shy martin Shares Her Late Night Thoughts in Debut Album
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down with us today, how are you doing?
[SHY]: I'm good. I've just been finishing up stuff for the album release. Basically finishing up our videos and all the photos and rehearsing some live stuff. So yeah, just preparing basically. But yeah, it's exciting.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I read that you’re from Sweden. For people who haven’t been there, what’s the music scene like?
[SHY]: I would say, growing up, there were so many bands. I grew up in a small town and outside that small town I think the band scene was very big when I grew up. And I don't know if it is anymore. It feels like a lot of the live venues have closed down, unfortunately. Now I live in Stockholm and there's so many songwriters, so many producers from Sweden, and there's a studio in every basement. So, I would say the music scene is big in Sweden, in general.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You’ve been releasing music for some time now. How does it feel now that your debut album is coming out in less than a month?
[SHY]: Well, I'm very nervous. It feels good because it's something I've always wanted to do, to create that kind of body of work. But, I would lie if I said I wasn't nervous. But, I think that's a good sign as well because that means I'm nervous because it means a lot to me. And I'm very proud. And very excited, as well.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard your music before?
[SHY]: Almost always sad. I would say I struggle with writing happy songs. So, most of my music has some kind of melancholy in it. And I would say the new album is leaning more towards indie, bedroom pop. My previous stuff has been a lot of features on dance music and it's been more straight up pop. But, this album is a bit different because it's like more left, I would say. So a mix of everything, but no happy songs.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Can you share with me some of the inspirations for the album and feelings you hope to evoke from it?
[SHY]: With this album, it's been very important for me to write about stuff that I'm going through currently compared to my old music. And I think this album is probably the most personal art that I've created. I've chosen to be open about mental health stuff and going through depression. Which is something I've been doing for almost my whole life, but I've never really written about those subjects. But, it felt pretty natural since I had so much time to reflect when COVID hit and I had time to face these feelings basically. Also, I feel like my fan base has been really open about how they feel in their struggles for a long time. So, they created this safe space where I feel safe to share my struggles as well. So, it's definitely very personal, this album. But, I hope that it might help someone to feel less alone in those struggles.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I love that fans can share their feelings and be vulnerable because of your music.
[SHY]: Yeah, definitely. And they've inspired me to push myself to be even more vulnerable with them. So it's quite amazing.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Did you take any new creative approaches with Late Night Thoughts? Any tracks that took you out of your creative comfort zone?
[SHY]: I think just because I'm also working as a songwriter for other artists, I think with this album, because I was writing about very personal things, I wanted it to be like a tiny bubble, creating it with friends. Where I didn't have to feel stressed out or where I didn't feel that I had to compromise my creativity. So, I actually wrote almost the whole album with two friends, two girls from Sweden. And it was such an amazing process. I think I really enjoyed it. It felt like therapy sessions almost. But, also like just hanging out and I really felt like I had the space to experiment and to finesse stuff and go back and change. And it was a really safe environment for me to just be who I am. And I think the process has been very different from when I'm working with others and writing with other people because usually I'm working with people I've never met before. And I really enjoyed the process of creating this album. And I also worked really, really close with my big brother who I created all the visuals with. So, it's been a small circle creating this album. But, I think that's how I prefer it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Can you tell me more about the album title and title track for Late Night Thoughts? Did the song or album title come first?
[SHY]: The song came first. It's probably the lightest song of the album. But, I just felt like the title Late Night Thoughts is describing the album so good just because these subjects are stuff that I'm thinking about late at night or when I'm in bed and struggling with mental health. I spend a lot of time in my bed when I have bad days and a lot of the song ideas came from me being in bed thinking. Yeah, it just felt like a good title in describing the subjects of the album and how it was written.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You just released a single called “glued to the floor.” I love this song, it’s so beautiful and sad. Given the aspect of vulnerability with your fans, how have your fans reacted to this song being out?
[SHY]: It felt good. I feel like I've been living with the songs for quite a while. But, I think I got a good reaction. And I began teasing it a year ago and I got a really good reaction to that. And that was before the song was finished. So, a lot of people have been waiting for it, which feels unreal to me. But, it felt nice being able to share those feelings because it's been something that has been really present in my life the last year, those feelings. So, it felt really good to share it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there another track from the album that you are excited for people to acquaint themselves with?
[SHY]: I think the single that comes out with the album "wait it out" is also a song that's very vulnerable. It's about being burnt out and that's also something that has been present my whole life, like having family being burnt out and friends being burnt out. I felt like that song is important, not only for me, but also because it's a subject that I rarely hear people talk about. But, it's so common for people to get burnt out these days. And it doesn't only affect that person, but everyone around. It's the same with depression and it's quite similar in a lot of ways, I would say. But, I feel like that song is probably the most important of the album. But, I'm as excited about the rest of the songs I would say.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Now that your debut project is coming out, what is something you would have told yourself when you first started out?
[SHY]: Well, it's been a journey, both in the best and the worst ways and I think I would probably tell myself not to listen so much to what other people think and say and mostly in the industry. Because I think a lot of young artists and creators think there's a specific way to do things and to release your music. And that you have to be a specific way to be an artist or a songwriter. I wish someone had told me when I first started that I could do it just as I wanted to. That's always what I learned in doing these processes of releasing EPs and an album and music overall. I always go back to why didn't I listen to myself more and do it exactly how I wanted to do it? I feel like when it comes to art, what makes it the best is when you don't have to compromise because the uniqueness in it is already there by you creating it. And I think that's so important and that's something I can regret sometimes, that I didn't listen to myself more and trusted my instincts and gut feeling.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What have you been listening to lately? What’s been inspiring you?
[SHY]: I love the boygenius album that came out. I also love Phoebe Bridgers, I think she's great. I've started listening more to stuff that I listened to before like Bon Iver and Frank Ocean. I think there's so many great new artists like Grace Abrams, Lizzy McAlpine, Clairo, Beabadoobee and Holly Humberstone. I felt like for a while there wasn't really any music that inspired me. But, right now I feel like there's so much good music coming out and it's a really exciting time I think.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are you most excited about for the future?
[SHY]: Honestly, writing music just because I'm a songwriter and I'm also releasing the music for my own label, it's been a lot of non-music related things that I have had to do around the album release. And I love it, I think it's super exciting to be in meetings and to plan and to dig into those things. But also, the reason why I got into music is because I was passionate about creating music. So, I'm really looking forward to going back in the studio and just writing music honestly.
