consciousness that naturally come with that. While I never set out to make any sort of “confessional” album, it was important to me that I wrote from an honest place, even if it did make me uncomfortable at the time. Looking at it now, with a bit of perspective, I think it gives an honest reflection of who I was and the way I felt during a certain period in my life. In 2009 you appeared on a little TV show called American Idol. How did you come to the decision to try out for Idol? What do you feel is the most important lesson you’ve learned from that experience? Would you do it all again if you could?
For a while I felt a little guilty for doing Idol for no other reason than “I just sort of felt like it.” I was 19 at the time and was mainly just curious about how far I could make it on the show if I’d tried out. While I was there, however, I met a lot of people for whom this had been a lifelong dream, or to whom it represented their “last shot” at a career, and this gave me a bit of perspective and humility. If it hadn’t been for the show, I might not have realized that I couldn’t lazily stumble my way into a career in music, and that I would need to work hard if I wanted to achieve any success. At the same time, it helped me understand that being able to find the intrinsic value in music is what’s most important, and that if I can enjoy what I do on a day-to-day basis, success and failure don’t matter. You’ve taken the leap to write your own music for Marionette. When you’re writing, what is the atmosphere like? Do you have a certain mental state that you bring yourself to? What things inspire your writing (both lyrical and melodic)? I’m still learning how best to be a songwriter, and I’m not sure I’ll ever figure it out exactly. I always start with music and tend to spend a lot of time tinkering with the details of my progressions, but I’ve learned that there’s a lot of value in just “doing it” without thinking too much. A lot of great stuff can come out when you’re not standing in your own way. For me it’s definitely a balance between “letting it flow” and obsessing over the minutiae. I can do this throughout the day. With lyrics, though, I work best at night and tend to usually wait until I can lock into a specific mood that I feel fits the music, and then write out the whole song in a few minutes while the mood is fresh in my mind. In terms of subject matter, I usually write about things in my life or people that I know, but I try to do it without inserting too much of my own bias. I like the idea of people being able to draw their own conclusions while listening to the songs. With lyrics, I try to find a balance of not-so-vague as to seem pretentious, and vague enough that the listener can find a meaning that applies to his or her own life. After leaving Idol you decided to head back to school rather than heading straight into your music career. What spurred that decision? There were a number of reasons why I went back to college after Idol instead of pursuing a career, but the main one was that my parents would have killed me if I didn’t. Also, there wasn’t much waiting for me after the show, and what was there wasn’t really anything I wanted to do. The opportunities that existed seemed kind of exploitative, and I knew that if I’d pursued any of them, I’d never be able to shake the Idol name from me. This is not to say that I don’t appreciate what the show has done
“I mostly just like the idea of painting a picture and leaving people to take from it whatever they like.” for me, but I wanted to be able to assert myself as an individual artist, separate from the show. How do you feel that your education has benefited you while entering the development of your album? What do you think would be different if you hadn’t gone back to school? I studied music theory in college, which I think made it easier for me to write and understand music. The most valuable thing about taking three years off before putting out the album, though, was just growing up. I wasn’t mature enough or skilled enough at 19 to actually make anything good. I could barely play guitar or piano at the time, and I spent a lot of time in college practicing and becoming proficient with those instruments. In retrospect, it was absolutely, 110% the right decision for me. Your lead single, “Empty Well,” takes on a darker tone than one would expect from you with the subject matter being a woman causing nothing but hell for her partner. What exactly do you mean when you use the analogy of the woman being an empty well? Has the story behind the song been something you or someone close to you experienced? How do you want others to relate to the song? I don’t really think about “how will this make the listener feel?” while I write. Each of these songs means something very specific to me, but I don’t really think it’s my place to force the listener to feel the exact same way. I mean, if someone finds a meaning in my song that really resonates with them, even if it’s not what I intended, I’m completely fine with that. I mostly like the idea of painting a picture and leaving people ISSUE TWO
| www.fourculture.com 43