Amy Shark, Peking Duk & More Share Common Songwriting Mistakes

Amy Shark

“Too much rhyming. Predictable lyrics. Don't overthink it. Don't write a song to suit your live show.”

Amyl & The Sniffers

“They don't look for inspiration outside of their own genre.”

Casey Barnes

“I’d say a common mistake is spending too much time trying to sound or write like someone else instead of becoming their own artist.”

Elliott Margin (The Rubens)

“Make sure the song is in a key that suits your vocal or else you will destroy your voice trying to sing it every night on the road. It took us many years to learn that songs had keys and they could be moved around.”

Fanny Lumsden

“I think a common mistake is not following your instincts and writing in your own voice. So many people imitate rather than using their own unique voice and opinion.”

Masked Wolf

“Going into the studio thinking you are going to write a hit and trying to write something exactly the way an artist you listen to does.”

Reuben Styles (Peking Duk)

“Being worried about making mistakes!”

Robbie Miller

“I'm not too sure whether it's a mistake or not but I find that a lot of songwriters have the propensity to overthink and over analyse their writing. Often songwriters tend to pull apart, re-write and rearrange their songs. Personally, I find this hypercritical approach to have the opposite effect on my creativity so I try to keep the process as simple as possible.”

The 40th-anniversary edition of the APRA Music Awards will be held on Tuesday the 3rd of May at Melbourne Town Hall, co-hosted by Julia Zemiro and Jerome Farah.

You can check out the full list of nominees and find out more details HERE.