Name: Jayne Dent aka Me Lost Me
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, producer
Nationality: British
Current release: The new Me Lost Me single "Festive Day" is out via Upset the Rhythm. Full-length album RPG will follow on July 7th 2023. She is also about to embark on a tour with Richard Dawson:

03/05 - The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff, UK w/ Richard Dawson - tickets
04/05 - St George's Bristol, Bristol, UK w/ Richard Dawson - tickets
05/05 - Barbican, London, UK w/ Richard Dawson - tickets
06/05 - The Bradshaw Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire, UK w/ Richard Dawson - tickets
30/06 - Hyper Inverter Festival, Ulverston, UK
15/07 - The Lubber Fiends, Newcastle, UK (ALBUM LAUNCH)

[Read our Richard Dawson interview]

If you enjoyed this Me Lost Me interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her official website. She is 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?

The impulse to create is a pretty constant presence in my life. I want to make things almost all of the time, even if I’m not sure what I’d like to make exactly - there’s always that itch going on. As someone that makes music and visual art too (video, collage, textiles, print etc) I go through phases with where that impulse leads me, but ultimately I’m at my happiest when I’m making!

Sometimes I’ll deliberately go in search of inspiration, by going for a walk, visiting exhibitions, reading books and putting together collaged or random chance-poetry that might spark ideas. But then sometimes ideas will spring out of nowhere, I’m still surprised by the things that trigger ideas when I’m not expecting it.

My single “Eye Witness”, for example, was inspired by something that happened years ago at my first job - I’d forgotten about it and then it suddenly came back as a song idea when I was experimenting with some samples one day that had a kind of ‘broken glass’ feel.

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?

I find that if I sit down and decide to write a song about something with a concrete idea it often doesn’t work - or if it does it’s because it’s morphed into something totally different by the time I’ve finished writing it. So much comes in the improvisation, I do love having a jumping off point though - a prompt or trigger like a poem.

With arrangement it’s very much a collaging process, layering things on top of one another and then carving away at them again until the shape feels right.
 
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 habitually collect prompts, sentences, poems, artworks, photos of places I've been, leaflets, concept ideas, so that when I sit down to write I've always got something to use as a jumping off point, that might spark an idea.

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?

Walking and swimming always help get me in the creative mindset. I feel like my mind wanders when my body is moving in a way that's really helpful for generating ideas and getting energised.

I often feel like the best time to go for a walk or swim is when I'm feeling down on what I do, or frustrated with the process, it makes me feel fresh and ready to go back to something in the right frame of mind.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

Where I start really depends on my mood at the time of writing. At the moment I often go music first. I'll set a basic synth drone or a melodic loop going and improvise lyrics and melodies over the top, recording as I go.

I always try and make the first note or first step as easy and basic as possible, then everything that follows flows much easier too.

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?

Usually the lyrics grow with the music as I improvise. I’m constantly recording myself singing, then I go back and listen, and edit after if certain bits don't make sense.

I like being quite spontaneous with words, latching onto phrases and repeating them until I know what I want to move on to. Writing lyrics that way is nice and immediate, it’s a more raw emotional process for me I think which usually gets better results.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?
 
I admire so many different kinds of lyric writing, it's very hard to pin down what makes lyrics good. I'm definitely drawn to lyrics that have something relatable or emotional in them, even if it's very abstract.

I'm always amazed when people can be so direct and succinct in their lyrics, but then I also really admire really lush descriptive writing full of metaphor. I try to do a mix of both ends of this spectrum, and I try to be very emotionally honest in the words even if they're quite abstract on the surface.

The songs I write mean a lot to me, and I hope that comes across. A lot is about the delivery too I think, that can make or break a lyric.

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

Once I’ve got a bit of improvisation recorded into ableton, usually synth and voice, I start shaping the arrangement. I decide how I want the track to progress by layering up other instruments and samples.

It often stays in this state for a while, then when I come to develop it for a release. For example, I’ll start thinking about parts other instruments could play, how it could be performed live etc. Which often then changes the song into its final version.

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?

The songs exist separately from me, I think, once they're unfolding. I try to let them lead me and give the song what it needs.

I think that stops me getting so het up about it being ‘good’ or not, because I’m just making what makes sense for the world of the track.

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?

I always follow the ideas straight away in case I forget them. I never ignore them when they come mid-session, even if they turn out to be unsuccessful in the end, I’d rather not lose them.

If my brain tells me to go in a certain direction that’s wildly different from where I’ve started, I’ll save a separate project file and have multiple versions of a song, going between them until one grabs me more as the route I want to take.

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?

It's honestly the best feeling in the world, to be totally absorbed in making something. It feels like one of the only times I can really be my unfiltered self, when I totally give myself over to exploring and experimenting with sound. It feels like doing something for me, a kind of self care, I guess, it's indulgent and cathartic and playful and exciting.

Being in that creative state feels essential to my health and happiness, I'm always better for spending time making something.

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?

I actually often have the opposite problem. Maybe it’s my ADHD coming out but I quite often feel like something is done very quickly, then I want to move on to making the next one!

I am getting better at disciplining myself and saying, no, there’s something good here but you need to shape it, spend a little longer giving it what it needs to really be the thing you want it to be.

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?

I like to write very quickly and in short bursts. Then I’ll export the work in progress to my phone, I have a playlist of demos and half written songs on the go all the time that I’ll occasionally pop on if I’m on a train or walking somewhere. I’ll spend time listening to them as a body of work produced in the last few months and think about what threads are coming out, what excites me about them etc.

It always feels like a process of writing and collecting demos, letting them settle, then picking which ones I want to refine into tracks for a release.

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?

So much of my work is about exploring texture and tone, using electronics and samples and vocal processing, so it’s really intrinsic to the composition process for me.

For example, some songs of mine are just a vocal melody over a drone, but the thing that gives it character and atmosphere is the quality of the drone, how it moves and develops.

I have also really gotten a lot from working with others to mix and master and co-produce with me. Having that second pair of ears is so useful, and they’re skilled in ways I’m not (and with things I don’t have the patience for!)

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?

I definitely have experienced that moment of emptiness, but it’s usually quite brief because the thing that gives me joy is writing, and I never really stop doing that!

I can get a bit tired of things I’ve been working on for a long time though and begin to doubt how good they are, which sometimes happens just before a release. I try to take a break from the songs just before an album comes out and maybe I’ll throw myself into sewing or printmaking or some other way of being creative.

Usually once a release is out in the world I’m reminded like “oh yeah, this is good!” and I feel proud of it again, and back in the mood to write and perform. That feeling comes and goes in waves.

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 find joy in music that I don’t often find elsewhere, I think it is a really unique experience. That same deep sense of joy does come to me at other times too occasionally.

For example, I have a specific memory of hiking up a mountain alone in the South of France after a rainstorm last summer, with the sun making the pine trees smell so incredible in its warmth. I remember thinking that it was a similar feeling like “this smell, being here walking in this place right now is how I feel making music.”

It's some kind of mixture between freedom and contentment. It’s really special to me.