“I’m Just a Person with a Lot of Feelings”: Sydney Sprague on Channeling Emotional Extremes into Indie Rock Catharsis

Vulnerable, visceral, and vividly self-aware, Sydney Sprague’s latest singles find her spiraling, soaring, and searching for relief in all the messy in-between moments. As she gears up to release her third album ‘Peak Experience,’ the Phoenix indie rocker opens up about anxiety, emotional extremes, and reclaiming control through cathartic, guitar-laced songs.

Stream: “Long Island” – Sydney Sprague

I’m too high at the fair field, going fast as f*** on a ferris wheel…

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Sydney Sprague captures the dizzying intensity and unsteady footing of life’s highs and lows in just a few vivid lines.

Her upcoming third LP, Peak Experience (out September 26^th), takes listeners through the whirlwind of feeling everything all at once – vulnerable and visceral, dramatic and dynamic, catchy yet candid. With sharp lyricism and an electric emotional charge, Sprague’s recent singles strike at the heart of modern anxiety, isolation, and the catharsis that comes from turning chaos into art. Peak Experience isn’t just her latest; it’s Sydney Sprague at her absolute best.

Since her acclaimed 2020 debut, maybe i will see you at the end of the world, Sydney Sprague has built a reputation for indie rock that resonates with anyone who’s ever felt caught between spiraling out and finding clarity. Her relentless touring alongside acts like Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, and The Front Bottoms has deepened her connection with audiences, fueling an evolution that’s both fiercely introspective and boldly outward-facing. Recorded in her home studio in Phoenix, Arizona, Peak Experience marks a pivotal moment of creative freedom for the 33-year-old singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist – each song crafted precisely on her own terms, free from external expectations.

From the raw anxiety of “Fair Field” and emotional desperation of “As Scared As Can Be,” to the feverish existential spiral of “Flat Circle” and the intimate, pleading catharsis of “Long Island,” Sydney Sprague’s latest releases reveal an artist at her most vulnerable, visceral, and vibrant – showcasing her depths as both a songwriter and a guitarist.

A disorienting fever dream soaked in anxiety and warped reality, “Fair Field” arrived this past March as Peak Experience’s lead single, blurring humor and horror in a way only Sprague can. A fervent, brutally honest depiction of inner turmoil and dissociation, the track captures the surreal, spiraling chaos of a bad trip in a hotel room – and the emotional fallout that lingers long after the high fades. In adding it to our 117^th Editor’s Picks, Atwood Magazine hailed the single as “equal parts playful and panic-inducing – the sound of spiraling out in real time.”

“As Scared As Can Be” followed in May, diving into the madness of loving someone too much, with no outlet for resolution – aching, beautiful, and unrelenting. “It’s about pure desperation to me,” Sprague says. “It’s about loving a person to the point of complete insanity and having no idea what to do about it.”

Her latest two tracks are as stunning as they are utterly soul-stirring. The searing “Flat Circle” reflects on life’s infinite what-ifs, capturing the torment of decisions made and opportunities lost through explosive guitar riffs and contemplative lyrics. The softer, minute-and-a-half long “Long Island,” meanwhile, distills complex feelings into a short but potent burst, begging for relief amidst emotional turmoil.

“When you have to choose between connection and self-preservation because the truth is too messy or just too impossible to communicate…it’s a desperate plea for a moment of relief from the horrors,” Sprague shares. “It’s a genuine request for another long island iced tea.”

These four songs make up just one-half of the eight-track Peak Experience – a record that promises emotional whiplash, lyrical gut-punches, and the same dynamic push-and-pull between charm and churn, chaos and clarity that defines Sprague’s most compelling work.

Sydney Sprague’s music has always been about navigating life’s messiness through melody and honesty.

With Peak Experience, she reaches a thrilling new height, creating a record that’s as relatable as it is unforgettable. “My goal always with making music is to take feelings that I’m struggling to deal with and put them somewhere out of my head,” Sprague explains. “If I can help someone cope the way other artists have helped me cope, that would be really cool.” And with this stunning new collection, she’s poised to do exactly that.

Read our full conversation with Sprague below, and stay tuned for more to come as she continue to unveil the sonically and emotionally charged highs and lows of Peak Experience, out everywhere September 26^th!

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:: stream/purchase Peak Experience here ::

:: connect with Sydney Sprague here ::

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Stream: “Fair Field” – Sydney Sprague

A CONVERSATION WITH SYDNEY SPRAGUE

Sydney, hello again and thank you for your time! Hard to believe it's been five years since we first connected – and I feel like that might be a good place to start. How do you personally feel like your music has evolved since you first debuted back in 2020? How do you feel you've grown as an artist and songwriter in this short, but impactful time?

Sydney Sprague: Hello again! It’s so crazy how fast, and also somehow slow, these past five years have gone by! It’s been a lot of ups and downs for me since then. In the process of making my first two albums, I learned a lot about what I was and wasn’t willing to compromise on. Which I guess is to say, I basically learned that I hate compromising at all when it comes to my songs. I think I also came full circle back around to trusting my gut, and remembering that having fun making art is the whole reason for any of this.

A major part of my life the last few years has been touring. It’s made me think more about the kind of show I want to put on. Getting to play with bands like The Front Bottoms and Jimmy Eat World kind of re-wired my brain and made me want to write songs that I would be excited to jump around to. I’m still writing about the same things, the songs are still self-depracating and depressing, but I’ve learned to think a lot more about presentation.

