Today we’d like to introduce you to Savannah Thieme.
Hi Savannah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up around a producer, my dad. I saw him graduate from an 8-track to an Avid MBOX studio interface to a UA, writing his songs, singing and playing all the instruments. It was cool to have that example of artistic freedom growing up, to hear what he was learning about mixing and how it applied to a Willie Nelson recording or a Paramore song. We’d listen to an album in the car all the way through and get all excited about relistening to certain sections. And of course I’d hear every mix of his, sometimes over a span of months or even years, from the basic piano and vocal version to the fully orchestrated and mastered version.
We both grew up in school ensembles too, him in band playing trumpet and me in orchestra playing viola and singing in musicals. But I always really wanted what he had, which was a whole world of his own, an endless creative, musical playground. In college I quit orchestra and focused on composition and recording, drawing influence from the new-media-focused composition grad students. I’ve always been attracted to the eccentric and the different, like Bjork and Joanna Newsom, but also the sleek production of pop music like Sia and Kygo. I think the friends I’ve made outside of school and after school showed me how to prioritize the love and fun of making music, and the people I was studying with showed me that it’s always worthwhile to push yourself in an experimental direction.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve always struggled with who I am supposed to be, which might explain why I’ve gone in so many different directions in my day job career and started/joined lots of different musical projects (SOLDRAGON, Essa V, groups in college, groups in Austin). I’ve always been a bit jealous of people who were able to decide early on that they were obviously meant to be a mother or a singer or an engineer. I have pretty severe anxiety that impacts my motivation to create, release, and perform my music. But I’m grateful to have a supportive musical family here in Austin, who have given me opportunities to grow and overcome a lot of that. I read books about our history and feel a lot of the pain humans bring themselves, the conflicts we haven’t figured out how to solve. Becoming “centered” is still in process as I explore the creative playground, but I think the answer is to just keep going – keep making, keep doing. Exercise has helped immensely and I would recommend it to any artist finding themselves stuck in recursive thought loops.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love weirdness and camp. It’s fun to do something other people haven’t thought to do before. Like combining dance music with Bachian counterpoint or rapping over drum and bass beats. I’ve made a lot of people online upset with the music I make, but I’ve also found a few hardcore fans. I’m proud that I see absurd things through to the end, I commit to the bit. I guess all art is political, and it’s important to interpret what musicians say with their art, not only through their lyrics, but with what tools they use, what sounds they lean towards, what ethos they have, what vibrations they choose to express to the world. I think it’s important to be yourself during the short time you’re here on earth, and really grapple with the problems the world throws at you. You never know who might be secretly struggling with the same thing. Like you know Grimes, she’s incredibly controversial and kind of a third rail – I disagree with a lot of what she says. But she is the PR disaster/success she is because she’s always completely unfiltered. She has a quote from several years ago where she says she tries to freak people out with her art – she lives that energy to the extreme. She won’t die with her soul unexpressed.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I enjoy producing alongside other producers and working on songs together, I really miss that from the Astral Jazz project that I solo-released last year. That was supposed to be a collaborative album between me and DJ Chap, a really talented producer. We were very close for a long time and made a lot more songs than what’s on that record. Ultimately we didn’t see eye to eye on what our relationship was and I had to cut the project short, but I loved what we made so much that I needed to have at least a few people see it and hear it. It would be amazing to have something like that again. Other than that, collaborating with jazz musicians would be cool. I’ve been getting into the genre over the last couple years and have had to learn a lot more about playing keys, but anyone who’s forgiving that I don’t have a jazz performance degree but still want to play would be really fulfilling opportunity.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soldragon.wav/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/soldragon
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/essavmusic/
Image Credits
Taylor Tice, Cody Read, Davin Fitch
