About this episode

Rostam Batmanglij discusses the importance of overwriting in the songwriting process.

"A great way to write is to overwrite. Write more verses than could be contained in a song. Then take the best of what's there," says Rostam Batmanglij. I cannot agree more: good writers know that the first pass is never the time to decide what to keep and what to leave out. Overwriting will always be faster. Just ask Anne Lamott. Of course, overwriting for Rostam comes easy because when he's not writing, he's thinking about writing. "I'm always collecting building blocks," he says. "Lots of ...

People in this episode

Host: Ben Opipari

Guest: Rostam Batmanglij

Topics covered

• songwriting
• creative process
• overwriting
• music
• interviews

More episodes of Songwriters on Process

• Dragos Chiriac (Men I Trust) · July 20, 2026 · 55 min
• Keenan O'Meara · July 14, 2026 · 52 min
• Jason Newsted · July 9, 2026 · 38 min
• Molly Hamilton (Widowspeak) · July 2, 2026 · 41 min
• Nick Allbrook (Pond) · June 24, 2026 · 47 min
• Futurebirds · June 19, 2026 · 51 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Songwriters on Process podcast page.