Music is inherently vulnerable, and though Mary Weitz admires the guts it takes to be the face of your own song, she’s more interested in helping the artist bring their vision to life through intimate conversation and quality time spent together inside and outside of the studio. Weitz has been musical since she was gifted her first guitar at age 9, which led to an interest in video game soundtracks and disobediently watching MTV when her parents weren’t home. She reminisces about feeling an unabashed kinship with the darkness of Bring Me Back to Life by Evanescence. 

Now, Weitz has a successful career as a songwriter, having co-written some of my absolute favorite songs like You Stole The Show by Sienna Spiro and Sexy Villain and Disco Man by Remi Wolf. She’s also co-written for Alina Baraz, Fletcher, Zara Larsson, and Rachel Chinouriri, whose new album, I think I spoke too soon, dropped October 16th, with Weitz co-writing 10 of the 12 songs. 

After speaking with Mary, associating songwriters (and producers) with the phrase “behind the scenes” feels a bit minimizing and adds to a larger compensation and rights issue which Mary is extremely passionate about.  While it’s natural to associate a song with one artist. The artist who’s on the cover art, the artist who interviews and speaks on the song, etc. Other artists, producers, and musicians almost always play a vital role in the song’s livelihood. It’s one thing to get less public recognition, but Mary stands firmly on advocating for other rights. “It is genuinely difficult for most songwriters to even afford to be songwriters. The industry is obsessed with arbitrary, outdated, and frankly made-up precedents that prevent writers from being compensated even a fraction as well as producers, who often find themselves in compromised and unfair positions, too,”  Mary shares. After learning more about her process and relationships with the artists, I can certainly understand her passion. 

Weitz is more than a songwriter. She’s a confidante and partner, and her collaborations are solicitous, built from authentic connection and trust that can’t be faked. That intuitive, instinctive “contract” between her and the artists she writes with pours into the music, and it usually starts with a bite or grabbing coffee. “ I don’t mind meeting someone and, within the first five minutes, telling them some crazy shit I went through (and vice versa!). Regardless, we can all feel whether the connection is good or not after just a short while. A lot of it is instinctual, and I’d say I’m pretty good at reading people,” Weitz shares on feeling out a potential partnership. 

Weitz’s role in Rachel Chinouriri’s latest album is a perfect example of Mary’s ideal songwriting process. She shares that the initial partnership naturally phased into sisterhood. “Through the stories she’d tell me, nights out together, and trips to a friend’s cottage in the English countryside, Rachel generously invited me into her world. The trust and love we have for each other has allowed us to be completely open, honest, and weird,” Weitz shares.  I think I spoke too soon is whimsical and genre-bending, living somewhere in the indie pop space, but taking notes from several other moods. Some songs like Broken Chair are theatrical and playful, while AAAHHH!!! is angsty and rock-forward. Listening through feels like watching your favorite coming-of-age movie; Rachel singing and dancing through life’s ups and downs. Girlhood and friendship seep through each tune, and Rachel and Mary’s connection is poignant. “I’m incredibly proud of this album, and I’m grateful that one of the most cherished projects I’ve been part of came from a friendship I value so deeply,” Weitz beams.