Sophomore Desirae Carns wasn’t exactly enticed by the idea of writing songs when she joined Songwriting Club during her freshman year. After learning how to analyze the various aspects of a song, she was hooked and eventually became club president. 

“When I was a ninth-grader, I wasn’t interested in songwriting,” Carns said. “But when it was club rush and I heard about Songwriting Club, I became interested and joined.”

Every Wednesday, Carns meets with her fellow club members in music teacher Wes Hambright’s classroom. During their meetings, members practice playing their music or collectively brainstorm lyrics to a song. Hambright often guides them throughout their meeting by providing comments coming from his own background in music. If they’re not working on their music, they watch lectures from an online UC Berkeley class that specializes in songwriting.

“The club is always so much fun,” said senior Lilli Miscione, who is a member of the Songwriting Club. “I look forward to it every week. I really enjoy discussing anything music related, especially when it’s dissecting the writing of songs I love.”

The club is currently working on producing a song for the upcoming Valentine’s Day Concert. Carns is writing the song lyrics herself while the rest of the club works on the beats and melody for the pre-chorus. Joining the club helped Carns understand different aspects of songs. During previous meetings, club members have been focused on exploring ideas for the song. 

“I want to continue to write songs for the concerts that we do,” Carns said. “It gets everyone involved and lets people share their thoughts.”