Interview With Helen Avakian

Developing an original sound and compositional style is one of the most personally meaningful and enlightening aspects about playing guitar. Once you have crafted a voice and figured out your personal style, you're a lot closer to becoming the best songwriter you can be, and probably a bit more mature as well.

A brief listen to Helen Avakian's music reflects that she is a songwriter who has taken the time to develop her own sound. Avakian draws on her diverse musical background, which includes formal training in classical music, to create her own unique voice. Below is our brief interview with her on her songwriting process.

Your songs tend to fuse together various genres of music to create a unique style. Can you describe what the songwriting process is like for you?

Songs sometime start as a lyrical phrase that comes to me when I am going about my daily life. I write down phrases I like in my current notebook. Other times I start with a musical idea, usually from just messing around on the guitar. Then I try to run with whatever is happening. It turns into a sort of mystery or puzzle I am working to solve. There is some playfulness and just writing whatever comes and also sitting around praying for some lines. Eventually hopefully I keep it going and finish a song I like. Sometimes I carry ideas for years. Once in a great while (generally when I am writing a lot) a song comes really fast. That is a great feeling!

Is it a conscious effort to create a sound with merged genres of music, or is that sort of a byproduct of your influences and unique style?

I think it is more a byproduct of taking what I love about other songs and styles I have heard and coming up with something that seems a bit original whenever possible.

You're trained in classical guitar playing. Do you think classical composition is a completely different skill than rock, folk, or pop composition? Do you ever benefit from your knowledge of classical music when writing your own songs?

I do not think classical composition is completely different from any other type of composing. Especially these days when everything from popular to classical to so-called ethnic styles are fusing in so much music. As for benefitting from my knowledge of classical music, I would say my years of classical and Flamenco guitar playing have given me an easy facility with guitar, particularly fingerstyle, which gives the accompaniment a certain flavor. I quoted a small section of a JS Bach lute piece in a song I wrote about a classical violinist once. I may do such things again. Also I put some instrumentals on my album along with the songs.

You mention on your site that you get a lot of inspiration for lyrics from books. Do lyrics often come to you first when writing a song?

Once in a while lyrics come first, as I stated earlier. I try to start with lyrics when I can, because I find it much easier to structure music around lyrics than the other way around. I am working on a song now that I made up a few years ago. I love it musically, but I am finding it a big challenge to find the right lyrics for it. On my CD one song, "Drifting Days," which came from reading a book by a political prisoner called Life in Death in Shanghai was completely written before I put music to it. It took a while for me to find the point of view for the song, but once I found it, I was able to get the music done pretty much immediately. Another song inspired by poet Audre Lorde's autobiography was music first, then words. Whatever works!

Or at what point are you ready to put down some lyrics?

I sometimes write several different takes of the same song, and pick which direction I like best. If the music comes first I just sing whatever comes out of my mouth (first making sure no one is around to hear). Then if something grabs me I write it down and take it from there.

For more information on Helen Avakian and her music, visit her web site at www.helenavakian.com.