Jim Paredes talks about his thoughts about the songwriting camp, influences & experiences.

7101 Music Nation (7101) How do you feel about being invited to be a part of The 1st ELEMENTS National Songwriting Camp?

Jim A great honor. Looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing stuff especially with the younger composers.

7101 What inspired you to start writing songs?

Jim I had too many melodies running in my head and had to express them.

7101 Who influenced your songwriting style the most?

Jim The Beatles, the old songwriters like Cole Porter, Rogers and Hammerstein, Carole King, etc...

7101 If you were a student participant of the camp, who would you have wanted to learn from the most? Why? 

Jim Ryan Cayabyab, Louie Ocampo...They have ample understanding of orchestration,  progressions, chord structure, and composition which I can learn from.

7101 Are you looking forward to sharing your experiences to a new generation of songwriters?

Jim Definitely! I have learned quite a bit in 40 years of writing and could share a few things. I feel I have both the commercial and artistic touch.

7101 How about a little preview of the workshop in Dumaguete: What piece of advice would you give aspiring songwriters out there?

Jim Make one song a week. Learn from the songwriters of the 40s to the 70's. They had style, elegance and aesthetics.