Diandra Interviews Cody Lovaas: Making Music Your Oxygen
Debuting his new “baby,” i.e. his new single, “Talk Slow,” I got to interview Cody Lovaas and pick his brain on how he defines himself as a creative. For Cody Lovaas, a sound is like a surf; if you quiet yourself enough you can feel apart of its waves. With music constantly being on his mind, he sleeps with his guitar and, immediately, nots any philosophy that might inspire a verse. In essence, music is his form of personal documentation, and, in our interview, we discuss what he documents from his life.
Diandra: You have said since age 12 that you knew music was your path, and you had no fall-back. How has that level of assurance fostered you through your career?
Cody: For me, music has never been questioned. Pursuing it 100% has been amazing; to go full-time and really after it. The passion means more than anything else; even when things, in my career, go slower than expected, faster, or I’m working to get attention for a song I love. I breathe music. It’s everything to me. Writing songs is everything.
Cody Lovaas – Talk SlowDiandra: You have written so many songs: all about the stories of your life. When you connect them, how do you see your life has changed?
Cody: DRASTICALLY! I started writing when I was 12. Back then, I knew nothing about girls. I wrote about donuts and surfing. I still know nothing about girls. (He laughs) I like to think I do. Yet, my life changes like everyone does. I feel like music changes my life. Music influences me. There are times I reach for more dramatic things just for my music. I think you can hear my evolution through the music, and I think that will be heard forever.
Diandra: Are there ever moments when you are making a song and you say, “I didn’t know I felt like that?”
Cody: Absolutely! I do this thing that every night, before I go to bed,I pick up my guitar, I create melody, and then I do a free verse for like ten minutes. Sometimes, it goes until 40. I’ll just say things that are like, “Oh S**t!” It’s therapy. It’s really weird, but things with spontaneous writing have wrought emotions and brought clarity out. If I write a song before bed, I feel fulfilled. I take my music seriously; more than I take myself seriously.
Cody Lovaas – Turbulence (Feat. Caroline Pennell) [Official Audio]Diandra: But are there ever moments when you need step away from music to clear about it?
Cody: Totally! Totally! But when I say “step away,” it’s like, “Oh, I just did 12 writing sessions last week. I need to step away!’ I can’t step away from music and I don’t ever want to. So, if I go to San Diego to surf for a week, I bring my guitar. There are parts of the music that I need to step away from if I am exhausted, traveling too much, doing too many meetings, or too many writing sessions. Then, I go to the ocean. I grew up surfing every day. When I step in, it’s renewal, and even then I think of a song.
Diandra: So with so many songs you have written about love, how would you describe romance according to surfing?
Cody: This is great! (he smiles) Love comes and goes like the waves (he laughs) No. There is a hug romance between a surfer and his board. It is real. You wax up your board, and when its a new board, you stay up waxing it: making it perfect. It really is about patience. You have to be patient and humble. Surfing taught me that. You never know. You could get pummeled even by a 3 FT wave. Does that answer your question?
Cody Lovaas – “Prove It” (Acoustic)Diandra: Yeah! If you take care of your partner like a board, and make sure he or she does not get crashed by the waves of life.
Cody: That’s right. (he laughs).
Diandra: Well, honesty and humility seem to become virtues to your songs. What along with these virtues are important to you in relationships?
Cody: It’s what I seek in people and they seek it in me. As a writer, nothing is more important than your story. You have to be connected to it to send it to the world. I don’t know it’s humility as much as vulnerability. Saying you are heartbroken is huge. It’s weird. There are moments when I’m like, “Wow, I haven’t written a true, love song in a long time.” Why haven’t I? I guess I am not feeling that.
Diandra: Well, being so personal with your music, do you think there is a line between who you are as an artist or as a person, and who do you feel is truer to your essence?
Cody: I think they are both the same person. I think they are both really honest. As a person and as a writer, you will do things that are not true to you and you say, “Whoa, what are you doing?” It’s about balance and note taking yourself so seriously and getting back to the music. I’m the same person when I walk on and off the stage. I don’t ever want to wear a “mask.”
Diandra: What do you thing your debut EP, coming in April, will say about where you are, currently, in your life?
Cody: I think my EP will say, “I’m a 20 year old artist trying to figure out his s**t,” and trying to answer his own questions.” When I think about it a lot of my songs, like “Talk Slow,” are questions. They are a caption of my life. Like I could tell you what shoelaces I wore when I wrote “Talk Slow.” My songs are very zoomed in version of my stories.
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