Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitars
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Guitar Amps
  • Drums
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Lemmy vs Dylan
  • Are 'Friends' Electric?
  • Flava D - DnB is hard
  • Prince's drummers
  • 95k+ free music samples
Don't miss these
Brent Smith of Shinedown performs during the US rockers' Dance, Kid, Dance Tour 2025.
Artists Shinedown’s Brent Smith on finding inspiration in a hurricane and why you don’t need to be play guitar to write a great song
Lumineers
Artists How a dejected indie folk gem became a wedding song staple
ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 07: Sombr performs during the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 07, 2025 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for MTV)
Artists “In the actual song you hear today, the guitars, the riff, the bass, the drums and all the vocals are from those initial takes I did in my bedroom”: Sombr on the making of viral hit Undressed, and his formula for creating "a legendary indie rock song"
Creed
Artists “He’d be like, ‘We’re gonna write a song on stage, everybody!’”: How Creed wrote their breakthrough hit during a gig
daniel bedingfield
Artists How Daniel Bedingfield's bedroom-produced '00s No. 1 rewrote the rules of pop
Liam and Noel Gallagher in 1994
Guitars The Oasis song Liam hated because it was 'reggae': "I remember Our Kid saying 'Why are you writing reggae songs?' And I was like, there speaks a man that has never heard reggae"
Kate Bush
Artists How Kate Bush stunned David Gilmour with a masterpiece of songwriting she made at just 13 years old
Brent Smith [left] performs in a blazer and white T-shirt as flames from pyro light the stage behind him. On the right, Rick Beato is photographed in a denim overshirt at NAMM 2022.
Artists Shinedown frontman Brent Smith on what makes Rick Beato a great producer
Michael Hutchence of INXS
Artists “I gave it to Michael and he wrote that lyric in one stream of consciousness”: How INXS created a funky No.1 hit
Anthony Kiedis
Artists “I said, ‘It’s really beautiful – why would you say it’s not for the Chili Peppers?’": The making of a '90s classic
imogen heap
Artists “My computer blew up on me, but I didn't want to leave the studio without having done anything that day”: How a crashed PC led to the creation of Hide and Seek, the robotic a cappella that introduced millions to the power of vocal processing
Don't Look Back in Anger
Artists How Oasis rustled up the ultimate Britpop anthem with Don't Look Back in Anger
Steven Tyler
Artists “Love in an elevator? Yeah, I've done it!”: Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on the making of the Aerosmith classic Pump
Josh Homme in the No One Knows video
Artists “Of course it was gonna be a hit! This song really is original”: Inside the making of a Queens Of The Stone Age classic
Bryan Adams and Keith Scott share the mic onstage in 1985, with Scott playing an S-style electric guitar.
Artists Keith Scott on his big David Gilmour moment and the making of Bryan Adams’ record-breaking hit
  1. Artists
  2. Singles And Albums

Lifehouse's Jason Wade on 20 years of songwriting

News
By Rob Laing ( Total Guitar ) published 28 October 2015

How a 15 year-old's first song sold four million

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

Lifehouse’s Jason Wade shares two decades of songwriting insight, and explains why their new album saw him go back to his roots...

If you’ve ever tried your hand at songwriting - and every guitar player should - you will find it’s something you get better at over time, and that means your first efforts may be better off forgotten.

Wade’s a melodic rock songwriter with emotional depth and more hooks than a tackle box

But a 15-year-old Jason Wade’s first composition, Trying, was so strong it ended up on his band’s debut album No Name Face, selling over four million copies with a remarkable musical maturity that has made it stand the test of time.

Since then, backed up by bandmates Bryce Soderberg and Rick Woolstenhulme Jr, he’s continued to prove himself a melodic rock songwriter with emotional depth and more hooks than a tackle box.

Now, 20 years on from that first song, Lifehouse have released Out Of The Wasteland; an album that touches on Jason’s roots as a songwriter. We talked about Jason’s journey so far, and discussed the songwriting wisdom he’s picked up along the way.

Don't Miss

Jason Wade on Lifehouse's new album, Out Of The Wasteland

Page 1 of 6
Page 1 of 6
Into the Wasteland

Into the Wasteland

How do you feel about Out Of The Wasteland compared to past Lifehouse albums?

“With our last few albums, we definitely took some liberties and tried to stretch outside of our genre a little bit. It was really fun but it’s actually refreshing to return to a sound that we haven’t done in 14, 15 years. It’s like putting on an old pair of shoes I guess.”

What is the key song that you feel reflects that the most?

It’s actually refreshing to return to a sound that we haven’t done in 14, 15 years

“There were two of them actually. There was the first single, Hurricane, and the first song we put out as a kind of teaser track, Flight. Both of those songs, when I wrote them, they really reminded me of our older sound, like quintessential Lifehouse songs.

