John Ondrasik, the incredible songwriter and lead singer with Five For Fighting, answers questions about his songwriting process. John has had a smash hit on each of his records, songs that most of us are familiar with. We start the article off with some background on John from his bio....
It requires considerable artistic agility to write deeply personal songs that also reflect the broader world. That's just what platinum certified Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter John Ondrasik with his band Five For Fighting has consistently accomplished on each of his previous CD's. Now with Two Lights, his new Aware/Columbia release, John delivers his most personal album to date, creating nothing less than an American family portrait.
John's Grammy-nominated song "Superman (It's Not Easy)," from the America Town CD, was already a hit when 9/11 happened. Afterwards, the song became a spiritual national anthem, and John joined superstar headliners Mick Jagger, Elton John, Paul McCartney and others for the post-9/11 fund-raiser The Concert for New York. "Here's a kid just getting over shock of hearing himself on radio for first time," recalls John, "sitting at a piano in Madison Square Garden playing a song that seems to provide solace to the emergency workers and their families. Half way through, seeing these burly firefighters with tears rolling down their faces: it was the most important thing I'll ever do musically."

In 2004 he recorded The Battle For Everything, which yielded the hit "100 Years," once again proving Ondrasik's ability to craft inspirational songs with a social message. "It means a lot as a writer when your songs find their way into everyday lives," he says. "To hear mp3s of "100 Years" sung at graduations, or to speak to folks about how certain songs helped out, inspires me to keep on swinging."
Two Lights should yield no less. Produced by John and band mates Curt Schneider (bass, guitars) and Andrew Williams (guitars), the album was inspired in part by conversations John had with ordinary Americans. Cops and cruisers, soldiers and surfers all have a place in John's America. Overall the CD is classic Americana, grittier and riskier than his previous work. That's especially so on songs like "California Justice" and the darkly comic "Policeman's Xmas Party," both based on real events. He also touches unflinchingly on the personal. The CD's debut single "The Riddle" is a song he wrote for his children, while the companion video features his beloved blue Mustang (a car passed down to John from his father and the inspiration for the song "'65 Mustang"). Says John of the single, "A lot of my songs touch on mortality, but at its heart it's a love song from a father to his son."
The father-son motif is most poignantly expressed in "Two Lights," a song that came to John after having dinner with a young soldier, bound for Iraq, and the soldier's father, a Vietnam veteran. "I talked with the kid's father," John remembers. "In that moment, I saw a mixture of pride and fear in the old man's eyes. I wanted to write a song that talked about the reality of how these parents feel. The simple thing of "Two Lights" is two lives: the father's and the son's. That's what inspired this song, the look of pride and fear in a father's eye."
Whatever subject he tackles, John's music is always infused with an empathetic spirit and sung in one of the most richly distinctive voices in contemporary pop. Still, the new CD may surprise those unaccustomed to the sharper edge of John's musical persona. "Producing is rewarding but also an extra slice of pain and suffering," he says. "Songs like "The Riddle" and "California Justice" are 90 percent craft, whereas others like "Road to Heaven" and "I Just Love You" are essentially live takes. In either case, the band has to be in the room, the clock has to be turned off, and the red light (or hard drive)...blinking."
John Ondrasik was born in L.A.'s sprawling San Fernando Valley, and grew up in a musical family. At two, he began studying piano and later added guitar. He majored in Math at UCLA, but his heart was always in music. His hard work paid off, and today he's right where he wants to be: a working touring musician with a great family to come home to. "Being in a band," he says, "you spend a lot of months on a bus rolling through America. Unless you do that you don't have a sense of the expanse and the differences that make it so great. My music just comes from my experience putting the miles on tires."
Over the last year, John has also been busy working on music for films. He wrote, produced and performed "The Best," the main title song for the upcoming animated baseball-comedy feature Everyone's Hero (he also teamed up with country greats Brooks & Dunn to co-write "Keep On Swinging" for the same film). For the movie August Rush, John produced and wrote "Break," which is performed on screen by the actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. Although primarily known for performing his own compositions, John also recorded a compelling new version of the classic Jimmy Webb composition, "All I Know" (a chart-topping pop hit song for Art Garfunkel in 1973), for the hit Walt Disney Pictures Film, Chicken Little.
But right now, Two Lights remains first and foremost in his musical life; that, and reaching out to an ever-expanding audience of admirers, whether in a darkened concert hall or on an iPod during morning rush hour. "I just try to get better as a songwriter," he says. "That's all I can do: try to write things that matter. At the end of the day all you can do is say what you believe."

INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ONDRASIK
By Ian Crombie, WCS Executive Director

Ian Crombie: What was your first introduction to music?

John Ondrasik: Mom is a classical piano graduate from USC and a first rate piano teacher...

IC - When did you write your first song?

JO - As soon as said Mom had the wisdom to let me quit piano lessons (age 13ish)...

IC - Where do you get your inspirations or ideas?

JO - Always on the look out...these days my kids, world events, experience, frustrations, insecurities, joys...

IC - What do you feel are the ingredients of a great song?

JO - A point of view, an ingrained melody, and a lyrical depth that can support a thousand listens...

IC - Do you have a songwriting process? Describe it using "The Riddle" as an
example

JO - Ha...not necessarily the best choice, that song took me a year and a half to grind out...the process can be painstaking and timely (riddle) or a gift in an hour (road to heaven)...like most craft in art the inspiration (concept) is the key followed by 99% work ethic and going back to the drawing board...I have no rules, some songs start from melody (100 years) other are a page of written lyrics, or a combination...Freedom Never Cries is started with a statement I wanted to make.

IC - How do you start writing the lyric?

JO - Sitting down at the computer, which sounds a bit flippant, but sometimes is the hardest energy to find...

IC - Is it necessary for lines to rhyme?

JO - Not that I find...(ok.false rhyme)

IC - Do you have a notebook to keep your ideas?

JO - Yes, it's called an IBOOK :)

IC - Do you use songwriting tools? Rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, etc?

JO - Rarely

IC - How do you know when a song is finished? Do you have people whose opinions you trust? Does audience reaction play any part?

JO - Great questions...sometimes I'm tweaking in the vocal booth...the hardest thing for me is to edit myself...perhaps that's why it takes 2 years to write a record...My wife is a good barometer but I'm careful going there as I'm hoping to make it to my 10th anniversary this summer...

IC - Do you demo your songs, and if so what is your process?

JO - I record everything...and tend to hone the songs with simple piano/voc or guitar vocs to sense if the arrangement is working...a lot of my time is spent going through late night piano jams to try and pick off a concept, melody, or lyric...I don't like the idea of stopping in mid though to write down or focus on something as stream of consciousness has it's glories...

IC - How were you first received by publishers and record labels?

JO - I'm a 20-year over night success and have been passed on by every record company.

IC - How did you develop business relationships?

JO - Like any relationship, integrity and work ethic go a long way...especially in an ego-driven narcissistic venture such as recording artist.

IC - Has having a record deal helped or hindered your songwriting?

JO - Having a chance to be heard is all a songwriter can ask for so making records on this level is rewarding. Still you can be pressured into compromising your craft by many factors, some valid, most not. I try to stick to my gut while not becoming obstinate and dismissive. Frankly labels only care about singles to drive sales, so there is plenty of room for expression while trying to write popular songs that are not trivial...(hard proposition these days)

IC - What music or writers have inspired you?

JO - Beatles, Paul Simon, Elton, Billy, Jeff Buckley, Police, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Nirvana, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, The Who, My Kids....

IC - What advice would you give to fellow songwriters?

JO - Write lots of songs...record your songs...play gigs!!!
And enjoy the ride...we are among one of the most honorable professions.. Good Day!