Hi everyone!
We’re halfway through summer, and I’m happy to report beach reading is in full swing. So far, one of my favorites is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. For anyone looking to commit to a lifetime of creativity—regardless of whether it’s your day job—this book is a love letter to you. A few of my favorite tidbits are:
On doing: “The quiet glory of merely making things, and then sharing those things with an open heart and no expectations.”
On originality of ideas: “Just say what you want to say, then, and say it with all your heart. If it’s authentic enough, believe me—it will feel original.”
On doing what makes you feel alive: “Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”
On gratitude: “Inspiration will overhear your pleasure, and it will send ideas to your door as a reward for your enthusiasm and your loyalty. More ideas than you could ever use. Enough ideas for ten lifetimes.”
On perfection: “At some point, you really just have to finish your work and release it as is—if only so that you can go on to make the other things with a glad and determined heart.”
On ego: “My soul, when I tend to it, is a far more expansive and fascinating source of guidance than my ego will ever be, because my soul desires only one thing: wonder.”
Today’s edition is a treat. A few years ago, I met Lostboycrow at a friend’s 4th of July party in the Hollywood Hills (bougie, I know) where I fangirled about my love for his song Real Name. Recently, I interviewed him for Sunlighter (click that link if you’d rather read there) and we gabbed about our shared love of Wicked.
Go ahead and play the namesake of this newsletter, “Strawberry Sunscreen” by Lostboycrow, “Island In The Sun” by Weezer, and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys as you read. The mood needs to be right.
An Exclusive Interview with Lostboycrow
I discovered Lostboycrow after stage managing flor at South by Southwest in 2017. My sister and I had Spotify on shuffle on our way back from our weekly Saturday-in-Austin coffee dates when we first heard a song called “still standing still,” and the velvety goodness of his voice made us stop as soon as we did.
Today, we’re talking about his new album Valleyheart.
DONYA: I first discovered your music and became an avid follower in spring 2017 after I met flor at SXSW. Shortly after, you released a trilogy of Traveler EPs. I traveled through Europe that summer, and those songs were the soundtrack to my trip—especially the beautiful acoustic version of “Nobody Knows.” The words I always use to describe your voice to people who need to listen are “silk, velvety goodness,” which even still is an understatement. What events/experiences do you think most describe your growth from the Traveler era to now with Valleyheart?
LOSTBOYCROW: The biggest factor in going from the Traveler era to Santa Fe and beyond was two parts: intention with my writing and falling back in love with playing instruments. I’ll back up and give precursor to that. When I first started making music as Lostboycrow, I was throwing paint against the wall and trying to find my sound. I had recently moved to LA and met people like Dylan Bauld from flor. I was suss-ing out who I like to work with and why, finding people that were really complementary and great at making phenomenally produced tracks in their living room. That was really fun, new territory for me at the time, allowing the beats to inspire the writing. Up until then, it was just me sitting down at a piano or an acoustic guitar. There's some magic there too, but it was really fun to move to a new place and have the music come from someone else or with the help of someone else and let that be the source of inspiration. So a lot of Traveler is me working with my favorite producers Dylan, Marty, and Brandon.
I’d been in LA for a couple of years at that point, so honing in on who I really enjoyed working with was a very special process, but often times, it didn’t involve me sitting down at the piano or picking up the guitar. After the series of three EPs from Traveler (over a span of a year or two), I was ready and hungry to rediscover that love of sitting down at an instrument and writing music, having the songs start completely with me.
That brought out a new side of me, which became a totally different tone in the creative process. I'd starved that side of me that loved just writing songs on a guitar, so after Traveler, I hit the ground running with all those projects.
DONYA: Would you describe your albums as concept albums or more personal and core to the heart of who you are? A mix of both maybe?
LOSTBOYCROW: A mix of both. That's a really good question. It's hard for me to answer because when I think of a concept album, I think of Pink Floyd—something masterful. What I’ve made is more of an amalgamation of things, but there is a story and there's definitely a lot of intention, especially with Santa Fe and with Valleyheart. I would view a true concept album as someone knowing far in advance what the concept is—the second, even third act—and that's not really how I operate. I think I discover it as I go.
DONYA: With Santa Fe, you blocked out 8 days with friends who felt like home to you to fully live in a new environment, sonically influencing the album’s sound. I recently watched Shawn Mendes’ Wonder documentary, and he had a similar process with his team creating Wonder in a house by the ocean. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner created folklore from three different locations with a similar concept. What was the creative process for Valleyheart like?
