INTERVIEW WITH...
“You don’t create a melody, you just make yourself available to receive a melody”
TK Russell’s new song ‘Stay’ is built on a warm acoustic guitar and minimal percussion, and offers an intimate vocal performance. 'Stay' is the precursor to Russell's upcoming ‘HEADLINER’ project. Honest, vulnerable, and live-oriented. Keys and Chords sat down for a 28-minute ZOOM talk with the talented chap.
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Julian De Backer: ‘Your new song ‘Stay’ is quite short. It’s not even two minutes long. That’s almost punk-esque. Did you write more verses? Is there a longer version? Or was the concise song always the idea?’
TK Russell: ‘Originally, I only had a guitar. A really short verse, a chorus, a second verse, and a chorus. That was it, one minute and fifteen seconds. I liked it the way it was. If the message passes, you don’t have to overload the song. Then I started working with a producer. He said, ‘I like the way it is, but let’s add something’. He felt like we could extend it a little more, to let the music play a little bit, since I start singing almost right away. He felt we could bring the chorus back. The emotion and the message were there, so I didn’t feel the need to stretch it out. Yeah. It’s an intimate thing. It’s a bubble.’ Julian: ‘In the eighties, it was very common for artists to have a radio edit on a 7” single, and an extended mix on a maxi 12” single. Is that something you could do for ‘Stay’?’ TK: ‘Of course. I’m a live artist first and foremost. Everything I create is made with the intention of performing it live. I could extend it with a solo guitar. I can even envision having a choir. In my mind, I have a stage plan on how to perform it live. For the LP, we’ll have an extended version. Definitely.’ Julian: ‘What did you have first? The melody, a lyric, the chord progression?’ TK: ‘What happens often: I think of a concept of a song. I need a direction, or a mood. I need something that brings the lights down. Something that feels calm, something naked. No sound effects, no big band, just me and an acoustic guitar. I’ll have that in my mind for a couple of weeks, and then I’ll take my guitar and start playing a riff. Just improvising (starts scatting) pa-pa-pa-pa. The guitar that you hear in the beginning of ‘Stay’ was the first thing I wrote, the ‘ting-ting-ting’. Then the lyric just came. ‘I got a mean touch’. I started with the idea, and the chords and the topline came.’ |
Julian: ‘Is that how you always work? Or does it differ from song to song?’
TK: ‘You never know how the inspiration will come. There’s a song that I composed while I was sleeping. I was dreaming of singing a song. I woke up, took my phone, recorded the melody, and went back to sleep. Three days later, I finished it. Sometimes, I’ll just go for a walk. Counting my steps, and somehow a melody or a bit comes. Sometimes, I’ll have a line that I like. Sometimes, I’ll listen to, for example, a Bruno Mars song, and I’ll prepare myself mentally to receive inspiration in that direction. So, it depends.’
Julian: ‘I’m not a songwriter, but I can imagine you have to attune yourself to whatever can give you inspiration. Take the moment and take the time to let the inspiration get to you. If you’re not open to getting new stuff, you might miss a great song or a great melody.’
TK: ‘Of course. You’re right. You don’t create a melody, you just make yourself available to receive a melody. For two years, I just couldn’t write anything. Nothing was coming. I had to make myself available. Sometimes it comes, and I’m busy with grocery shopping, and I’ll be like ‘No, not now’. The universe will serve you. If you tell yourself ‘I want to write a song NOW’, it won’t happen. You cannot command inspiration.’
TK: ‘You never know how the inspiration will come. There’s a song that I composed while I was sleeping. I was dreaming of singing a song. I woke up, took my phone, recorded the melody, and went back to sleep. Three days later, I finished it. Sometimes, I’ll just go for a walk. Counting my steps, and somehow a melody or a bit comes. Sometimes, I’ll have a line that I like. Sometimes, I’ll listen to, for example, a Bruno Mars song, and I’ll prepare myself mentally to receive inspiration in that direction. So, it depends.’
Julian: ‘I’m not a songwriter, but I can imagine you have to attune yourself to whatever can give you inspiration. Take the moment and take the time to let the inspiration get to you. If you’re not open to getting new stuff, you might miss a great song or a great melody.’
TK: ‘Of course. You’re right. You don’t create a melody, you just make yourself available to receive a melody. For two years, I just couldn’t write anything. Nothing was coming. I had to make myself available. Sometimes it comes, and I’m busy with grocery shopping, and I’ll be like ‘No, not now’. The universe will serve you. If you tell yourself ‘I want to write a song NOW’, it won’t happen. You cannot command inspiration.’
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Julian: ‘Some songwriters treat it like a job. They write in an office from 9 to 5. I’d say that makes it harder, and more stressful. You need to have something tangible at the end of the day.’
