Photo Credit: Your Smith
Sonic Live Media: Hello. This is Brooke with Sonic Live Media.
How are you doing? How was your 2019?
Your Smith: I’m good! I’m in the van headed back to Los Angeles. My 2019 was really good, I was on the road for most of it. I like to to be on the road so that was good. I got to release a new CD and a couple of singles.
SLM: Oh, very nice. I know you've been touring quite extensively and now you're on your own tour. What was it like taking on the persona of “Your Smith,” creatively and emotionally speaking? Was it like a breath of fresh air for you?
Your Smith: Yeah, absolutely. It's just relieving honestly, it just feels like you’re taking the pressure off. I didn't fully expect that but you know when you create an alter ego or persona and can just kind of blame things on them, you know?
SLM: Well you're already a seasoned musician, it's kind of like taking on a new role. When listening to both your EPs: Bad Habit 2018 and Wild Wild Woman 2019, I noticed that while you seem to kind of stay in a familiar territory, a lot of the sounds seemed to be quite varied from track to track. Did you draw from a number of different influences and was it a conscious decision to make the music diverse?
Your Smith: I think that’s just how I am an an artist. I like a lot of things. So when making the EP, all of those songs have been written and then I just choose the ones that I want to go together. With an EP you kind of have to pack a punch and hit all four corners. So it's an interesting challenge, you choose the four or five songs that are going to go together and complement each other but not lose the attention of the listeners in such a short amount of time.
SLM: Yeah, you want to keep it cohesive but interesting.
Your Smith: Exactly. Yeah, and really be able to efficiently stretch out so to speak.
SLM: Do you approach the music writing process or the performance, or any other aspect differently as “Your Smith?”
Your Smith: I think yeah, just going back to it alleviating a lot of the pressure and overthinking. Because with with myself, Caroline, I like so many many things and I've been through a lot of things in life as I'm sure we all have with different types of music. So with Your Smith, you know, it's easier to be like this is “Your Smith,” this is what she looks like, this is what she sounds like, and keeping constraints off actually helps things so much creatively. It gives you focus and it gives you some barrier to stay inside of and lets you kind of relax into it a little bit more.
SLM: You remind me of a breathy 70’s version of Sheryl Crow I don't know if she's an influence of yours…
Your Smith: Thank you!
SLM: You're welcome. You've written so many songs and you made the decision to put specific tracks in your EPs. Did you come in fresh and write specifically for and as Your Smith? Or did you use any other material you might have written in the past?
Your Smith: Yes, I didn’t use any older material. I think the first song I wrote after I knew that I wanted change it up and change my name was “Bad Habit.” I didn't know that my name is going to be Your Smith yet. But I knew that I was kind of burning it down and starting over and I just did a reckless abandonment. What I was doing wasn't working. I was really unhappy and I got to the point of, “Now I don't even care if what I'm making does work, I just want to go back to writing music for me again, go back to writing music that I want to write.” It's not like somebody at publishing dropped me or whatever, but I was like “Drop me, I don't care, I'll go back to school or something.” Now at least I can make music that I want to make. It’s a lot of work and a lot of people to keep happy, especially when you to enter the Los Angeles echelon of the music industry. You’ve got a lot more people that are relying on you, that you need to make the money and they remind you of that daily. You learn the spirituality of why you’re a writer, why you made this song, about writing songs in your bedroom when you’re 13, what is it that makes me tick. A lot of people go through that and I’m just happy that I came out the other side of it.
SLM: Yeah, I completely understand. I lived in L.A. for 10 years and it's a different kind of beast out there. You put so much time and effort into it and if you're not happy with the end product and it's something you’re creating, then you're really not finding a creative relief.
Your Smith: Exactly! Even if it works, it caught on, it blew up; you’re gonna be the one standing on the stage every night having to sing the songs, so you’d better like them!
SLM: Absolutely. Where performing as Your Smith, do you find that you're more free to creatively express yourself than you were when performing as Caroline And The Goodnight Sleeps?
Your Smith: Yeah, absolutely. It's so fun. I feel like when I burned it all down and started over, that it allowed me to see that I could do that and I could really just do what I wanted and it was working. It just gave me more and more freedom to continue to do what I want. Because I feel like stepping back now, a year and a half after the conception of Your Smith being like, "wow". I really feel that thing that I enjoy. I enjoy performing and I enjoy writing.
SLM: Are there any plans for an LP in the future? And would you use a mixture of the songs from the two EPs or would you record all new material?
Your Smith: I'm not sure about that yet, I really do want to make an album. You know, I'm extremely influenced and inspired by album based projects that came from the 70’s that what I grew up listening to. So to me, making an album is dream, but it's just tricky these days in music. The break neck speed at which its consumed, you kind of have to set yourself up in an advantageous spot to release an album or else it just gets over looks pretty fast. Albums are a lot of work, and they're like cold chunk of your soul you put out there. So I'm okay right now with just building things and being patient to getting to the spot where it makes sense for me to release an album.
SLM: Your concerts are selling out, if it doesn't sell out, there’s only one ticket left. I think that speaks to the fact that fans like your music and people are coming to see you. You've also already opened for several well-known acts and have developed relationships with their fans and you've brought them over, now they're your fans. Shows are sold out everywhere all over the world, that might be something to consider when you decide to move forward this or not. You have two solid EP’s and are selling out. So I think you know things are going in the right direction there.
Your Smith: Can I just call you every morning and you just tell me that every day? Can you give me that reminder every day?
SLM: Yes, absolutely, any time! I know, it's hard when you start you start over. I mean you're in the same field, you're still in music, but you completely switched directions with it. When you're an adult and you're like, “Okay, I've made it this far, but I want to do something related but I’ve got a switch it up,” When what you’re doing isn’t fulfilling that part of you as an artist. We need to release that, you know that creative part of us otherwise, we just feel stifled.
Your Smith: Absolutely. Yeah, it's just not it's not an enjoyable feeling when you feel that way.
SLM: It's not a feasible to do that over your life to just you know, do give out that kind of output and just not be satisfied with it.
Your Smith: I really I think feasible such as perfect word for it just doesn't seem possible. It's not realistic.
SLM: Can I ask how old you can I ask how old you are?
Your Smith: I’m 31.
SLM: You've had this career now you've switched gears with a different persona, but talking to you, you seem wise beyond your years. You look very young, which is a great thing. You have a confidence with this persona of Your Smith, and it sounds like it has been a really good change for you. You seem very happy and positive.
Your Smith: Thank you. Yeah, I feel I feel happy and positive. It feels good to be 31 more in you know,?!
SLM: Was there a is there anything else that you would like to say to our readers about yourself or your upcoming show in Detroit or anything about your music?
Your Smith: Yeah, I just everyone to have a great night! I want people feeling better about themselves, and to dance out the last decade!
Don’t miss Your Smith at Deluxx Fluxx In Detroit, Michigan on January 24, 2020
You can learn more about Your Smith and check out her upcoming tour dates at: www.yoursmithforever.com
Follow her on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/yoursmith
Interview by: Brooke Elizabeth, Sonic Live Media