The Shaped by Sound podcast is made possible through support from Come Hear NC, a program of the North Carolina Arts Council within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

I guess you can't see that.

We're not supposed to see the bottoms of these either.

It's fine.

It's all fine.

Cool.

Magic of yes.

Oh, yeah.

Yes.

Oh, gosh.

Yeah.

Okay.

There we go.

It's going.

Okay.

I'm really blowing it.

I guess, but whatever is meant to be is meant to be right.

Right.

Exactly.

Okay.

Yeah.

I need to take a step back here.

Yeah.

But it's hard to do that sometimes.

So, like, what if it's different from what I want?

Okay.

Why don't you cut it?

Okay.

The lovers.

Okay.

Beautiful.

Can we see that card?

Yeah, absolutely.

So, we pulled the lovers.

There you go.

Can you talk to me about the lovers?

Yeah.

Well, it's a major Arcana card.

Yeah.

These... Yeah.

I mean, just traditionally, the lovers, they're in love.

They're sort of like blessed through heaven or like the greater universe.

And then there's like this like fruit on these trees that we're seeing.

There's kind of a... In this deck, there's sort of like an Adam and Eve vibe.

Right.

There's like a snake in the tree.

Yeah.

But it's like heaven and earth.

They're like... What they're doing is like meant to be... It's like larger than just one person themselves.

It's about both of them together and how that's like this connection that is through the universe.

And is this like this character, this third character?

Yeah.

Maybe that's like the universe.

I think it could be an angel or it could be a god type vibe.

They are like pushing them together.

Yeah.

It seems like fated, sort of like Cupid or like... Yeah.

So, maybe this conversation you and I were having today is fate.

Yeah.

Maybe it is.

Do you want to pull a clarifying card?

Yes.

Okay, cool.

Okay.

Wow.

That looks tough.

It's cool because we're getting all these two energies.

So that's like... It's like... I got to show the clarifying card.

Oh, yes.

It's the two of swords.

And the swords are the... This is a minor arcana card.

It's the element of air.

This feels scary.

It's... I mean, she's kind of like at an impasse, right?

She's like... She can't see.

There's the moon.

There's the shadow elements.

Yeah.

Like, what things that are unseen.

The sword cards can be like... Since it's like air and like thought and it can be like a little anxiety in your head making a decision.

She's kind of like... She's not moving forward.

She's not moving backward.

She's kind of stuck.

She's got this water, you know, like to balance her out right there that's behind her.

And so there is this sense that like she can make a decision to open up, you know?

And she is... I mean, she's fierce with the... She's wielding the swords, you know?

And she's blindfolded with those swords.

So it feels like she's like trusting in herself.

100%.

Okay.

Yeah.

What do you think that means for our conversation here, Skylar?

I think it means that like we're in this together.

I think we should pull one more.

We'll pull one more?

Yeah.

Just to clarify.

Okay.

Oh, cool.

Oh, I love this one.

Just because of... I'll be honest with you, as a total newbie, I'm loving the outfit here on this one.

I'm sorry.

100%.

Yes.

I got to show our audience here.

We pulled the Knight of Wands.

This is a clarifying... Triple clarifying card?

Yes.

Well, at this point, we're just doing a three card reading.

Okay.

So what's your interpretation of the Knight of Wands?

Well, the wands are fire, the element of fire.

So I love that because I'm a Leo, which is a fire sign.

And so I'm always like excited when the wands show up.

The Knight is like leading the charge.

Yeah.

He's got a cool outfit.

The Knights are always like, yeah, they're adventurous.

They're going out.

They can be defending, but they're sort of like, yeah, leading the charge.

From him, I like how much his horse is in the... Yeah, a lot of horse.

A lot of horse in the card.

What is he holding?

Yeah, there's a lot of plumage.

What is he holding there?

That is the wand or a rod.

Yeah.

It looks like a tree branch.

That's what the wand is.

Exactly.

I'm wondering if that goes back to our little lovers over here.

Yeah, there's trees in there too.

Yeah, we're getting the air, we're getting the fire.

And then we have all of it going on in the lovers card.

So that's cool.

I think we're collaborating together.

We're going to go with our intuition.

