Interview: A Conversation With Elliott Yamin - Page 2

There’s a song “Apart From Me,” and another song called “Someday.” Also “Let Love Be.” And let’s see, “Know Better.” I’m personally connected to all of them, you know. I co-wrote most of the songs on there, but even the ones that were pitched to me, I still took an emotional approach to them.

What makes you connected to the songs you listed?

“Know Better” I didn’t write, but I put a lot into the vocal performance. You can really hear the hurt and pain in my voice. It translates well on record. I love the lyrics, I love the song, and I love the dynamics of it.

“Apart From Me” is something I wrote with one of the best up and coming writers of past six or seven years - Steve Russell. He used be lead singer of that R&B group Troop. So he and I wrote that together and he’s been one of the most favorite people I’ve met in the music business so far.

He’s just a great soul, and a great human being. Such a great writer, he’s so much fun and easy to work with. He’s one of those guys that really pushes you to the limit. He brings out the best in me. He challenges me to think when I’m writing, and it helps to bring me up to his level. It’s an honor to work with people who have such a knack for that skill. Having that songwriting formula down.

“Someday” I wrote about my mom.

When you get songs pitched to you, how do pick which ones you want to record?

I look at the lyrics first. Most of the time I look at the melody and the lyrics first, then the tempo of the songs and how the songs flow. A lot of demos you get have really funny vocals on them. So you kind of have to take them for what they’re worth. Sometimes when you get demo songs pitched to you they are very bare. You have see and hear the potential in them. You have to believe you can make it your own and internalize that particular song.

Are the entire song‘s music and lyrics completed?

Not all the time. It just depends. Sometimes you get a song that only has the lead vocals, and there won’t be background vocals at all. Sometimes they are even more bare than that.

Article Author: Sherry Lipp

Sherry writes mostly music and dvd reviews and on occasion she gets to do an interview. She plays the guitar, enjoys playing with her dog Pepsi and she and her husband are currently in the process of internationally adopting from Poland.

Visit Sherry Lipp's author page — Sherry Lipp's Blog