LOSTBOYCROW: Valleyheart was different from Santa Fe. Santa Fe was very intentional from the get go. I brought very specific people and instruments into a very specific contained environment where none of us had ever spent time before. I love New Mexico, but I'd never been to Santa Fe so that was unique. I also signed my first major record deal with that album so it was an interesting time in my life and career.
Because we were working with Sony, the process really stretched out a bit longer than some of the other album cycles. It felt like Santa Fe had been done forever: mixed and mastered before we ever put any of it out, that I wasn't really thinking of “okay, what's the next place and location I can go to?” I'd just been sitting on this album for so long at that point I couldn't help but start writing the next chapter.
I knew I loved the intentionality behind Santa Fe, but I didn't have the time or resources to pack everyone up and fly somewhere for Valleyheart. It was an interesting period of my life that lasted a couple of years where I didn’t necessarily need to make another album, but I couldn't help but write these hopelessly naïve, upbeat love songs—just me, alone, often in the dark, in my apartment off of Valleyheart street in Los Angeles. That’s where the name comes from. It was a good place for me to go after Santa Fe—falling back in love with guitar, writing a certain way, and building off of that.
DONYA: Speaking of Antonoff, I saw a tweet of his once that said, “if you think albums are dead it’s only because you’re not listening to albums.” I’ve noticed you have a spontaneous way of releasing music—sometimes through an album, other times just a single. What inspires you to keep releasing albums in a world where everyone is looking for the next “moment” song?
LOSTBOYCROW: There’s merit to both. I love listening to a good album, but often times I find myself doing what a lot of other people do, which is finding songs on a playlist and making my own playlists. You're not listening to a body of work at one time as often anymore, and I do miss that. A lot of my favorite bands are still making great albums: Arctic Monkeys, Tokyo Police Club, and The Zolas. There's a lot of no-skip bands still out there. But even the bands I just mentioned have been established for a while. I release a ton of singles—usually half of my projects are singles—and for good reason: it's better for playlists, you can stretch and give your songs a longer life span.
I'll keep putting out singles, but I'll always be making albums. For me, the beauty of an album is what we've been talking about—all these different cycles, different ways of writing—it represents a chapter. To me, that's very exciting as an artist because you define the era, and the music communicates, “this is where I'm at, this is how I feel, and this is how I view myself in the world.” So I find a lot of freedom in expressing myself through eras and chapters, it's more fun. Singles are cool, they make the world go round. But it's always more more fun to be able to show yourself and take on the universe of feelings through the lens of an era.
DONYA: There’s such a beautiful cadence and tone to your voice that it’s captivating to listeners. I’ve heard your biggest musical influences were Bryan Wilson, John Mayer, Frank Ocean, and Neil Young. Artists tend to find inspiration based on the sound they believe defines their era. I’m hearing ebbs and flows of the Beach Boys on Valleyheart, almost like the modern era of that sound. Who were your biggest influences on Valleyheart?
LOSTBOYCROW: That means the world, right there. I think for Valleyheart and even the stuff I'm working on currently is the sound I really found myself enveloped in: that carefree, getting lost in the summer atmosphere sound, but making it my own. I often describe it as if the Beach Boys were jamming in someone's garage. I listened to a lot of Beach Boys, obviously Pet Sounds is great, but I dove into a lot of their other albums as well, the ones that don't get talked about much so that was really fun to explore. I listened to a lot of Robert Maxwell, who's a harpist and composer. If you listen to his music, it feels hopeful, beautiful, and naïve in a way, which inspired the tone and temperament of Valleyheart. I always listen to a lot of Weezer, and I was listening to quite a bit of this band Alvvays. I found myself drawn to a lot of really cool female-led indie rock bands, Bad Bad Hats and The Thermals—love them, they’re a Portland band. Always, always Tokyo Police Club and that new Arctic Monkeys record that's not new anymore, but it was at the time. Those were my main influences when figuring out the sound and the “coming together” of the bass, drums, guitar, and the atmosphere, for sure.
DONYA: Can you tell me what inspired you to add an Intro track to this album? Once live shows start to happen again, which song are you most excited about performing live?