We're not going to let it keep us stuck there.

We're going to have the movement of the Knight.

Okay.

Do you think we might get defensive?

I hope not because this is in the middle, right?

So if this is where we're ending up, I think we're going to charge through confidently and with flair.

Yes.

On that, I think we should get into this conversation.

Should we leave the cards out maybe?

Or do we put them away?

I don't know.

Let's leave our first card out.

How about that?

Yeah, I love that.

How about that?

Yeah.

Cool.

How about this?

I'll put them right here.

Okay, great.

Yeah, we could put it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

So how's it going?

I don't know.

I feel like I'm just, my mind is like racing right now.

Okay.

So I kind of want to start our conversation today from the beginning.

Okay.

You know, you said that you've, you know, felt like as a young girl that you felt like you were supported and sort of nurtured within your creative curiosities, right?

Can you kind of talk to us a little bit more about that?

Yeah.

I mean, I was really lucky in that regard.

My family's very creative.

My parents are not professionally, but just like very musical.

My brother also very artistic.

He's younger than me.

And we just, from like an early age, were just encouraged to take our artistic ideas seriously.

Like, there was a piano, my dad plays a piano that was always around and we could just like play on it whenever we wanted to.

I grew up in Ashland, Virginia in the woods and my parents used to like invite all of like these kids from school for like one week in the summer to come put on these backyard variety shows.

So we'd like, we'd do like songs or like people would do like write plays and stuff and like do little skits and just like little kids.

The idea of like starting that at the beginning of the week and like, then we put on the show at the end of the week with the, like for the parents and stuff.

And that was like really powerful because it was just like, you can do whatever you want.

It's just like with whatever you have around and whoever's around, you can like make the vision come to life.

And then it took place like in our, like at the edge of the woods in our backyard.

So there was just like two trees and my dad would like hang some cord and like some like a sheet like over the like cord between the trees.

And that was like the stage.

So it was very much, I think made us feel like we could just make whatever we wanted to.

It seems like that really kind of would bring a lot of confidence and being creative.

Totally.

Right.

Totally.

Do you think that sort of like gave you that, I guess, ability to like feel like, hey, like we can go out and play and it can be more than just play.

It can just like be mind expanding.

Absolutely.

And like very, I think the fact that happened like from a very early age just made me not even know that like, you know, like not, there was nothing to over, it was just like sort of like a way of, of existing in the world.

It's like thinking about things like that.

I'm wondering how that has impacted you as an artist today.

Yeah.

Like thinking about you as a young kid and sort of like exploring a bit.

Yeah.

How has that kind of impacted you right now and what you're doing?

Yeah.

Well, I think that like the nature element of that, like being growing up in the woods and like having the stage sort of be there in, in the woods, in the forest, just like made it feel like that was a part of the, that was like one of the characters that you were like playing with, you know?

So I think like that like engendered this relationship with nature in that way that is still very much I think like where I got a lot of inspiration and go to like ground and always kind of maybe trying to find the next exciting idea and explore in that way that they're all, there's like a, like temporality to it, like very quick, you know, it's like, and you're sort of like, okay, you do that thing and like, what's the next thing, you know, like being a little less precious about things.

So it's been very impactful for you because it makes you feel like you can explore as many things as you want.

Absolutely.

And also ask your friends to do crazy things.

Yeah, let's go hang out with the bed sheet.

Yeah, let's go hang out.

Yeah.

Do you want to like wear this weird costume and stand here and like do some weird motions and we're going to get it on camera and be like, okay, because yeah, you know, cause yeah, I think as an adult, you don't get as many of those opportunity unless it's, you know, unless you're pursuing that, you know, you don't really get as many opportunities to do that.

Yeah.

And do you think that sort of impacted your music directly, the music that you're making?

Definitely, definitely.

The location of where I grew up, I'm thinking like anything about my last record has had like a big, a big effect on what is like interesting to me artistically in that where I grew up is this small town on this road called Yankee Town Road where the Yankees camp during the Civil War.

So there were like, you know, bullets in our backyard that we would find from the Civil War and like the past felt very, very present and like tangible.

That I think was like a lot of what I was thinking about and like writing this record recently or like how that lives in the land or like in our surroundings and how we interact with it.

