The very first song I ever wrote was a song called 'Crazy' when I was 11 or 12 with my best girlfriends - we had a girl band. It was about loving a guy who everyone else thought you were crazy for being into.
It's important to tell the artist's story. It's their song! And it's always more fun to write together with the artist!
There's this cliché of always falling in love with the latest song, and I'm kind of like that.
Sometimes it starts with a random lyric idea that sets the tone for the whole song. Chords and sounds build from the lyric and rhythm, kind of. Sometimes it's a track I fall I love with... but writing my own songs, I rarely write on tracks.
A good song stays in your head because it's catchy, a great song stays because it means something to you.