You returned to the spotlight this past March with “Fair Field,” which I – very lovingly! – hailed as “a disorienting fever dream soaked in vulnerability, anxiety, and warped reality” in my Editor's Picks. Why come back with this song – how do you feel it helps set the scene for all that's to come, and the 2025 version of you?

Sydney Sprague: Thank you so much!! Those are exactly the vibes. [laughs] “Fair Field” was one of those songs that came out easy in five minutes, just like true emotional word-vomit. I wrote it the day after I got home from a tour and I was still physically vibrating from a month and a half of chaos. I think it just really captures the mood of this group of songs in a thesis-statement sort of way. It’s about being on the road, experiencing the high of playing shows everything while trying to navigate the logistics of tour, while also wondering if I’m good enough, worrying about the state of the world, missing my parents, and having these enormous, confusing feelings interpersonally. All of these songs represent a state of crisis I have been in at some point in the last year and a half while also having the best time. I think it’s interesting and really frustrating that it’s pretty much always both, and rarely one or the other for me.

Editor’s Picks 117: Dancer, Adam Melchor & Mt. Joy, CMAT, Arcy Drive, Sydney Sprague, and Charlotte OC!

“As Scared As Can Be” followed in May – a song that is at once incredibly, unflinchingly raw, and at times pretty self-deprecating. It's as beautiful as it is brutal; what does this song mean to you?

Sydney Sprague: “As Scared As Can Be” is a song about pure desperation to me. It’s about loving a person to the point of complete insanity and having no idea what to do about it. There’s a lack of closure and understanding that makes it one of the most satisfying songs for me, especially to play live. It’s just such a pent up feeling that it feels pretty crazy to let it out.

“Flat Circle” is a song drenched in what if’s. First off, are you the kind of person who lingers in thought and dwells on these sorts of unanswerable questions – and did writing this song help relieve any of the stresses they tend to bring?

Sydney Sprague: So, yes. I am absolutely dwelling on unanswerable questions at all times. I think a lot about individual choices and the butterfly effect of each one. I have a hard time making decisions, like even small ones, like what to eat for dinner, because I feel like picking the wrong thing could set my whole life in the wrong direction. Flat Circle is about one particular outcome that I had been spiraling out over. I do feel like I got some relief from writing it, at least temporarily, because I gave myself a way to talk about it in at least that instance.

I love how you described this track as “all questions and no answers” – it’s on the nose. What does this song mean for you – in other words, what makes it special in your eyes?

Sydney Sprague: I think it’s special to me because it’s kind of me trying to hold myself accountable for the choices I’ve made in my life. I can second guess everything forever but ultimately here we are, and it’s important for me to learn to accept that.

I really love the intensity of this song – the way your guitar explodes into those riffs is incredibly cathartic. Can you share how you built this song up, and how you're utilizing your guitar this time around?

Sydney Sprague: I also love the guitars on this song. It was a really collaborative process between my lead guitarist Sebastien Deramat and I. I wrote the song itself, the chords, lyrics, melodies, and then Seb and I wrote the rest of the parts together. There’s a lot of bouncing ideas back and forth between him and I. I remember we talked a lot about Third Eye Blind when we were working on the main riff. I think I also referenced Switchfoot when I was pitching the idea of the part he plays in the bridge. I just wanted it to feel huge and heavy and very nostalgic.

You most recently released “Long Island,” the fourth single off your upcoming album – and a tight minute and a half of raw emotion. What is this track about, to you?

Sydney Sprague: When you have to choose between connection and self-preservation because the truth is too messy or just too impossible to communicate. It’s a desperate plea for a moment of relief from the horrors. It’s a genuine request for another long island iced tea.

Your third album Peak Experience hits this September. I'm not asking you to pick favorite children, but how does this album compare to your first two records, for you?

Sydney Sprague: I love my first two albums very much, but I do think Peak Experience is my favorite. I got dropped by my label at the end of last year, and going into writing and recording these new songs I had a pretty major attitude adjustment about making music. The combination of not having any external pressure to make anything in particular and also having no money at all led me to the decision to make the record in my home studio with my band. We produced the whole thing together and I got to fully trust my gut in a way I hadn’t had the opportunity to before. Knowing that it is truly just mine makes it feel like my special baby.

And what does the name “Peak Experience” mean to you?

Sydney Sprague: One time my band and I were on a long drive and we started talking about what the Peak Experience a living being could have is. We decided it would be a cow being picked up by a tornado. Just imagine the absolute most insane adrenaline rush and physical sensation with zero context or understanding of what is happening to you or why. It really stuck with me that a ‘peak experience’ could actually be a bad thing, or at least mostly bad. A lot of my life the last few years has been thrilling, amazing and horrible all at the same time, and that’s what most of these songs are about too. So I thought it fit nicely.

What do you hope listeners take away from the album's first couple of singles, and what have you taken away from creating these songs and this new album and now steadily putting it out?

Sydney Sprague: My goal always with making music is to take feelings that I’m struggling to deal with and put them somewhere out of my head. I get the same relief from listening to music too. I think songs have a lot of power to help people process things, and they can also be a really helpful distraction from how f*ed up and terrible the world is. I don’t know how I would function without music, so I do it for me, but if I can help someone cope the way other artists have helped me cope, that would be really cool.

Now, I know you and I have been in touch for 5+ years now, but for those who are just discovering you today through this writeup, what do you want them to know about you and your music?

Sydney Sprague: I would tell them that I’m just a person with a lot of feelings. And if they like anything in between or adjacent to Avril Lavigne, Motion City Soundtrack, or Death Cab for Cutie, they might like my music.

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