For Better or Worse, I Am Wired Differently: Sam Short Dives Deep into Her Psyche in “Faulty Wiring”
Singer, songwriter and mental health advocate Sam Short, has released her highly-anticipated, debut EP Faulty Wiring – a raw and honest examination of her innermost thoughts. The five-track project is a blend of alt-pop and folk that showcases her clever but brutal lyricism with bouts of self-reflection and raw vulnerability. The project was crafted entirely female-assembled, written and produced by Short and her co-writer Liza Kaye in a college bedroom.
Short expresses in her debut EP that her strength lies in her vulnerability. She admits that she didn’t set out with an intention to empower people, but with her delicately crafted songwriting – she has.
“I wrote this project during a time in which I felt like I had truly hit rock bottom,” Short says. “I didn’t trust my mind, and I didn’t trust myself. Each song on my EP Faulty Wiring details my experience with my own toxic tendencies, my obsession with melancholia, and pure disillusionment. The title track ‘Faulty Wiring,’ serves as this project’s completion. By the end of the song, I come to terms with the fact that I will never truly be ‘fixed.’ For better or for worse, I am just wired differently.”
The official music video for the project’s title track “Faulty Wiring” was inspired by Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” montage styling, while the song itself is another Y2K interpretation.
“My song ‘Faulty Wiring’ brings to the table a newfound realization: the idea that I may not ever truly ‘solve’ myself, rather, I will need to come to terms with the fact that I am simply wired differently,” Short says. “Existing in a much more folky, indie soundscape, the song brings a raw vulnerability to the project, introducing a different side of my artistry than I have ever showcased for my fans: one that is defined by adroit lyricism and is heavily influenced by the singer-songwriter genre.”
An Oregon native now based in Los Angeles, Short uses her music to tackle some of life’s biggest challenges that we all face, and she does it in a way where we can openly sing at the top of our lungs to a catchy track that perfectly describes the things we can’t always understand.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for talking with Unpublished Magazine. You recently released your highly anticipated debut EP Faulty Wiring and a huge congratulations is in order. For any readers who are not yet familiar, what is the inspiration behind the EP?
[SAM]: This project was a deeper look into my psyche. My inner psyche throughout the project, we go through the different phases and the different experiences I've had struggling with my mental health and relationships and those two things together. By the end of the project, I come to the conclusion that maybe I'm just wired differently and that's the premise of the entire project.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Faulty Wiring touches on a lot of resilient and empowering themes. How do you embody or stay empowered outside the studio and channel that into your songwriting?
[SAM]: When I moved to LA, I was 18 and doing five sessions a week. I was obsessed with promoting myself and making a million TikToks a day and being insane. I realized this year that taking breaks is just as valuable as doing the work and having life experience. I've been traveling and exercising a lot and having fun. People forget to have fun and then they hate their lives. You’re not really living a life if you’re not gaining valuable experiences. I think for me, it’s just been living life and having exposure to different experiences which keeps me a lot more human.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Say if someone hasn’t heard any songs from Faulty Wiring yet, which song would you introduce them to that best encapsulates your artistic growth and maturity?
[SAM]: That's a good question. I would probably say the title track “Faulty Wiring.” It was the one I wrote last and it felt like a conclusion. I think it’s interesting writing all these songs and throughout my actual journey, it was happening as it happened until “Masterpiece” which is about a toxic relationship and “Hooked” was about a cheeky ode to my depression. “I Wouldn’t Love Me” was about a relationship I was in and being a toxic person in that. I feel like “Faulty Wiring” is the most mature because it’s also the most current.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Did you set up the songs to be structured or to flow in an intentional way?
[SAM]: “Masterpiece” we knew was going to come first because I wrote it a while ago. “I Wouldn't Love Me” we were actually going to choose between the two because we felt like they were similar. We tried to differentiate them and so once we chose those two, they were the main concepts for the project. I wrote a million different songs and I wrote some that were happy and empowering. I even wrote some that were depressing. Then I wrote “Faulty Wiring” and it really tied the bow on the project.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song off the EP and why do you love the song so much? Is there a certain message or element that stands out to you the most?
