On the song selection process for his EP, he said, “This was my first time stepping out of Boston musically, and I co-wrote and recorded all the music in Nashville. It was a really different approach for me, and I am excited to continue down this path. The writers and players on this album are fantastic.”
He listed “Don’t You Grow Up On Me Now” as his favorite song on the CD. “I wrote it with my songwriting mentor Steve Seskin in Nashville and it’s a song for my young daughter. I just wanted to express how much I love her, and I tried to make a song that maybe we can dance to at her wedding someday,” he said.
Schroder noted that he really didn’t care about the song being commercial, but it had to be special. “It was a rainy day in Nashville when we wrote this song, and I think we really caught a nice, poignant moment about watching a child grow up and, in some ways, wanting to slow it all down. Sometimes when you write you get lucky, and I felt that way about this song. I can’t wait to hear what people think of it,” he said.
On his plans for the future, he said, “The next step for me is getting this album out there for people to listen to. I’m excited to hear what people think. I’ve been writing and working in the studio for a long time so I’m really looking forward to playing the songs to live audiences and making those connections. I’m also working on new songs, and my plan is to always be writing and releasing music on a consistent basis.”
He shared that he is inspired by “a sheer love of music.” “At this point in my life, I wake up often with a song in my head. Sometimes the same song may reappear often enough that I sit down to write it. With so many things going on in life I don’t have time to capture each and every one. I need to be selective and work on the ones that I think have the most potential,” he said.
Schroder continued, “Usually, the songs come to me during the night or when I wake up in the morning, but I tend to sit down and work on them in the evening when the house is quiet. That said, I’m a guitar player at heart. The nice thing is that a lot of my songs start with some sort of guitar riff or idea. I can usually get the guitar feel that I want on an idea pretty quickly. The melodies come to me as well. The lyrics are the hardest part for me, and they can take dozens of rewrites, and sometimes, years to finish.”
Digital transformation of the music business
On the impact of technology on the music industry, Schroder said, “The newer distribution model with Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and Google Play is obviously a huge help to indie songwriters. Not having to worry about people being able to get to your music is a big relief.”
Schroder continued, “Social media has taken the playing field in terms of music distribution. I have enjoyed learning as much as I can about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Spotify. It certainly is a big help to musicians but it’s a lot of work too. The ability to spread the word about music has never been easier but this also brings its own form of challenges. Any band can put out music so there is a lot more music for listeners to sort through. It comes back around to the songs. You need to write great songs to cut through to the listener and that is really hard work.”
Regarding his use of technology in his daily routine as a musician, he said, “I’ve had to adapt to social media. I try to post about three times per week to give people a flavor of what its like to be a songwriter. It was hard in the beginning because it takes some time to get used to that kind of posting frequency. It has become more second nature to me and it is kind of running subconsciously now.”
Schroder listed country star Carrie Underwood as his dream female collaboration choice. “In my humble opinion, Carrie has the best voice I’ve ever heard hands down. The songwriting and production behind her are always fantastic,” he said/
For his fans and listeners, Schroder concluded, “I just hope people will give this EP a listen and like it. I worked hard on it, and I try to make songs that people can connect to and enjoy. I am excited to see what the reaction will be. Any time you create something and put it out into the world you hope to make some sort of a splash, but it’s not easy to do. I keep writing and trying because that’s really all I can do, and hopefully the more I do it the better I’ll get at it.”
His Skyline EP is available for pre-order on iTunes.
