Omaha-based alt-rock singer-songwriter Stavro is set to release his new album, You Turning World, TODAY!!!. Produced by genre veteran Ben Brodin, the album blends pop melodies with experimental elements, creating a dynamic mix of warmth and intensity. Drawing inspiration from George Macdonald’s Phantastes and the mentorship of Cretan lute master George Xylouris, Stavro explores natural imagery and emotional depth throughout the album. Featuring innovative use of the Cretan lute alongside scuzzy guitars, the record ventures into bold pop-rock territory with influences from Radiohead, Coldplay, and Xylouris White. We caught up with the band to hear all about their process of writing:
Q: In your opinion, what are the essential qualities that make a “good songwriter”?
- I think the best songwriters are both honest and patient. Honesty with oneself is the starting point for all the best lyric writing. If your words are going to resonate with anyone else, they have to tap into something commonly felt or experienced--to get there, you have to be truthful about how you see things. And a songwriter has to be patient because some amount of the craft is always going to come down to sheer inspiration. There's no way to will inspiration into existence, whether you're talking about writing lyrics or melodies, so you have to have the willingness to sit around and wait for the good stuff to hit you.
Q: What is the basis for writing attention-grabbing music in this day and age?
- I have no crystal ball for this. Speaking for myself, I'm drawn to music that moves me, whether it's rock or pop or orchestral. If a song has real emotional substance, then it'll catch people. Strong melodies always do it for me.
Q: Can you pinpoint some specific songs and songwriters that changed the way you write music?
- I first picked up a guitar because of a series of videos of Jason Mraz playing some acoustic songs walking around Paris. He was tapping into a peace and sort of unassuming contentment that I had to experience for myself. This is nowhere more evident than in his track "Details in the Fabric." More recently it's been Thom Yorke and Radiohead: they've made music more gorgeous and daring than any other rock act I've come across, and they serve as a constant challenge and inspiration. Some of my favorites are "Pyramid Song" and "Everything In Its Right Place." Jeff Tweedy's book, How to Write One Song, also helped me greatly both by providing practical tools for songwriting and by articulating why songs matter so much to us in the first place.
Q: Do you find it hard to be inspired by your peers? Can you name any new artists you find inspiring?
- I find it very easy. They're not quite "new," but the latest album from the band Alvvays (Blue Rev) set my love of music and drive to songwrite on fire all over again. My friend Lily Talmers is also writing such consistently compelling material that every song feels like a little push to work harder and aim higher. The best inspiration comes from other artists who are crushing it.
Q: For your new album, what inspired the lyrical content, album title, and overall vibe?
- The album title and much of the lyrical content came from literature and poetry that I was captivated by during the songwriting process. The phrase "you turning world" I first came across in T.H. White's King Arthur tale, The Once and Future King, but it popped up again in T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Those words alone stir up wonder and a sense of adventure in me. The overall vibe of the record was further inspired by the high-stakes emotional approaches of bands like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, as well as a host of films too, some of which can be gleaned from the tracklist.
Q: Do you find that you ruminate over writing songs and hold on to them for a long time before including them on a record? Or do you prefer to write them, release them, and be done with them? Do you ever revisit old material to do a re-write or once it’s done it’s done?
- I ruminate. I'll be tinkering and polishing songs for months before properly recording them. And I'm selective with the ones I end up releasing--I probably wrote 80-90 songs leading up to this record, and only 12 made the cut. I sometimes revisit old material, but I almost never end up re-working it. Once a lot of time has passed, it's hard for me to get excited again about an old idea.
Q: Were there any lessons you learned in the writing and recording process for your current release that you will take with you into your next project?
- I learned to be open to surprises. It's hard to achieve the exact idea you have in your head for a particular song, and sometimes there's a better version of it out there than what you first imagined. I also learned to make room for inspiration to happen. The bones of the song have to have substance, but so much of the magic happens later in ways you can't plan ahead of time: an inspired improvisational moment in a guitar solo, a synth tone you stumble across that becomes the defining feature of a song.