Name: Sarah Mary Chadwick
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Nationality: New Zealand
Current release: Sarah Mary Chadwick's Messages To God is out via Kill Rock Stars.

If you enjoyed this Sarah Mary Chadwick interview and would like to stay up to date with her music and projects, visit her on Instagram, and Facebook.



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?

I grew up in a disrupted, hostile household that was dominated by the conflict between my parents. My feelings were not considered and I have little memory of my emotions being acknowledged in any significant way. I was a smart child who read a lot, presumably to escape.

I think I understood from an early age the degree to which pain and unhappiness can be expressed through the creation of art, in a way that gives them utility, but also in a way that does not provoke increased conflict. I think this desire to find a successful and safe way in which to articulate my own feelings drives my creativity.

In regards to sources of inspiration I draw heavily on memory, romantic and familial love, grief and death, but also humour and wordplay – I like to use incongruous words and motifs and I like to use language and turns of phrase that are from where I am from. I sometimes use literary allusions.

I have been doing psychoanalysis for nine years and its probably already quite obvious why psychoanalytic ideas and preoccupations speak so strongly to me, in its insistence on articulation of emotion and its interrogation of narrative. I use a lot of those concepts in my thinking and lyrics.

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?

These days I tend to start writing with a general idea of what type of record I would like to make. Then I just lean into however I’m feeling at any given time, and try to write as unconciously as I can. I dont really have a clear picture of what the end will look like, but I always know when it is finished.

I feel like a fully realised song or peice of art feels like the end of a well talked out conversation, when there’s nothing more to say at that moment, because for now, it has been said enough.

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'?

No, I just have my stuff set up all the time and I only like to sing with a microphone.

I demo most things, usually very quickly as I’m writing, and then learn and edit by listening to them while I walk the dog, seeing what sounds good and what can be a little tighter or hit a little harder – kinda testing if the conversation is ‘over’ or not.

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?

Haha no. Sometimes if I listen to someone elses song that I think is good but could be better, than can kick start me into writing a better version. I think from learning piano very formally when I was a child I learnt the skill of not needing to be ‘inspired’ or ‘in the mood’ to do creative work.

I think my emotions are usually pretty close to the surface and not difficult to access.

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

I find it quite easy if I’m honest. I don’t say that to brag or be egotistical – writing songs is just something I can do. There are other things I find challenging, like musicianship, singing and voice control, and sometimes interpersonal stuff in terms of collaboration.

I’m impatient if I find things are moving too slowly and I can be bad tempered and agressive if I’m frustrated. But writing songs is easy. :-)

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?

Yes for me, most of the time, they come at the same time as the melody and the music, and then inform the structure.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

Hmmmm … I think economy makes good lyrics. I think being true to your own real speaking voice makes good lyrics. I think being clear in your mind about what you want to say and how you want to say it makes good lyrics. Clarity and lack of pretention.

I often think if I’m bored by lyrics I’ve written, chances are they’re boring. Lyrics that don’t patronise the listener are good, I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. And I try to make them a little bit funny- a joke never goes astray, especially when your work can teter on maudlin like mine.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?
 
Haha, I have utilised a musical idea.

From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most or many other artists when it comes to writing music?

I think I throw down singing wise in a different way than most people. I think my artistic concerns are not popular or fashionable concerns. I think I’m probably more limited in terms of what I’m actually able to do than a lot of people – I’m not particularly versatile.

I think I write more, and more quickly than most people, but that’s not to say it’s neccessarily better. I think I have a unique way with words.

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 or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

I’m not entirely sure what you mean by this one, but I’m getting a sense of a kind of divining rod kind of artistic inspiration that the artist is a conduit for – I don’t like that or feel like that. I just like to work it out til it’s done.

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 dont really relate to this one either, at least not consciously. If I write songs that dont ‘fit’ for whatever reason into an album or a show or whatever, I will just leave them.

Sometimes I come back and use them later, or I just have them to play for enjoyment at home, like revisiting a fond memory.

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?

Ha ok so my new record is called Messages To God, and there’s a song on it called ‘Looked Just Like Jesus’. My previous record Me and Ennui Are Friends, Baby has a song on it called ‘Will The Lord Hold My Hand’.



Another record, The Queen Who Stole The Sky was recorded on a giant pipe organ and has a song on it called ‘I Just Came To Pray’.



So, I know that God and religious ideas don't neccessarily translate to any significant spirituality. In fact I think a lot of us can agree that sometimes it can mean the opposite – thoughtless, banal, autocratic and cruel. But I think mostly what I do is use the religious tropes and symbolisms that I grew up with (I was raised Catholic) and reappropriate them as my own. I use them to refer to the enormity of life and to characterise death. In the way that I am interested in the MORE than what we immediately understand and experience, I guess there is a certain spiruality to my work.

But also, that probably explains why I am so interested in psychoanalysis too. Which is its own kind of spirituality.

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?

It is very important for me to not critique as I go, and to only examine work in the most utilitarian way as I am writing or making it. I think its completion as I spoke about earlier is the satisfaction.

So in practise, this just looks like continuing until its done – I have zero unfinished songs or art, but in saying that I work quickly and making an entire record or exhibition is kind of my only long form process.

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?

If your interest lies in recording music, I think this is very important. My interest lies primarily in expression and songwriting, so I like that to remain the focus, with production mixing and mastering supporting as opposed to overpowering. I am always very involved in these things, although I don’t participate in the mastering process, only inform it.

Messages To God is the first record I have done in which I had someone else, Tony Espie, executive produce. The textures and soundscapes were his direction, as led by my songs. It was very rewarding and enjoyable to do this, but I think it has to be with the right person otherwise I think I would find it extremely frustrating.

David Walker (Stepford Audio) has mastered all my solo work, and there is very little I need to explain to him. I guess that would be the other thing i think is pivotal – having people in those roles aho you like and trust and who understand the work.

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 am usually an album ahead of myself, so I manage to avoid this by being well into my next project before I release the previous one.

It's a habit I got into very young and I think it prevents any writers block because there is never any urgent pressure to suddenly make a record cause you already have.

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?

Haha, look I think music is different to making a coffee, because like all art, it's trying to say something. I love cooking (I worked as a chef for a long time) so of course I understand the pleasure and beauty in making a great meal. But it's different, cause I’m not articulating anything profound, so nothing moves or changes.

I think that's the difference – art must change and challenge you. Whereas a coffee is just to be enjoyed. And theres nothing wrong with that! It's just not art.

Haha, I just remembered a lyric in a song off my record Please Daddy, from the song ‘My Mouth, My Cunt’. It goes

‘Everything’s a poem / everything’s an art’.



I remember in High school my close friend said to me ‘Did you know everything you have ever said has been contradicted by yourself?’. I don’t talk to her anymore.