Acclaimed singer/songwriter Skylar Grey chats with Atwood Magazine about the childhood memories and nostalgic “bubble grunge” textures behind her sixth album, ‘WASTED POTENTIAL,’ and her current life in the Napa Valley countryside.

Stream: ‘WASTED POTENTIAL’ – Skylar Grey

I think I am living the most realized version of my life now. It’s not what I wanted as a kid, but it’s way better.

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Skylar Grey’s current life is worlds away from the star-studded studios she once haunted.

After writing the hook to Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie,” Grey was thrust into the limelight, spending years writing for others and people-pleasing.

Now, Grey and her partner, fellow singer/songwriter Elliott Taylor, live in Napa Valley with their cows, sheep, chickens, cats, dogs, and pig. A love of wine took root and grew into a full-fledged life in Northern California, complete with a vineyard, recording studios, and a tight-knit community of quiet eccentrics.

Grey’s fortieth birthday came and went, but a sense of longing lingered. Not for the hustle and bustle of the industry, but for the quiet Midwest countryside she grew up in. Touring from the age of six, Grey’s life left little room for childhood. She traded the ordinary rhythms of youth for a life defined by insatiable ambition. Each track on her latest record, WASTED POTENTIAL, explores a different facet of what she missed, in all senses of the word.

WASTED POTENTIAL - Skylar Grey — WASTED POTENTIAL – Skylar Grey

“Nirvana” channels Ethel Cain’s eerie Americana storytelling, grounding itself in Midwest winters, America’s largest crop, and the once-bedgrudged pull of home. Grey reminisces, “And when I day-dreamed about that old house, I can’t believe I ever wanted to burn it down.” “Spine” follows in the same gothic vein, culminating in a clangorous, clattering rock outro. Anyone who is familiar with Grey’s songwriting knows that she is a chameleon, and this record’s sound, which she deems “bubble grunge,” is no evidence to the contrary.

On the album’s lighter side is “Plastic Water Bottles,” a playful recollection of reckless behavior reserved for fifteen-year-old no-gooders. “Motivation,” a Sky Ferreira-esque indie sleaze anthem for the idle, boasts equally catchy verses.

WASTED POTENTIAL complicates its own premise. What initially reads as a meditation on absence instead reveals a collection of nostalgic snapshots.

Grey looks back while maintaining the way forward, reframing what it means to have “wasted anything at all.”

As she tells it, she is living the “most realized version” of her life. The ground beneath her feet is plentiful, secure, and entirely her own.

Read on as Atwood Magazine discusses WASTED POTENTIAL, nostalgia, creative identity, and life in the Napa Valley with Skylar Grey.

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:: stream/purchase WASTED POTENTIAL here ::

:: connect with Skylar Grey here ::

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A CONVERSATION WITH SKYLAR GREY

Atwood Magazine: You have mentioned “You weren’t interested in normal childhood stuff.” Is this album a way of exploring something you lost?

Skylar Grey: It was inspired by me turning forty and being depressed about that. I wanted to be a kid again. Since I was working so much, I wasn’t very present for my childhood. I did my first show when I was six years old, and then I was on tour. Writing this album was like building a time machine.

Was there a particular piece of your childhood you found yourself missing as an adult?

Skylar Grey: I think it was the fact that I didn’t enjoy the nuances of being a child. Going shopping with your friends, riding my bike to the pool, all of that silly stuff. I was so focused on my future. I just wanted to get out of that town. I knew that I had to leave at some point to chase my dreams. Looking back, I wish I had enjoyed it more. I had a great childhood. My parents are great, supportive people. I don’t have anything to complain about.

That makes me think of your life here, in Napa. You have a beautiful ranch and tons of animals.

Skylar Grey: I did always want a ranch!

It’s like playing outside all day long.

Skylar Grey: I do consider it an adult playground.

Angel with Tattoos sounds like a completely different artist, and it was released only one year ago. This record has a darker ambience, with gothic, nostalgic overtones.

Skylar Grey: The goal was to make it nostalgic and to reflect on the ‘90s. Punk, grunge, some folk because my mom was a folk musician. It’s not straightforward. I am calling it “bubble grunge.”

As an independent artist, do you feel pressured to identify your music with a certain description or label?

Skylar Grey: I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to put myself in a box. Now that I’m independent and I’m forty, I give less f**ks. I love to include all of my random influences. I am having a lot of fun now. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself.

When you write a song for yourself vs other people, can you point out differences?

Skylar Grey: When I write songs for others, I do research on them and try to find something I can relate to. I don’t like to write from an unauthentic place. Usually a song like that isn’t very good. I don’t do a lot of songwriting for other people anymore. I will take some sessions occasionally. We do a therapy session where we chat a lot about what they are going through. Then we try to get those emotions into a song. That’s how I write for myself, too.

Last album, I was very depressed. It was very moody, there was nothing fun about it. This record has more youthful energy. But on the other side of the coin, it is nostalgic and reflective. There’s more of a range here.

You had major success at a young age. Did that help alleviate some of the internal pressure?

Skylar Grey: I’ve always been really hard on myself. When I had my first big break in songwriting with “Love the Way You Lie” I put a lot of pressure on myself because so many people were calling. Every songwriting session I went to, I thought I had to write something as good as “Love the Way You Lie.” That just doesn’t happen. Songs like that are one in a million. I thought that I sucked because I couldn’t write a hit every time. I would leave the sessions crying. I wanted to succeed so badly when I was younger and I think I made creative decisions for the wrong reasons. I tried to please people. I am over that now.

When you dreamt of making it as a child, what did that look like?

Skylar Grey: As a kid, I wanted to be a superstar. I wanted to play at the Grammy’s, which I did. I look at other artists and their lifestyles, even ones that are way more successful than me, and I don’t want that. I think I am living the most realized version of my life now. It’s not what I wanted as a kid, but it’s way better.

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