Melanie Meriney’s “Method Writer” — “And hopefully if you are the method writer, the song brings a little self-awareness and gives us appreciation for the people that love us through all of the crazy.”
Who are your musical influences?
My musical influences are always changing, but my core influences have always been artists like Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac, and Taylor Swift (Shania for “out there” productions, Fleetwood Mac for instrumentation, and Taylor for storytelling). I try as much as I can to incorporate some mix of these influences into my own style.
What is your creative process for writing songs?
For me, the creative process always starts with a title or an idea and stems from there. I love cowriting, because it allows me to get out of my own head and bounce ideas off of other talented writers. We typically sit down in a room for a few hours and go back and forth with ideas until we agree on one that we feel like writing. Depending on how the idea progresses, we’ll usually get down a verse and a chorus melody and fill in the blanks until it says what we want it to say.
What are your favorite songs that you’ve written to date?
They’re always changing with the new stuff I’m writing, but my favorite songs are usually the ones that are super personal to me. As a listener of music, we gravitate towards songs that make us feel certain things, and the same is true with writing. I tend to favor ones with a little depth to them. My release “Flame” was one of those for me. There are a handful of others that I haven’t released yet that I think feel especially authentic. But it’s also a cool feeling to write a song that is very meaningful to someone else, even if you yourself aren’t going through what they are at that point in time. One of my favorites of all time was a song I wrote for a friend who lost a child. It’s a favorite because it brought some healing and peace to a heartbreaking situation. I think that’s way more powerful than any music award or stage high, and even if my career ended tomorrow, I would feel like I accomplished something great.
What inspired you to write “Method Writer?”
When I lived with one of my best friends Jessie G (fellow artist and writer), we always used to joke that in order to have inspiration for music, something really crazy had to be going on in our lives. I coined the phrase “method writer” to play off of “method actor,” or someone who has to “live” their role in order to have a good performance in a film. In order to write good music or make good art, you basically have to live the emotion. The song is a bit of a humorous take on someone who has to mess up their relationship to be an incredible songwriter. I like to think it isn’t autobiographical, but I’m sure there were times when I was a little on the dramatic side and it fueled a really good song.
Can you describe the sound of the new song?
It’s definitely more mid-tempo or upbeat than dark, even though the topic is a little dark! I like pushing the light-heartedness going into summer because nobody wants to cry to a ballad when it’s beautiful outside. The lyrics are definitely candid (my mother-in-law LOVES that the f-word makes an appearance in the first line haha), and it has a really big chorus, aided by the production talents of my husband and producer Michael Funk of Funk Studio in Nashville.
What challenges did you face in writing and recording this song?
It’s definitely a little on the higher side of my register, so nailing that chorus took a few vocal cartwheels. We had toyed with the idea of lowering the key, but it just lost a little bit of the energy that I loved. In the end, we decided to keep it where it was and I spent quite a few sessions honing it until we were both happy with how it was sounding. Hopefully the listener agrees! ;)
What message do you hope listeners take away from it?
Don’t be like the narrator. She’s crazy. Haha! But actually, I hope that anybody who has either dated or been with somebody that puts their artistry first might be able to draw some peace from the fact that this is sometimes the inevitable side product of our passion. And hopefully if you are the method writer, the song brings a little self-awareness and gives us appreciation for the people that love us through all of the crazy.
Melanie Meriney is a Nashville-based country music artist and songwriter, originally hailing from Pittsburgh, PA. After signing her first publishing deal, her EP Up In Lights saw success via radio tour, with the lead single charting on the Music Row charts and reaching #2 on the UK HotDisc charts. She has since launched her own publishing house, Steel Fox Entertainment, and released consecutive singles, enjoying support in Billboard, on CMT, and in Country Aircheck. Opening for acts like Restless Road and Little Big Town, she routinely performs shows and festivals around the US. 2023 promises a few brand new singles, kicking off with “Figured Out,” June release “Method Writer” following. You can find more about Meriney on her social media accounts and her website www.melaniemeriney.com .