How to Workshop Songs (At Open Mics)
In my experience, you only know if a song works or not by getting it in front of an audience.
I’ve spent days, months or years on working on certain songs in my bedroom, to the point where I think they’re perfect, but when I finally play them for people, they are anything but. They could even have potential to be great, but something might be off. Could be the words, they key, the approach to delivery etc. But one thing is for sure, if you pay attention to your audience, you’ll FEEL whether it works or not. Could be how people are looking at you, if they are talking, or just a weird feeling you can get from the vibe people give. It’s strange and mysterious, but the feeling is real.
For example, on F-105 III: Baby Makes Three Mix we released a song called “Toys (Peace Frogs of Venice Mix).” The chords, melody and lyrics were from a demo I made decades ago, in high school. I wanted it on the EP because the EP was to be based on “youth” themes. The melody and chorus were dope, but when I played it at an open mic in Toronto, a songwriter friend I admire said, “Great song, but you need to improve the lyrics.” The lyrics were ¾ good (maybe even taking cues from artists like Bob Dylan, Gord Downie and Jim Morrison). But the remaining lyrics were weak and juvenile. I was playing “Toys” at that open mic for the specific reason to see if it was ready to record, as I was hitting the studio two days later. Thankfully, I had time to fix the bad lyrics the next day. They are now some of my favourite lyrics, “I’m infantility, yeah anti-maturity, I’m the nestling tadpole of anti-autonomy. So I’m the seedling, suckling brat boy, oh I’m the chrysalis mushroom with my maiden toys”.
At other times I play new songs at local open mics that indeed are solidly written, and don’t seem to need work, but the delivery isn’t right. Maybe not the right key for my voice, and often I think it sounds fine in my apartment, but when I get it in front of people I may find myself uncomfortable about the vocals, because the key isn’t right for my voice. You can feel that as you’re playing, by being attentive to the audience. Enter the capo. When I get back home, I’ll capo it until I find the right key for my voice, and test that out at further open mics until I get it right. If you’re not sure based on the feeling you get from the audience, simply ask a few people after. People are genuinely helpful at open mics. We’re all in this together.
F‑105 (Din Yalonen) is a mythpunk folk rocker from Toronto, weaving between electric alt‑rock and acoustic folk.