by alex grainger
photo courtesy of landon contrath
Landon Conrath just dropped his latest single “Science Fiction.” The alt-pop single is the epitome of who he is as an artist – “it’s pure, unfiltered, Landon.” “Science Fiction” is incredibly transparent and a song he holds close to his heart as it shares his experience struggling with depression. It’s a song that came together out of desperation to both understand his own feelings and convey them to others. “Science Fiction” drops ahead of his upcoming album Nothing Matters Anyway set to release September 9th. Read more about “Science Fiction” and Landon Conrath below!
Can you tell us what “Science Fiction” is about?
Landon: “‘Science Fiction is about the worst Fall season of my life. I had never really experienced a low like that in my life. I always thought I was invincible, this was the first time I admitted to myself that I struggled with depression. I think the song can largely be summed up in the line ‘my chemistry owns me.’ I just felt completely captive to my brain. I’ve always carried myself in a really confident way, I like to think I know everything and I keep a pretty good public appearance. This song was about the fear of letting the world in on my ugly secret.”
What was the creative process behind “Science Fiction?”
Landon: “This song came FAST. This is the first song I’m releasing that I produced on my own. I had some help from friends with some guitars, but most of the song happened extremely quickly in a two hour window one morning. I made the skeleton of the song and quickly mumbled the melodies over it. Later that same day I brought it to my friend, and long time collaborator, Alex Kimball. We were both super stoked on the song and wrote lyrics immediately.”
In what ways does being a former drummer carry into this single? How if at all did it impact the creative process for “Science Fiction?”
Landon: “Drums are so important to me. The drums were the first thing to be laid down in the session for this song. I mostly use programmed drums, which I think surprises a lot of people, but I just love the energy of electronic drums mixed with acoustic samples. There is always a place for recording live drums, but there is something special about the speed that you can just fly at when you are dragging and dropping samples instead of setting up 12-16 microphones to record a full drum set. I truly believe in creative energy, and I think you can miss opportunities when you are stuck checking the gain on each drum and making sure everything is set to perfectly record one of the most complicated instruments.”
Is there a message you are sending to listeners of “Science Fiction?”
Landon: “The lyrics of this song are so pessimistic, there is never really that twist at the end that gives a message of hope to the listener. This is something I internally struggle with all the time. I want to be a place of encouragement and hope for people but I also want to write about my truest self. The world can be a really broken place and it’s hard for me to write songs that loop back to a positive message when that’s not what I am feeling in my own head. I don’t want to send the message that you should ‘skydive out of a cessna’ in order to make your friends notice you. I guess I want people to know that when they see artists, or really anyone, online and think they have this seemingly perfect presence… just know that we all struggle with a lot of the same things.”
You mention the lyrics “my chemistry owns me” have stuck with you. Why is this line so meaningful?
Landon: “I kept feeling like a captive to my own brain. It wasn’t even necessarily tied to events happening in my life. An outside perspective looking into my life would think that everything was peachy, I mean a lot of great things were happening! That’s why that line seemed to sum it all up perfectly. It felt like there was literally nothing I could do to make myself feel better, like even if my life was going well the chemicals in my head just wouldn’t let me feel happy.”
How therapeutic was this song in the healing and confrontation process? Did it come as a reflection or was the song created within the moment of raw emotion and vulnerability?
Landon: “This was one of the first songs I wrote that really just felt like a thought dump straight from my head. There wasn’t a gimmick, there wasn’t a lyric that was gonna ‘do well on TikTok’ or anything like that. I just desperately wanted to understand my own feelings and communicate them to others. I hold this song near and dear to my heart.”
Revealing these transparent emotions and thoughts about the rawest part of ourselves can be extremely nerve racking and difficult. How have you been able to find the courage to express these thoughts with the world?
Landon: “I never had too much of a problem with sharing my emotions. Honestly I can definitely tend to be an oversharer! One of my biggest desires is to be understood as a person, I hate when I feel misunderstood by people. So I think the more that I let people into how I’m feeling, the more they might understand why I do the things I do, etc. Honestly the bigger struggle for me is finding a reason to even share my thoughts with the world in the first place. There are millions of artists in this world and why should my opinion matter more than someone else’s? I’ve kinda just chalked my reason up to pure enjoyment of music, and I might as well just do it cause I love it.”
How have you developed your own unique sound, after so many years creating a group sound as a drummer? How is this sound shown in “Science Fiction?”
Landon: “I’ve developed my own sound out of necessity mostly. I can’t play guitar super well, but I found a way to write simple/unique parts and I use a lot of distortion to cover up my impurities [laughs]! Also most of my music has been made in basements instead of studios so I always used programmed drums when I didn’t have the means to record real drums. Combining all these elements lead to a bold/loud sound that relied a lot on punchy guitars/drums and catchy vocal hooks.”
What are you most proud of upon the release of “Science Fiction?”
Landon: “I think ‘Science Fiction’ is the purest representation of what I want people to think of sonically when they think of me. I love the chaotic guitars, and FX tracks. There’s even an explosion sample or two in there to add to the noise. It was really great being able to just put down whatever I wanted into the session instead of trying to communicate my ideas through a producer before they hit the computer. This song feels like ‘pure, unfiltered, Landon,’ [laughs].”
How did you choose to release “Science Fiction” as a single ahead of your album Nothing Matters Anyway?
Landon: “Immediately when I finished the song, I just knew I wanted it in the hands of the listeners ASAP. The choice to have it as a single mostly came from just wanting everyone to hear it sooner!!”
You’re dropping your new album Nothing Matters Anyway on September 9th. What can you tell us about the album?
Landon: “The album happened over such a chaotic time of my life. I signed with Nettwerk and graduated college when a lot of the writing was happening. It also happened over an incredibly long period of time. The songs stem from almost three years of writing and piecing together. Even as I write this response, there are still songs that aren’t completely done. Sometimes when a piece of work takes this long, it doesn’t feel cohesive anymore. But I think this record really just showcases my own internal grappling with how much I let situations in my life have control over how I think. When bad things happen to you, you basically have two options. You can either try and fix things, and deal with the problems you are facing. Or you can turn into apathy and just kinda say, ‘Well, nothing matters anyways!’ I’m trying to find the balance between the two.”