Troy Javelona on Writing "SALTWATER"

Saltwater stings a wound... and heals it. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Troy Javelona opens up "SALTWATER" from his two-sided EP No Healing Without Heartbreak: one side written inside a relationship that treated him badly, the other written on the way out, and this song, …

Dan Croll Breaks Down the Process of Writing ‘Hail Mary.’

Dan Croll spent seven years on "Hail Mary," a song about last chances, time running out, and coming to terms with a career that didn't keep the shape it started with. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, he opens it up with rare honesty: the early success he feels he squandered,…

Luke Hart on the Songwriting and Production Process of "Biding"

Luke Hart wrote "Biding" about seeing someone, an infatuation that felt amazing and awful at once. Then he posted it online, people found it, and strangers started messaging him that the song holds their grief, their old cities, their goodbyes.  On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Bane…

Maddie Zahm on the Writing Process of "Meryl"

Maddie Zahm was watching Meryl Streep deliver "that is all" in The Devil Wears Prada when she had a realisation: "that's gay."  On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, she opens up "Meryl," a flirty, joyful, proudly queer song about loving older women. It's a conversation about h…

Castle Rat on Why Collaboration Made This Record Work

On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, the band's songwriter and frontwoman opens up "Serpent," the song that fought her hardest on The Bestiary: the one where every band member hated a different part, and the only fix was to scrap everything but the lyrics and start again. It's …

Gently Tender on the song that took 3 years to write.

One of these songs took Gently Tender three years. The other took two minutes. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Gently Tender's Sam Fryer and Francesca Brierley opens up "Staring at Fields" and "The City of the Beast," both from their upcoming album ,This Was Once Fields. I…

HP #54: Little Dog Star on Leaving Acting for Music

Izzy Steele had a full-time job acting on a TV soap, and left it to chase music before she knew if it would work, one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Izzy opens up "Something Infinite," the title track of her EP: a song about t…

HP #53: Pixie McCann on "Rotting": The Drunk Notes App That Became a Song

Pixie McCann convinced herself in a toilet that everyone hated her, and filled her Notes app with the evidence: "literally everyone here is rotten."  Then she woke up, read it back, and decided... this is good content.  On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, she opens up "Rottin…

HP #52: Show Me the Body: "See You Again"

On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Julian Pratt opens up "See You Again," from the band's new record: a song whose chorus, "I'll see you again, no grave or cemetery can keep you from me," was written for his mentor, San Diego hardcore legend Mike Down.  After it was recorded,…

HP #51: Jamie Webster: "Small Town Life"

Jamie Webster joins Kieron Banerji on The Hardest Part to break down the writing, meaning and performance of his song “Small Town Life.” Jamie explains how years spent touring through towns across the UK inspired him to write a song celebrating the people, characters and communities that exist bey…