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Hi Sally, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hey! Very well, thank you – ticking along as usual!
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Octopus”?
So this track follows a fish as it moves through the ocean, and the thought processes that would perhaps happen as it realised it was being chased. I wanted to capture the tension of the hunt and chase from the prey’s perspective, with the song echoing the movements through the water.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
As I was playing guitar, I played this chord progression and got a very vivid image in my mind of an octopus in a nature documentary I watched a little while ago, so the song began to take shape very quickly.
What made you want to approach this song from a fish’s perspective?
It kind of just fell that way – as I was writing it, I realised a lot of the lyrics were coming from the perspective of the prey and I thought that was an interesting idea so I ran with it!
Was it easy to pull off or did you come up against any obstacles writing in this way?
A big part of my writing is that I want my lyrics to be as scientifically accurate as they can be – for this track though, I felt it was more important to capture the feeling, so I had to try and make sure it was staying true to both of those things as much as I could. Also, these two tracks are representing water, which often comes up as a theme in my work, so it was hard to choose just two songs to encapsulate it.
Any plans to release any sort of video for the track?
I’m working on it! There will be two videos – a live session and a music video, one released on the release day, and the other released two weeks after.
How was the recording and writing process?
The whole process was very short; once I began writing the song, I recorded it in my bedroom and had finished the production in just a few days, and everything fell into place so easily.
How have Bon Iver and Jose Gonzales influenced your writing?
They were the first artists I heard that could accurately capture a specific feeling through their songs; that’s one of the main things I want from my music – to capture an emotion or a moment. For this set of singles especially, as they were going to finish a project that’s been so important to me, I wanted them to capture the way I feel about the project as a whole as well as staying true to the ‘water’ theme.
Your music has been heard in some incredible locations like on The International Space Station, in the Amazon Rainforest and in the Arctic & Antarctic. How do you think the experience of your music travelling so far and wide will shape your future work?
Working on this project has completely changed my view on my music – knowing it’s been heard in all these locations by all these people has made me reevaluate my place in the world, and furthered my passion for raising awareness of the climate crisis. Looking forward, I hope to continue that, and continue to bridge the gap between science and music however I can.
Will this final installment in your special music project lead to a greater body of new material, perhaps an album? If so, how’s that coming along? Any tentative release date or title in mind?
Perhaps – I’d love to release an album at some point in the future, but I’ve really loved bringing out a themed set of singles, so I quite like the idea of continuing that for a while. I’m currently working on another set which I hope to release through Summer and Autumn next year.
What else is happening next in Sally Robinson’s world?
At the moment I’m concentrating on finishing my master’s degree, and writing and recording whenever I can. Past that is too far in the future!
