Why Being A Songwriter-For-Hire Is Exhausting

Sally Seltmann is based, these days, in Sydney. The songwriter was born and raised there, but spent 12 years living in Melbourne, recording as New Buffalo. Under that handle, Seltmann released two sad, sweet, tender LPs - 2004's The Last Beautiful Day and 2007's Somewhere, Anywhere. But, in 2007, her life changed when 1234, a song she'd given to her tour-mate Feist, became a global, Grammy-endorsed hit. It eventually led her to a whole new career as songwriter-for-hire, with Seltmann spending two years living in Los Angeles, working in the music biz back-rooms.

"There's something about the energy of LA. The amount of creative people who are really striving for something there... It's quite inspiring, being around people who are making a living from their ideas," Seltmann says. "But, over time, I began to feel quite worn out. I kept getting asked to write songs for people, and I felt like I could never say 'no'. I discovered that it's something that I like to do a bit of, but I don't want to just do it full-time; be one of the songwriters over there who is just a songwriter, who never does their own album. I'm an artist in my own right. One guy described me as 'a hybrid': a songwriter-for-hire who also does their own albums."

"I began to feel quite worn out. I kept getting asked to write songs for people, and I felt like I could never say 'no'."

Seltmann has written songs for Rachel Platten (the hit Better Place), Little Boots and Lo-Fang: "It was really intense" she says, "because he wanted to analyse this short story that was very intellectual. As a songwriter, that's a way more stimulating writing session that what you usually encounter." And there are others, too, from which nothing ever came. "Weirdly, some of the best experiences you have are with people who don't end up using the song on their album," Seltmann says.

Writing with other people, she offers, "can be difficult, enjoyable, exhausting," and intensely personal. "You really try to get a good understanding of who they are and their life: their problems, the things they're thinking about, that they want to express. I've always been so obsessed with personality types and human behaviour, so a good collaboration, to me, is when you're working with someone who's not afraid of opening up to you. That's how you get the best song together."

Seltmann is in the middle of her most intense songwriting endeavour, writing a whole album with Susanna Hoffs, for an upcoming solo LP for The Bangles icon. "I'm co-writing all the songs, writing arrangements, and playing a lot of parts," Seltmann says. "It's been such an enjoyable project for me to work on. Obviously, because I'm such a big fan of hers from ages ago, but I also feel like she's one of my favourite people to write with. We have a really good connection, and she's become a friend and a big mentor for me, both in life things and musical, creative things. I really admire her, and feel like she's inspired me so much."

Early this year, Seltmann also released the debut EP from her collaborative side-project Alphabet Botanical, in which she works with producer Tim Myers and duets with Ben Lee. Since returning to Sydney, Seltmann's also revived Seeker Lover Keeper - her supergroup-esque project with Sarah Blasko and Holly Throsby. The trio slowly starting to collect songs for a follow-up to their self-titled 2011 debut. "We'll get there," Seltmann laughs. "We're all obviously working on lots of other stuff, but it's going to happen. I love playing with Sarah and Holly, especially when we perform live, and sing all the harmonies together."

Seltmann is also working on another project still being kept secret. And then there's her latest solo album, coming after 2010's Heart That's Pounding and 2013's Hey Daydreamer- under her own name. Writing songs for herself after years penning tunes for others prompted almost existential questions: "It can screw with your head a little bit when you're crossing through genres, writing songs for other people," she says. "It starts to make you think 'Who am I? Who am I as a songwriter? Why do I write songs? What do my songs actually sound like? What do I want to put out in the world?' It's a really different feeling when I write something that I think I want to sing." Seltmann continues, "I like my lyrics to be more personal, more specific, more quirky. I know that's not as appealing for this major label pop system, where they want something completely universal, that all the world can sing. But, a lot of my older songs were so personal, so I can remind myself that it's not something to be afraid of, but to throw yourself into."