Cal State Fullerton’s Music Industry Club (MIC) hosted a members-only songwriting workshop in Titan Student Union’s Ontiveros BC on Tuesday, Oct. 10, from 7-9 p.m. The workshop featured professional singer/songwriter Hannah Nagle, a Theater Arts and English student at Loyola Marymount University.
Beginning in 2019, Nagle started to release a string of singles under her own publishing company, HGN. By creating her own label, Nagle can retain her copyright and keep her royalties.
Nagle has had her fair share of the entertainment industry, tackling everything from acting to book writing and, now, singing and songwriting. Because of her accomplishments, MIC brought her in to discuss the creative aspects of songwriting in the music industry.
As approximately 25 students piled into Ontiveros BC, there was some anticipation for Nagle to arrive. To occupy the time, the MIC executive board decided to start a game of ‘telephone’.
As MIC’s president, Matthew Morales, started the game, a phrase he crafted went around the room. Each person whispered the phrase they believed they heard from the previous person to the next person, with the original phrase getting contorted along the way.
Students played a round of telephone as they waited for Nagle to arrive, allowing students to loosen up and have fun (Photo credit: Holly Johnson)
Attendees played a few rounds of telephone, laughing and enjoying themselves while partaking in this nostalgic game. Finally, around 7:15, Nagle arrived. The first part of the event was the panel portion. Morales asked Nagle questions about her songwriting journey and about advice she could offer students in attendance who have their own songwriting aspirations.
Regarding songwriting advice, Nagle replied, “Don’t rush yourself… it comes in tim
e.”
After Morales asked his prepared questions, it was open to attendees to ask their own.
One student asked Nagle where she gets her inspiration from, to which she replied that she just writes about her life and experiences. Further, when she gets writer's block, she will immerse herself in nature for environmental stimulation.
Through her music,
Nagle aims to provide her listeners with comfort and awareness about mental health. As an advocate for mental health herself, Nagle’s aim with her music is to give others a sense of understanding and acknowledgment of their experiences.
After the panel portion of the event, Nagle prepared a quick presentation consisting of a song structure breakdown. Displaying one of her songs on screen, she discussed rhyme schemes and lyrical patterns she utilizes in her music.
Nagle explained mental health awareness, writer's block and how the music industry works (Photo credit: Holly Johnson)
Nagle ended the presentation with two songwriting exercises for the attendees. For the first exercise, students had to incorporate three words Nagle gave into self-written lyrics.
For the second exercise, students were to think of a strong memory tied to an emotion and create lyrics based on their senses.
After students created their lyrics, they were free to share their creations with the room. Students could see the method by which others constructed their lyrics and compare how creativity differs.
“When you write songs, everyone has a different way of doing it,” Gaby Palaviccini, a student in attendance, offered.
“It’s nice to see how their approach is different from yours… it’s helpful to see that and apply it to your own songwriting,” Palaviccini concluded.
As students wrapped up their songwriting exercises provided by Nagle, the evening came to a close.
Nagle’s music is available on most streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music.
