London-based musician Beabadoobee took the Dazed 100 Academy workshop series to a new level when she invited not one, but two special guests – fellow Dazed 100er Joy Crookes, and Pretty Sick’s Sabrina Fuentes – and sixteen lucky Dazed readers to her live-streamed Bea’s Church of Rock ‘n’ Roll songwriting workshop-slash-happening.
First up, in the session with Joy, Bea answered reader questions on how to write about your emotions without cringing. “That’s literally my life!” she admitted. “I know once my album comes out there’s going to be a few people messaging me saying, this song is about me! But it’s fun and that’s what music is about.” Joy agreed, saying she believes that cringing is something you can overcome: “When (you) know something’s good, you have to back it; you need to be your biggest fan,” she said.
In session two, with Pretty Sick lead singer and bassist Sabrina Fuentes, readers asked how to beat writers’ block, and how to stay inspired. “For knocking writer’s block, the only thing I can do is try and be social, work on other stuff, take time away from music,” Sabrina shared, adding, “If I focus on the writer’s block, it just becomes an even worse writer’s block.” To stay inspired, Sabrina recommended listening to the widest possible range of music, so you always have new influences, with Bea offering her own playlist of interesting-sounding songs to jog your creative juices, including the controversial Radiohead album track Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors.
Watch the highlights reel above for lots more advice from Bea, Joy, Sabrina and the Dazed readers on the call, plus general music chat and Bea’s tips for finding awesome custom guitar tunings. Head here to check out the full Dazed 100, in partnership with Converse.