It feels like, so where you're from sort of directly influenced you in that way because of the physicality of it.

The physicality.

Yeah.

Where do you think like beyond just like finding things on the ground and holding the physical objects, you know, like where do you think creativity comes from, especially for you?

Like where do you find inspiration from?

I think it's the same like, so it's like the, you know, I think it's the same sort or even, you know, all of it, the same source of like all creation, you know, I think it's like a, Mary Ruffle calls it like a riling.

But like I think it's that same impulse, like, you know, like eating or desire.

Like I think it's just like very inherently human to like be able to tap into that source of like ongoingness.

So you think it's sort of something like at the real that's just out there that you can tap in, tap out?

I do.

Yeah.

I think it's like, yeah, yeah, I think it is out there.

It's also in here.

But I do think it's like the energy of it is here that you go into.

Do you think it's more of like a tuning into it?

Yes.

I think it's like a triangulation, like a song and like a person and the energy of whatever is like the greater energy of it.

I feel like I often think about that as like a triangulation.

It's like you, it's not that the song is like not necessarily mine, but it is like since I'm like writing, since I'm catching it, what I, who I am has an effect on it.

But I don't think it's like inherently mine.

I think songs and that energy source, whatever it is, are like, are everyone's.

And once you've sort of grabbed onto it, tuned it to yourself, then it becomes your version of what that is.

Yes, yes.

That must be a really special feeling when you've caught something that or tuned into something that you think is really like exciting.

Totally.

Yeah.

Totally, totally.

Can you tell us a little bit more about a time where that's happened for you?

Sure.

The last record, "Country," I was like writing, there was like a guitar that was like very much involved that is an old guitar my brother's, he like pulled out and we were like playing on it.

It very much felt like the songs wanted to like come through that guitar.

It was kind of like a catalyst.

I decided that I was going to call the record "Country" from that.

It was sort of like "Fire Country" was the first song, it was like the initial hook into that.

And then once I decided I was going to call it "Country," the rest of the songs just sort of like, it felt like they were like in a cloud sort of like here.

And then I just had to sort of like pull them down.

It like took a little bit of time, but it felt like that was very much a time where I felt tuned into this thing.

I can speculate about what the circumstances were that like created that for myself or allowed me to be as in tune as I was at that moment.

But yeah.

So for you it could be inspiration can come from a guitar, it can come from anything.

Do you feel like that sort of once you find that inspiration, just like the cascade happens?

Sometimes.

Yeah.

Sometimes, not all the time.

Yeah.

And, but it is always that chasing of that.

For me, it's always the like sort of chasing of that magic of like, of the awe, because it's like awe essentially is the feeling that I'm chasing that is like sort of a moving, it can be a moving target.

Sometimes the situations that like created it for you in once, you know, they don't work the second time necessarily.

So it's all, you're always sort of like checking in.

Yeah.

How does it feel to have a song be almost a moving target for you?

Cool.

I mean, I think that they, I think there's this trust that you have to like, have with it that it isn't yours.

It's whatever if this song isn't for me, like another one will be, you know, or like if I don't have time for it right now, but you do have to show up for it.

So I do feel like the Muse is like, likes to be paid attention to.

You can't like, she, you know, she doesn't want to like, I'm using the gender expansive she, but like, she doesn't want to like, she wants to feel special and like, and like paid attention to and like worshiped.

I like leave out like, you know, offerings to the whatever as like a gratitude or like to be like, I'm, you know, like I'm here for you.

I'm listening for you.

Yeah.

You know, cause it's a listening.

It sounds like sort of the songs that you're making, the music that you're making is very, as a very spiritual process for you.

When did that start?

I think it, I think it always has been.

Yeah.

I think it always has been the word spiritual is not like a thing that was in my mind when I was younger.

But I think that the, yeah, repeat your question.

There's something that you said that I was like, made me think of.

It seems like the, you, what you do is like, as far as your music goes, it seems like a very spiritual process.

And I'm wondering, when did you sort of realize that like, it's not about sitting down, hammering out a song.

It's more about like putting your finger on the right, putting your finger on the pulse of what's inspiring you and what is out there that's larger than you.

