Interview by Carol Wright | Photographer: Natalie Somkeh
We got to chat with singer/songwriter Violet Lewis about her EP Loose Lips and growing as an artist while studying at Berklee College of Music.
Has performing been a passion of yours from a young age?
Yes, it most definitely has, I’ve known since I was a kid that I wanted to pursue music.
You’re currently studying songwriting at Berklee College of Music. Do you feel like you’ve grown as a writer since starting their program?
Yes! Berklee has a great environment for artistic growth. I find myself so inspired by my professors and classmates. I feel like there are things I can learn from every person here.
When you were creating your EP Loose Lips how many songs were made specifically for the EP and how many did you have pre-written?
When I sit down to write a song, I’m never really thinking “I’m writing this song for this specific purpose.” It’s more like, I have something to say right now. And then I figure out how I want to say it. When recording Loose Lips I had to choose between maybe a hundred songs I’ve written, but for the most part, the song choices felt pretty obvious to me. The outlier was “Don’t Say Goodbye” which I wrote toward the end of recording the EP, but as soon as I wrote it I knew I wanted to include it on Loose Lips.
Tell our readers about your song “George Orwell.” What inspired the lyrics?
At its core, “George Orwell” is about seeing the person you have feelings for with someone else and knowing that they’re better suited for one another than you would have been. It’s a bittersweet song, you want that person to be happy, you just want to find happiness for yourself, too.
The songs on the EP flow together really nicely. Where did you look for inspiration when it came to how each song would sound?
I try to always let each song find its own sound. I didn’t try to make the songs sound like any pre-existing thing, rather I tried to honor each song and use my arrangements to highlight the best parts of them. The songs kind of inspire themselves, and what’s most important to me is that each song stays true to itself.
What advice do you have for aspiring musicians?
Don’t be scared to write bad songs, the good ones will come. Just keep writing all the time whenever you’re able to, and never let things like writer’s block discourage you. You’ll find your way around it.