TK: ‘The more you train, the better you get at something. Some use it as a way to train. It’ll be like science. You apply formulas. But the best songs just happen. They come to you. You don’t know how or when. I lost my dad not long ago. I need to write a song about him, but I cannot decide when the song will come. Whenever it comes, I’ll feel the exact loss that I felt when he passed.’ Julian: ‘Have you been able to write the song for your dad yet?’ TK: ‘I’m still waiting. It will come, I’m sure of it. I cannot tell you when, but it will come.’ Julian: ‘You’re still a young man. If you’ve been a songwriter for sixty or seventy years, I think it gets easier to separate the good ideas from the bad ones. Do you feel like you already have the skill or the finesse to immediately recognize a good song from a bad one?’ TK: ‘No (laughs). That’s a really good question. I wrote my first song when I was seven. I’ve been doing this for two decades. In my phone, I have at least 2000 melodies. I found a song from five years ago, and I still haven’t finished it. In the meantime, I have written like five different versions. Today, randomly, I saw a video on my phone. Apparently, I had played that song live, once. And I thought to myself, ‘Actually, the original version is great’. Sometimes, you just need to take a backseat. Over time, with experience, you’ll learn what is worth investing in more. I have a bunch of songs that are not there yet. Epic type of songs may have hit potential. But are they fun to perform? Will you get bored singing them? Lionel Richie songs, for example, I can listen to them over and over. They’re not all hits. But they’re real. Madonna, too. Bruce Springsteen, too. No radio hits, but I can listen to them a hundred times. As a performer, you recognize good radio songs versus good live songs.’ |
Photo credit: Romy Lenoor
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Julian: ‘Funny you should mention Springsteen. That’s my biggest musical hero. Last year, he released a box set of seven complete albums that were just in his vault. It struck me how many songs on there are really good. Some of Springsteen’s B-sides and outtakes are better than other artists’ A-sides.’
TK: ‘We call it a game of patience. You need to be patient. A song might not work today, but it will in twenty years. An artist needs to read the signs of the time. Tom Cruise, for example. He released this movie called ‘Maverick’, I don’t know if you’re familiar with it. The first one came out in 1986. That’s four decades ago. The second one came out in 2022, 36 years later. In fact, the movie was ready in 2021, but he decided to wait. He didn’t want to release it at the height of covid-19, he wanted the movie theatres to be open. When you reach a certain level of maturity, you’ll know that patience is the key. You can have a great song, but not at the right time. Keep it. Don’t miss the window.’
TK: ‘We call it a game of patience. You need to be patient. A song might not work today, but it will in twenty years. An artist needs to read the signs of the time. Tom Cruise, for example. He released this movie called ‘Maverick’, I don’t know if you’re familiar with it. The first one came out in 1986. That’s four decades ago. The second one came out in 2022, 36 years later. In fact, the movie was ready in 2021, but he decided to wait. He didn’t want to release it at the height of covid-19, he wanted the movie theatres to be open. When you reach a certain level of maturity, you’ll know that patience is the key. You can have a great song, but not at the right time. Keep it. Don’t miss the window.’
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Julian: ‘It’s a waiting game. If money, time and distance are not an issue, is there someone you’d love to work with?’
TK (starts laughing) Julian: ‘Let’s narrow it down. Which producer, for example, is allowed to turn your demo into gold?’ TK: ‘Quincy Jones. Quincy did ‘Thriller’, I mean, come on. I almost did work with him, but that’s a story for another day. I’ll work with Bruno Mars. Mark Ronson. Ryan Tedder. And let’s not disrespect Stevie Wonder and Pharrell.’ Julian: ‘I always forget Pharrell is 52. He looks 25. He hasn’t aged since 2001. He must have found the fountain of youth.’ TK: ‘It’s the genes. No wrinkles. Zero. Watch your sleep, watch your food, don’t destroy your organs. Chances are you’ll look great. If you constantly mess up your body, you’ll pay the price. Mess around and find out.’ |
Photo credit: Romy Lenoor
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Photo credit: Romy Lenoor
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Julian: ‘Final question. You’re working on an album. What can we expect? Are most songs in the same vein as ‘Stay’?’
TK: ‘No. No, no, no. ‘Stay’ is the emotional backdoor, the soft entry, the welcome, the appetizer. We don’t start with the main course right away. Performing is energy, dancing, guitar solo. But I’m a singer first. I want to showcase myself as a singer that loves dancing. The album will be energetic and up-tempo. I’ll bring the sun. When I’m on stage, it won’t be intimate. There might be a cool-down moment in the middle of the show. The album will be a body of work. Not every member of the body has the same function. The heart beats differently. The project is an overload of energy, an energy booster.’ Julian: ‘Quincy Jones once said: ‘Every song needs to be a hit, you can’t have filler.’’ TK: ‘There you go. Every member of your body needs to work. You don’t want a broken arm. Every single song needs the potential to be a hit. Every song needs to 100%, constantly. There’s no room for 30% songs.’ Julian: ‘Thank you for your insights and your stories.’ TK: ‘Thank you for taking the time.’ |
Julian De Backer © 2026 for Keys and Chords