“I always end up finding something to be upset about” – An Interview with Sydney Sprague
This Friday (September 26th) sees the release of the highly anticipated new album from singer-songwriter Sydney Sprague. Peak Experience, her third full length album, takes us through a coming-of-age soundtrack for the chronically anxious and melodically inclined and is her first full release as an independent artist.
Peak Experience continues Sydney’s run of excellent LPs and is filled with another set of wonderfully crafted indie-rock songs. Lead single “Fair Field” was written after a full-blown edible-induced panic attack while touring. The song captures the chaos of life on the road but coincidentally now feels like a reflection of the world at large, everything unraveling in real time. The first song on the album “As Scared As Can Be” has been described as “”the most unhinged song I have ever written” about the emotional wreckage of unrequited love but is also ridiculously catchy. My favorite track on the record, “Flat Circle”, has a really memorable grungy guitar riff and lyrics that consider “what if’s, and wondering if I could rewind my life and make different choices if it would change anything.”
We caught up with Sydney to talk about the new record and how she navigates the world of social media.
Hi Sydney! How’s everything going right now?
Hey Paul! Everything is going pretty okay right now! This year has been interesting, I haven’t been out touring as much as usual so I’ve been adjusting to being home more which is nice but also kinda weird. Aside from a little doom-spiraling here and there, in my own personal bubble I really can’t complain about anything. I’m super excited about my new music and it’s been nice to really focus on it.
What classic album cover art is your current mood?
Nirvana’s Nevermind because I’m a baby and I need money really bad.
Congrats on the new album – have loved checking out the tracks on Peak Experience. Were there any “peak experiences” from recording the first two albums that helped when it came to the new record?
Thank you so much! The process of making the first two albums definitely inspired the way I approached this one. On both of those records I made some concessions in certain ways, and while I do love them, I think I learned a lot from that about how to execute my ideas and stand up for them, for better or worse. I also think working with my bandmates Chuck and Sebastien over the past five years on these projects, our dynamic has just become really strong and efficient, and making this record at home with them felt like the absolute best and most fun way to make music.
What is your songwriting process like? Do you lock yourself in a quiet room or just let things happen?
99% of the time I’m a lock myself in a quiet room type of person. If I’m writing alone, I’m really shy about it and I have to make sure my roommates aren’t home because I’d be embarrassed if they heard me. I think the songs that stick for me only happen if I’m kind of at my emotional limit about something, so I usually write in phases. Sometimes I’ll go a few months without writing but I always end up finding something to be upset about and it comes back around.
It’s a very concise record at 8 tracks and 20 minutes. Did you feel any pressure to add extra songs to make it a more “traditional” length for an LP?
Not really! It felt like a really complete collection to me, and I generally just love short songs and short albums. I know personally for my own attention span I’m better at consuming music that way, and a lot of the time it’s even more addicting when something is a little bit shorter than it probably should be. Like when a song or album is really super concentrated, it just makes me have to listen to it over and over again.
If you could only listen to one record, what would it be?
Commit This To Memory by Motion City Soundtrack
One of the new songs is “Long Island” – is that your tipple of choice when contemplating life and the world today?
Maybe when things are *really* bad. We had a running joke on my first headline tour in 2023 with our friends in Wheelwright that a long island was our “special occasion” drink. There was one night in Boise, Idaho when we got them for some reason and it felt like the funniest possible thing to order. It’s just so extreme. I will definitely have one and I will enjoy it, but I think it gets the job done a little too well for a normal day. I usually just order a whiskey.
We first featured you in 2020 when “i refuse to die” came out but you’ve been writing since you were 13. Who influenced you most and made you want to become a musician?
Avril Lavigne. I was obsessed with ‘Let Go’ to the point that I asked my parents for a guitar and the chord book for that album, and that was how I learned to play. I grew up listening to and loving like, true bubblegum pop music, and she was the first artist I had access to that captured the angst that I think has just always been in my spirit.
You’re very active on TikTok and Instagram which is so important now. Does it come naturally to you or is it something you’ve had to embrace to help get your music out to more people?
Nooooo. That’s something I’ve had to work really hard at to be comfortable with, I’m still working on it. I’m really lucky to have amazing creative people around me, my guitarist Sebastien is also an amazing videographer and he made all of the music videos and a lot of the content for this album. Having him around to help me keep a lot of the visual stuff in a certain universe has helped me get more comfortable with being on camera and posting all the time. It’s kind of daunting knowing that anything you post could be someone’s first impression of you. And usually it’s the dumb stuff that I post that gets views.
You’re heading out on a big headline tour starting in October and then heading to the UK with Pool Kids in 2026. What’s the one thing you can’t do without that you’ll be taking with you?
The one item I truly can’t live without is my everyday bag. It’s a black baggu bag in the shape of a horse that I named Evelyn. It holds everything that’s essential to me and also provides me a lot of emotional support. It doesn’t leave my body.
What would go on your signature pizza and what would it be called?
It’d be a white sauce pizza with those crispy cup pepperonis, jalapenos, and maybe some ricotta. And I’d call it “The Flat Circle”.
Apart from the new record and upcoming tours, is there anything else on the horizon we should know about?
I’m starting to work on the next batch of music, and I’d really like to be quick with it, so I’d probably expect some more new songs early next year!
Sydney Sprague is an indie rock musician from Phoenix, Arizona, a city known for its triple-digit temperatures and the kind of existential dread that can only come from living in a giant oven. With a guitar in one hand and an anxiety disorder in the other, Sydney has been quietly building a discography that speaks directly to the overthinking masses. Her debut record maybe i will see you at the end of the world (released in 2021) and follow-up somebody in hell loves you gained glowing reviews and she built on the success by supporting bands like Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, The Front Bottoms, Oso Oso, Spanish Love Songs, and Michigander.
You can get tickets for Sydney’s album release show at Stinkweeds on Sept 26th and her tour with Gabrielle Grace using this link.
You get more information about Sydney by visiting her website and follow her on Instagram and TikTok for all the latest news.
Feature Image Credit – Ellie Carty
