Sean MacLeod

Sean MacLeod discusses his two latest albums, the influence of musical research, technology, individuality, and his ongoing journey between traditional songwriting and experimentation.

1. After completing your PhD in Musical Composition, you return with two albums, That’s When the Earth Becomes a Star and We Don’t See That We Don’t See. How did your academic work influence your songwriting and creative approach during this period?

Anything you study is going to influence the things you do, in some way. But in terms of the songwriting it didn’t really influence it in a major way. I still try and write songs in a very traditional way – essentially from the heart and with a classic verse/chorus structure. My studies into micro-tonality and tuning really only added another dimension to that classic songwriting approach. It couldn’t really do much more than that because I have not really grasped micro tones enough to really work with them properly. I am still only at an experimental stage – so anything that they add to my songwriting is really only peripheral.

2. That’s When the Earth Becomes a Star blends indie pop, grunge, synth-pop, folk and contemporary classical influences, while also exploring microtonality. How did you balance these adventurous musical ideas with the accessibility of melodic songwriting?

I suppose, as I said I am very steeped in a songwriting tradition that goes back , really to the fifties- Doo-Wop, Goffin and King and The Beatles and Motown and some American and Irish folk and thats were I see myself as a songwriter but trying to make those styles relevant today. I studied classical music and electronic music and I think they are good sources to draw from as classical music gives you a sense of form and structure while the electronic/avant-garde lets me explore things I wouldn’t normally think about doing. The main thing though is the song still needs to come from the heart and be relatable on that level

3. The album explores alienation, transformation and the search for spiritual meaning in a world increasingly shaped by technology, consumerism and digital culture. What personal or social observations inspired these themes?

I think personally I feel more and more pushed into directions I don’t wish to go. I don’t want to deal with a robot in everything I do. I find computers to be very alienating- you can spend days just with a computer and not speak to a living person and I think people are getting more comfortable or accepting of this kind of culture and they more time they spend with computers and having access to whatever they want and whenever they want it can make the person less tolerable of others. And that possibly can have a cyclical effect. Possibly technology is taking away our ability to learn things or even want to learn things because maybe there is no need. Yes, some people might argue we have more ways of acquiring knowledge and that true but it very easy to let AI create a song rather than go through the struggle of creating one yourself. If you don’t like what AI has created you can just throw it away. If you don’t like what you yourself created you can feel inadequate and disappointed in yourself for not doing better. So I think technology is very seductive and very powerful. But the individual is too but they must go through the struggle.

4. Your lyrics question the effects of individualism and hyper-individualism on identity and community. What do you think music can offer people searching for connection in an increasingly digital and commercially driven world?

Well ultimately music in any form is always something we can find solace in for a start. It gives us pleasure and can make us feel connected, which is important at a basic human level.

5. “Inside Out” is the third single from the album. What can you tell us about the story, inspiration and musical character of this song, and why did you choose it as a single?

I chose it as a single because I thought it was a good song. I thought it was recorded well enough too. I also thought it said something worth saying: asking whether we really know who we are or are we just made to think that we should feel a certain way or be interested in certain things or say what we really think. I suppose the song is asking the question regarding social conditioning and mass conformity. The first line of the song “liquidation of the individual’ is from the social philosopher Adorno, who felt that a lot of contemporary music was more about social control than it was art. So that brings us back to the question about what can music offer because music is a very strong means of social control if it is used like that.

6. Looking ahead, how do you see your work evolving after this significant period of academic study and the release of these two contrasting albums? Are there new musical or artistic territories you are eager to explore?

I have recorded two more albums one, called ‘Magic’ is for release in the new year and the other is just being finished off. Both albums are mostly in the same spirit as this album – When the Earth Becomes a Star- more traditional songwriting but I have also released a companion album to The Earth Becomes a Star called We Don’t See that We Don’t See – which is much more experimental and I would like to explore this side more – but this is not as easy to create for me as it requires a lot of experimentation and trying new things which don’t always work but hopefully i’ll produce more stuff like this in the coming year- we’ll see.

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