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10 Questions with ... Esme Patterson
August 29, 2016
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1. How's 2016 been treating you so far?
2016 has been surprising me a lot. And I've been surprising it right back. 2015 was a year of non-stop work, all of which I am very proud, but it feels good to stand at the top of the mountain for a second and rest.
2. Growing up, did you always want to be a musician?
I always loved to sing; some of my earliest memories are of singing, usually very, very loudly.
3. How do you think living in Portland has influenced you as an artist?
The inclement weather in three-quarters of the seasons in Portland draws people inside of their house and inside their own world. The work I've made since I've lived here has a level of introspection and reflection that I wasn't able to dig down to living in sunny Colorado.
4. How long did you work on your third album We Were Wild?
I started recording it last June [2015], and it was released a year later, which feels good and kind of surreal. These songs were inspired by big changes happening in my life, and my battle with trying to find the eye of the storm and write from there.
5. How would you describe it?
It is much more of a straight-ahead, rock 'n' roll kind of thing and by far the best work I've ever done.
6. What was the inspiration specifically for your album's lead single, "Feel Right'?
"Feel Right" is a song about negotiating the space between right and wrong, about how sometimes you have to swing back and forth between opposites to find the middle.
7. How do you think you've grown as a musician since you first started putting out music with Paper Bird?
The ways that I've grown as a musician directly correlate to the ways I've grown as a person, I think. I'm learning to trust my instincts more, to stand up for my vision, to be patient and generous with love, to stop giving a fuck what anyone thinks. But I believe that all the threads weave through, that we always remain the same, but the patterns change.
8. Who continues to inspire you year after year?
I am really inspired by my friends. Community is a magical thing, it really nourishes and challenges us.
9. At the end of the day, what do you hope is the message of your music?
I hope that these songs can be a friend to someone, as they have been for me.
10. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about yourself or your music?
Um, I hate karaoke and I love corndogs.
Interview by Leah Adams Photo Credit- Devvon Simpson
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