[SAM]: I think either “Masterpiece” or “Faulty Wiring.” “Masterpiece” was one that just came really easily and I just love the line, ‘he's a sick, sick freak,’ like something about that is really fun. It's about romanticizing a really bad person, which I think a lot of us tend to do and I remember writing it and really loving it and I feel like it channels some early Lana Del Rey vibes. I'm really proud of those lyrics.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What artists inspire you, either lyrically or sonically?
[SAM]: Lana Del Rey, visually too, she encompasses everything I love. In terms of pop, I am a Swifty at heart and I think her lyrics are crazy. Ryan Beatty is really awesome and such an insane writer. I’m really in my folk bag right now, so Noah Khan and Noah Cyrus are huge inspirations. I also love Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks. I feel like the common denominator is that all of these people are poets.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How does it feel to have a debut body of work out into the world?
[SAM]: It feels good. The response has been really amazing and I actually am proud of my work. It’s relieving and exciting to jump into the next chapter of my life.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How has the support been from friends, family and listeners?
[SAM]: It's been great. I had a little Zoom party for super fans. It was really cool to meet all of these people in person and hear about how the music has impacted them, because I think when you're just looking at numbers, even big numbers, it's hard to quantify and understand that these are real people. It was so cool to actually connect with them and I felt so much closer to them. This was the first time I did one-on-one fan outreach. I haven't had trouble finding my sound early on because I was doing a lot of writing for other people. I'm proud to have something that feels cohesive and narrative.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “Faulty Wiring” is accompanied by a music video. What is the inspiration behind the video and how was your experience filming it?
[SAM]: A lot of that footage is shot on either 35 millimeter or Super 8, which is cool, so similar to Lana’s “Video Games” aesthetic. It’s chopping a bunch of different images and it’s a whole narrative happening visually. I think that there’s something to be said for symbols and reading between the lines and watching the video. My silhouette and the things happening around me is a representative of when someone feels really isolated and the world’s just spinning around them.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You inspire many people not only with your passion for your work but also with your raw lyricism and messages of empowerment. What is something you hope to bring to people’s lives?
[SAM]: Every artist wants to be relatable. In terms of the content that I wrote on this project, I was going through a lot of the feelings I talked about and felt alone and I remember feeling fucking insane. I felt like I was losing my mind and felt so out of place. When I wrote the songs, it was crazy to see how many other people have felt the exact same way I had felt in this very unique field. My thing would be to open the door to that conversation. I think a lot of people are, but I wish that there had been someone who had made that kind of music when I was going through this. Everything that’s taboo or not talked about, I think people are cool with mental health topics, but talking about what it means in detail is a lot different because there’s a darkness that not a lot of people touch on. I think a lot of people are empowering other people, which is great, but I love to touch on the real raw vulnerability and the less pretty aspects of the mental health journey and what it means to be human. That would be my goal to be a safe space for people to go to and really, for better or for worse.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You touch on very vulnerable and deep aspects about yourself. How does it feel to be putting such vulnerable work out into the world?
[SAM]: I sometimes don't compute how dark some of the stuff is, so sometimes people are a little concerned. I really have no shame about it for whatever reason. I think the positive response has been really confirming.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What do you need in your space when you’re feeling creative inspiration hitting you and you need to write?
[SAM]: I love a journal. I love a pen with a good flow of ink.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Unpublished Magazine?
[SAM]: I’m feeling good, releasing a couple more singles this year and then working on a project which is going to take a turn sonically which I'm so excited about, because I feel like I'm really going to make the music that I've always wanted to make in the new year and announcing some tours all. This year is mostly for writing the project, releasing a few more singles and then venturing into a different sound.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What can listeners expect from this new era of yours and a new sound from you?
[SAM]: We're going back to our roots and getting really folky. I'm from Oregon and I grew up listening to singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan in my shitty Jeep driving around the woods. When I moved to LA, I thought I needed to make pop music and I was doing that a lot. Later on, I'll make my full project and then I've been realizing like why am I not just doing that now? It's still going to be pop for sure, but more on the acoustic side.
