Hi Leaf in a Forest,
We’re excited to feature you and your latest album, Compass, on WatchThisGlobe! We spent some time exploring the story behind the project and were really drawn to the way you’ve used geography as a metaphor for life’s emotional journey.
We’ve put together a few questions for our readers to help them get to know both you and the heart behind Compass.
- The title Compass immediately suggests direction and discovery. At what point did you realize this album was going to become a concept project rather than just a collection of songs?
I find it difficult to just write a song on demand, I need some kind of direction (fittingly, for this album). So my songwriting process with all three of my albums has been built around concepts. It feels kind of like writing a book to me. I come up with the title and premise, and then start building the songs almost like individual chapters. My first album was called Galleria and each song shared a title with a famous painting like Starry Night or The Umbrellas. My second album was called Ampersand and each song had an ampersand symbol in the title, like Older & Older or Pirate Ships & Fairytales. I came up with several different concepts for this album and then settled on the geographical and exploration concept because I’ve really enjoyed traveling over the past few years and wanted to incorporate that into my music!
2. You once said, “I named every song after geography… but none of them are really about geography.” What inspired you to use landscapes and locations as metaphors for such deeply personal experiences?
Once I settled on the concept, I made a big list of titles that fit the geography theme. I had quite a few I didn’t use in the list like Island Time, Beyond the Horizon, Mercator Projection, etc. So I actually came up with the titles before fully writing the songs, which is not normal songwriting behavior I’m sure, but that’s what works for me. I then turned these into emotional and personal songs because that’s what I like to write about. Writing in a confident way is something a lot of songs do, but I just feel weird doing that. I find it easier to write really honest and emotional lyrics. I think it gives me ownership of the lyrics, it feels like they’re really something that I completely relate to and that makes me proud of the songs.
3. Which track on Compass was the most difficult to write emotionally, and why?
That’s a great question. And an easy answer for me: True North. It was difficult to write emotionally because it is the most personal. It’s about those that help you find your way when you feel lost. They’re always there for you, in good times and bad, and keep you going in the right direction. Because it’s so personal, it was hard to write and even to perform because it makes me more emotional than most of the songs. And that is also why I wanted it to be the final song on the album. The finale is always crucial since it is the last thing you hear and I wanted to put this song in a special place.
4.One of our favorite things about the album is how relatable the themes are, from anxiety and ambition to friendship and finding your place in the world. Was there a particular season of your life that inspired most of these songs?
Yes, most of these songs come from particular times in my life, but they vary throughout several different periods. Charted Territory is about feeling stuck in life with nowhere to go, which was inspired by a particular job. Tip of the Iceberg is about trying to hide anxiety and what’s going on in your mind while trying to function and be normal in the world, which was inspired by a time of loss and grieving I experienced in 2023. Some are also about thoughts or emotions that just come up throughout life like Drift Apart. Sometimes I’ll see a video or picture that just sparks a memory of childhood friends, which is what Drift Apart is about. Those core memories that make you who you are and the friends that meant so much to you, even if you don’t see them anymore.
5. The Summit explores the loneliness that can come with achieving your goals. Have you ever experienced a moment where success didn’t feel quite the way you imagined it would?
I think that happens a lot, at least for me. You have this vision of what something will be like when you get what you want, but then when you get it, you miss the path you were on to get there or where you were in the first place. It makes me think of a quote I really liked from The Office: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”
6. Drift Apart has resonated with many listeners because of its honest take on growing apart from people we care about. What do you hope listeners take away from that song?
This is one of my favorite songs on the album. I hope it’s something everyone can relate to. I have so many good memories of friends that I was so close to and even though we never had some big fight or falling out, we just slowly stopped talking over the years. One of us moves away, gets a new job, starts a family, and eventually you realize it’s been years since you spoke to someone that used to be your best friend. I hope that listeners can relate to that and think of those friends, and maybe it will even inspire them to reconnect and just let someone know how much they meant to you!
7. Your music balances introspective lyrics with cinematic storytelling. Which artists or albums have influenced your songwriting style over the years?
Twenty One Pilots and AJR are huge influences for me, both lyrically and musically. They both have unique and honest lyrics that so many popular artists don’t seem to have. Even though I played music many years before I discovered Twenty One Pilots, they were the band that inspired me to start writing because I loved their creativity and personal lyrics. I also love AJR’s nostalgic songs like Don’t Throw Out My Legos and Netflix Trip. Those songs are very emotional in a relatable way, which is what I want might songs to feel like.
8. If someone could only listen to one song from Compass before diving into the full album, which would you recommend and what makes that track the perfect introduction to the journey?
The Summit has been the most popular song so far, but I would actually say Foggy Fjords. That was the first song I wrote for the album, so it is what started the journey for me and would be a great starting point for others to see where the journey came from. I think it has a good mix of what to expect from the rest of the album: emotional lyrics, relatable lyrics, and different highs and lows musically with a soft bridge breaking into a cinematic and orchestral finale. I love dynamics in my songs (heavily inspired by Twenty One Pilots in that aspect), and Foggy Fjords is a great example of that.
9. Now that Compass is out in the world, has there been a particular fan reaction or message that has surprised or impacted you the most?
I think the most surprising reaction is that a few people have mentioned how much they like the track Rerouting. It’s an instrumental song right before the final song on the album and just over a minute long. I’ve always been a fan of intros and interludes, so I like to throw in some shorter instrumental songs in my albums. A lot of the pop punk bands I liked growing up did that, such as Relient K, Yellowcard, and New Found Glory. A few people have told me how much they like Rerouting and wish that there was even more to it! I think that’s part of what makes it fun to listen to, only the good parts without anything extra.
10. Finally, if you could leave listeners with one piece of guidance from your own compass, what would it be?
Enjoy the journey. The destination isn’t always the best part, enjoy all the little things along the way, that’s what you’ll remember after the journey is over.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. We’re looking forward to sharing your story and introducing our readers to the world of Compass.
Warm regards,
The WatchThisGlobe Editorial Team.
