Q & A with Singer-Songwriter Antje Duvekot

By Sharon Goldman

When I first heard Antje Duvekot (I saw her at a showcase at a Northeast Regional Folk Alliance — NERFA — Conference a few years back), I knew I was going to feel just a wee bit jealous (just a wee!). It was clear that this German-born, Boston-based folk-pop singer- songwriter was one of those “prodigy stars” that always amaze and completely humble me. A crazy-gifted songwriter with astonishingly vivid and poetic lyrics, beautiful melodies and an already honed performing presence — for whom English was not even her first language! Argh! 🙂

So, when I started Songwriting Scene I knew I just had to find out some of her songwriting secrets — there must be some for me to learn from, right? Antje (pronounced “Aunt-yuh”) was kind enough to answer a bunch of questions for this blog post, just a few months after releasing a new album, The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer.

Here we go!

You started writing songs as a teen — what are your thoughts on some of the stuff you were writing back then? Cringe-worthy or surprisingly good?

Oh, soooo cringe-worthy. Just awful — lines like “I want to go to a place where there’s no difference between black and white [people]” and “If God exists then how come he never comes through?” So direct and unpoetic.

It’s amazing that you were writing songs in English at such a young age when you only moved to the U.S. at 13 — did you already know English well when you came to the States?

No. I learned most of my English upon being thrown into an American high school in Delaware, which worked astoundingly well. The fact that there were no other Germans for me to talk to meant it was ‘learn English or sink’.

Did you have any songwriting mentors along the way?

I honestly did not. I wrote in a vacuum and I had these relationships with my heroes through their cassette tapes. It’s still amazing to me now to have gotten to meet a lot of those old heroes personally so many years later. I am friendly with many of my influences such as Ellis Paul, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell. But no, i didn’t have any mentors. I probably could have used some.

What are your top songwriting habits? How do you manage to keep writing while you’re also touring/recording/promoting etc.?

I write best when there’s something else really pressing looming over me, like if I planned to take the afternoon to do my taxes. That’s when I will tend to get really inspired. I might get a lead on a song at that time and it will become clear that I couldn’t possibly do my taxes now! With touring it is more difficult because if the muse strikes one afternoon when I’m on the road, i can’t very well miss the gig because of it and so I have to shut her down although she definitely calls when I’m out there. Once I begin writing I usually don’t stop at all for three or four days. I don’t have pets or children, so nobody dies.

Who are your biggest influences songwriting-wise?

Dar Williams and Ani di Franco gave me license to talk about myself in song in ways that are truthful and unglamorous yet poetic. I listened to them in college and they really spoke to me because their music was so raw and so human and vulnerable. That’s what empowered me to be honest like that in my music. Before that the wonderful sad sounds of John Gorka and the beautiful songs of Ellis Paul and Cheryl Wheeler (so the more folky singer-songwriters, I suppose) got me through my adolescence.

Have you ever done any co-writing?

Yes, I have. Melodies don’t come easy to me so I’ve occasionally employed other artists in helping me refine a melody (Vertigo, Light House, The Bridge). I don’t typically do well with lyric co-writing since I usually kind of know what I want to say. So all of my co-write songs that I’ve recorded are my words with melodic input from others. I’ve been lucky to co-write with amazing talents like Seamus Egan, Mark Erelli, Kate Klim.

What comes first for you — chords, melody or lyrics?

Chords come with melody. I spend long stretches of time looking for a melody that I like enough to set words too. So to me, if I’ve come up with a melody I like, even if it just has gibberish words to it, I feel like i’ve written a song because setting words to it is so easy in comparison.

What music are you listening to these days?

I am loving a band called We’re About Nine right now. Brian Gundersdorf is one of the writers for that band and I adore his artistic voice. Also, I’ve been liking this Canadian duo I recently discovered called Dala.

Do you have any specific songwriting goals right now? How do you keep your momentum and motivation going?

I’m going to a cabin in the woods for the month of August to write. I used to have all the time in the world when I wrote my first two albums. I really miss that. So I’m trying to recreate the sense of endless time, if even for an illusion of a month. We’ll see what comes of it. I might have to create some artificial tax deadlines for myself as well for the muse to come around.

Sharon Goldman is a New York-based singer-songwriter and member of Sweet Bitters, a female folk pop duo. She recently launched Songwriting Scene, a blog for songwriters about songwriting, from which this column is republished with permission.