Spotlight On: Songwriteam

This article is an instalment of the Songcards Spotlight series where we interview the humans that make it all possible. We recommend you start by clicking the play button above and reading whilst enjoying the artist's music.

Who is Songwriteam?

One and only one music-loving Frenchman by the name of Philippe Perelman.

Armed with his ukulele and machines.

What is your origin story?

This is my latest project to date, a quasi-solo project born of the defection of a singer at the end of 2022 with whom I had started to do a few tracks, but she didn't follow up.

At the same time, I came across software that emulates the voice in a rather realistic way, a bit like VST software emulates a drum kit or a piano - it's not artificial intelligence, you have to “play” the voice.

All these years, my music has always passed through the voices of other performers, and when the project with this singer came to an end, I decided to try my hand at this vocal synthesizer

As the software only allows the field to be written in English or Japanese, I was forced to continue in English.

as I don't have a perfect command of this language, I rely on artificial intelligence to write the lyrics, like a human collaborator to whom I give the theme, the ideas I want to talk about, and who sends me back his or her own ideas until I've finalized what I want to say.

That's why the band's name is Songwriteam - I team up with the artificial intelligence, and on each cover the I and the A are different colors to underline this collaboration.

In short, I compose the music and co-write the lyrics.

When did you realise you wanted to make music?

My parents weren't musicians at all and we didn't listen to much music at home.

My first shock with music came when I was about 13, when I heard the Beatles on the radio.

Of course, I'd listened to the radio many, many times before. Go figure, but that day something more happened.

I immediately went out and bought the Magical Mystery Tour cassette, and from then on the music never left me. And that was the start of my great album collection.

Obviously, listening to it makes you want to do it. An organ with automatic accompaniment had been given to my brother and I took my first steps on this instrument then I learned to play bass, thanks to Paul McCartney, and I went on to play in a rock band. I soon realised that I wasn't interested in playing a musical instrument, but in writing songs.

I haven't stopped since.

Who are your long-standing influences?

My main influences date back to the 60s and 70s, when I first fell in love with the Beatles, followed by the Who, Status Quo, Supertramp, Electric Light Orchestra, Elton John, Billy Joel, Alice Cooper, the Doors, Cat Stevens and many other influences, mainly Anglo-Saxon, although Michel Berger, Laurent Voulzy and other French songwriters have since joined my Pantheon.

I was, I really am, a music nut. I've collected up to 4,000 vinyl records.

I also listened to the radio a lot, so my music was rather mainstream, accessible and melodic, which is probably reflected in my compositions.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned as a musician?

To be honest, I don't really consider myself a musician. In my youth I was a bass player in a rock band, I played the keyboard a bit and I play the ukulele, but I'm more of a songwriter than a musician.

I'm not in the least a technician, I only play to write, I haven't been on stage for decades, and to tell you the truth, I don't miss it.

I have ideas that I try to put into shape, sometimes on my own, sometimes with the help of friends or people whose services I rent on Fiverr, for example.

What are you working on at the moment?

I've just finished writing the closing track for Songwriteam's debut album, due out in early May.

It's called I've lost something I never had and it's about a discovery I made recently about myself, I'm Aphantasic, which means I can't see mental images I thought everyone was like me and it turns out they're not The vast majority of people can imagine places, people, things in their heads which I'm unable to do.

The album will be called Songs That Were Never Sung, a title which, if you've read the previous paragraph, speaks for itself.

In the meantime, I'm in the process of putting the entire Lucy, Racquel and me discography on vinyl/CD For those who prefer a physical form of music

What would you tell your younger self?

That everything's going to be all right, to take his time to do things he likes, to love and be loved. We're only here for a short time, so make the most of it!

Which band or artist are you really excited about at the moment?

I listen to a lot of music by independent artists like myself, I've always loved sharing music more than ever when I was a radio host, it was my primary mission to discover artists I liked, I recorded compilation cassettes for my friends, in short, to spread the word.

On this page of my website you'll find the Spotify playlists of the 100 tracks I've listened to the most every year for the past 5 years, so you'll be able to make a selection of some great discoveries.

Where can people find your music?

My music is of course available on all streaming platforms, can be purchased digitally at Payhip, and is also available on vinyl or CD at https://elasticstage.com/songwriteam or https://elasticstage.com/songwriteam and of course on Songcards more recently.

But all this information is available on the Sucrepop website, which brings together everything I've done in French and English, as well as my various projects. My ultimate ambition is to make all the music I've been involved with over the years available on this site.

What’s next for Songwriteam?

The next step is obviously more songs as I'm currently watching the Nashville series, my next song will probably be a country-inspired one.

And if possible, I'd like to do other collaborations, production or co-writing, like I've done with PortoBello Express, an excellent Austrian band, or Nathalie Weider, a talented Swiss singer, or Todd, for whom I've written a few French lyrics.