“And I hadn’t written any songs like that in a while, so I got the band together in a room and played them a handful of songs. Those two songs were a catalyst that brought this whole record to fruition.

“[With Flight] I hadn’t written a song like that in a long time where I sat at the piano, closed my eyes, and it’s very much a stream of consciousness.

“It kind of took off on its own and that made me excited to get the band back in a room and think about doing a new album together.”

Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
Comfort zone

Comfort zone

When did you start writing on the piano?

“I think 2004 or 2005, in my earlier days it was all just acoustic and electric guitar. Then I bought a Wurlitzer when I was 23 or 24 and started writing songs here and there, maybe one song per record would be on piano.

“With this album in particular I think I wrote four or five different tracks on piano. So I think I needed to sit down with an instrument I wasn’t completely familiar with, just to come up with some new fresh ideas.

After 15, 16 years writing on the same instrument you start to become predicable

“Because after 15, 16 years writing on the same instrument you start to become predicable. You start to go to the same places; the same chord changes, the same melodies start coming out.

“So I think it’s essential for all of us to try to come up with something a little bit different. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel but you definitely need to come up to something that is interesting to you.”

So leaving a comfort zone is something you would recommend to other guitar playing songwriters who feel stuck in a rut?

“Absolutely, even simple things like coming up with various different tunings; you might be playing the same chords but they’ll sound different. They’ll evoke a different emotion and make you sing a different melody.

“I have an acoustic in Nashville tuning that I write in [E,A,D and G tuned up an octave] and I play a D, G or Em and it sounds different because it’s not what you’re used to. Anything that can get you out of a rut of going back to the same chord progressions over and over again.”

Page 3 of 6
Page 3 of 6
Stop-starting

Stop-starting

Acoustic fingerpicking has become part of your writing too; the song Wish especially...

“I think I learned my fingerpicking style from my mom actually. She always had this 12-string Washburn laying around the house and I always remember her staying late up at night and she always had this very distinctive style of picking.

We’ll go and see a movie or go get some food and just reset the palette

“I think I absorbed that from her when I started playing the guitar when I was around 14. Wish came out of just sitting down with an acoustic guitar and the pattern and song just kind of wrote itself.”

Do you usually sit down with a plan to write, or just wait for inspiration?

“In the last two years I’ve tried to go into the studio with my engineering friend, maybe four or five times out of a week. And, to be honest, some days it’s just not happening. I’ll come up with two or three ideas that I think are rubbish and I’ll throw them back into the digital air. We’ll go and see a movie or go get some food and just reset the palette, then go back into the studio.

When you’re trying to force something, it seems so flat and lifeless; it’s not breathing

“Sometimes that’s all you need; to stop thinking for a moment. To come back to the studio after you throw an idea out and then all of a sudden a track will start to take shape. And that’s what happened with Flight; I tried to write three different songs that day and I was getting really frustrated. Then we took a break, and right when we were about to quit, the song came.

“Songwriting is so interesting to me, and I think it always will be to me, because you can’t figure it out. You can’t figure out what that magic component is but when it’s there it’s so easy and effortless. It’s almost like you’re watching it… almost like an out of body experience.

“When you’re trying to force something, it seems so flat and lifeless; it’s not breathing. And I’ve read a lot interviews with different artists and then all say the same thing; they don’t know where that comes from. You just have to be aware that when you get that itch, something special is about to happen. And that’s when you want to put yourself in a position to capture it.”

Page 4 of 6
Page 4 of 6
Teen titan

Teen titan

You were a teenager when you wrote the songs that became No Name Face, right?

“I started writing when I was 15. Trying is what I consider to be my first song. Then 16, 17 years old that’s when most of the first album started to write itself in my bedroom.

I feel the same about the songs. I think vocally I’ve gotten a little better over the years

“Then I met a producer, Ron Aniello, who produced our first two albums. He took me under his wing; a lot of my ideas didn’t have bridges so he taught me how to really craft a song in full completion and not just have cool parts here and there. It was a really formative two or three years from the age of 16 to 18.”

There’s a maturity in those songs that still holds up. Do they still resonate for you?

“I feel the same about the songs. I think vocally I’ve gotten a little better over the years. I hear some tuning issues and it’s hard to understand what I’m saying, but there’s an honesty there that I think really resonates with a lot of people.

“I was writing from a place of isolation and pain, and trying to figure out how to deal with all of these emotions. And I think that’s where the depth comes from. That was my outlet, that was the most positive thing I could have done; to put that pain and channel it into a song. Instead of going down some darker paths.”

Page 5 of 6
Page 5 of 6
Be fearless

Be fearless

Did you then carry that into the recording?

