What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences and are they the same as when you started out?

My birth name is Stuart Jon Denney.  We decided to go with S J Denney, as it sounded marginally better than my full name.  I’ve long been a fan of P J Harvey too, so I thought going with a similar format would probably work.  

How do you approach songwriting?

I feel like songwriting approaches me to be honest.  Inner feelings, observations, political issues and conversations seem to all find a way into my songs.  I usually don’t know what a song is about until I read back the lyrics.  It’s such a strange experience.  It’s almost as if these songs exist somewhere and fall out of the sky.  You’ve just got to know how to catch them.
 
Most of the time I play a few chords and then come up with a melody.  By the chorus, it’s the vocals leading the music.  However, more recently I’ve written songs in other ways too.  Some are melody first, which means I then have to go back and figure out the chords that fit the melody.  More recently I’ve tried music first, which takes me back to my band days, when I used to get presented with a piece of music by the other members.  Since the first Covid lockdown, I’ve also discovered a love for the drums.  This has resulted in me basing a couple of songs around drum beats that I’ve written.  I’m finding that these various approaches are really helping me write diverse material.

How do you approach songwriting?

I feel like songwriting approaches me to be honest.  Inner feelings, observations, political issues and conversations seem to all find a way into my songs.  I usually don’t know what a song is about until I read back the lyrics.  It’s such a strange experience.  It’s almost as if these songs exist somewhere and fall out of the sky.  You’ve just got to know how to catch them.
 
Most of the time I play a few chords and then come up with a melody.  By the chorus, it’s the vocals leading the music.  However, more recently I’ve written songs in other ways too.  Some are melody first, which means I then have to go back and figure out the chords that fit the melody.  More recently I’ve tried music first, which takes me back to my band days, when I used to get presented with a piece of music by the other members.  Since the first Covid lockdown, I’ve also discovered a love for the drums.  This has resulted in me basing a couple of songs around drum beats that I’ve written.  I’m finding that these various approaches are really helping me write diverse material.

Why do you write the sort of music that you do?

I’ve always tried to write music that I like.  That’s always been the most important thing to me.  Like most songwriters, I think my music is a hybrid of all the artists I listen to.  I guess the main influences that have found there way into my music are The Beatles, Neil Young, Paul Weller, Talk Talk and Jeff Buckley.  But in all honesty, there’s so many.

‘The White Album’ is probably my favourite album of all time.  This has always resulted in me jumping between genres.  I don’t believe that anybody should be restricted by a perceived genre, so I’ve always tried to stay true to my beliefs.  Aside from the fab four, Talk Talk have probably had the biggest impact on me as a songwriter.  After I started listening to them, it opened my mind about using instruments from various cultures.

Other than these influences, I think that songwriting happens subconsciously, rather than intentionally going out of your way to write something in a certain style.

How do you decide what song to perform live?

Like many artists, COVID has impacted my live shows.  When I gig, it’s usually acoustic.  I pick the songs that I think will work best with minimal arrangements.  As I write so many songs, that still leaves me with a lot of material to pick from.  I always tend to chop and change my setlists, rather than playing the same songs each night, which would drive me absolutely mad.

How do you decide what song to perform live?

Like many artists, COVID has impacted my live shows.  When I gig, it’s usually acoustic.  I pick the songs that I think will work best with minimal arrangements.  As I write so many songs, that still leaves me with a lot of material to pick from.  I always tend to chop and change my setlists, rather than playing the same songs each night, which would drive me absolutely mad.

What plans do you have for the future?

I want to keep making music that I love and hope that it resonates with people.  In the immediate future, I’ve got several singles and EPs all ready to go.  The releases are all part of a series.  Once I’m done with those, I’d like to return to more stripped-down material, which will be easier to replicate in a live setting.