And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

Today's guest is the architect of alternative rock who sold 30 million albums and defined the sound of an entire generation — but whose real story begins after the hits stopped mattering to him.

From the suburbs of Chicago to the apex of 90s mainstream success, Billy Corgan built an empire. Then he spent the last 20 years quietly dismantling the idea that commercial success is the same thing as real value. He carries three things simultaneously that most artists never figure out how to hold at once: the ambition of someone who was never going to settle for the midwest, the technical genius of a classically-trained musician who produces every layer of his own work, and the philosophical rigor of someone willing to completely reimagine what success actually means.

This is one of the more unflinching conversations about what staying relevant actually costs — not the version that gets posted on socials, the version that gets lived in the real decisions you make about art, money, independence, and how you want to spend your time. When the gatekeepers are gone and nobody's controlling the narrative anymore, who do you become?

And The Writer Is... Billy Corgan!

In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:

• The trap of being defined by your greatest hits — and why he refuses it
• His father's failed music career, and the moment his dad finally understood
• Chicago's inward-facing indie scene and the cost of communities that don't believe in themselves
• How the value of artists gets assessed in rooms — and why that's broken
• What "influence" actually means vs. commercial success
• The gatekeepers are gone — what that really means for independent artists
• Owning 100% of your publishing and why that changes everything
• Building a new world where direct artist support is how things actually work
• Why legacy thinking is changing, and what comes next

And much more...

Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.

Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris

A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.

Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapter timestamps:
0:00 Intro
2:30 Why Billy doesn't prefer to talk about his hits, and how his legacy has adjusted
5:00 Dad's bitterness: you got lucky
6:30 Dad's realization "You're one of the best songwriters in the world"
8:00 Independent music, 'selling out', and Chicago's music scene
10:30 The touring economics of the 90's
13:15 Rigged charts and the beginning of Pop music
16:00 Representation of Rock music in the charts / award shows
19:30 Ross on the future of music in a digital world
20:30 Numbers mean nothing if no one gives a sh*t.
21:00 Pop vs Rock: The future of music
28:30 Women archetypes in music
38:21 Billy's advice: What you need to survive in the music industry
40:00 World building and songwriting advice
43:31 How to define your value as an artist in a commercial world
44:40 Billy's Batman story
49:00 Breaking 'Landmine' because of Courtney Love
51:50 How he meets Courtney Love
54:08 How he learned to play guitar
57:00 His guitar hero inspiration…
1:01:10 Meeting the band
1:03:20 Finding a world class drummer hiding in plain sight
1:07:05 Fighting for his band when no one believed in them
1:15:29 Keeping your mouth shut when it's not your session
1:16:02 Fight for your copyright. The band struggling with his sole writing credit
1:18:00 AI in music… and Billy's take on it

Credits:
Hosted by Joe London & Jad Saad
Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad
Edited by Jad Saad
Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week: Maryland just passed the RAP Act, making it illegal to use rap lyrics as courtroom evidence, potentially setting the stage for federal law. Suno's licensing negotiations with Sony and Universal have stalled, leaving major AI royalty questions unresolved. And Pershing Square submitted a $64 billion bid for Universal Music Group, revealing just how undervalued the music industry is to outside investors. Plus: Ticketmaster's face value integration, HYBE's new Indian girl group audition, and moves at Warner. Follow us on socials and don't miss our new episodes every Tuesday — the hottest conversations in music, with the people making it.
This week:
Maryland passes the RAP Act — rap lyrics can no longer be used as courtroom evidence
Pershing Square submits a $64B bid for Universal Music Group
Suno's licensing talks with Sony and Universal stall over AI royalties
Ticketmaster partners with Cash or Trade on face value resale integration
HYBE auditions for a new Indian girl group as Asian streaming dominance grows
Myles Gersh promoted at Warner — the exec who signed Zach Bryan
Taylor Swift resigns with Warner Chappell
Lasso signs to Interscope Records

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is the Irish troubadour who sold out arenas across the world and built one of the most durable careers in modern music, entirely on his own terms.

From Dublin street corners and busking for strangers to headlining Madison Square Garden, this conversation is about what that actually costs to build the slow, deliberate construction of a career that answers to no one, yet resonates with millions around the world.

He carries three things simultaneously that most artists never figure out how to hold at once: the ambition of someone who was never going to settle for Ireland only, the sensitivity of a songwriter who writes for his whole community, and the creative instincts of a kid who grew up on hip hop and folk and refused to let either one fully win.

This is one of the more honest conversations about what a creative life actually looks like from the inside — not the version that gets posted, the version that gets lived.
And The Writer Is... Dermot Kennedy!

In this episode of And The Writer Is...
We go deep on:
• His whole journey
• The moment he realized the audience could feel how hard he was trying — and why that was the problem • How to carry ambition, sensitivity, and creative instinct in the same body without one of them destroying the other
• Building an international career without a viral hit — and what that reveals about how the industry actually works
• The busking years, and the secrets for how he survived
• Why he deliberately toured smaller venues on his last run — and what that decision says about success
• Imposter syndrome, insecurity, and the reality of growing a career from 0-100.
And much more...

Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.
Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors...

Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapter timestamps:
0:00 Intro
3:30 The 3 Sides Every Creative Has to Balance
4:30 You Shouldn't Rinse Your Shows. It's a Sacred Thing.
5:00 What Dermot Beats Himself Up About On Stage
5:30 Anxiety After the Show Starts, Not Before
6:00 The Struggle of Being Lucky Enough to Have a Career
8:00 Childhood
9:00 "I Know I'm Good. But I Feel Very Insecure in Other Ways."
14:00 How Dermot Built a Career With No Algorithm and No Social Pressure
18:00 Why He Doesn't Play Music for People
19:19 How He Started Busking
20:15 Why Most People Couldn't Busk — and the Genius Who Changed Everything
21:00 The Importance of Branding When Selling Anything
22:00 How to Make Real Money Busking
26:00 How Dermot Built His Name and Started Playing Shows
29:00 Into the Music Business — and the Most Successful He's Ever Felt
31:00 Being Sought After and Avoiding Bad Record Deals
32:40 How to Build Out Your Team
36:00 A Note About Touring: Enjoy Where You're At
38:23 His Advice to His 15-Year-Old Self: Find Your Contentment
39:23 How Dermot Kennedy Built a Worldwide Fanbase

Credits:

Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad
Edited by Jad Saad
Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki
Watercolor Art by Michael White
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is one of the most quietly enduring artists in modern pop — a songwriter and performer who’s spent over a decade growing up in public, learning how to separate perception from identity.
She was discovered online as a teenager and quickly thrust into an industry that had already decided who she was.
But behind the headlines, she was doing the real work — writing, refining her sound, and slowly building a career on her own terms.
This is a conversation about perception vs reality, creative control, and what it actually takes to become yourself in an industry that benefits from misunderstanding you.

And The Writer Is… Madison Beer!

What you'll learn:
• What it actually feels like to grow up in the public eye
• The gap between how artists are perceived vs who they really are
• Why longevity in music requires emotional resilience
• How Madison developed her sound and creative identity over time
• The pressure of early success — and rebuilding from it
• Why being misunderstood can either break you or sharpen you

This episode is brought to you by the NMPA — supporting songwriters and protecting the value of music.
And by Splice — the world’s largest library of sounds and samples, built for creators.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:42 Madison’s favorite songs of hers
3:00 Lyrics or melody first?
4:30 Ross meeting Madison at 13
6:00 Madison’s childhood, early memories
7:00 Going through parent’s divorce in early childhood
9:45 Why singing the national anthem is hard
10:00 Her family’s early encouragement
11:00 Madison’s first song
13:00 Starting her career at 10
18:40 Getting discovered overnight from a Justin Bieber tweet.
19:11 Contracts in music industry
19:58 Meeting Justin Bieber
21:46 Why getting dropped is a blessing
24:00 Struggling with early music identity
26:00 Why she felt she couldn’t fight back on creative control early on
28:00 finding her power through social media
31:55 Reclaiming creative control
33:50 writing reckless
35:28 Home with you
36:25 the importance of your collaborators
39:12 the original demo to Reckless
41:13 being easier to write dark songs than happy songs
41:40 the challenge of writing her new album
41:54 NMPA
42:36 Splice
43:26 Going back into the label system
45:00 her first tour in lockdown
46:50 Madison’s touring non negotiables
52:00 the story of Home to another one
53:41 Writing darker songs while in a happy relationship
55:55 Setting boundaries for mental health
56:55 “Showed Me” as an interpolation
58:37 Her mental health struggles and path to healing
1:01:54 How her album locket Freed her
1:03:25 the unlikely story of bittersweet
1:05:30 what writing a song with strangers is like
1:09:00 loneliness and missing out on a normal childhood
1:12:00 Dealing with constant criticism and how she manages it
1:12:47 Surviving the lowest point of her life
1:16:30 how she currently manages her mental health

Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad
Edited by Jad Saad
Post Production VFX by Pratik Karki
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s world builder builds worlds worldwide to make her own universe! Dark and whimsical meets bubblegum grunge when this artist broke out on the scene to create her own cult following.
When doors didn’t open, she built her own.

And The Writer Is……Melanie Martinez!

In this episode, Melanie opens up about:
• Materializing ideas and her entire creative process
• Why she never approached music as a game
• The reality behind shows like The Voice
• How she built her identity before the industry caught up
• Her philosophy on songwriting and the importance of your truth
• Protecting your creative voice in a commercial system
• Why being yourself is still the most important advantage
• And much more…

Hit the subscribe button and turn on notifications.
Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris

A special thank you to our sponsors…
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:00 The Real Meaning Behind “Disney Princess”
4:30 Introversion vs Performance
6:00 The Magic of Creating and Materializing Ideas
7:45 Her Creative Process — Titles, Concepts, and Staying Inspired
12:00 The Songs That Defined Her Early Career
12:48 Growing Up Writing — Her First Songs and Backstory
16:45 World-Building and Creating a True Artistic Identity
18:30 Rejection, Independence, and Dollhouse
20:00 “Blind Dating” in the Music Industry
24:00 Stage Fright and Early Creative Influences
26:00 What She’d Tell Her Younger Self
26:45 Advice for Artists Trying to Break Through
27:30 Hitchhiking to The Voice — And What It Really Was
30:00 The Reality of Music Competition Shows
31:42 NMPA — Our Lead Sponsor This Season
32:23 Splice
33:00 Ross on Music Competition TV
34:00 Performing Live and Managing Nerves
36:00 Finding Herself Through Dollhouse
37:20 The Story Behind Dollhouse
38:00 Fighting for Her Creative Vision
40:00 Where Her Ideas Come From
42:00 How She Builds Albums and Story Arcs
44:20 Writing Honestly Without Overthinking It
45:00 What Songwriters Get Wrong About Meaning
49:30 Are You Happy?
51:30 The Priorities That Changed Everything
54:00 Final Advice
55:00 Portals
57:47 Hades — A Dystopian World
1:00:20 The Utopian Album to Come
1:00:51 Her Favorite Songs on the Album
1:01:50 The Story of “Weight Watchers”
1:06:00 An Emotional Reflection — Her Message to Others
1:07:30 Her Inspirations
1:09:00 Social Media, AI, and Staying Human

Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad
Edited by Jad Saad
Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki
Watercolor Art by Michael White
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.