Yeah.

I love that.

I think that I, because there was like the piano is something that feels really tied to that for me.

And I, since it was like always around and since I have like a very musical family, I think like in playing the piano, I always felt just like very, and in singing too, because my mom is a singer, my, you know, as long as I can go back, like it's very, music is like in my blood.

So there's, there's very much this feeling when I was younger that like, it was just like, it was something that wasn't mine, actually.

It was like larger than me in this way, even then, because it was like connected so much to like, like ancestral or like familial place in almost a way of like, as I got older, like responsibility or like duty in this way.

But when I was younger, very much just like, I didn't feel like I was, yeah, I, it felt very much like, it kind of always, those were like the most, like, those were the moments I thought of like that, I was always like drawn to that feeling.

Yeah.

What excites you by it though, I guess?

Yeah, I think it's like, you said responsibility, right?

It seems like that's pressure.

Yes, I think it can be.

I think like that I've gone in and out of like places with it because, but that's like probably related more to like selling music, you know, or like the industry of music.

That's related to a lot of that.

But I think because like, yeah, it was an opportunity to get to like pursue art professionally, which is something that like other people in my family were not able to do, you know?

And I think that for various reasons, but I think that's that.

But I think the like, what is it that draws me to it?

I think like this feeling of connection and that like life is amazing.

Like, or it can't, you know, that like the, this like the, all this like machinations of like what we've made up in the world, you know, like we made tables, we made governments, we made microphones, like we made it all up.

We can make up anything, you know?

And that the moments of that, that like foster connection and like foster that feeling of magic are the ones that like pull me towards that.

Do you feel like you do that inside of like a concert or like a live music experience?

Do you feel like you're conjuring that magic in a way?

I mean, I think when a band plays together, absolutely.

It's like very, or like with the audience, like everybody involved is involved in it.

Yes.

That's like, that's the goal for sure.

That's really neat.

And I want to know why you chose the word country for your record.

Yeah.

So I had that guitar or found that guitar and I started playing what became the song Fire Country.

And I, at the time had a couple other songs I was kind of working on and the word country was like in it for some, it was just showing up.

And I was like, I can't have the word country in this song.

Like it's gotta be, I gotta figure something else out, you know, cause I already got that going on.

And then some part of me was like, well, what if you just called it country?

It's not a country record, but the name of it is country.

And that was like a really fun place to start from.

And that's when the rest of the songs kind of showed up and it felt like, okay, this is the journey right now.

So within this record, it sounds like you're sort of stretching and expanding that idea of genre.

You kind of just spoke to it just now, like this isn't a country record, right?

But it does have this direct connection to place.

Yeah.

Right.

Where I grew up, pretty rural.

And there was very much this like identity in that area of like country, like being country or like listening to country music, which is like not something I got from my parents, but like something that I love because where I grew up and just like where it was.

And like seeing that and seeing it be kind of like an anti-establishment sort of identity, you know, like an anti, like, especially in the South, a very like working class identity and like a very like self-responsibility, like, which is like the reality of where I grew up.

But then like seeing the ways in which like that was a vehicle for like positive connection versus like something that was like oppressive.

And just thinking about the like definition of country as like wilderness and that that is like opposite of like the seat of power was what I was thinking about for that word specifically because the idea of country is something that actually isn't contained within a border or that is uncontainable, you know, and that's essentially what country can be.

Yeah.

And are you a character within that in a way?

It sounds like in this record, you're sort of on the journey there, right?

Yeah.

Is that accurate?

I think so.

Because like the medium of the song is kind of like a, there's the use of the I. So yeah, I think the character who's like, it isn't necessarily like one character is singing the song, but it's like the singer of a song is delivering with the first person this idea of this embodiment of different iterations of what that is.

Now also, so we drew the lover's card or the tarot deck.

Yes.

Can you talk a little bit about this record country and just romance?

One of my favorite authors is Rachel Kushner.

And in one of her books, The Flamethrowers, she talks about there's a character who's like all songs are unrequited love songs.

It was like a very bold statement to me, but I love that's like very wonderful for a thing to go on.

But I do think there's some interesting emotional truth to that statement.

