FAKING IT WON’T HELP YOU MAKE IT Something I now know
to be true is that you’re much more resonant when you're being
authentic and honest. When I was fi rst starting out, I tried really
hard to be what I thought I should be; to be the person I thought
the world would want. I would have been more powerful and
compelling just being the person I am, though. That's when
things really connect. People usually like it way more than if
you’re trying to be some fancy-pants.
CREATIVITY NEVER SLEEPS The strangest place I’ve found
inspiration is a Ken Burns documentary about the First World
War. A couple of years ago, I went through a really bad patch of
insomnia. I used to fall asleep watching those Ken Burns docos on
my laptop. They're really slow, beautiful documentaries with a very
quiet, calm voice reading everything. One time, I woke up to them
telling me about some battle, and it cut to a sign with the town's
name: Saint-Lô. I was like, "That." And I wrote a song with that
title, because of that one moment in the Ken Burns fi lm.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER I don't really think about ageing. I have
so many friends of different ages, you know, from like 18 to their
50s. I think I do less stupid shit than I did when I was 21, but Ihaven't joined the ‘I'm in my 30s and all I like is renovations’
club, or whatever. I'm still me. I still go to parties and listen to
music and write songs and hang out with interesting artists. When
you choose the life of a musician, you’re essentially adopting
a non-standard approach to life, whichever phase of it you’re in.
So I’m good; I just don’t think about it.
EVOLUTION IS INEVITABLE In the beginning, everybody tends
to use their creative output in a really journalistic way. You write
your stories and your heartbreak and about the boy you like. It's
all very autobiographical. I've been learning how not to put myself
into the narrative quite so much. When I think about Nick Cave's
work, for instance, the stuff he writes about is all quite fantastic
and mythological. It's a more elevated, conceptual way of writing.
It's a bit of a departure from the kinds of things I wrote at the
beginning of my career.
SMALL GOALS LEAD TO BIG RESULTS I like to set creative goals.
I just did a writing exercise where I was like, “Right, I'm going to
wake up every morning for a month, and I'm going to write a page of
lyrics, and I'm not going to look at them. And I'm not going to judge
them, or screw up the paper and put it in the bin, either. I'm just
going to write lyrics every morning – that’s what I'm gonna do.”
That was really hard, but I did it, and now I'm going to look at it all
and try to fi nd a song in there. I try to explore ways I can expand
my experience of the process of making music. Write a song in
15 minutes. Write a song in 15 years. That kind of thing is
really interesting to me.
GET TO KNOW YOURSELF I have a pretty anxious personality,
and I always worry that the things I do are mistakes. So, even
when they're good decisions, I'm always kind of stressed they'll
eventually reveal themselves to be wrong. That's what it feels like
to be in my brain. I think everything could be better; I’m always
a little bit disappointed in myself. Living in this kind of turmoil,
I try to be pretty philosophical about it all. Some people have an
internal carrot they use to motivate themselves – I have an internal
stick. That’s just who I am.the wisdom of
washington
SINGER-SONGWRITER
MEGAN WASHINGTON SHARES
SOME IMPORTANT LIFE LESSONS.Interview Sophie Kalagasmusic talks