PAUL STATHAM

In the last decade, songwriting courses have flourished around the world, with droves of passionate students keen to cultivate the skills that will enable them to join the sizeable writing teams behind the charts. Music-industry stalwart Paul Statham is one of the architects behind the Writing For Commission module at BIMM London, a visiting professor of music at Leeds College of Music and runs BA songwriting workshops at Solent University.

He transitioned into the academic world after an illustrious career co-writing with a range of artists, most notably of course, Dido on the ubiquitous Here With Me and the title track of her 2001 debut album No Angel, as well as tracks on Kylie Minogue’s 2001 No.1 hit album Fever. He’d previously had a US Top 20 hit with his electro-pop group Peach and the song On My Own (featured in the film Sliding Doors).

Here, we speak to Paul about his experiences and glean some insight into the practical realities of surviving as a professional songwriter.

MusicTech How did your interest in songwriting begin and how did your own career then develop?

Paul Statham When I was younger, I was more fascinated by sound, I loved drawing, too. I’d make these charts of popular songs of the time, deconstructing them. I’d put different instruments in different colours. It was kind of a weird hobby, but I loved trying to work out who did what in certain bands. When I discovered Brian Eno, I got more into textures and sonic landscapes. I became pretty obsessed by that.

It was only when I put my first band, B-Movie, together, that I really started songwriting. I found out that Steve the singer who was writing all our stuff was getting paid four times a year by the PRS; I realised then that there was more money in songwriting.

Songwriting kind of became a necessity – we had a punk ethos and so writing our own stuff was fundamental to what we did. As we progressed into the early