Lamb's interview at Medium Sized Backyard is exactly the kind of conversation you want to sit inside for a while - honest, a little unguarded, and genuinely funny. Fresh off a performance where she called the songs "hell on earth to sing," the rising singer-songwriter opened up about the three wolves living inside her, how "Tarmac" cracked open her debut project Creatures, and the moment she finished writing "Overkill" and realized she might actually have a problem.
On Writing From Confusion
Medicine Box: In terms of the song creation process, do you think that the best songs come from understanding yourself or being confused by yourself?
Lamb: Confused. I think writing the music itself is the journey to understanding what the hell is going on. The only time I've ever actually had a solid answer for myself was post writing the song, and I was like, "Oh, I was writing about that." After I wrote "Overkill," I was like, "Maybe I have a problem." And then I was like, "Oh, I should stop doing that."
On the Three Wolves and "Overkill"
Medicine Box: I saw that you said there are three wolves inside of you - a little man, a pretty princess, and something in between. Which one of those wolves wrote "Overkill"?
Lamb: It has to be the combination, because that part is both - like a little aggressive man who really wants to be a princess, attempting to take some sort of light, and it doesn't quite work out great for him. He's the weird third thing.
Medicine Box: I love that. I thought that was awesome when I heard it - I had to include it somewhere.
Lamb: We love "Overkill" in this house, so I've got to figure out the lore.
On Touring for the First Time
Medicine Box: You're going on tour. How are you feeling about that? I know you're heading into rehearsal soon.
Lamb: I am so excited. What excites me is having the audience in the first place - the fact that I get to be in a room full of people who are there specifically to hear something I made is the coolest thing on earth. I'm already going to leave the green room and run into the crowd before everyone leaves and be like, "Wait, wait - I want to talk to you." I'm just curious who my fans are. I want to delve more into that audience space.
Medicine Box: That's interesting given your background as a choir kid and how much movement is in the music you're making now.
Lamb: There's so much movement. I grew up in choir, very used to singing still, with all the tools at my disposal for getting the best voice out. So adding the performance element, really being fun to watch, moving around - I'm nervous for it, but I'm really excited to implement it. I'd be bored to pieces watching someone perform these songs standing still, so I'd be confused.
On Her Most Chaotic Three-Song Run Right Now
Medicine Box: Your brother apparently has playlists that jump from System of a Down to James Blake. What's your most chaotic three-song run right now?
Lamb: Everyone I'm living with right now is so pissed off at me because I've been nonstop playing the same ten songs. It starts really nice - "For No One" by The Beatles, super low-key. Then I move you immediately into "Crank" by Slayyyter. And then two seconds later it's the rest of the year album. It's like how I get up in the morning. I need a taste of all dishes.
Medicine Box: I love that little morning vibe - Beatles and then right into Slayyyter.
Lamb: They marry really well, actually.
On "Tarmac" and Building Creatures
Medicine Box: Was there a song on Creatures that really helped unlock the rest of the project entirely?
Lamb: Weirdly enough, I think it was "Tarmac." When I first started this, I was co-producing everything and talking to everyone about this really specific vision I had - I really wanted to create a new kind of movement in the music, a good way to get people from point A to point B without feeling redundant. That song, implementing an anti-drop and making sure the soundscape was so specific - me and my engineer spent like two days just going back and forth on exactly what sounds we wanted there. And Murda Beatz is an insane producer, he handled it amazingly, but I even had a conversation with him where I was like, "This is the sound. This is exactly what I've been trying to carve out." From there, "Habitual" was born, "Tin Foil Hats," and the rest of the project. It was really fun to get that opening.
On Collaborating With Murda Beatz
Medicine Box: How has it been diving into that world of collaborating with some of the coolest people - Murda Beatz, for example?
Lamb: It's crazy. I mean, I feel more than blessed that they ever even saw it. The amount of people my first couple videos reached was really something - and it reached such a specific group: artists. That was such a cool, beautiful thing. But now there's just such a mutual appreciation. I wake up some days and I'm like, "That's not real." And then other days I'm just like, "Damn, these are just my homies." Great people that I get to meet and make art with. It's a really lovely entrance into a cool world.
