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Last month Candian four-piece Sumo Cyco were on tour with Alien Ant Farm playing venues’ all around the UK. We had chat with frontwoman and songstress Skye Sweetnam to find out more about the way she writes lyrics and what it really means to her.
Mosh: How does the lyric writing process begin for you – Does the music come first, or the lyrics? Do you collect fragments and ideas when inspiration strikes?
Skye: Usually I’m given the music first and I use that as my inspiration to get the ball rolling, but other times a phrase or word will start the entire song idea. I’ve worked in many different ways over the years because I’ve collaborated with so many different people who have different writing styles. As of late, with my band Sumo Cyco, my guitarist/ co-writer Matt does an awesome job at producing a great bed track to work off of. I let him just go wild with interesting drum rhythms and guitar riffs and I find that’s and easier process for our sound, than to write lyrics and melody first, and music after.
Mosh: Is this process always straightforward for you? Have you ever struggled with ‘writer’s block’ or similar?
S: I have always been pretty good at pulling the inspiration out of me when it counts, but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never run into dry spells where it’s not coming as easy. I find it really comes down to being in the right frame of mind, feeling that excitement about what I’m doing. When I find the right stream of consciousness I could write for days. It’s kinda like surfing a wave, when you find one that’s working, I ride it as long as I can, sometimes I fall but I’ll never know what I could come up with if I don’t paddle out and try again.
Mosh: Do you go back to lyrics you have previously written and edit or refine them, or is it a case of ‘one and done’? Do you collaborate or share lyrics with other band members and take their feedback on board?
S: The lyric editing process is interesting because I’ve never given much thought to it, but there is definitely moments that I put in “filler” lines to come back to later. Usually that’s when I pull out the rhyming dictionary or thesaurus, to get some fresh word ideas. My guitarist Matt does edit me when I feel like I’ve come up with what I’m happy with. Usually he only has a few edits with lyrics, mostly to do with me sounding too cheesy or cute in some spots. haha He hates that.
Mosh: Are there any bands or artists that have impressed or inspired you lyrically? Do you try and emulate any other lyricists in particular?
S: Neil Fallon from Clutch writes awesome lyrics. He has a way of mixing in sci-fi and strange words and descriptions that play out like mini movies. I’m not sure if I try to emulate other lyricists, but I sure do catch myself with an influence showing through here and there. Sometimes I’ll catch myself phrasing my rhymes the way Missy Elliot would or sounding Faith No More, or creating call and answer lines like Billy Talent.
Mosh: Do you draw lyrical inspiration from outside of music, such as authors, films or artists?
S: So much of my lyrical inspiration comes outside music. I find it really rare that another piece of music will directly inspire me lyrically, as it does musically for example. I find film, current events, politics, science are my building blocks these days. Many times in the past the internal struggles of my mind play a huge role. I think I’ve written maybe half my songs about battling with my own demons.
Mosh: Is there a specific space (mental or physical) where you get ‘in the zone’, or can you write anywhere at any time?
S: I find for melody it’s driving in my car alone, but to write lyrics I do best with a notebook and a pen at my home studio. I find it hard to write lyrics without putting pen to paper. My notebooks probably look like most other writers, ideas, rhymes and words along the margins and the main lines written, then scratched out and reworked. I’ve written a few songs where I only had access to write lyrics on a laptop and it doesn’t feel a free as a piece of paper where I can circle my best ideas and draw arrows to two different endings for a phrase for example.
Mosh: Do you choose to publish your lyrics or keep them personal? Is it important that fans be able to access lyrical content?
S: I haven’t done the best job of publishing them in the past. I should publish them right after I release a song but sometimes I take too long. My bad. I produce our band’s lyric videos and try to post the lyrics where I can because I remember reading the lyric booklets in my favorite CDs as a kid. I know how frustrating it can be when you love a song but can’t make out the words.
Mosh: Can you remember when you began writing lyrics? Was it a conscious choice? Something you drifted into out of necessity?
S: As long as I can remember I’ve been writing songs and lyrics. As a kid I would make up songs about bugs and sing in the yard, or rework familiar melodies with new lyrics. I even started a girl band in 3rd grade and performed original material for the class.
Mosh: What is your favourite lyric and why?
S: I find this question next to impossible to answer. Nothing comes to my mind right away. I find my favorite lyrics are the lyrics that hit you when you need them. The lyrics that perfectly sum up an emotion that you couldn’t put into words yourself. But even that is fleeting because I’m always changing. Wait, I just googled some lines and it reminds me how often I sing this to myself when the going gets tough “It’s a long way to the top, if you wanna rock n roll” AC/DC Also love Bjork “Army of Me” is such a great phrase.
Mosh: What is your favourite lyric that YOU have written?
S: oh man.. so hard. I don’t know if I’ve written it yet. But I like “Are you going to be the villain in the story?” everyone thinks their the protagonist… but they may be the villain in someone else’s story. I also like this lyric from our new song Free Yourself, because I think it will resonate. “If you think someone will save you, save yourself, if you think that time will heal you, heal yourself, if you think the world will free you, you got to free yourself.”
Mosh: Is there anything you actively try and avoid when writing lyrics? Any topics or themes you think are overdone?
S: I guess I just avoid sounding too cliche. I don’t write much about going to the club, drinking and getting laid… at least if I am going to write about it, it would be more cryptic or about what I’m feeling while I’m doing those things. There is a bit of a battle when writing, since I’m trained from very young to strive to write a “hit.” “Hit” lyrics aren’t necessarily the most fulfilling or creative and original. So sometimes it’s a balancing act to write a “hook” but still stay true to myself as an artist.
Mosh: Is it important to you that lyrics always tell a story or have meaning?
S: Meaning yes, story not necessarily. Many times I’ll write lyrics that don’t really make sense to me at the time but after some perspective, looking back at my life when I wrote them, I’ll see the obvious connection to what I was going through or influenced by. Capturing a feeling is important, but I don’t think a song necessarily has to move from one place to another to be meaningful.
Mosh: Does your knowledge of your vocal delivery have any impact on how you write lyrics? Do you write to fit a vocal style, or fit the delivery to the lyrics?
S: This! Yes I’m all about this. Melody is first to me, so if a lyric doesn’t fit the melody or rhythm, I usually change the lyric. In rare cases if I’m head over heels for a lyric I will change the melody. I even find certain vowels or hard consonants desirable for the phrasing before I even write the line.
