Given Patrick’s way of working, you might think that the notion of songwriting by committee, as pop writers often do resulting in a list of credits as long as your arm, would be anathema to him. You’d be wrong. He finds it fascinating, in fact. Not just because he has a lot of friends who operate in writing rooms, but because it’s something he’s participated in himself on occasion, though he declines to name any artists he’s penned tunes for.
“I’m trying to do more of it because I enjoy it when it’s good,” he offers, “but I also really hate it when it’s bad.”
It’s effectively a holiday from Patrick’s writing in Movements, a creative outlet independent of the musical outlet he’s become known for, bringing with it a liberation from preconceptions and expectations, from himself or anyone else.
“I can throw out ideas that are maybe crazy and out of the box, something that wouldn’t necessarily be in a Movements song, but could work for a pop artist or R&B artist, or whoever it happens to be. There’s freedom to say and do a lot more than I’d get to do in my own writing. That’s really fun and an interesting way to open up different avenues.”
It’s a sideline that’s also benefited Patrick’s day job. On Happier now he wrote with Jake Torrey, a multi-faceted songwriter, composer and arranger who’s worked with the likes of Zara Larsson, Bebe Rexha and Linkin Park. One of the tracks the duo collaborated on was Everyone I’ve Ever Been, during which Patrick was taken aback by Jake’s excellent melody choices, unique cadences, and lyric ideas markedly different to what he’d come up with.
“Being able to sit down with him on this record and understand his approach to writing has affected my approach to my own writing,” reveals Patrick. “We wrote Everyone I’ve Ever Been together about halfway through the writing process, and then I was able to take little tips and tricks that he had taught me during that session and apply them to the songs I needed to finish, or needed to start for that matter. I found that to be really special, challenging myself to think differently from where your own ear or own style takes you, to push boundaries.”