Sodajerker On Songwriting

Songwriting, collaboration, and music-business realities take center stage in this live bonus episode with Sacha Skarbek and Ben Parker. Speaking to a room of writers about to co-write for the first time, they explore creative process, professional challenges, and high-level collaboration.

Chaka Khan talks about her new album Chakzilla, a dance-pop project co-written with Sia and Greg Kurstin and inspired by the Godzilla films she loved growing up. She also revisits signature songs, key collaborators, and the musical instincts that defined her career.

Phil Collins reflects on the 45th anniversary of Face Value and the deluxe reissue arriving in September. He gets into how In the Air Tonight emerged from home-studio experimentation, why intuition matters more than technique, and the collaborations that shaped his career.

This episode announces the first Sodajerker Songwriting Lab at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on 4 September 2026. It outlines a day built around a live interview with Sacha Skarbek and Ben Parker, followed by small-group writing with guidance and feedback.

Beth Orton talks through the writing of The Ground Above, from instinctive first ideas to finished songs. The episode also explores what changed when she began producing her own records and how William Orbit and Bert Jansch shaped her path.