There's a longing present always, and that that is definitely present in a lot of the songs of Country.

But the longing is like love, it's many different types of love, but it is always kind of a love that's not totally, I mean, that is some of them are like interesting thing to listen to and interesting thing to like, when something's like sort of completed, it is a little bit difficult to embody it on stage.

For what you've written inside of this record, does it feel like that love, the pursuit of it, that's a moving target in a way?

Yeah, I think for sure, for sure.

I think that like unrequitedness of it or like inability to resolve.

And there's a lot of like, I'm a big Roman Greek myth nerd, but that is like in a lot of my writing.

But there's the Odyssey, Odysseus is sort of like a could be like character that's being explored or like the hero's journey in a larger sense in the record.

But he is like this character where it is very much, he's on his way home, but it's on his way home that he has all these journeys, right?

All these adventures.

And he like, that there's a Borges poem that was exciting to me at the time, but that I was writing this where he talks about Odysseus, like this wild dog.

And it's sort of like the point of view of Odysseus when he gets home, like what is there for him?

You know, like there's this wonderful life and his family, but it's like, but is he Odysseus in this place?

You know, because he used to roam over the world like a wild dog is how he talks about him.

But yeah, is it possible for this hero in the hero's journey and this adventure to have this sort of like settled, happy place?

Is it happy for him?

Is that a question that you're exploring inside of Country for yourself?

I'm sure subliminally that it is.

I'm sure it is.

I think for a song like Nobody on Country, that is like very much thinking about that Odysseus story.

It's tied more to this idea of like, is it ultimately harmful to have the idea of the hero?

Like, you know, there's even, is it even like a lot of that song is like, what are the like feminist like explorations of like, where are the women in the story of the Odyssey?

And like, what do they get to do?

And it's like listening to it and me, you know, identifying with Odysseus as the character, like that's the character I identify within the story.

And then like, you know, but like, he's kind of, you know, there's like all these moments where you're like, is, you know, is he that heroic?

Like, is he just kind of like tricky, you know?

Is that something to want to have a place at, you know, or place in?

Is there an alternate way of existing?

But yeah.

So kind of going off of that, you know, we're talking about Odysseus, we're talking about your hero's journey, right?

Talking about Odysseus.

Also, I love the hero's journey.

And I apply it to a lot of things that we do here for work, which is really fun.

But I wanted to talk a little bit about the stage and the aesthetic of your show.

Because you know, we were talking to you about it initially and sort of workshopping what you wanted it to be and you sort of said you wanted to create like an ocean and have it be at the edge of the earth.

Yeah.

Which feels pretty much of the Odyssey.

Yeah.

What is it about that visual element that sort of inspires you?

I think that, I mean, the ocean's very much a, it's been a big part of my dream life, my whole life.

And then also it's, my parents live at the Outer Banks.

I spent a lot of time at the ocean.

And it's a very, it's very tied to like the source of those songs for me.

And just, yeah, I'm like, then maybe the songs come from there.

Or like, it's, you know, it's interesting to me as like the place that like humans a long time ago once crawled out of, you know, that we're always maybe trying to, like, we miss it maybe on some like cellular level.

Obviously not.

I'm deathly afraid, I would never go on a submarine.

Wait, but are you afraid of the water?

No, I'm not afraid of the water.

I love the water.

Yeah?

But I wouldn't, you know, like I wouldn't live under the water.

No, I wouldn't live under the water.

Let's get that off the table.

Yeah.

You know, that it's like a terrifying, powerful place.

But yeah, I think that that is the way, the power of that, the power of the ocean is like similar of course, to the power of like, you know, fire or something that it's like not controllable by humans in one sense.

And that in the way that like, we really try to control land and we really try, obviously we try to control those other elements as well.

But like, it is this like powerful thing that in some ways humans haven't like conquered in this way that we like to believe we've conquered other things.

And it's so, I love that the power of that feels very intriguing to me.

Yeah.

It's one of those things where as you were saying that, I was just thinking like, right, like we try and control holding back water, right?

And then we have hurricanes.

Right.

Or we have, you know, speaking of fire country, right?

Like we try and control living in certain places and yet it comes back to just wreak havoc on us.

