Name: Signe Marie Rustad

Nationality: Norwegian

Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current Release: Signe Marie Rustad's "Hello It's Me" is out now. It's the first single off her upcoming new full-length album Particles Of Faith, scheduled for February 17th 2023 via Die With Your Boots On.

If you enjoyed this interview with Signe Marie Rustad and would like to stay up to date on her music and tour dates, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

My latest record When Words Flew Freely (2019) and my upcoming record Particles of Faith (Feb 17th 2023) both started with a poem.

I need to have some kind of starting point, and then I start visualising an overall theme for the record. The record as a whole is a story from start to end, in addition to every song being a story in itself. So before I go in the studio, I visualise a common thread, and know in which order the songs will appear on the record to tell the story right.

My records tend to move in a circular motion from start to end more than a straight line. So I often have the structure for a record, but when it comes to how the songs are produced – how the music turns out – I plan this less and less, and on my upcoming record, very little, before we start the preproduction and recording sessions. I want the songs to be free within the space I have created for them.
 
What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

I nearly always start with strumming my guitar and finding a melody that I like. I search for notes and melodies that make me feel good when I listen to them, more than that they have to feel good to sing – if that makes sense.

So the listener in me – the way I listen to music in general, and how music affects me – plays a huge part in my writing. I listen for what makes me feel good, and then I go with that. Lyrically, some words, or a sentence, often come up at the same time as I start making the melody, and then the lyrics kind of just develop from that.

Some songs I finish in 2 hours, while for "Hello It’s Me" – one of my favourites off my upcoming album – I just had the lyrics for the chorus for the longest time and just couldn’t write the rest. Then the day before I was going in the studio to lay down the vocal track for the song, I finally finished the verses and felt very good about it. So the process can differ from song to song.
 
What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

To write lyrics that make sense to me, I need to be able to tap into a certain way of thinking and wording myself. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work.

I've found that the key word is time. If I sit down long enough, I slowly can start to access a mindset that lets me express myself in a way that makes sense to me lyrically. That flow is wonderful.

Lack of that flow, on the other hand, feels like pulling teeth.
 
Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

When I recorded my very first record, Golden Town (2012) I kept very strict control over the recording process. I had planned out every detail in every song and was very scared about trying anything else than what I had planned for.

But now, I work in a totally different way. I find great joy in being free in the studio. Working with Kenneth Ishak (co-producer) is a blessing in this sense. The songs kind of dress themselves, instead of us forcing them into something that might look very good – but not FEEL very good.  
 
There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Some songs really feel like they just write themselves. It's like they are floating past, waiting for someone to reach out and grab them.

Other songs are hard work, where I almost have to force myself to sit down and finish them.
 
Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?

When I can sing/play a song I have written or listen to something we have recorded in the studio and it FEELS right – that is when I know it's finished.

It may sound diffuse, but that's my compass and it applies both to the writing process and the recording process.