JJ Bene' Interview

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An interview with JJ Bene' :

I walked into JJ Bene's bedroom and the first thing I saw was a guitar next to his bed. We barely started the interview when JJ began to play his guitar. It seemed to fit him perfectly, like it was part of his body. He continued to play throughout our interview. It was a great interview. After every explanation, he would play me an example of what he had just talked about.
JJ is a songwriter and singer. He has written songs for Waylon Jennings and others. JJ has had his own band and played in other people's bands.JJ recently played in Willie Nelson's band. What makes him a good songwriter is that he is able to tell stories well.I do not mean only songs,but stories in general.

I began the interview with a simple question; how do you go about writing songs? I did not even blink before he answered.He quickly said, "It all starts with an idea." JJ told me that he gets an idea or catalyst from his surroundings. The idea may come from a word, phrase, object, or feeling.Once JJ has the catalyst, an idea forms in his mind, and the song has a beginning.

It surprised me that at this point JJ does not write the words; he writes the melody. "The chords and the music fit the meaning and then the words fit the melody," JJ stated.

Once JJ has the melody down, he pulls sentences together from experiences he has had. These are usually recent experiences but not always.One of the songs JJ played for me describes his dining room perfectly. He had an idea and used his surroundings to tell the story in his song.

The words are put in order of the story the songwriter wants to tell. Each song has a beginning which describes what direction the song will go. There is also a middle to the song which gives the song it's meaning or feeling. A song always has a conclusion. The listener is never left hanging. As JJ demonstrated by playing a song, I began to notice that a song is a story and not just words and music.

The more we talked, the more JJ played his guitar. He played a song and asked me if I knew who he had in mind to sing it. "Willie Nelson," I answered. JJ said he had accomplished his purpose. He said he had accomplished the effect he intended. JJ told me that even if no one else ever heard this song, it would not matter. He accomplished what he set out to do.

I asked JJ if all songwriters wrote songs the way he does and for the same reasons. He explained that there are three types of songwriters: Those that write for money, those that write for fun, and those that write for the love of music.

First, there are writers who write for the publishing houses. These writers write a certain amount of songs in a certain time period. They collect a salary even if the songs stink. These writers do it only to earn a steady paycheck. If the song is a hit, the publishing house gets the money because writer signs away his royalty rights.

The second type of songwriter is called a "kicks" writer. These writers write songs for the fun of it and do not necessarily ever want to get published or recorded.

The third group writes from the heart. Their songs are born of passion and feelings. This is the type of writer JJ is, along with Willie Nelson and others.

JJ said, "Willie has been known to write three songs in one year and ten songs in one day." It takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 5 hours to write a song.

According to JJ, Willie does some of his writing in a guest house on Willie's ranch. The guest house has only a bed, table, chair, bottle of whiskey, pencil and paper in it. It also has carpet on the walls and mirrors on the ceiling. JJ said this is a place for reflecting on past experiences. It is a place for gathering ideas for stories or songs.

After I found out how JJ and others write, I asked JJ what kind of music he liked best. He answered, "blues and country." He said,"Country is not different from the black man's blues. The soul and unfulfilled sadness that exists in low income blacks, exists in low income whites. Country is the white man's blues.The only difference between country and the blues is the time signature and the colloquial expressions."

I finally realized what JJ meant when he played a blues song and then a country song. Their stories were exactly the same; the guy was down on his luck and having problems with his lady. The actual words and melody were different, but both songs had the same meaning.

With that example, JJ wrapped up my music lesson and I ended the interview. Through this interview, I learned alot about music, songwriting, and telling a story. JJ showed me that, just like an essay or book, a song always tells a story.

| Photos | QuickTimeMovie | Interview | Venues | Celebrities | Concerts and Special Events | Fan Club |

An interview with JJ Bene' :

I walked into JJ Bene's bedroom and the first thing I saw was a guitar next to his bed. We barely started the interview when JJ began to play his guitar. It seemed to fit him perfectly, like it was part of his body. He continued to play throughout our interview. It was a great interview. After every explanation, he would play me an example of what he had just talked about.
JJ is a songwriter and singer. He has written songs for Waylon Jennings and others. JJ has had his own band and played in other people's bands.JJ recently played in Willie Nelson's band. What makes him a good songwriter is that he is able to tell stories well.I do not mean only songs,but stories in general.

I began the interview with a simple question; how do you go about writing songs? I did not even blink before he answered.He quickly said, "It all starts with an idea." JJ told me that he gets an idea or catalyst from his surroundings. The idea may come from a word, phrase, object, or feeling.Once JJ has the catalyst, an idea forms in his mind, and the song has a beginning.

It surprised me that at this point JJ does not write the words; he writes the melody. "The chords and the music fit the meaning and then the words fit the melody," JJ stated.

Once JJ has the melody down, he pulls sentences together from experiences he has had. These are usually recent experiences but not always.One of the songs JJ played for me describes his dining room perfectly. He had an idea and used his surroundings to tell the story in his song.

The words are put in order of the story the songwriter wants to tell. Each song has a beginning which describes what direction the song will go. There is also a middle to the song which gives the song it's meaning or feeling. A song always has a conclusion. The listener is never left hanging. As JJ demonstrated by playing a song, I began to notice that a song is a story and not just words and music.

The more we talked, the more JJ played his guitar. He played a song and asked me if I knew who he had in mind to sing it. "Willie Nelson," I answered. JJ said he had accomplished his purpose. He said he had accomplished the effect he intended. JJ told me that even if no one else ever heard this song, it would not matter. He accomplished what he set out to do.

I asked JJ if all songwriters wrote songs the way he does and for the same reasons. He explained that there are three types of songwriters: Those that write for money, those that write for fun, and those that write for the love of music.

First, there are writers who write for the publishing houses. These writers write a certain amount of songs in a certain time period. They collect a salary even if the songs stink. These writers do it only to earn a steady paycheck. If the song is a hit, the publishing house gets the money because writer signs away his royalty rights.

The second type of songwriter is called a "kicks" writer. These writers write songs for the fun of it and do not necessarily ever want to get published or recorded.

The third group writes from the heart. Their songs are born of passion and feelings. This is the type of writer JJ is, along with Willie Nelson and others.

JJ said, "Willie has been known to write three songs in one year and ten songs in one day." It takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 5 hours to write a song.

According to JJ, Willie does some of his writing in a guest house on Willie's ranch. The guest house has only a bed, table, chair, bottle of whiskey, pencil and paper in it. It also has carpet on the walls and mirrors on the ceiling. JJ said this is a place for reflecting on past experiences. It is a place for gathering ideas for stories or songs.

After I found out how JJ and others write, I asked JJ what kind of music he liked best. He answered, "blues and country." He said,"Country is not different from the black man's blues. The soul and unfulfilled sadness that exists in low income blacks, exists in low income whites. Country is the white man's blues.The only difference between country and the blues is the time signature and the colloquial expressions."

I finally realized what JJ meant when he played a blues song and then a country song. Their stories were exactly the same; the guy was down on his luck and having problems with his lady. The actual words and melody were different, but both songs had the same meaning.

With that example, JJ wrapped up my music lesson and I ended the interview. Through this interview, I learned alot about music, songwriting, and telling a story. JJ showed me that, just like an essay or book, a song always tells a story.

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