Artist Of The Week #133 - Sarah Walk
This week’s Artist of the Week is LA songwriter Sarah Walk, who has just released her new album ‘Another Me’ via One Little Independent. The release sees Sarah giving a voice to queer women and tackling the challenges that they face - she took a moment to discuss the album in more detail.
Hey Sarah, so the album is out now - how does it feel?
It’s always a really liberating feeling to have a body of work that you’ve put so much effort into be released into the world. I feel like the songs are my own until they get put out, and then there’s an element of closure to the process that came along with writing them.
It is titled ‘Another Me’ - can you tell us the meaning behind that?
Once I stepped away from the album and looking at it as a whole, I felt like the song called ‘Another Me’ on the LP really summed up the the album. I wrote it about my childhood, and wondering where & when I lost certain qualities in myself that I had as a kid but couldn’t find in myself anymore. So the song is pretty much a conversation between me and this other version of myself that could have existed, and I feel like the album is a journey towards the discovery and embodiment of her. I also liked the idea of the title recognizing that people have the ability to change and grow.
The album was produced by Leo Abrahams, who has worked with Regina Spektor, Paul Simon and a few others. How did that partnership come about and how was that experience?
I actually met Leo a few years ago through a writing session that my previous management put together for me. We really got along well and I loved the way that he worked - I really trusted his ear and his production decisions. One of my closest friends out here in LA actually knew Leo from the gigging scene and we both felt like he would be an amazing missing piece for the album. The 3 of us (Leo Abe and I) pretty much tackled the whole album, which was a really fun experience because we got to experiment with playing a lot of different instruments and carve out the sonic landscape of the album together in the studio.
Any behind the scenes stories from the recording process you are willing to share with us?
One moment that comes to mind was on day 2, we were just getting in the groove of recording and then Leo tripped on a guitar cable, knocking his laptop off the desk and breaking the screen entirely. Surprisingly, Leo was very calm about the whole thing considering he had all of the files on his computer for recording…
Fortunately Leo is a wizard with that stuff and found a way to extract his files on to a different computer. We did end up getting the laptop fixed, it just took about a week - But even by the next day we were laughing about the whole thing. You really never know what curve balls will come your way in the studio!
You don't hold back on the content when it comes to this album, so can you tell us the key themes and influences on it?
This album was written during a period of intense self investigation for me, learning how to be comfortable taking up space in the world and not apologizing for it. I like that the album has songs through every stage of that process, which is ever changing and always challenging, but there are moments of sadness, frustration, anger, self doubt, reclamation..
A big topic on the album is about the challenges of being a queer woman - do you feel the music industry is more accepting to open sexuality now or still needs to do more work?
I think progress is being made, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I saw an article recently comparing the number of female artists and producers to male on Spotify charts and the numbers are staggeringly low. I think a lot of the issues with acceptance is actually from the inside of the industry - It’s a lot easier for men to let a woman sing and perform than give up the producers seat. We have to constantly carve out our own way and prove that we are worthy.
The album opens with the line - “Nothing’s hurt me more than men that grew up with no consequences, why is it my job to fix this mess? You’re always ready to defend, you hear my concern as anger, and no-one wants an angry woman” - can you tell us what this lyric means?
I wanted to make a point early on in this album (like, the first line early) that there is a lot that women feel and experience outside of their romantic relationships. A lot of people (mostly men) asked me how I could possibly write a second album now that I’m engaged and in a really wonderful relationship. Do you think a man would be asked that after making a heartbreak album?
I wrote that lyric during a really difficult time where I was learning that it was okay to set boundaries - in fact, it’s a sign of love and care. For so long, I felt like everything happened *to* me in my relationships (romantic and platonic), and this lyric was the beginning of my discovery that I actually can say no to dynamics that are unhealthy. It tells the other person that it’s a privilege to have a relationship, and it is conditional upon mutual respect and understanding. I was angry when I wrote this, but I wanted to make it clear that it’s okay to be an angry woman sometimes. It’s part of the healing process.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
I quite like the chorus of ‘The Key’ “I’ve got my feelings, they don’t have me…”
I think that encapsulates the album in a really simple way. My feelings don’t control me, I have the power to decide how I am feeling and how I act. It’s the point in the album that I feel the most empowered.
Now the album is out there - what next?
I wish touring was on the table, but unfortunately all of that is on hold right now due to Covid19. I’m hoping that will be a reality for 2021, but for now I’m going to continue writing while I have the time, and try to get creative on ways to stay connected with my fans during these crazy times.