Diandra Interviews Quinn Lewis: Sensitivity As An Artistic Power

Life is about growing, and maturity is realizing that growth simply happens. You don’t have to push change; it knows how to push itself. With this in mind, Quinn Lewis has been through a lot of changes in life, but, through them all, his main goal has been to connect to people. For him the people you love, and how you love them, turn into the songs you write. In our interview, we discuss how music reflects relationships or, particularly, the feelings that build within them. 

Diandra: You studied music business in Nashville. Now being in the music business, how do you feel your studies have, actually, prepped you?

Quinn Lewis: This might be the typical “drop out answer:, but I learned so much more outside of the classroom being surrounded by music. That being said, there are definitely copyright technicalities and small contract things that pop up. Everything changes constantly with the music business though;  so it’s hard to get what’s happening today into a textbook.

Quinn Lewis – Slipping (Audio)

Diandra: Having lived in so many cities, from Brisbane to LA, do you feel there is a worldly sense to your sound and music inspiration? Of all the cities you have called home, which one shaped you most as a person?

Quinn Lewis: I’d like to think so. I think it’s really important to experience and live life with a worldly sense. We’re all people; no matter where you’re from or what you believe in. Every place I’ve lived has left an impression on me. I moved to LA unplanned in a weekend, on what should have been a three day visit. I just ended up staying. Nashville is the first place I moved by my own volition, and, it the time I’ve been there, I think it’s the first time I’ve had real and true friends. No matter what, Australia will always be home and I’d love to be able to go back there, again, at some point in my life.

Diandra: You have said that you want your music to make people feel like it is okay to feel. What are certain feelings music has helped you feel okay with having?

Quinn Lewis: Anger, sadness, defeat, happiness, confidence; that’s the awesome thing about music. It’s impossible to confine what you can feel, and no one can tell you that you’re wrong for feeling it. It’s all subjective. I probably sound like a sappy Dr. Phil,  haha. I don’t say it to come across like I’ve got it all figured out; it comes from a more selfish place. That’s what music does for me and I hope my music can do the same for others; while I figure out my own shit.

Quinn Lewis – Weekend Luv (Audio)

Diandra: Your recent single, “Hanging On,” is about feeling like you are being held back by someone whom is not that into you. What helped you realize that you were “hanging on” to a relationship that was not working?  

Quinn Lewis: In all honesty, finding out I wasn’t the only one. I got ghosted and then someone took my place… hence “do me then you go replace me” that first word was initially going to be swapped with another word…

Diandra: Your music emanates that you are a sensitive heart or, at least, someone aware of and considerate of emotional power. How has music taught you of the power of feelings and how to control them with a song?

Quinn Lewis: This hits close to home for me. I was actually talking to a friend of mine the other day and he said I was one of the most sensitive people he knew (we get really deep in my friend group). I remembered growing up, my family would always call me sensitive, and it bothered me like crazy. I hated wearing my emotions on my sleeve and being seen like that. I think music has helped me reign it in a little bit. I’m not the kid storming out of the room anymore, and music has helped me come to love being called sensitive. As far as how to control them, if I can put it into a song, I can call out myself, someone else, or a feeling, and control it just by addressing it.

Quinn Lewis – Hanging On

Diandra: You have said that you want people to feel confident even when they feel out of place. What has been one moment when you had to empower yourself despite insecurities?

Quinn Lewis: I remember, vividly, a night where we went to someone’s dorm room at Belmont and people were all singing in a circle: some real High School Musical stuff. It was the first time I told someone that I didn’t play guitar, only because someone was better, and I said I didn’t sing because someone was belting notes I’d never hit. It took me a while to own what made me different, and I still get insecure and compare myself way too much.  I get to wake up and write music everyday now so it’s getting easier to push past those moments.

Diandra: Having moved to Nashville when 18, and now 22, how have you seen your person and artistry change, creatively, in this city?

Quinn Lewis: Well I’m way less scared the bouncer will take my id, for one (haha_. Personally, I think I let less weigh me down now than I did first moving. The struggles feel lighter and any speed bumps don’t last as long. I think that has a lot to do with the people I surround myself with. Artistically, I think I just get more and more confident in saying what I want to say because I want to say it, and move further away from the idea of having to please someone or check a box for someone else.

Diandra: Who was the first person you called after getting signed, and what did you do to celebrate?

Quinn Lewis: I was actually in a session with Todd Clark; a co-writer I work with a lot and whom I actually wrote one of the songs Massey (CEO of Arista) first reacted to with. I remember saying to Todd, “I may get a call during the session and I kinda have to take it, which I never do. He was awesome about it – We didn’t end up finishing the song,” I got in my car called my parents, then a couple buddies and I think we were at the bar for few nights in a row. Maybe one too many.

Diandra; With your parents being your support and witnesses to your development as an artist, what has been their favorite song of yours, so far, and why?

Quinn Lewis: They’ve both name dropped new demos I’ve shown them and then circled back and changed their minds, about four times, on which is their favorite. I don’t think I’ll ever get a solid single favorite from them. I guess that’s a good thing! 

What a phenomenal, good energy! He may be a “sensitive heart,” but this vulnerability allows Quinn to deliver songs and answers that brim with the courage needed to connect with someone. Love demands strength because she demands faith in her, and Quinn Lewis gives the smooth, grooved pop that reveals you cannot believe in love if you don’t believe in yourself first. SO GET CONFIDENT and Listen to Quinn Lewis Here.