The Smiley Smile Message Board

When Brian isn't touring, how much time does he spend at his piano each day playing or writing? And how does that compare to the '60s? I seem to recall him saying in an interview that he plays for half an hour per day these days but I can't remember exactly.

I'm interested in how much time great songwriters like Brian, Lennon, McCartney, Dylan, etc spent / spend per day playing and writing.

I'm not sure but I'm sure it varies from day to day depending on how much they are inspired. My guess is not as often as when they were in their 20s.

He said in a recent interview he only plays piano when he's at home once every "week or two" or something along those lines.

Obviously it was much more often in the 60s.

Depends on if he's working on a project, too, I imagine. In NPP promo, he and the engineer mentioned he was doing a lot of writing in the studio at the time.

Reminds me of a quote from the milward silver anniversary book that has a photo of landy standing over Brian at a piano and milward states that Brian had to be forced to stay at the piano for an hour. He then mentions how Brian at one time could not be dragged away from the piano but "he's younger than that now "

Apparently Joe Thomas's method is to tape Brian while he noodles around in the studio for hours on end, add markers to the file when something interesting happens, and use those to sort through ideas for chord changes, riffs or extra parts on the songs.

Frankly, it's a smart idea for someone as mercurial as BW, and I'm surprised more of his collaborators haven't tried it.

Sometimes, Wilson wanders upstairs to his music room, but he gets easily discouraged. "I can't write a song to save my life," he says. "I sit at the piano and try, but all I want to do is rewrite 'California Girls.' How am I gonna do something better than that? It's a f***ed-up trip."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/brian-wilsons-better-days-20150622

Brian is getting older so that obviously accounts for the writers block but surely some of the medication that Brian is on must interfere to some degree with his natural ability to be spontaneous and creative, no?

When he isn't playing his piano or writing he is watching the movie Norbit on a loop.

It’s my secret wish that Brian is composing one of his greatest works at the moment: a complete album brimming with his harmonious creativity that when played side by side with Norbit melds with the whole thing perfectly.

:lol

at this point in time and at his age, why would he really want to spend 'time' at a piano?
I would imagine he probably would 'noodle' periodically maybe to figure something out,
or if he has an idea about something.
I would doubt Brian sits at a piano playing song after song.
He has always been 'bang bang', yep I'm done.

I've always been fascinated by Brian's day to day life.  The Rolling Stone article had some interesting insights.  I'd love to spend a day with Brian eating at the deli, strolling through the park, and driving on PCH.  Jason Fine was a lucky guy to have that access.

When this tour is over, he should hang it up.