While stopping off to play NYC, Lucie Silvas talked with QRO. In the conversation, the singer/songwriter discussed her upcoming album, Letters To Ghosts, being from all over & where to find home, getting dropped from a label, being honest, and more…
QRO: First I just want to say that I quite like the title to your upcoming album, Letters To Ghosts. When it comes to that title I’m curious, do you feel as though they’re people who were part of your life in the past that would be surprised to see that you’re still making music?
Lucie Silvas: I have no idea what people from the past thought I’d be doing, but I’d like to think I’m the kind of person people would always assume was making music. Music is a passion, and the making of it is not based on whether I’m being seen by the music industry. The title “Letters To Ghosts” is about talking to and dealing with ghosts from the pasts, and how they affect the present. This was a very poignant subject for me on a personal front.
QRO: Reading about your early days was very interesting because I also come from a maelstrom of a background (Britain, New Zealand, America). Whenever someone finds this out about me they tend to ask ‘where do you consider home?’ Is that the case for you where one of the places you were raised in feels more of a home than the other places?
LS: I definitely feel very lucky to have had a nomadic upbringing. I have family all over the world and it makes me feel I’m never far from family. “Home”, though, to me is where I am now, where my boyfriend is, we’ve made our life here in Nashville together, and where-ever we go that will be home. I feel a massive sense of comfort coming back here, but that’s not to say my familiarity with both the U.K. and New Zealand isn’t really special too, I love those places and they have a strong hold on me.
QRO: Is there a specific country or city where you find yourself the most comfortable in terms of songwriting? Or do you even feel a need for comfort when songwriting?
LS: Songwriting for me can be comfortable AND uncomfortable, but if I’ve said what I want to say – that makes me happy. It really depends what frame of mind I’m in. I’ve written songs I’m most proud of in a foreign place with no one I love around, feeling isolated and somehow managed to write something genuine and meaningful to me. The place isn’t necessarily the deciding factor.
QRO: Are there experiences that you had when making your first album that you still reference today?
LS: For sure, especially when it comes to singing the vocals for the tracks… some of the vocals this time came from singing along when the band was actually tracking the song – I was thinking about it too much, or analyzing anything. I’ve learnt not to overthink things when recording, you know instinctively what doesn’t work and you have to work way into the wee hours of the morning for what excites you most. I hate worrying about the technicality of things; I just want to feel the emotion, so I never wanna sing a vocal more a few times.
QRO: When it came to preparing for these new live shows, how did you want to approach coming back into the world of music?
LS: Little by little, but I was certainly ready behind the scenes. I’ve been working on this new music and the way I see myself as an artist, but it was important to ease in to the live shows and figure stuff out sound wise. I have always been just a piano player, and now have learnt a bit of mandolin and starting guitar which gives something new and exciting for me to add to my shows that people from my past records haven’t seen or heard.
Also, until there are consistent tour dates you often change band members a lot, but that has helped me even more to be completely independent, especially on stage… it became less important what I had around me and more important how I felt alone with an audience.
QRO: Is there a song that you enjoy playing live the most and if so what is it about that song that you enjoy?
LS: “Letters To Ghosts” is def my fav to play, it has so much energy and I love the way it sounds and how involved the audience gets. However, on a deeper level, I love to play “Roots”, it’s such a special song for me, although it’s tough to sing emotionally, the lyrics hit a nerve with me.
QRO: I have to say, reading up on what you’ve been through over the years in terms of career was very interesting. What it ultimately showed me is that you seem to have a genuine need to create, no matter what your circumstances are. What would you say it is that usually inspires you to create, even when you think you can’t?
LS: I really appreciate that. And that’s exactly how I feel, and believe that’s where music should come from – but as just a reaction to what is or isn’t happening around you. But because it’s a passion and a joy and you’re always inspired by it. The creative part of music is what I have to focus on; otherwise I’d go crazy. It’s not as if I don’t think of this as a business too, but I work with great people I trust to take care of that part so I can concentrate on what I love, and try to get better at it all the time.
Learning a new instrument has really helped open my mind up a bit – showing me there’s no ways to write a song, or even sing differently. I love going to shows, I’ll come home and wanna go straight to a studio and record something, as I’m sure every artist feels that way. Sometimes it’s just that my head is so full of stuff I have to get it out somehow, and that def helps with the songwriting. Some songs may just stay in a vault though!!
QRO: Did you ever feel a sense of wanting to stop after being dropped from a label or did it feel like a sense of being free?
LS: Honestly I have felt both those things many times, I’d be lying if I said things didn’t get it me every so often, it’s human nature to be sensitive to things. I get hurt for sure when you think the people around you lose belief, but it can either stop you completely or spur you on. I tried my best to use everything that happen to my advantage. You can never blame things on just one factor. I feel that I was in a tough place in many ways when I get out of my last deal – I was really in the frame of mind to be out there singing and playing – I needed to sort a lot of shit out in order to get back to it with a genuine joy for it, and people respond to how you are feeling, good or bad.
I do feel a huge sense of freedom being able to make this new album the way I wanted it with no one telling me how it should sound. I partnered up with my new label after the record was mostly done, and my sound is what it is, and that feels very liberating. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and the most relaxed with what I’m doing now.
QRO: Lastly, has there ever been a bit of advice someone has given you that you still think about to this day?
LS: “Be honest, no matter what it looks like.”
