Songs explained from the inside out.
Sodajerker On Songwriting treats music as a working practice, not a mystery trick. Simon and Brian guide artists through demos, collaboration, lyrics, arrangements, and the small decisions that turn an idea into a record.
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Sodajerker On Songwriting is an interview show for people who hear a record and immediately wonder how it came into being. Its center of gravity is craft. Simon and Brian bring the conversation toward the parts of songwriting that often disappear once a track is finished: the first sketch, the clumsy demo, the collaborator who changes the room, the old idea that suddenly earns its place years later. The show has a warm, guided style, but it is never vague about process. A Mumford & Sons conversation turns toward instinct, shared feeling, and the choices behind Prizefighter. A Squeeze episode follows Glenn and Chris back to Trixie’s, a concept LP first formed in 1974 and later revived with care. Cory Wong’s appearance treats collaboration as both chemistry and timing, with studio days that either catch fire quickly or leave little behind. Jill Scott’s episode connects poetry, Philly performance spaces, literary influence, and early work with The Roots. Ryan Tedder’s story moves through early musical study, deconstructing songs, demo work, publishing, and high-pressure pop writing. Sleaford Mods bring a sharper edge, talking about guests, vocal texture, social observation, politics, humour, and the power of very specific references. The live Glass Animals conversation makes room for homemade sounds, imperfect recordings, and the value of limits. Jamie Cullum reflects on collaboration and what Pharrell taught him about play. Billy Bragg’s live segment brings protest, resistance, and stark political imagery into the frame. Across episodes, the format stays remarkably consistent: introduce the artist clearly, establish the history, then let the guest explain how the work actually happened. The show suits music fans who care about records as made things, with fingerprints, compromises, accidents, and decisions still audible inside them.
Made for: For music fans, songwriters, producers, and close listeners who want craft, context, and studio detail without tabloid noise. It especially suits listeners who enjoy hearing artists think through decisions in real time.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its combination of deep preparation and restraint. Simon and Brian ask precise questions, then give artists enough space to describe demos, revisions, collaborators, instruments, and instincts in their own terms.
Sodajerker On Songwriting is a programme devoted to the art and craft of songwriting. The show, created and hosted by the UK songwriting team Sodajerker, features interviews with some of the most successful songwriters and musicians in the world.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Simon and Brian turn artist interviews into precise accounts of how songs are written, tested and shaped through collaboration.
Sodajerker On Songwriting treats the finished song as a trail of decisions. Simon and Brian ask musicians including Cory Wong, Mumford & Sons and Sleaford Mods how ideas survive collaboration, what gets discarded, and when instinct matters more than a settled method.
John Fogerty's title notebook and Cory Wong's fruitless studio session make your favorite songs sound less inevitable.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett make songwriting feel like a test of instinct, feeling, and knowing when to let a weaker idea go.
Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett talk through how Mumford & Sons decide which songwriting ideas are worth keeping, with the episode circling back to trust: in instinct, in plain feeling, and in the way a melody can change the weight of a lyric.
Squeeze revisit their early Trixie's demos and the songwriting partnership behind them.
Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford return to Trixie's, the concept album they wrote and demoed in 1974, when their partnership was still new. Brian and Simon ask what survived from those early songs and what changed when the pair came back to them.
Corey Wong shows how the right collaboration can unlock a song, while the wrong room can leave five hours empty.
Corey Wong frames songwriting as a matter of feel: a song moves when collaborators catch the same pulse, and goes nowhere when they do not. Simon and Brian use his Taylor Hanson stories to show the difference, from a five-hour session that yielded almost nothing to another that…
Sleaford Mods connect lyrical specificity with the unpredictable chemistry of collaboration.
Sodajerker's conversation with Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn frames Sleaford Mods' songwriting as a push and pull between prepared structure and live unpredictability.
Jamie Cullum's Pharrell story makes a clear, human case for play as a songwriting tool.
Jamie Cullum comes through as a songwriter drawn to nerve, play, and the awkward business of learning in public. He talks through theatre writing, an original Christmas record, and a planned five- or six-day studio spell, but the sharpest craft moment is his memory of working…
A kitchen-pot riff opens a conversation about found sounds and the nerves of songwriting.
Glass Animals' Dave tells Sodajerker how a kitchen pot became the start of a riff. He hit it with a spoon, recorded the sound in Audacity and changed its pitch.
John Fogarty traces Proud Mary and Bad Moon Rising from private instinct to the discipline of a songwriting binder.
John Fogarty frames songwriting as something first heard privately, almost like an inner radio, before it ever becomes words on a page. The episode follows that instinct into a more deliberate practice, moving through memories tied to Creedence Clearwater Revival songs such as…
Nora Jones recalls writing "Come Away With Me" in the middle of the night, without thinking about who might hear it.
Nora Jones remembers writing "Come Away With Me" in the middle of the night, with no thought of where it might go or who might hear it. She tells Simon and Brian that music theory usually comes into play when she has a puzzle to solve, after the first rush of writing.
Joe Wong interviews drummers and musicians about craft, history, and the working musician's life.
Records, careers and arguments, weighed by people who listen closely.
Interview with Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and Scott Hoffman about their origins, songwriting process, and upcoming reunion tour.
Songwriting duo Sodajerker interviews legendary musician John Fogerty in London.
Simon and Brian of Sodajerker interview Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Norah Jones about the 20th-anniversary super deluxe edition of her debut album 'Come Away With Me'.
Sasha Skarbek and Ben Parker, co-founders of the Skarbek Songwriting Academy, talk at the Sodajerker Songwriting Lab in Birmingham on 4 September about collaboration and fear.
Soda Jerker on Songwriting episode 315 puts Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett on the mic to unpack Mumford & Sons' Prizefighter, released 11 months after Rushmere and co-produced with Aaron Dessner at Long Pond.
Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford talk with Sodajerker about Trixies, a concept album set in a fictional London nightclub.
Corey Wong says Lost in the Wonder was built to show his producer-and-writer side, not just the guitar work that made him known through Vulfpeck.
Brian and Simon interview Jill Scott about her career from poetry to Grammy-winning songwriting and her new album.
Ryan Tedder discusses his journey as a musician, songwriter, and producer, sharing insights from his career working with top artists.
Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn of Sleaford Mods discuss their new album 'The Demise of Planet X,' including sessions recorded partly at Abbey Road and a title track built from a pitched-down sample of the Magic Roundabout theme.
This Sodajerker on Songwriting bonus episode features live conversations with returning guests Jamie Cullum and Billy Bragg.
Sodajerker On Songwriting hosts Dave Bailey, the creative force behind Glass Animals, in a live discussion about turning voice memos, rough sounds, and emotional memories into songs.
Gary Barlow returns to the Soda Jerker on Songwriting podcast to discuss his songbook tour and current songwriting process.
Simon and Brian interview The Edge about U2's 2004 album reissue and his career.
Interview with singer-songwriter Kate Nash about her career and new album Nine Sad Symphonies.
An interview with Bat for Lashes about her album The Dream of Delphi, inspired by becoming a mother during the pandemic.