The Hardest Part

In this episode of The Hardest Part , Kieron Banerji sits down with Julia Cumming to discuss “Please Let Me Remember This,” one of the most personal songs from her debut solo album Julia .  What began as an attempt to write about the smallest possible moment gradually became something much bigger. Julia describes songwriting as visiting her subconscious, placing a cup into a flowi...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Ava Joe to break down the making of “Am I a Dreamer”, a song inspired by one of the most complicated emotions she experiences: nostalgia.   Unlike most of her songwriting, which begins with a specific experience and the feelings that follow, this song started with an emotion. Ava set out to write about nostalgia it...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Metric to break down the making of “Victim of Luck”, the opening track from their latest album and the song that took longer to finish than any other. The challenge wasn’t writing it. The challenge was knowing when it was right. Emily and Jimmy Shaw tell Kieron how the song was intended to introduce the entire rec...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Will White to break down the making of “6:30 AM”, a song that became the catalyst for everything that followed. Unlike most of his work, the song stayed with him for years. That alone was unusual. Will describes a songwriting process where songs either arrive fully formed or disappear entirely. He rarely revisits unfini...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Witch Fever break down the songwriting process and music production process behind “The Garden,” a song shaped by religious trauma, feminist rebellion, and the emotional tension of leaving the church behind. We talk about how the band nearly abandoned the song after feeling the chorus sounded “too Jesus-y,” triggering memories of Christi...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Lily Moore to break down the making of “Grown Up Girl Regrets” and why it became one of the most important songs she has ever written. Written during her first studio session after lockdown, the song emerged from a period of uncertainty, isolation, and emotional exhaustion. Walking back into a writing room for the...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Young the Giant break down the songwriting process and music production process behind “Different Kind of Love,” exploring how the band tried to return to the spirit of their first record. After years of touring, remote writing, adult responsibilities, and fragmented workflows, Young the Giant wanted to reconnect creatively by getting back into a ro...

What happens when you can’t move, can’t escape, and a song is the only thing you can build. In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Westerman to break down the making of “Mosquito” from his 2025 album A Jackal’s Wedding .  The song was written during a period of physical and emotional isolation, after Westerman tore his meniscus while t...

Sometimes the hardest part is not writing the song, it is making it feel right. In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Winter to break down the making of “Misery” and how the song transformed completely in the studio.  What started as a faster demo in a different key with only one verse became the longest and most complex process on the record. Through...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Athens-based band The Overjoyed to go behind the scenes of their track “Party Eyes,” exploring the songwriting process, music production, and the emotional realities that shaped it.  The song begins with a deeply personal place: sleepless nights, hangovers, and the emotional comedown that can follow moments of exce...

In this episode of The Hardest Part podcast, Tigercub break down the songwriting and creative process behind their track, "Fall In Fall Out". The track sits at the centre of their new album’s core tension, exploring contradiction, cycles, and the difficulty of articulating feelings that don’t fully make sense yet. Jamie explains how the song began with melody on acoustic guitar, before...

Sometimes the hardest part of songwriting is figuring out what you are actually feeling. In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Madi Diaz to break down the making of her track “Heavy Metal” and the songwriting process behind it. The song began as a feeling she could not fully access while finishing her record, something unresolved that she knew was ther...

What happens when you enter the studio with a song that is not finished and no time to figure it out? In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Julia Cumming and Nick Kivlen of Sunflower Bean to break down the making of their track “I Knew Love” from the album Mortal Primetime. The song was one of the only tracks that was still being developed once the band ent...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Foy Vance to explore the realities of songwriting and the role ego plays in the creative process. The conversation focuses on how ego can shape, and sometimes block, the way songs are written. Foy reflects on the importance of stepping back, letting go of control, and allowing the song to take the lead rather than forcing it into a...

In this episode of The Hardest Part , Kieron Banerji sits down with Sam Fischer for a behind the scenes look at the songwriting and music production behind his track “Sweet Contradiction.” The conversation dives deep into the songwriting process , the emotional reality of creating music, and how a studio writing session meant for another artist turned into one of Sam’s most perso...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Matt from Mariachi El Bronx for a behind the scenes look at the songwriting and music production process behind their track “Songbird.”  The conversation dives into studio life during the making of the band’s fourth Mariachi El Bronx record and how the song came together in a completely unexpected way. Unlike...

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Dream Nails to unpack the making of their track “The Information,” a song that went through multiple versions and nearly did not make the album. The band explain how the track began as free writing for a completely different idea before evolving through co-writing, shifting styles, and eventually returning to their post...

What happens when two ideas don't fit — until they finally do? What does that process actually look like? In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji is joined by Ulrika Spacek to break down the making of their track “Weights and Measures.” The song began as two completely separate pieces. One was built around a heavy fuzz section. The other drew on early 2010s London ele...

How do you turn fear and anxiety into something creative? In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with UK band Chartreuse to unpack the story behind their song “I’m Losing It” — a deeply personal track written by vocalist Hattie following the news that she’d need major surgery at just 29, forcing her to relearn how to walk. Hattie shares how mont...

In this episode of The Hardest Part , host Kieron Banerji is joined by Hrishikesh Hirway — musician, composer, and creator of the iconic podcast Song Exploder . Known for helping artists dissect their songs and uncover the stories behind them, Hrishikesh does something rare in this conversation: he breaks down his own song — a track called “Between There and Here,” written...

What do you do when you have five separate demos and no idea how they fit together? In this episode of The Hardest Part , host Kieron Banerji sits down with NYC psych-pop collective Psymon Spine to unpack the twisting, turbulent process behind their song Wizard Acid . Written remotely during the pandemic and born from five conflicting demos, the track became one of their most ambitious—and h...

In this episode of The Hardest Part , host Kieron Banerji sits down with Elles Bailey to unpack the long, personal, and painful process behind “Ballad of a Broken Dream,” a track that sat in her voice notes for over five years before she could face recording it. Originally written after an emotional phone call, the song felt too raw, too unresolved, to finish. Elles shares how she rewr...

In this episode of The Hardest Part , host Kieron Banerji is joined by Adult Jazz to unpack the long and winding process behind “Earth of Worms,” one of the most technically complex and emotionally unruly songs on their album So Sorry So Slow . The song had been in progress for nearly seven years, and at one point, it was too clean—too correct. The band talks openly about how cha...

In this episode of The Hardest Part , host Kieron Banerji sits down with Deep Sea Diver at Third Man Records in Soho to unpack the complicated road behind their track “Shovel.” It started out as the easiest song they’d ever written—and nearly became the one that didn’t make the record at all. The band explains how the song went through multiple versions, two cities, a...

In this episode of The Hardest Part , host Kieron Banerji sits down with Sophie Jamieson to explore the writing of “How Do You Want to Be Loved?”, a delicate and emotionally loaded song from her album I Still Want To Share . Unlike many of her songs, this one had a clear emotional target from the start — written for someone close to her, while navigating a mix of love, frustratio...