Q&A: zzzahara Embraces The Human Condition With New Album, ‘Spiral Your Way Out’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SYDNEY TATE ☆
Credit: Pooneh Ghana
WHEN THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH — zzzahara corrals a most-meaningful brigade of realism within their new album Spiral Your Way Out.
“Putting yourself first results in no one coming last,” zzzahara calmly expresses after learning through experience. Their newest album is a tender, truthful, and earworm-y expression to guide us all in the rush and hope of moving forward after almost losing yourself completely. The process is unpredictable and exhilarating in its own right, as displayed surely in sound.
zzzahara is LA-based with tracks driven by the looseness of skate and surf culture, but is ultimately undefined in a genre as a lover of soft, harbinger-fueled indie, emo, and electronic influences equally.
Luna had the opportunity to discuss all-things inner-realm with zzzahara, spanning their heaviest listens while creating Spiral Your Way Out, why Snoopy would be the best fictional friend, and their 6-pack emotional core.
Credit: Pooneh Ghana
LUNA: What’s your favorite memory of winter?
ZZZAHARA: My favorite memory of winter is enjoying the Echo Park Parade with my friend Samira and singing the lyrics to “Rose Parade” by Elliot Smith.
LUNA: If you could only listen to one genre of music per season, what would you choose?
ZZZAHARA: Emo all season long.
LUNA: Do you have any outlets other than songwriting that you turn to for processing emotions?
ZZZAHARA: I write poetry sometimes.
LUNA: In your interview with Thrasher from last year, you talked about wanting to be more emotionally buff. What does that look like and do you feel like you fulfilled that?
ZZZAHARA: Yes, I am finally emotionally ripped. I have a 6 pack in my emotional core. I am over a year single and alone.
LUNA: What fictional character would you want to be friends with and why?
ZZZAHARA: I would love to be friends with Snoopy. He seems like a really cool roll dog and someone who can crack some good jokes. I feel like the laughter would be non-stop.
LUNA: What are some of your current favorites in more electronic fields?
ZZZAHARA: Brutalismus 3000, Jane Remover, 2hollis, PlayRadioPlay!, Crystal Castles, and The Postal Service.
LUNA: Were there any albums or artists you often listened to while making this album?
ZZZAHARA: Panic! at the Disco’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, Dashboard Confessional, The Scene Aesthetic, Cute is What We Aim For, and Fall Out Boy.
LUNA: Would you consider yourself a people pleaser?
ZZZAHARA: Nah, I just tend to be kind and I think that may come off as “people please-y.” It made me realize that some people aren’t used to kindness and that’s chill. I’m just trying to make our lives easier.
LUNA: Fitting someone else’s mold in a relationship feels like something that a lot of people can relate to. Did you have any moments in that experience where you felt conscious that it wasn’t right for you before the breaking point?
ZZZAHARA: Yeah, for sure. She told me that dating a musician is risky and if I “never made it” she felt like she would have to support me financially. That broke me.
LUNA: Is there any one skate video that you’d recommend everyone watch?
ZZZAHARA: Glue Skateboards - SMUT
LUNA: Did you have specific songs that you wanted to bring to each producer for this album?
ZZZAHARA: No, none specifically. We made everything on the spot with this record. It was an aura you can’t recreate.
LUNA: Does it ever feel strange performing songs that allude to past feelings?
ZZZAHARA: Yes. Most of the time, I’m wasted. I’m currently sober, so I think those emotions are gonna pack a punch when I play live...I might burst out a tear on accident but it’s okay, it is what it is.
LUNA: I like that the title of the album feels really self-explanatory — since the art itself was an act of moving on or forward, and expressing yourself so relentlessly is seriously sometimes the only way to keep going.
ZZZAHARA: Thank you. I’m glad you get it. I feel like some people will judge because of the “Spiral,” part but if you deny the spiral, then you deny the human condition.
LUNA: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
ZZZAHARA: If you love yourself first, then no one will ever come last!
Spiral Your Way Out is out today via Lex Records.
