Name: Dizzy
Members: Katie Munshaw, Alexander Spencer, Katie Munshaw, Mackenzie Spencer
Interviewee: Katie Munshaw

Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Dizzy's new single "Barking Dog" is out now via Communion.

If you enjoyed this interview with Dizzy and would like to find out more about the band, visit their official website. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?
 
All of my lyrics are just romanticized and condensed versions of my personal relationships.

What's that saying, "write what you know"? I have a difficult time writing from anything but my own perspective.
 
For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?
 
Not really. We don't set out with the intention to make a song sound a certain way, but the session always gets filled up by the end.

The identity of a song is determined by a hundred tiny decisions made during the writing and recording process.
 
Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?
 
I've learned my creativity is stimulated by going out and doing things. That might seem obvious but for a long time I would sit in my room wondering why inspiration wouldn't strike when my brain was just bored.

Things that help me get out of a creative rut are reading, spending time with my friends, exercising, etc. Just generally taking care of myself, I guess. I consider those moments of observation as a type of "research".
 
Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?
 
I usually write best when I'm not thinking about writing at all, if that makes sense. A lot of lyrics come to me while I'm driving because half of my brain is occupied by trying not to die in a car accident.

I think a lot of my writer's block comes from thinking too much. When you're trying so hard to write something fucking awesome you rarely allow yourself to say something dumb.

A lot of my best lyrics have come from the seed of something dumb.
 
What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?
 
I never know where songs start. It sounds lame to say but the beginning lyrics of a song will often just come to me out of nowhere. I'll be walking around the grocery store, searching for the apple with the least amount of dents in it when suddenly I'm whipping out my phone to make a voice note.

The first lyric is not the part that gives me trouble. Typically, it's commiting to all the words that come after.
 
When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?
 
My bandmates will usually come up with musical demo ideas. A few chords on the guitar, a piano part maybe, sometimes a beat. If the idea inspires me lyrics will come then or sometimes it'll remind me of a previous lyric / melodic idea that I'd already written in my voice notes that I can slap over top.

It's a puzzle to figure out everytime.
 
What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

I'm really inspired by writers who manage to say something beautiful with simple vocabulary. I think when you lean on fancy words to elevate your work you lose the sentiment in the shuffle. Saying things directly will always hit closer to home than any heady metaphor, for me.

Writers who I look to for a reminder to keep the simplicity are Raymond Carver, Miranda July, Lucy Dacus, Joan Didion.
 
Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?
 
The first line of a song is crucial because everything that comes after is an extension of that first thought. I think that's when I find myself with writer's block; when I've put too much pressure on beginning.

There's this quote from Joan Didion that I love and it goes: “What's so hard about that first sentence is that you're stuck with it. Everything else is going to flow out of that sentence ..."
 
Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?
 
99% of my writing is out of my hands. I think my best lyrics come from emotions I'm bursting to talk about but don't have enough courage to say them casually.

I don't really decide what those feelings are, they're just felt.
 
Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?
 
Yeah totally! I think songs are a way to converse with a listener and what you've described, to me, is just good storytelling. Like when you're recounting one situation and it reminds you of another thing that happened, and then you get on a different tangent all together.

A good song to me just sounds like a free flowing conversation.
 
There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?
 
I usually feel inspired quite a while after an event I might write about takes place. I get overwhelmed easily in the moment so I think my brain needs time to understand the emotions it's feeling.

So maybe I would describe my creative state as a delayed meltdown.
 
Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?
 
A good indicator for when my lyrics are done is when I feel ready to do a scratch vocal.

It's usually a really vulnerable and scary moment to share a first draft and I think that's why so many of the vocals on our new project ended up with a scratch vocal as a lead. There's so much energy in those takes because it feels like sharing a secret for the first time.
 
Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?
 
By the end of making a song I really have no sense of what is good anymore. When you feel yourself losing perspective, I think that's a good sign to start reeling it in.
 
What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?
 
We're very lucky to have our drummer Charlie who is a production nerd and can translate all of our "can you make the synth go weoooooo, and the drums go boom!!" into something that sounds like Dizzy.

Production, mixing and mastering takes a song from a bedroom demo and turns it into a little beast.
 
After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?
 
Absolutely! You dedicate so many hours of your life to this weird, intangible thing. It's a mind fuck of an experience.

It's similar to touring in that when you're in the thick of it it's all consuming and when it's over it feels like coming back down to earth.
 
Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?
 
I think mundane tasks like making coffee are more singular than writing music. When I'm making a cup of coffee I make it how I like it. All that matters in that scenario is if I enjoy it.

Writing music and releasing it to the public is for yourself, of course, but there's some part of you that hopes someone else out there listening feels the same as you.