Brittin Lane – Lonely Neighborhood

By starrymag | April 11, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) I’d like to think of my sound and style of music as having an ethereal, otherworldly feel to it. It’s dreamy, nostalgic and (mostly) calming.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) Some of my musical influences include Lana Del Rey, Aurora, Enya, Em Harris, Lauren Daigle, Sufan Stevens and I could go on and on. I listen to so many artists and am influenced by quite a few of them, but those are my top picks.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

 

A) My songwriting process looks a little different each time I sit down to write. I try to write the lyrics and melody together, but sometimes I get inspired when I’m out and about and will just immediately start frantically typing out a song in the Notes app on my iPhone. I also record a lot of voice memos on my phone so I can go back to them later for inspiration. My songwriting process isn’t too structured or organized, but I prefer it that way because I feel it allows for more creative freedom and spontaneity.

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music? 

 

A) I play quite a role in the production of my music. I’ve either fully produced or co-produced all of my songs. I tend to have very specific ideas in mind and really enjoy experimenting with new sounds, synths and instruments. My debut album, which released in March called Lonely Neighborhood, was produced by Malte Wegmann, Daniel Lamb and myself. I recorded the majority of the instruments in my bedroom, worked on as much production as I was able and then sent the stems to either Malte or Daniel to add the finishing touches and mix and master the tracks.

 

Q) What are some themes you explore on your new debut album Lonely Neighborhood?

 

A) The record consists of a few consistent themes: first loves, first heartbreaks, loss, nostalgia and hope.

 

Q) You’ve got a great virtual music festival coming up! What can fans expect from a live Brittin Lane performance?

 

A) I’m very excited about it! The livestream will be on my Instagram on Friday and Saturday April 10th and 11th starting at 6 pm MST. You can expect an acoustic set of some of my personal favorite songs and, either before or after playing each song, I like to share a little bit about the story or meaning behind it. I really try to make the music come alive for each listener and I try to connect them to the story.

 

Q) What songs off your Lonely Neighborhood are you looking forward to performing live?

 

A) At some point, I’d really love to perform “Starting Over” and “Burn.” Anyone who has listened to my music in the past knows that 99% of my music is very calm and mellow. But I really branched outside of my comfort zone with those two tracks and managed to make a couple of fun, feisty, upbeat pop songs that I think would be a blast to perform.

 

Q) Which songs off the album hold a special place in your heart and what makes them standout so much?

 

A) That’s definitely a challenging question because they’re all important to me for specific reasons. But I would say that “Gravity,” “Four Corners” and “Starting Over” each hold very special meanings to me. “Four Corners” is an especially vulnerable song. I wrote it right after I was diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury that I got in a skateboarding accident and it was a very isolating time. I also ended up getting sick with a couple of chronic illnesses as a result of the injury called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and Dysautonomia. The whole world is currently experiencing a just a small taste of what every chronically ill person experiences on a daily basis as we’re all in isolation and quarantine. “Quarantine” is pretty much my everyday life and it’s actually been a little funny how little my life has changed since the pandemic started. When I was diagnosed, it was a major adjustment going from being a social, outgoing teenager to barely being able to leave my house without struggling. So, the song “Four Corners” comes from that experience of dealing with a major health issue and feeling very lonely and isolated. My house started to feel like a prison and the four corners of my room felt like a cage that I couldn’t leave because my own brain was preventing me from doing so. It was tough, but songwriting played a huge role in helping me find myself again and see the hope and beauty in the little things that I couldn’t see before.

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to this album as a whole?

 

A) I hope that as they listen to the album it provides an escape for them. I hope that it transports them into a whole other world, into a safe haven that allows them to remember the beautiful things life has to offer. I hope that each listener will be able to relate somehow to the album and think “she wrote this about me” – that they’ll feel less alone in their own struggles and feel hopeful for the future, realizing that it really does get better.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

 

A) Due to my health issues, I haven’t had very much experience with performing and it will likely stay that way – at least to some extent, though I do plan on performing at open mics around coffee shops as well as on livestreams. My favorite place that I performed at in the past is a beautiful theater called Stargazers Theater. I performed there with a few of my talented friends in order to help raise money for a charity. It was a ton of fun and I’d love to perform there again sometime!

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) This is such a hard question because I look up to so many amazing artists. But I think I’d love to collaborate on a song with Sufjan Stevens. He has such a unique, interesting style and is an absolute genius and I’d be really curious to see what the entire process of writing, recording and producing a song looks like for him.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

 

A) Lately I’ve been listening to an artist by the name of Ashe. I’ve been really loving her music and my favorite songs of hers at the moment are “Bachelorette” and “Cold in California.” I really resonate with those songs and love the overall feel of them.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) It’s extremely important to me that I connect with my supporters as much as possible. They’re all real people with real stories and they’re the reason I get to do what I’m doing. Social media is the tool I use to do that and I’ve connected with so many amazing people. I get messages on a daily basis, mainly on my Instagram from people all over the world who share their stories with me or share about how they really resonated with one of my songs and it’s the greatest feeling ever. I’ve even become close friends with a few of them and we haven’t even met in real life yet! I also want to use my social media platforms to spread a message of positivity and authenticity, to share my story and to (hopefully) inspire others. It can be so rare to find “real” people on social media because we all want to feel like we’re measuring up with everyone else, as if it’s a competition of who is the most beautiful or successful or who has the most money or the most followers. But I’m really trying to be honest with my followers by sharing the good, the bad and the ugly that occurs in my day to day life. When I’m having a bad day, I share about that in addition to the many good days I have because I don’t want anyone to look at me and think that I have it all together or that I am perfect because that couldn’t be further from the truth. We all struggle because we’re all human. I want to share that with others. So, I think that while social media definitely has its issues and its flaws, it can also be a huge gift that can connect us all if you choose to use it that way.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) I’d like to first and foremost say thank you. Thank you to every single person who has ever listened to one of my songs, even if it was just for a minute. I get to do what I love every single day and I completely owe it to God and to the wonderful people that choose to support me on a daily basis. I’m forever grateful for the community we’ve built and I can’t wait to see how it continues to grow.