Lucy Dacus - Rereading the past

To mark the release of her latest studio album, "Home Video", we meet the American singer-songwriter for a pleasant chat over Zoom. We talked about her new songs and the books and readings that shaped the young musician. And although the conversation mainly revolved around the theme of the past, Lucy made it clear that she always looks to the future, and revealed some details about her upcoming world tour...

Hi Lucy, how are you? Let's start this interview by talking about the title of your new album. Why did you choose "Home Video"? What does it mean to you?

My dad shot hundreds of hours of home videos while I was growing up. I've watched them my whole life, and I think they really shaped the way I'm used to remembering things. If something happens in my life that I absolutely want to remember, I somehow have to document it in order to truly remember it. I keep all these journals, I sometimes take photographs, I went to film school thinking I'd go on to make films, and now I write songs. I feel like everything I do is connected to those impulses of his to capture everything. So yes, I thought that writing this record, where I try to capture and hold onto all these moments of my life, was in a way a continuation of his efforts.

In “Home Video” you sing about your teenage years. Starting from the album's very first line – “Being back here makes me hot in the face” – it seems like you went back to your origins, both in time and in place. Did you feel the need to return to the past in order to move forward?

Yes, I think so. That's also part of why I left Richmond, where I grew up. I think I was starting to blur into Richmond itself. It was like I no longer knew where I ended and where the city began. It didn't feel like the past was simply the past. I felt like I was reliving my life over and over again. So yes, I think making this record was part of an effort to let the past just be the past.

Your previous album is called “Historian”, and this new record is also centered on the past. In fact, I find it to be in a kind of constant dialogue between past and present. Why is the past such an important theme in your music?

The past is a selection. It's all a revision we're making in the present. There's so much of it that you can't hold onto all of it. You can't remember everything. You have to choose which lessons are really worth keeping so you can build the future. Without the past, how could we learn anything? Hmm, maybe we haven't really learned anything, since we keep making the same mistakes. But on a personal level, if I can remember when I felt good, I'll try to follow that in my life. And if I can remember when I felt hurt, I'll try instead to stay away from the kind of person who makes me feel bad.

You mentioned your diaries earlier. Do you still keep one as consistently as you used to?

Not as much as before. I used to write something in my diary every day. Now I do it once a week, or maybe once every two weeks. But I can't stop. I feel like I need to do it so I can be sure the things I'm writing about actually happened.

Do you have any new recurring thoughts you'd like to share with us today?

I've found myself thinking about the people who wrote hymns. We don't remember their names, but we remember their songs. And that's such a wonderful thing: being able to write a song that outlives you. I don't know if that will happen with mine, but it would be so beautiful if even one of them could exist without me, and people could stop caring who wrote it, because the song would basically have a life of its own.

Love, whether meant as erotic passion or deep friendship, is another central theme on “Home Video”. Did you set out to write an album about your teenage relationships, or was it almost a coincidence that every song approaches this theme from a different angle?

It was a coincidence, but I like that you pointed that out. I was recently thinking about how I've never written a love song. I've written a breakup song, I've written songs about loving my friends and my family, or about trying to love myself, but I feel like I haven't really written that many true love songs. But I think you're right: almost every song on this record is a love song, if you think about it. Yeah, I wasn't trying to write about my teenage relationships. I guess it was just what I was processing at the time.

Musicians are usually asked about their musical influences, but in your case, I can't help but wonder which works of poetry or fiction might have influenced your writing. Are there any books that have been especially formative or important to you?

Oh yes, I always read a lot. Let me think of a good answer... Hmm, yes, I don't know if this is a bit overrated for you, but I'd say Elena Ferrante's “L'amica geniale” cycle. I love that portrayal of female friendship, right from the start and then throughout their lives, and I also like how there are these very intense and complicated moments. Reading it, I felt like friendships, and female friendships especially, are really like that. I think there's too much in our world that makes them seem shallow, or “just happy”. But I learned a lot from those books. Um, what else? Definitely James Baldwin's “The Fire Next Time” is hugely important to me. James Baldwin in general, I think, might be the greatest writer who ever lived.

What were you reading instead while you were writing the songs for “Home Video”?

Well, it was a period of more than two years, so I read a lot. There's this music writer and poet, Hanif Abdurraqib, I don't know if you know him. He lives in Ohio, in Columbus, and he's written a few books of poetry as well as some essays and music books. They're very personal. There's this essay called “Brief Notes On Staying” about a friend of his who took his own life... It really influenced my song “Please Stay”. Then there's another book: “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. There's a line in that book that's actually the last line on my album [“Nothing worse could happen now”].

Let's talk about your future now! Are you happy and do you feel ready to go back on tour?

Oh yes, I'm so excited about it! I really can't wait, and then there are all these shows already sold out. I think they'll be my most cathartic shows ever. Plus I love my band and I'll be emotional the whole time… I think I'll cry a lot, but I really can't wait.

And you've got a long tour ahead of you…

Yes, with lots and lots of dates!

Will you be playing any new songs?

I like playing a song at my shows that hasn't been released yet, because I think it makes the night special for the people there. So yes, I haven't picked which one yet, but I've got plenty now.

For a couple of nights in Richmond you'll be sharing the stage with your friend Julien Baker. Are you two planning something special together on stage?

I actually have a song that's specifically about Richmond, and it'd be a good moment to play it!

You wrote your new album almost two years ago, in a completely different world. Do you think these songs have somehow taken on new meanings now?

I actually think the answer is no, since these songs are about the past. They weren't even about the present while I was writing them. It's almost as if they stayed frozen in place, stuck, and that's a bit of their mysterious side. I wrote them before George Floyd was murdered, before the lockdown, and before all these catastrophes the world has had to face since then. Now they seem to have stayed unchanged, just like the past. Besides, how could we have imagined what was going to happen? I kept them in a drawer for so long, but now they're part of my past. Yes, I know, they've just come out, but to me it's as if they already belong to my past.

So are you looking forward to doing new things?

Yes! I'm proud of the record and I'm glad it's out. It doesn't feel old to me, and I'm not tired of it either. I'm proud of the songs, but yes, I'm already thinking about the next step!

Thank you so much for your time and for your music. Keep it up!

Thank you! Take care!

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google