Our Spotlight – Sierra Noble. We sit down to chat with Sierra about the new release Let Me Out of Here which is out now. Check it out
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It’s been a few years since we’ve had the pleasure to hear new music, and a lot has changed in that time. With “Let Me Out Of Here” out now and new music on the way, what is different between 2016 and 2021 Sierra Noble?
If I had to put it into one word I think it would be clarity. 2016 Sierra was going through the motions, having moments of clarity about who they were, what direction they were headed, but they couldn’t trust it. There’s a line in my song “Be Who You Be” (which I wrote in 2016) that says “when you fall, I mean fall, the weight of the world is only dust.”
I remember that line coming to Craig and me as we were writing it, not fully understanding the meaning or the weight of it, but knowing it was right. Looking back at it, I see it as a reflection of how I was feeling at that time. I was at my lowest, my rock bottom of sorts, there truly was only up from there. It was a really scary time, but once I realized that if I could give into it a bit, it was an opportunity to start rebuilding. If I stopped the facade, stopped pretending I was okay all the time, I could maybe start to get the help I needed and piece myself back together.
5 years later
Now I can look back and tell you that the journey back from rock bottom for me felt like a bloody crawl out of a deep pit of sharp loose gravel, slipping back down at times, and at others finding a strong root to hold onto help me keep climbing. Today I feel strong, and support, and clear, and excited about my life again. And man, does that ever feel good. And I also realize that there may be someone reading this right now that feels hopelessly far away from feeling strong, supported, and clear and that this answer may be making them want to scream. To that person, please scream, let it out, be mad, the world isn’t fair. But please, if nothing else, just keep climbing. The world is better with you in it.
If your question was meant to be more “what is the new music going to sound like”, well, I don’t think I’ll be able to answer that until it’s finished, and it’s far from that point. So I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see, haha.
Even though we’re hearing the first new material in a few years, obviously music has still been a big part of your life. What have you been up to recently?
Earlier this year I was invited to participate as 1 of 10 producers in Music Publishers Canada’s Women in the Studio Program where I’ve been coached by some of the most talented creatives and professionals in the music industry. I have also been training as an audio engineer under Riley Hill at No Fun Club here in Winnipeg – that has been truly a dream come true. I have always been interested in the engineering side of things, and I am so grateful to have finally found someone who is able to take someone without a penis seriously.
There is a shocking amount of inequality, sexism, and misogyny in the recording world, but the folks at No Fun have created a beautiful, state-of-the-art, AND all-around inclusive, and SAFE space for all types of folks to come to learn and create. I have also been stepping into the role of producer outside of my own music this past year, and that has been incredibly fulfilling. There is nothing I love more in this world than helping someone’s vision come to life. So yeah, this past while I have mostly been nerding out about recording stuff, and focusing on my happiness and healing, and I’ve never been happier, to be honest! And I feel really excited to be making new music again.
Are there any artists you’ve worked with recently that you enjoyed collaborating with?
Absolutely! I got to co-produce a 7 song EP for a local artist named Ila Barker, I’m really happy with how that project is turning out. I also produced and engineered some demos for an up-and-coming folk artist named Larysa Musick and will be working on an EP with her in the near future. Over the winter in addition to writing my own album, I will be working on some demos with one of my favorite singer-songwriters from around here, Dana Lee. She and I have been threatening to work together for a couple of years now, and the timing seems to be right now. Watch out for that one folks! She is crazy good.
There’s a raw honesty to the lyrics of “Let Me Out Of Here”. Is this a song that could only come out after the experiences you’ve gone through?
Absolutely. I don’t think you can fabricate a song like this out of thin air, not one that has impact anyway. “Let Me Out Of Here” came from a sharing of both my and Rusty Matyas’ (my collaborator – co-writer and co-producer on this song) experiences with mental health. In 2016 I was living in Nashville and from the outside in I think it looked like I was doing pretty great, ya know, singer-songwriter moves to Nashville, pretty exciting stuff. The reality was that I was in the deepest depression I’d ever been in, and was experiencing debilitating panic attacks on my bathroom floor every day for months.
It was rooted in over a decade of chronic and traumatic stress, experience with abuse of all kinds including sexual abuse and harassment throughout my life since I was very young. I never took the time to process any of it, because I was always too busy with my music career since I was 13 years old. While I’m aware of how lucky I have been in my career, being a person in a female body in the entertainment industry is far from safe and supportive.
Dealing with trauma
In 2016, the box full of traumas labeled “deal with this later” came bursting open and my mind and body forced me to stop. I came back to Winnipeg, and while I was still performing here and there, I effectively took 5 years off to regroup. Rusty’s side of this song comes from his experience with alcoholism and his journey to sobriety. Alcoholism had him on the brink of death, and music is in large part what helped him heal…what helped both of us heal. The bed tracks to “Let Me Out Of Here” was one of a series of tracks that Rusty recorded as soon as he got out of detox, centered around a voice note that he made in one of his darkest times, laying on his kitchen floor. Without knowing any of that, the first time I heard the track something about it brought me right back to laying on my bathroom floor in Nashville. The words “let me out of here” came to my mind almost as soon as I heard the chorus. We really put our whole hearts into this one, we are grateful for this song, and proud of it, and we hope that it will give someone else the hope they need to reach out toward the light from the darkness.
You have been open about some of the struggles you have gone through. Is songwriting something that you use to help process these events?
Absolutely. Not always immediately, there are still things that I haven’t processed through music yet, some things I may never. Music can be an amazing therapist, but sometimes the best therapist is…a therapist. I really love mine.
So many people turn to music when they’re in a dark place, and I really found myself drawn to a message of accepting oneself and getting out of the darkness. What message would you like to send to someone who is looking for that light for their path?
My message would be to remind them that I believe we are all here for a reason, and that reason is: the world needs you. The world doesn’t even necessarily need you to even do anything special, it just needs you to be you. You being you, you shining the unique light that was lit inside of you, that’s what we need. So if you do one thing in this life, please, for the sake of us all, be you. Sometimes it’s scary, sometimes it’s hard, but the world needs you. Ask for help if you need it. It will be okay.
As an artist who came of age while navigating the music industry, what advice would you give to someone at the beginning of their journey on how to deal with online/social media comments?
Don’t let your career, even your music, become your identity. Have a sense of self outside of your career. Have a strong support system. And be kind. Kindness opens most doors that are worth opening. And please put more focus and attention on your art than you do on your social media presence. A really great piece of advice given to me was “don’t make wine until the grapes are ready.” Spend time creating art you feel really good about before you go chasing an audience for it. It will pay off, I promise.
As a listener, it seems like we are hearing more voices from different viewpoints than we ever have before. Do you have any advice for someone that is writing songs in their bedroom and wants to share their story with the world?
Do it! 🙂 That’s the amazing thing about music these days. You can download free recording software, download free virtual instruments, or buy a cheap instrument of your choice, record with any mic you can get your hands on, and start producing music yourself. Youtube is an amazing resource for learning how to record yourself at home. And self-releasing music has never been easier or more accessible. So yeah, just do it!
Is getting back out and touring something you are looking forward to doing again now that restrictions are easing up?
Absolutely!
We have “Let Me Out Of Here” to enjoy now, but what is next for Sierra Noble?
I’ll be spending the rest of 2021 writing and producing an album that I intend to release in 2022. Apart from that, finding some time to reflect on this release and how it feels to finally be “let out of” a box, working towards the next project which will be wholly and authentically me…whatever that looks like 🙂
Before we go, can you let us know of one amazing artist that everyone should check out?
Leith Ross! Leith Ross! Leith Ross!
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