Right.

Because nothing will be able to control.

Right.

Which is amazing.

It is amazing.

Like it's really cool to not be able to control it.

Right.

Yeah.

It'll, you know, be hard for us in the long run if we, you know, but yeah.

And it feels like... In the short term.

In the short term, yeah.

And we can do things to alter but never control.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And also like when we were talking through the aesthetic and sort of your inspiration for that, you kind of wanted to have something that we started at the end of the day and went through night and then came through into the daytime, into the morning.

Why was it that you wanted to approach it that way?

I like this like cyclical as opposed to like linear time, like this cyclical sort of nature of thing, like the rhythm of things.

And I love that, you know, showing that in a day.

And the star, you know, the stars and the moon and the sun are like very present in a lot of my songs.

And it felt like a nice way to like go on that journey.

And I think of my... I've thought of my records as like seasonal or like I think about songs within the like time of day.

So it felt like that made sense.

Yeah.

Like what do you mean by... What do you mean by it's usually a time of day during a song?

I don't know.

Maybe it's like when they are being written or maybe it's like a mood that is related to a type of day.

Because my type of day is definitely... Or my type of mood is definitely related to the time of day.

But I think, yeah, some songs feel like night.

Some songs feel like sunshine.

Some songs feel like summer.

Some feel like winter, you know?

Yeah.

And that's like a sign, whatever it is, that's inspiring at the moment, right?

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

And they're like colorful too.

And I think that just... Yeah.

I feel like when I can visualize in that way, it helps me feel like that's when I know that they're close to being what they could be.

The songs are like almost done or I can see them specifically.

Yeah.

Within this show, we've called it Shaped by Sound.

It's about sort of how music inspires us and who we are as people, both communities and kind of informs us every single day of our lives.

I'm wondering, how would you interpret, how are you shaped by sound?

Well, I always say I feel like sound is smarter than we are in this way.

Or when I think about that, I think about when I'm writing a song, sometimes like the vowel sounds or like the sounds of the words will be present before the words or the meanings of them.

And that's like honoring that wisdom because it has this wisdom to it that's not necessarily like inherently logical.

And so that, yeah, they feel like they have their own knowledge and wisdom, the sound does to listen to.

And then I like, yeah, I just think sound is everything.

And sound being, like I think about the Outer Banks and like the sound is like the body of water before you get to the islands, before you get to the ocean.

It's kind of like this, I don't know, safer place to be or like, yeah, beautiful.

Yeah, I don't know.

For you, is it just like tapping into or channeling some sort of comfort?

Yeah, maybe.

But the comfort is like the... I'm like, it's not like a stuck comfort.

It's not like a two swords comfort or anything.

It's like a... And more like the Virgo or more like the fool comfort, you know, like the, like, I've got my little bag, I got my buddy with me or like going off into the, onto the journey sort of comfort.

Yeah.

So for you, I guess, and just so people know that you're talking about tarot cards.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

And yeah, the fool is the person that is ready to go out and just... Beginning, beginner's mindset.

And just have this adventure.

Yes, yes.

And for you, so that's maybe how sound is shaped for you, right?

That's how it shapes you.

You're ready to go out and just find whatever comes.

I love that.

That's why we drew that card.

Yeah, I think so.

I think so.

At this point, I'd like to kind of talk a little bit about the set list.

Okay.

And if we could just talk through the songs.

Sure.

So I'd like to start out with, I know we talked about it a little bit already, but if we could talk through Fire Country.

Sure.

Yeah.

It kind of came pretty, pretty full.

It was like during a lot of the Australian wildfires in like 2020.

And that, but then there were, I had this like old journal with like, I was like living in LA for a while and I had some notes from that time that sort of found their way into that song.

Like the experience of like playing at this like rock club and seeing all these like posters on the wall of like different artists.

And yeah, I think the fire element of that song was like so strong and like really drove that.

So beyond the fire element of like the physical, what was it, like what else was driving that?

I think this experience of like, cause it was 2020.

So it was, you know, everybody was very much in their own world and like their own news source, their own, you know, you like talk to people that are having wildly, vastly different experiences.

And so feeling so like oppositional to different people and like feeling like you're living in different realities.

