready for
it. Afterwards, you sit down and build
songs from the nuggets of inspiration,
but that central moment, when things
just arrive, is delightfully ineluctable, and
always will be.
SW SURVIVAL KIT
#songwritingsurvivalkit
S
haring is caring, which is why we’ve been encouraging you all to share
your #songwritingsurvivalkit with us on social media. Whether it’s the tatty
notebook that’s attached to you or your trusty old guitar and amp, we want
to see those pieces of kit that are essential to your songwriting life and will be
re-posting all of the images that you hashtag.For this issue, singer-songwriter Frank Turner talks us through the items
which make up HIS #songwritingsurvivalkit. from HIS beloved GIBSON acoustic to
hIS CLIVE JAMES BOOKS, these are things that he can’t do without...FRANK
TURNER
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