“Yes, everything was new and fresh. There’s really something to be said about that. I think we tried to capture that on this album. Almost like; forget everything you’ve learned, all of the tricks in the studio, and go back to simplest form. Which is; does the song move you or not? Does it give you pimples on the arm? That’s really the only currency you have to tell you whether the song is alive or not.”

If you could give any advice to a songwriter starting out today what would it be?

Go back to simplest form. Which is; does the song move you or not?

“Probably to be fearless. I think a lot of young writers have a fear of what people will think about what they’re writing. If you can just be as honest as you possibly can and really be courageous enough to put yourself out there and put your real emotions on the line, that’s the only way people are going to feel you as an artist.

“It’s hard for a 15-year-old kid to be vulnerable, it’s such a hard age, especially now. But if you’re going to be a real artist, you have to put yourself out there to almost be ridiculed. But you have to be honest with your lyrics and your music. So my advice would be to be fearless, and not care what people think about it.”

Lifehouse’s new album, Out Of The Wasteland, is available now.

Don't Miss

Jason Wade on Lifehouse's new album, Out Of The Wasteland

Page 6 of 6
Page 6 of 6
Rob Laing
Rob Laing
Social Links Navigation
Reviews Editor, GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.




Stay up to date with the latest gear and tuition. image
Stay up to date with the latest gear and tuition.
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Brent Smith of Shinedown performs during the US rockers' Dance, Kid, Dance Tour 2025.
Shinedown’s Brent Smith on finding inspiration in a hurricane and why you don’t need to be play guitar to write a great song
 
 
Lumineers
How a dejected indie folk gem became a wedding song staple
 
 
ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 07: Sombr performs during the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 07, 2025 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for MTV)
“In the actual song you hear today, the guitars, the riff, the bass, the drums and all the vocals are from those initial takes I did in my bedroom”: Sombr on the making of viral hit Undressed, and his formula for creating "a legendary indie rock song"
 
 
Creed
“He’d be like, ‘We’re gonna write a song on stage, everybody!’”: How Creed wrote their breakthrough hit during a gig
 
 
daniel bedingfield
How Daniel Bedingfield's bedroom-produced '00s No. 1 rewrote the rules of pop
 
 
Liam and Noel Gallagher in 1994
The Oasis song Liam hated because it was 'reggae': "I remember Our Kid saying 'Why are you writing reggae songs?' And I was like, there speaks a man that has never heard reggae"
 
 
Latest in Singles And Albums
The three founding members of Talking Heads on a Manhattan rooftop, US, 1976. (Jerry Harrison would join the group at the beginning of 1977.
“It was an experiment to see if I could write a song”: How David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz created a sinister new wave classic
 
 
Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam performs live on stage during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at Fair Grounds Race Course on May 03, 2025
Matt Cameron explains why he left Pearl Jam and insists that the final Soundgarden album is coming
 
 
Nile Rodgers
“As soon as we played that, I screamed”: Nile Rodgers breaks down how he and David Bowie made Let’s Dance
 
 
Ed Sheeran attends the European Premiere of F1 ® The Movie at Cineworld, Leicester Square on June 23, 2025
“It would be ‘Stop’ and then ‘Eject’”: Ed Sheeran reveals that plans for posthumous album are in his will
 
 
Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richard of The Rolling Stones perform during the final night of the Hackney Diamonds '24 Tour at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena
“They’re all hyped up”: Marlon Richards says that the Stones have been recording a new album in London
 
 
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Birdy performs at the VIP Opening of the David Bowie Centre, V&A East Storehouse, on September 10, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse)
Jeff Beck, Roxy Music and Miles Davis all make the list of David Bowie’s 15 favourite tracks
 
 
Latest in News
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO STANDALONE PUBLICATION USE (NO SPECIAL INTEREST OR SINGLE ARTIST PUBLICATION USE; NO BOOK USE)) Taylor Swift performs onstage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Wembley Stadium on August 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )
An exclusive paid-for download version of Taylor Swift’s new album has sparked a high-kicking iTunes revival
 
 
Brian Eno speaks at Together for Palestine fundraising evening
Brian Eno, Damon Albarn, Neneh Cherry and many others come together for Palestine
 
 
A Yamaha Revstar electric guitar on a blue background
Thomann's Guitar Days sale just hit up to 70% off with £474 off an Epiphone semi-hollow, £132 off a Death By Audio pedal, plus loads more massive savings
 
 
Derek Trucks takes a slide solo on his Gibson SG as Tedeschi Trucks Band performs live at Madison Square Garden.
Derek Trucks is one of the greatest slide players of all time – here’s how he decides when to use it
 
 
Johnny Marr plays a Fender Jaguar with lipstick pickups onstage, with his name in bold behind him.
“Look for one that says ‘80’s Icon on the case”: Johnny Marr says UPS has lost his guitars
 
 
Prince and Mick Jagger
Did Prince’s "humiliating" Rolling Stones experience inspire his later success?
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...