Mordus and Collaborative Songwriting at its Finest

The Blackwing Experience featured a number of activities designed to encourage creativity and see just what would happen when hundreds of creative minds gathered in one place. One such songwriting activity asked guests to write a line of lyrics for a track written and performed by the band Mordus. After the event, the lines would be pieced together by the band to form the lyrics for their song “Lost and Found,” creating a track that is a collaboration in every sense of the word.

Mordus is still in the process of piecing the lyrics together, but I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the band at their practice spot in NYC, and I can say it’s coming along nicely. Stay tuned to Studio 602 for more updates about this exciting project  and, in the meantime, check out this interview to find out more about the musicians behind it.

Mordus On Collaborative Songwriting

Where did the name Mordus come from?

Taber came up with the name “Mortus,” which is  a woodworking term as in mortice and tenon, which is a special cut used to join wood together. The name evolved into Mordus which, as far we know, means ‘bitten’ in french.

How would you describe your style of music?  Who influenced your style?

Our music is melodic, progressive, emotional, dynamic song-oriented heavy rock. It’s a result of our individual influences ranging from Zappa, Tool, Rush, Sabbath, Judas Priest, Porcupine Tree, Godsmack, Disturbed among others.

Can you give us a walkthrough of your creative process?  Is there one person who does most of the writing or is it collaborative? Do you write the music and lyrics out by hand?

Usually, it begins with the riff, which leads to the lyric writing or a hook. It is a collaboration. The songs might go through many changes and written drafts before tracks are layed in the studio and, even then, some last minute inspiration might happen.

Who are some of your favorite musicians? Who inspires you?

We all admire many musicians, hard to name just a few but, collectively, we have been inspired to play and write by the likes of Frank Zappa, Ronnie James Dio, Todd Rundren, Randy Rhoads, Chris Squire, Jeff Beck, Neil Peart. Inspiration comes from many places when it comes to Mordus and any topic is game. Songs can be about life, love, politics, sadness, happiness…

What was your participation like at the Blackwing Experience?

We were at the event representing the musical aspect of how Blackwing pencils have been in the hands of many famous songwriters. We were thrilled to be part of the event.

Can you give our readers a run down of what they can expect from the songwriting game you were a part of?

We are going to run through all the ideas written by the attendees. We will basically mix and match words, sentences, ideas. We will use the music of our song ‘Lost and Found” as the template for this process. At the end we will have a whole new song. Those who have been chosen and had the experience of using the Blackwing pencil in this creative process of songwriting will be credited.