We Asked Jonathan Mann to Write a Song About San Francisco
Making space to boost your learning capacity amongst the day-to-day routine of working and living in the Bay Area can seem a daunting prospect. This new weekly series explores ways to rethink your approach to creativity, design, work, and play. If you want to delve more deeply into these concepts, join us at The Sum.
There have been all manner of songs written about San Francisco; the city has been tunefully immortalized by crooners, stoners and storytellers. And now the city is the subject of a song by arguably one of the most prolific songwriters we’ve ever come across.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtQJdedg680#t=21
Jonathan Mann has been writing a song a day for over five years. That’s more than 2,100 songs. This huge body of work is collected on his blog and is constantly being added to as the days, months, and years pass. Sometimes he sings about the mundane minutiae of everyday life and sometimes he sings about huge, life-changing experiences that he goes through. Sometimes he even writes songs about the random ideas from the recesses of his brain.
It all began in 2009, when he participated in a Fun-A-Day show. Whereas most contributors spent each day in January working on a project which culminated in a group show the following month, Jonathan kept going and going. The resultant archive not only tracks his continuing creative process but also serves as a melodic memoir of his life: the sadness of relationships that ended, the euphoria of falling in love, the terrifying-awesome experience of becoming a father.
As well as writing a song about San Francisco, Jonathan also answered a few questions about Song a Day. (Shortly after emailing him with a list of questions, I did notice a new song on his blog entitled Song a Day FAQ which adds a whole meta-level to the process of writing this piece!)
Why do you write a song a day?
To keep myself making; I am happiest when I’m making, so I do my best to do it as often as possible. To find my good songs; making a song every single day increases the probability that I’ll write more good songs. To change the way I think about making; perfectionism is anathema to creativity and yet it’s from a place of seeking perfection that so many people start projects.
How has Song a Day impacted on your creativity in other areas?
I think Song a Day has really served to reinforce impulses I’ve always had: Work quickly, finish things, move on.
Do you ever run out of topics? If so, how do you address this?
The old adage that goes “If you don’t know what to write about, write about not knowing what to write about” is super helpful. The trick I’ve found is to just not be too hard on myself on any given day. With that attitude, it’s impossible to run out of topics. The universe is too vast and interesting.
What inspires you (either when it comes to song-writing or other creative endeavors)?
I’m inspired a lot by video games these days. I really love the discrete, weird, scary, and challenging experiences people are making. Things like Elude. Everything Anna Anthropy does. I love following M Kopas’ Forest Ambassador.
Do you plan to continue writing a song a day indefinitely? Or do you have an end date in mind?
I have no plans to ever stop writing a song a day. There’s a part of me that thinks I should, if for no other reason than the conventional wisdom that says, “Do the thing that scares you the most.” The idea of stopping song a day scares me the most. I worry that too much of my identity is wrapped up in writing a song a day — like if I lost that, who would I be? So that’s maybe a good reason to stop, and I came close back in May/June of this year when I both hit #2000 and my son was born. Ultimately, I just want to write more songs.
Regardless of pageviews, which are your favorite songs and why?
Eh, this changes all the time. Here’s a good place to start though.
Is there any other creative activity that you think you could do everyday?
For a long while I was making a drawing a day. I mean, I also make a video a day along with the song. I’d love to be able to make a video game a day.
Jonathan will be speaking (and, perhaps, singing) as part of The Bold Italic’s upcoming creative conference. To hear more from him and a host of other creative makers and thinkers, join us at The Sum, November 6–7.