And then also having this like terrifying, but like unifying in some like sense of like the element of fire really just like being a great leveler for all of that noise of like at the end of the day, these are like, this is a, this will take its course, like regardless of what we think.

Right.

No matter what we bring into it, this is just, we can't control this.

We can't control it, although we might be creating the circumstances that make it happen.

But yes, we can't control the effects of it.

Right.

Can you talk to us about "Truck"?

"Truck" was just, I knew that "Truck" was the song I wanted to write.

When the song showed up, I knew one of them was called "Truck."

Really?

Yes.

Why?

I don't know.

I just knew that it was.

Probably because I love trucks.

I love, but yeah, that, and I just knew, I felt like that was integral to what I was exploring this identity of like country and like what I loved.

And this, I'm just like thinking about my dad as a sweatshirt that's like, "A man is truck.

It's a beautiful thing."

You know, that type of vibe.

What about a woman in a truck?

Exactly, exactly.

But, so I knew that was going to be one of the songs.

And then I just like writing, writing towards that, you know, and I love Lucinda Williams is a huge inspo for this record and I was like, "I just want songs you can sing along to."

And like, and I really felt like it was important to like name and like include some of these like people that I love in the beginning of that song.

Right.

You get Emmylou in there.

Emmylou, yeah.

Lucinda, yeah.

June Carter, yeah.

And it does feel like there's a sense of adventure with that song.

Truly, yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, it's like taking place in a truck, you know, you're going, you're turning the radio to the right station.

I'm thinking about one time I was going through a breakup and I had a CD in my car that was like sad country songs on it.

And my friend Bryce at the time like took it.

She was like, "You can't listen to this anymore."

Right.

But like very much like feeling like that, like, you know, the way that the songs have such an effect on your mood, you know?

Yeah.

Oh my gosh.

And it's, I mean, that does for you, like now that you've made "Truck," what is that mood?

Yeah.

I mean, yeah, it's just fun.

It's fun to hear like Nick play the guitar on that song because he just like takes it to that place.

And we're just like, yeah, just want to be alive.

When do you like it taken off?

Windows down.

Yeah.

Summertime, just fun.

That's right.

Yeah.

That's right.

Head to the Outer Banks.

Can we talk about "Femme Fatale?"

Yes.

This feels like a different vibe.

It's a different vibe.

Yeah.

Nighttime vibe.

Yeah.

That song is, well, it's from a while ago now.

But that was my second record.

And I was kind of like in a very different place.

It was a darker period.

It was like, since it was my second record, I kind of was like figuring out how to write, I think, write songs sustainably for me emotionally.

And so a lot of those songs are like kind of heavy for me.

Now at this point, that is a song that it has taken on a life of its own.

So the place that it came from is sort of different now.

But it has always been about that unbridled sort of like... I mean, actually, it's funny.

I'm thinking about it like fire.

It is sort of the same energy that there is this undeniability to this power and strength of these forces that regardless of what we do are present and will ultimately decide things for us.

That's definitely the vibe of that song.

But I think I really loved the... I don't know, just like the feeling of embodying... It's definitely a character in that song.

It's very bravado, putting on this sort of bravery or this bigger than life sort of feeling.

And that was like a really... From a place where I used to write very... And still do, very sensitive and quiet songs.

And coming from a place of playing on stage and being like, "What is a song that feels amazing to play on stage with a band?"

And writing towards that.

Not always, but it's just an opening.

Yeah.

So it feels... It's like an empowerment thing for you.

Absolutely.

Like, "Let's grab the reins on this and be bold."

Yes.

Can you talk to us about "Lovestorypastlife" one word?

Yes.

One word, "Lovestorypastlife" That song, I had been hanging out at my friend's flower farm and we had a fire there.

And then this song came the next morning.

There were a bunch of flowers there, obviously.

And there was, yeah, just this idea of what happens to these... We were talking about past lives or whether or not you believe in that.

I believe in everything is possible.

But we were just like those connections that you have with people that are not necessarily able to be explored.

You have a really strong connection to something and you're like, "Where does it go if it's not a relationship or if it's not going to turn into something else?"

And that's very much what that story or what that song is about.