LOSTBOYCROW: The Intro was originally the start of the song “Valleyheart.” As I was writing it, I felt inspired by the opening of Across the Universe. I think it starts with the song “Girl,” and it's an ominous sort of rendition, zooming in on the space, beach, and waves in the background. I knew I ultimately wanted to go somewhere upbeat and carefree, but I liked the idea of starting the album without a tempo; there are some Eastern European or Baltic Shipyard sounds in the background, and I got lost in that. Like any of the interludes or monologues in Moulin Rouge, something timeless. In the end, we decided to make it a separate Intro as opposed to making “Valleyheart” one long song. It just felt right.
DONYA: I was excited to read on Twitter you have 10 new songs coming soon. Looks like you’re excited about your newfound raspy voice on those 10 new songs. I know you’re big into sitcoms and TV shows—if you’re a fan of Friends, this reminds me of the one where Phoebe catches a cold and has what she calls “sexy phlegm." She’s so excited to perform with it at Central Perk. Are you afraid of losing the “sexy phlegm” or are you trying to get all your recordings done ASAP?
LOSTBOYCROW: I got into Friends later in life when it was on Netflix. I think that David Schwimmer is the best part of the show, and most people hate me for that. I just think he has the most impeccable timing and physical comedy. Anyway, yes those songs are already recorded. I’m up in Alberta right now for a couple months. We ended up recording about 10 songs with my vocals between two projects, and I don't know if it's allergies or what but it’s a little raspy. Over the next year, you might hear even more rasp.
ONE LAST QUESTION: I noticed on your Spotify “About Me” page, the first song you ever performed live was “Santa Fe” from Newsies. I’m a big fan of musical theatre, and I understand you are as well. Do you have a favorite musical or Broadway song that resonates the most with you?
LOSTBOYCROW: Santa Fe will always have a special place in my heart for that reason. Newsies is a fantastic musical: the songs and choreography are incredible, and I love the young Christian Bale. My go-to songs to sing from musicals? I don't know if I could pick one, but top ones are “Being Alive” from Company by Stephen Sondheim. If you haven't heard it, I highly recommend. It’s phenomenal. There's another song called “Anthem” from the musical Chess, and that one is a whole body of experiences. I don't think there's a better musical than Wicked, I think Wicked is perfect. Hats off, they made an absolutely perfect musical.
To which we both said, amen.
RN | Songs I’m listening to…right now.
Griff Washburn went from being a college dropout to a model in Brooklyn and now a camper driving across the Pacific Northwest. His vagabond existence effortlessly echoes the theme of his music as Goth Babe; his series of EPs are based on nature being his number one source of inspiration through all the places he’s seen.
To me, this song sounds like you’re tuning the radio to find just the right frequency.
If you’re a fan of COIN, Bleachers, and Colony House, you’ll love Bad Suns. When the song starts, it feels like it’s zooming into focus, giving us 80s retro vibes. The percussion kicks the beat in strong, and the vocal cadences are beautiful. It’s a perfect stadium belter for when concerts are back in full force. Seriously, I dare you to not sing along to this chorus.
Combine the unparalleled vocals of Bruno Mars with the masterful percussion of Anderson .Paak (seriously, it only took him one take to get it perfect on this song), and you have the unstoppable duo that is Silk Sonic. The project began with a simple hook/phrase the two artists obsessed over during the 24K Magic World Tour. In the recording sessions that followed, Bruno describes the whole creative process like “why you fall in love with music in the first place.” The collaboration allowed them to lean into the inspiration that stemmed from working together: hearing new perspectives, joking around together, and flexing their sheer musical talent back and forth.
Both artists have a magical way of revitalizing old school funk, and if that’s your vibe, you’ll be stoked to hear a full album is coming from Silk Sonic soon. In the meantime, enjoy their flawless performance at this year’s Grammys.
Lyrics on Loop | Find the lyrics that speak to your soul and never let go.
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools breaking us down, when they all should let us be
I'm still stuck inside the treasure chest center of both of your eyes
You know that it’s you, the reason that I come alive
Wonder of the Week
This has nothing to do with music, but it made my heart happy so I wanted to share. Last Tuesday, Blue Origin successfully completed an 11-minute trip to space.
An excerpt from Jeff Bezos when asked about his space exploration efforts: “This is a big vision, but big things start small…what I can tell you is we’re going to keep working at those things, step-by-step ferociously. I want to emphasize the ferociously.”
Whatever your passions are, I hope you’re working at them ferociously.
Have the best weekend ever. You deserve it.
Love,
Donya
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