The music of songwriter, vocalist, and storyteller Sara Devoe has echoed the streets of Brooklyn since 2020, but now she’s ready to embrace her folk-shoegaze side to embark on her next chapter. As she gears up to release her debut album Come Away, O Human Child!, Sara made time to sit down with us to talk about the recording process and all that led up to the album’s release.
Ascribe Magazine: Let’s do this. So I am so happy that you’re sitting down with Ascribe. We’re so excited to be chatting with you. I’d love to hear a little bit about what’s been inspiring you lately.
Sara Devoe: Yeah, absolutely! Honestly, a lot of music I recently have–well, not recently, I guess it’s been like, you know, several months–but I went through this shift, and for a while, I really saw myself as this dream pop, bedroom pop artist. And then I started listening to, I don’t even know, like Haley Heynderickx, she released an album that I just love, Seed of a Seed. It really inspired me. And then I was listening to Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, Cryogeyser, squirrel flower, and all of these bands that are kind of making, folk-shoegaze, like folk, shoegaze, grunge. And I was like, this is incredible! I love this! And that kind of inspired me to change my sound. And kind of like, you know, even start writing in a different way, and just kind of go back to the basics, I guess.
AM: Yeah, tell me about how your writings changed! That’s really interesting.
SD: So when I was making my last EP, scared of the dark, which is like very dream pop, I was writing directly in my DAW, I was writing in Logic, and I would start with a drum beat, and then I would add some guitar, and then some synths, and, like, it was all very, you know, digitalized. And then for this album that I’m working on, I wrote everything just on acoustic and recorded it like a voice memo, and had the chords ready and the lyrics I would write kind of in the moment, and it made everything seem a lot more organic and genuine. I guess to me, I felt more connected with it.
AM: I’ve been noticing a really big shift to more organic music, whether it’s like Djo, Lucy Dacus, Samia, I feel like their last projects were so produced in really cool ways, and now that they’re shifting, it’s more into real instruments and real sounds and getting to the point with your lyrics.
SD: Absolutely, I felt that way. I really liked Clairo’s album she just put out, but I really liked Sling, like, the song “Management,” which is the last one on that album. It’s so Beatles-esque, which I really liked. And I was like, this is so cool that she’s doing this, and she feels like she can do this situation. And I was like, I have so many friends in New York City that are musicians. They play these real instruments. Like, why am I using a synth pad, you know, DAW or like a synth violin, when I could just have my friend play violin?
AM: I know that you’ve been putting out music since 2020. Is this shift what made you feel like it was the right time to release your debut? Or was there another reason?
SD: Definitely, yes, I just was inspired by this project. This feels like me, and it feels like kind of what I’ve been trying to get to. So it just felt like the right time. And I think that also, I mean, I’m still a really small artist, but you know, I felt like the EP gave me some little success that made me feel confident to want to do this, I guess to keep moving forward.
AM: That’s amazing. So I know that you, in 2020, taught yourself guitar, which I think is really cool. What made you want to take on the challenge, aside from all the time you had?
SD: I just really wanted to release music, and I really wanted to write music, and it just felt like the only way. I mean, it definitely wasn’t. I’m sure I could have, like, learned piano, or even, you know, maybe had some kind of writing partner who could play guitar, but I just really wanted to do it myself.
AM: I think it feeds into that autonomy aspect.
SD: I didn’t want to be dependent on anybody else when writing music. And so it just kind of seemed like the only way.
AM: I think that really speaks to you wanting to be direct and more upfront with the audience as well. So I want to hear about the process of putting together your debut album. Congratulations on having a debut album! That’s a feat that not many musicians accomplish. Walk me through the process. Were there any highlight or standout moments that you really remember?
SD: I mean, honestly, I’m not done with it. I guess we just finished recording, but I’m still kind of in the phase of putting things together and getting it mixed and mastered. But this was also the first time I ever recorded in a studio with an engineer, and that was just incredible. I’ve been recording with this guy, Aleksi Godard, who also works at Red Convertible Recording [Studio] in New York City. And he’s done really great things. He has credits with Kali Uchis. But then he’s also willing to work with really small artists and he just clearly loves doing this. So he’s willing to kind of take a step back and work with someone like me, which is really nice. And, yeah, going through that process has made me feel–it’s made me take the music more seriously because it’s like, okay, not only do I want this to sound good, and it is sounding good, but it’s also like, I’m paying for this studio time, and so we need to make the most of it. And I want to make the most of, you know, this investment that I’m putting towards this album, because I’m also not getting funding, like, not doing a label. You know, I released my EP with Spirit Goth [Records], but I decided to do this one just independently, because [the album] felt not really Spirit Goth’s audience. Even though they’re great, they’re so awesome that I was like, I think I just need to do this myself. And obviously that can be expensive, but I think it’s totally worth it, because the music just sounds so clear. It sounds so much better than when I was recording, like, literally right here.
