04 Joy on Sleepwriting

Do you ever dream the songs?

I was just talking with Annie Clark [a.k.a. Saint Vincent] about this yesterday, and we were both saying how we get really jealous of these iconic artists who say they just wake up with an entire song in their head or they’ve found lyrics that they’ve penned in the middle of the night that they don’t remember writing. I’m so jealous of that. I have to come by it with more blood, sweat, and tears. I’ve had dreams before where I’ve dreamt about the music I was making, but it’s one of those untouchable things where I wake up and I can’t put my finger on what exactly happened, but I can remember how awesome it felt, and the thrill of it.

Or maybe those artists just lie about writing in their sleep.

Yeah… maybe it’s all a hoax to make the rest of us feel like we’re missing out. [Laughs.] So, job well done.

—JAAN UHELSZKI