I was brought up to believe that any discussion about sex was so taboo, that this belief was never even expressed; it was just strongly implied. So this topic, even to this day, is a tough one for me to talk about. Sometimes the ceilings that are built for us as children are hard to [...]

Way back in the day (c. 1988) I started making mix tapes. Now, I realize that these days, a mix of songs on Spotify can be called a mix tape, but I’m talking about the kind of thing that only magnetism and spinning spools can do. Real tapes had restrictions in the way that digital [...]

The volumes of your recordings are of utmost importance while you are recording, mixing, and mastering. In other words, it really matters how loud your stuff is. This affects the quality of your finished product and the ease by which you can manage multiple tracks and get the best sonic results. The trouble is, it [...]

I first met Paul Vos at the Song Talk Meetup, and always dug his approach to writing funky songs with catchy hooks, complex rhythms, and interesting lyrics. Soon afterwards, Paul began collaborating with Sherry Jacoby, another regular member (and now co-host) of the meetup and a fine singer-songwriter in her own right. They recorded several [...]

We completed our first songwriting challenge on Song Talk Radio in early 2020. The team including Phil, Mike, Don, and myself, each shared a song based on the suggestion to write "a positive lyric in a minor key." Mike shared his beautiful acoustic ballad, Rich in Love, and asked us if we wanted to re-mix [...]

On Song Talk Radio, we engaged in our first songwriting challenge. One month, we solicited ideas for a song from our listeners. The next month, we picked one of the ideas as the basis for the hosts to write a song. The following month, we shared our completed songs on the show. https://soundcloud.com/neelmodi/music-and-me The songwriting [...]

I attended the Song Studio Student Showcase at Hugh's Room in Toronto this year. Song Studio is a week-long songwriting camp in Toronto, hosted by Blair Packham and others. I know several songwriters who have attended and they all say it's an amazing experience. For the week's grand finale, the students put on a show with [...]

I went to the album release party for Blair Packham, a top Canadian singer-songwriter who was the frontman for The Jitters a short while ago. He continues to write catchy, clever, and thoughtful songs and he also teaches songwriters at Song Studio in Toronto. I know Blair from his numerous appearances on Song Talk Radio [...]

I always look forward to the arrival of the cherry blossoms at High Park. I don't make it ever year, but each time go I try to think of a different way to capture their fleeting beauty. In 2011, I arrived with a photographer's meetup at sunrise, in 2012, I focused on the people, and [...]