AM: And it also sounds like it’s 100% you. Like there’s no other really creative inputs going in, aside from you, yourself and what you want to communicate
SD: Absolutely. I will say that I’m working with my really good friend, Mike, Michael McCanna, who I’ve known for four years now. He was one of the first friends I made in the city, and he’s really been a huge help in this whole process. He plays really good guitar, and he’s been adding guitar to the songs. And I definitely would consider him a collaborator of some of these, which is really nice also.
AM: I want to hear about why you decided to make “Evil Genius” your lead single.
SD: This is funny because a lot of my friends don’t like that one. But the second single– which is called “A Secret // The Moon,” maybe that’ll be “Chain,” but that’s what it’s called right now– everyone really likes that one, and I’m releasing that one in August, but I really like this first single. I think it’s a really good intro to the album. And an intro, kind of like a statement of “this music is gonna sound kind of like this now.” It has so many elements in the song. Like it has the strings. It has the omnicord that we use, which was really cool. It has acoustic guitar, which is just different, I don’t have acoustic guitar in any of my other songs, and live drums. And it’s just like, to me, it felt kind of like the perfect ballad of what this new sound is going to be. And I also think it’s just maybe one of the heavier songs that’ll be on that album, which is cool.
AM: The subject matter is also really heavy. You talk about how this song is about a stalker that you had. What was it like embodying that voice?
SD: Absolutely, I think that embodying that voice was really easy. Because I think that– that’s not to say that it was my fault that I was being stalked– but I also think that, you know, I was very much blaming myself for a lot of that. And kind of feeling really lonely and really hopeless and just kind of like, I need this person, maybe, perhaps, to make everything better. And I think that this song is a lot of that self doubt I was feeling, and kind of like that feeling of not being good enough. And, yeah, I think that that’s really what that song is about, honestly.
AM: So, looking forward to your record, I’d love to hear about the song on the record that felt the most difficult to complete.
SD: Oh, that’s a good question. Most difficult to complete? Probably the intro track [“Come Away, O Human Child!”]. The intro track I haven’t even been able to record yet. It’s still a voice memo, but I wanted it to be very like Cameron Winters, kind of just a piano ballad. And it just took me a while to write it. It took me a while to find the chords I want to do on piano and what I want the subject matter to be. And I remember, I was kind of just putting it off and putting it off. And I was like, well, eventually I’ll write the final track. That’ll be the intro track. And then finally, one night I did. I was home alone. And I was like, okay, I can, like, scream in my room so I just kind of like- and this is also funny. My home studio is busted right now, like, my headphones broke, my interface that I use is in shambles. My laptop is fried, like everything. It was like, the last hurrah, the last day. I think that I probably could have used any kind of equipment that would allow me to write a song in my home. So thank God that it worked that night.
AM: You’re gearing up to play some live shows in New York in the summer and fall. What song are you most excited to play live?
SD: Probably “A Secret // The Moon.” That’s, again, the second single, and that was the first single that I wrote for this album. And I just feel it’s a really warm song. It’s a really nice song, and I don’t write a lot of, like, very nice, warm, loving songs, so it makes me just happy to play this one. And I also just really like playing it, like with my friends, and like playing it with my bandmates, who I’ve been playing with for so long, and who also really like it. It feels like there’s really good energy when we play this. And I had a show last weekend at Elsewhere, and I’ve been starting to kind of play like these new songs, and the feed we did play that one, and the feedback was just like, really well received. So I think that was awesome.
AM: I feel like that can be so nerve-wracking to debut a song, but I’m really happy to hear it was well received, and I’m sure that everyone is gonna love it. So my last question is, I’d love to know if you could have any artist cover a song on your record. Which song would it be and who would sing it?
SD: Oh my God, that’s such a good question.
AM: Feel free to reach, like, shoot for the moon,
SD: Yeah. I mean, gosh, definitely like Haley Hendricks, I love her. I think she’s the best songwriter of our generation. And I know, like, that’s, that’s a wild take.
AM: No, speak your truth.
SD: I think she’s just incredible. And, like, her lyrics are so good, and her voice is incredible, and like, hearing her sing any of these songs, but maybe, like, specifically “A Secret // The Moon,” or I even have this song called “Boys On Screens.” That’s about when I had an Omegle boyfriend when I was in high school.
AM: Oh my God.
SD: And like, hearing her sing that just because it’s really a funny song, but I think that the cadence of the tone would go really well with her voice. It would be amazing.
AM: It’s great to hear that some experiences truly are universal.
SD: No literally and like, again, this is maybe crazy. I don’t know if you want to include this, but we met, like, I, he lived in England.
AM: He was British!
SD: He was British, and we dated for like, two years, to the point where, like, he came to America and like, we met in person. It was really wild. But that song is about him.
AM: Oh my gosh. Well, we are so excited for you to release the album and I’m sure our readers are too.
You can now Pre-Save Sara Devoe’s lead single “Evil Genius,” coming out on July 18th. Her debut album, Come Away, O Human Child!, comes out on October 31st.