And you believe that it maybe could be something that happened in a past life?

I think that's really fun to think about.

It's a really fun way to think about explaining those chemical strong connections that you have sometimes.

And yeah, that'd be fun, wouldn't it?

Maybe, I don't know.

Maybe scary.

We can believe in everything.

I believe in everything for sure.

And "All My Gratitude."

Yes.

This is a new song?

This is a new song from the new record.

Yeah, the piano is very present in this.

It is really like a... It's a song of gratitude to the muse, 100%.

And to sound for sure.

And to the band for playing.

Yeah, yeah.

So it seems like kind of what you were talking about earlier is just this chase for the muse.

Is this sort of you trying to chase this down and just hold on to it for a second and saying like, "Thank you so much for this journey"?

Oh, yeah.

Maybe not a holding, but like a... A summoning.

Yeah, definitely a summoning.

A summoning, sure.

Sure.

Definitely.

Just like an offering.

An offering.

Yeah.

And the way that you approach the piano, it seems like to you, you said before that that is sort of like this way to start channeling something else.

Yeah, for sure.

Do you feel like you're doing that specifically in this song too?

Definitely.

I think... Yeah.

I mean, the piano is so... It's just... Musical instruments are like this, but it's so big.

It's so like... And you're like sort of place yourself at it and you're like, it has sounds and overtones and things that feel so... You just get like immediate gratification in some ways from it that's like really, it sounds dramatic in a way that's really appealing to me.

It lets me tap into that.

And each piano is different, right?

Yeah.

There's something... Which is cool.

There's something fun and spooky in that, right?

Yeah, very, very.

This is the last one in your set is Mother's Daughter.

Can you talk to us about Mother's Daughter?

Yes.

So Mother's Daughter, I had the line, "I'm my mother's daughter," which I overheard at my best friend's wedding from one of her friends.

And I was like, "Oh, that's really... " I was like, "That'll be fun."

It was in the middle of these songs and I was like, "Oh, that belongs."

And then I just was thinking about all these sayings that my mom has or that are passed down in my family.

And I was like, "It'd be really funny to put those all in a song."

And so that's what I did.

That's basically what it is, is just this description of me and my best friend, we were growing up, but then also the pieces of advice my mom would give.

You can have it all, just not at the same time.

Yeah.

Oh, that's so cool.

I feel like that happens with so many adults where they just have these little nuggets of wisdom that you can just... They'll just throw at you all the time.

So for you to be able to collect all of them... Yes, it's fun.

It's nice because it kind of works like a little charm that way too.

You're just like, "Okay, I've got this song."

It's like kind of got that container of all those little sayings, whether or not I want to listen to them or not at any point in time.

Can you talk to us a little bit about your community here in North Carolina and what that means to you?

Sure.

Yes.

I mean, North Carolina is just a fantastic place to be an artist, I feel like.

In the music community, there's so many different people doing so many different things.

Everybody is very supportive of each other.

It's very DIY.

It's very like everyone should be involved.

And that's just incredible and incredibly fruitful.

My band, we all live within five minutes of each other for the most part, which is incredible.

I just feel like you're walking through a neighborhood of your friends.

Like Matt, who plays drums with me, one day just was walking his dog, Bobby, down the street.

"Hey, can anybody play drums with you?"

We're like, "Okay, amazing."

So that's incredible to just have that very fertile ground right around us.

And people pursuing that just makes more of it happen too.

Do you feel like you've kind of gone back to where you were growing up in Virginia in a way where you're just having your friends over?

It totally feels like that.

It totally feels like that because, yeah, it has that joy and play to it.

And it feels very specific to this area.

And I don't know what the special makeup is of things that make it like that, but it feels very much like North Carolina is that place for people.

That sort of playground.

Yeah, that playground.

That's really cool.

Skylar, thank you so much for being on the show.

Thanks for playing.

And thanks for the tarot.

Anytime.

I'm learning, so... Well, we can learn together.

We'll learn together.

We'll be the fools.

Yes.

Perfect.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Thanks for joining us on the Shaped by Sound podcast.

If you'd like to hear some of the songs we discussed today, you can find them on our website, pbsnc.org/shapedbysound.