Diandra Interviews Your Smith: Hopefulness Is Happiness
In a world that talks about “needing to be empowered,” what does that, actually, mean? It is has become one of the elusively, poignant terms that people toss out and everyone assumes everyone has the same concept. For example, we all know what happiness is, but every person has a different experience and interpretation of it. Thus, when I ask, “If you have ever been happy?” we might all raise our hands, but we have different definitions. Thus, in our interview Your Smith, discusses how things like, love and happiness, stem from a need for hope, of which she found when she let herself feel everything so as be something.
Diandra: Was there a moment in your life when you realized you were not happy and it was time to change?
Your Smith: Yeah, absolutely! There was a moment when I forgot why I was doing music in the first place? What was my impetus? And when I saw that, I knew it was time to change.
Man of Weakness (Acoustic)
Diandra: When it comes to happiness and staying present, it must be hard for someone as
visionary as you?
Your Smith: Wow! Thank You! Yeah, that is definitely the challenge, which is what “In Between Plans” is about. When you are an artist, trying to make music and get heads to turn your way in 2020, it means you are constantly in the future. You are always thinking about the future and planning in advance. So, it can be hard to stay present.
Your Smith: I love my boyfriend. Having a partner that you have fun with and does not work in your career, helps! (she laughs) He’s a chef so he know what it is like to be apart of an intense career based on your creativity.
Diandra: Does he cook away your sadness or anxieties?
Your Smith: (she laughs) We love to cook together!
Diandra: Going back to your previous response about the pressure of time on an artist. Image is also a major pressure. Are there ever any moments when you fear being misinterpreted or is part of being Your Smith is letting that go?
Your Smith: I would say being Your Smith is apart of letting that go. It is a really interesting time in the music industry because artists have always been political, and music is an invention to have a message to say something. Music and politics have always been woven together. Yet, we are in an interesting time because of the internet, social media, and cancel culture. You are bound to say something wrong, and instead go being scared of that, as Your Smith,I know exactly how I feel about things. I feel strongly about reproductive rights and mental health, and when I say something wrong, and get called out and someone corrects me, I am not scared. I am grateful that someone took the time to educate me on that issue. In 2020, you are bound to get called out, and, with Your Smith, I don’t want to be scared to say the wrong thing. I want to be inclusive and welcoming.
Your Smith – Wild Wild Woman (Lyric Video)
Diandra: Who helps you to stay present?
Diandra: Wow! I never saw it like that because, in a way, you are saying that people are not scared to say something wrong as much as they are scared to learn or have to be taught.
Your Smith: Yeah! Exactly!
Diandra: What are some things you have learned as Your Smith, particularly in terms of self-love?
Your Smith: Changing my name and embodying this character that feels more genuine to me and open to the world……. (she pauses to reflect)….. I had no idea doing that would spark something in people. I want to perform songs the way I feel comfortable to perform them. I want the material to be genuine and something I care about. I didn’t expect the reactions to be, “I also feel that way. You inspired me to do that, as well. You inspired me to be a truer version of myself, too.” I just thought, when I was doing it, like “Yeah, I am going to do this now. This is going to be me now!” It’s awesome to inspire. I didn’t expect that.
Diandra: Well, I have to say you are so confident on stage and fearless, and I think that speaks to listeners and viewers that wish they were that way in their daily life and work.
Your Smith: That is s nice to hear because I don’t see it like that. It’s funny.
Diandra: Well, when you are on stage, something comes over you.
Your Smith : Yeah! That is exactly what happens. It is like a rollercoaster and all you really
remember like 4 seconds of the ride, but you know you want to go again. I mean I’m walking off the stage and I’m like, “Did I just do a high-kick? I think I just did a high-kick?” (she laughs)
Life Is a Path
Diandra: You have described Your Smith as a burning down of everything you know. Do you feel like Your Smith was your way of getting wisdom instead of knowledge?
Your Smith: Yeah! Definitely! The whole struggle of doing Your Smith came from letting go of the need to make everybody happy and really impress people. As Caroline worked to not be a “people-pleaser,” Your Smith became a product of that.
Diandra: Do you think that you would define “unapologetic,” a word you use often, as such?
Your Smith: Yes, definitely! When I say, “unapologetic,” it took some confidence for me to write music that I, actually, want to make. It is not what is on the radio, and when you live in Los
Angeles, it could be all about money and how much you are making. So, I am making music to make myself happy. This is music I want to make. It sounds like a nightmare to make music I don’t like but have it work because then I would have to stand by it and I can’t.
Diandra: It seems, for you, the journey of being an artist is redefining what is happiness in a business that is about money.
Your Smith: Oh my God! Yes, especially being an American and capitalist culture! You measure success by what is in your bank account. What matter to me is family! What matter to me is
being genuine and kind! Money is great, but thinking solely of money or defining yourself like that is not sustainable. It like inviting an existential crisis. I need to feel good about what I am saying and what I am doing.
Diandra: With love being so important to you, what has been your greatest lesson on love?
Your Smith: Familial love is the biggest thing to me. I have learned that, sometimes,I try to fix everyone’s problems. I have learned that, instead of trying to fix people’s problems, just listen to them; don’t be all, “Well, you can do this and that!” Just shut up, listen, hold them, and say, “It sucks that you are going through that.”
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