Interview: 2020 Must-Know - Dizzy
Interview: 2020 Must-Know - Dizzy
"Take me to the roof / I wanna hear the sound / Of what a broken heart does when I fling it to the ground," sings Dizzy frontwoman Katie Munshaw on the euphonious 'Sunflower', the lead single from upcoming sophomore album 'The Sun and Her Scorch' (out on July 31st), and relatable self-angst anthem for anyone who has ever had a nightmare about all their teeth falling out.
About the forthcoming Dizzy album, Munshaw says, "'Baby Teeth' was all about the confusion and sadness of my late teens, but this one is more about the qualities about myself that I’m not very proud of. I wanted to be completely honest about the things nobody ever wants to admit, like being jealous of your friends or pushing away the people who love you. So instead of being about romantic heartbreak, it’s really about self-heartbreak."
Heart-wrenchingly honest, but always hopeful, Munshaw's delicate dichotomy of innermost self-exploration is at the forefront of new single, 'The Magician'. She shares, "The song is about wanting to magically bring a friend of mine who passed away back to life. To me 'The Magician' reeks of naivety and innocence in a way that really hurts my heart. Hoping she’ll walk into my gig at the local pub, hoping to see her mom at Sobeys just to remember how similar their laughs were. Hoping for magic. It’s a really emotional song for me but is masked by tricky, pretty production to make it sound almost joyful." Here's hoping Munshaw never stops believing in magic.
MUST-LISTEN: 'Sunflower', 'The Magician', 'Bleachers'.
YOU WILL LIKE, IF YOU LIKE: The Cranberries, Wolf Alice, Alanis Morissette, Anna Of The North, Jenny Lewis, Sigrid, Maggie Rogers... and hanging out for your daily Co-Star notification.
COUP DE MAIN: Katie, you've said about the upcoming new Dizzy album that, "I wanted to be completely honest about the things nobody ever wants to admit, like being jealous of your friends or pushing away the people who love you. So instead of being about romantic heartbreak, it’s really about self-heartbreak." Why do you think it's so hard to hold up a mirror to one's own self and admit your own failings?
DIZZY: I’m not sure. I know I’m a know-it-all 100% of the time so admitting I’m wrong is tough for me, although I’m learning that it makes me feel better once I do.
CDM: Did you learn anything new about yourself in your self-discovery journey while writing the new album?
DIZZY: I realised I’m really hard on myself. I take the piss out of myself on some of these songs and it felt like a sort of purging or confessing. Having my friends listen and say they’ve felt those feelings too was consoling. Maybe I’m a horrible person but so is everyone else apparently, and that’s comforting.
CDM: The album title 'The Sun and Her Scorch' is really beautiful and poetic. What does the title mean to you personally?
DIZZY: The line is from a song on the record called 'Ten'. In the song it’s meant to be taken literally, referencing the sun and its actual heat, but in the context of the record I felt like it was a pretty on the nose metaphor for myself and the ways I can be hurtful to the people I love.
CDM: What was running through your mind while writing ‘Sunflower'?
DIZZY: The whole time I was writing it I was thinking I was a bad writer. I thought anything I had written prior to that song was a fluke. It took me months to get those lyrics written and it was exhausting and totally unrewarding. I remember thinking, 'Great, you finished, took you long enough.' It was brutal. It’s funny because that song is so much about self-doubt and checking in with yourself mentally and I was so mean to myself in the process of making it.
CDM: Why did you decide upon 'The Magician' being the second song you wanted to share from your new album?
DIZZY: That song has been a favourite of everyone who has listened to the record. All my friends love it. I think it’s a good preface for the rest of the record to come. It has sonic nods to 'Baby Teeth' while introducing some different textures that the new record has.
CDM: How does your songwriting process work?
DIZZY: 'The Sun and Her Scorch' was such a collaborative effort as a band. Everyone had these ideas just flinging back and forth like a friendly tennis match working towards the same objective. As for lyrics, it’s different every time. The first line or two come easy for me but the rest usually end with me sat hunched over my computer pulling my hair out in frustration.
CDM: Do you write your lyrics specifically for the songs, or do you write poems or prose and then evolve them into song-form?
DIZZY: My lyrics are almost always accompanied by a melody. Sometimes those lyrics stem from an initial word or thought, though. But no poetry from me, although I do enjoy reading it!
CDM: Lyrically, what's your favourite song that you’ve written?
DIZZY: A song called 'Ten' from 'The Sun and Her Scorch'. It flew out of me so quick I didn’t have time to revise and criticise it. It just always was what it was. Writing it was so joyful and I hear so much growth in the writing comparing it to 'Baby Teeth'.
CDM: What do you think is the difference between a good song and a great song?
DIZZY: Oh I’m definitely the wrong person to be asking. I think it's so subjective. I know the songs that mean something to me, like really mean something, are honest in ways that hurt like hell. One of my favourite songs of all time is 'Class Of 2013' by Mitski. It’s about living at your mom’s house while trying to pursue a career in the arts and worrying about getting old and being forgotten. I’ve never heard a song like that and it hit me like an arrow in the chest. That particular topic obviously resonates with me a lot but I think honesty like that can be gut-wrenching even if you’ve never felt that feeling before.
CDM: At what age did you write your very first song ever, and what was it about?
DIZZY: I was really lucky that my elementary school had a songwriting programme that I was a part of when I was twelve or so. I wrote so many songs then that I can’t remember the first. Most of them were about love and lost love, which I knew nothing about. I just mimicked heartbreak tropes from artists I loved that were writing about those things. I was and still am a huge Taylor Swift fan. Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton were deities I worshipped by flipping through CD album liner notes and watching YouTube lyric videos after school.
CDM: What’s on your bucket-list?
DIZZY: I’ve always wanted to learn sign-language. I go through stages where I start learning on YouTube but I’m lazy and never stick with it.
CDM: If you could steal one thing without consequence what would it be?
DIZZY: I want to hang with a baby for like a day. Maybe less than that? A couple hours? They’re so cute. But not to keep! I think I just described babysitting. Okay, maybe just a cool car or something.
CDM: If you were a country, what would be your national anthem?
DIZZY: What a funny question. Probably something by Dolly Parton. Just so all the other countries know who’s boss.
CDM: What are your top five necessities for isolation/quarantine/lockdown?
DIZZY: My dog, my cat, my other cat, the sun, this new Fiona Apple record.
CDM: You’re one of our 'must-know’ artist picks for 2020… who are yours?
DIZZY: Jaunt, Luna Li, Ellis, Flyte, Boniface, Marny Proudfit. I love them all.
Watch the music video for 'The Magician' below...
