Start Listening To: Sign Crushes Motorist
Introducing Sign Crushes Motorist: An emotional journey through music.
In the realm of lo-fi music, Sign Crushes Motorist has emerged as a rising star, captivating a wide audience and cultivating a devoted following. With significant popularity gained online in the past year, this solo artist's work resonates deeply with listeners, touching upon raw emotions and experiences. Ahead of the release of the highly anticipated album Hurting we sat down with Sign Crushes Motorist for an intimate Q&A, exploring the inspirations, challenges, and aspirations behind the music.
Your music has gained significant popularity online over the past year. How does it feel to see your work resonate with such a wide audience and develop a cult following within the realm of lo-fi music?
It’s pretty amazing to see how many people can relate to my music, I get messages every day from people telling me that they feel exactly like i do in the album. It’s really nice to know that I’m not alone in feeling like this.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your upcoming album, “Hurting,” and how it reflects the challenging time you went through mentally?
For the past several months I’ve just been having a horrible time, the worst depression I’ve ever had, and I’m just incredibly dissatisfied with everything in my life. I tried to pour all my emotion into this album, so that no matter how bad I feel I can at least have something to show for it.
You’ve recorded under different aliases in the past. What made you decide to return to the Sign Crushes Motorist name for this album?
To be crude, I would say I’m cashing in, but in all seriousness I’ve just been having a rough time recently, and I just started writing a lot of songs quite sonically similar to ill be okay. Once I had a few of these recorded I decided to finish the album with sign crushes motorist in mind.
The demo version of the track ‘I’m So Sorry’ gives us a taste of what’s to come on the album. Could you share some insights into the overall sound and themes we can expect from “Hurting”?
The overall sound is fairly similar to ill be okay, with a few outliers, specifically the last track. Thematically this album is a lot more focused on self loathing than ill be okay. It includes a spoken word type track similar to loser monologue, except it is a lot more focused on my shortcomings and why things are my fault.
You mentioned that the album was created during a difficult period in your life. How did the process of writing and recording help you navigate those challenges?
I suppose writing and recording music gives me a reason to get up in the morning. A huge reason that I didnt commit suicide during my roughest times was that I was finished the album but it hadnt been accepted by distributors yet, and I wanted to make sure people heard it.
Your previous album I’ll Be Okay was well received. How does Hurting build upon or differ from your previous work?
Hurting contains quite a few tracks that are similar to ill be okay, but I focused a little bit more on production for this album. It still has that fuzzy lofi sound, but I made sure that everything sounded exactly how I wanted it to.
The album is available for pre-order on various formats from a variety of different record labels. Can you tell us about the significance of working with these specific labels and the role they play in bringing your music to a wider audience?
Working with these labels is amazing because they were able to help me realize my dream of having physical copies of my music. Theyre also great for expanding my audience. Because they work with a lot of diy and lofi musicians, they were able to promote my music to the right audience. Also, theyre just incredibly nice people and theyre great to work with.
In your message to fans, you offer words of encouragement for those going through tough times. How important is it for you to connect with your listeners on an emotional level through your music?
I feel like connecting emotionally with my listeners is my number one goal with all my music. I try to be vulnerable and up front with my lyrics, and hope that they can be relatable for others. I want to provide comforting music for those that need it.
As an artist, how do you find the balance between vulnerability and maintaining your own mental well-being while creating such personal and introspective music?
I feel like I am still trying to find that balance, as the making of one of my albums in particular was genuinely detrimental for my mental health. While making the album ‘Purgatory’ on the name miserable teens club, I based the lyrics off of notes I had written a while back when I was feeling depressed. Since I was immersing myself in such depressing content however, it actually pulled me into a state of depression for a while, which lasted for a good few months.
Could you share some details about your songwriting and recording process?
In my songwriting process, I usually come up with a chord progression and record it, then a melody and record it, and then lyrics and record those. Obviously this isnt the case every time, but especially for my sign crushes motorist stuff it is how I write a lot of my music.
How do you channel your emotions and experiences into your music?
I usually write down how I’m feeling in my notes app whenever I feel overwhelmingly horrible, and then when I get around to writing lyrics I’ll look back and take parts about how I was feeling and fit them into lyrics.
What do you love right now?
Right now I love my friends, I love my listeners, I love my dogs, I love the diary of a wimpy kid films, and I love MF DOOM.
What do you hate right now?
Right now I hate flies, Elon Musk, tik tok phonk music, sweating, and when I dont get my morning coffee!!
What are your aspirations for Hurting, both artistically and in terms of reaching and connecting with your audience?
I hope to connect with the audience that I already have, and hopefully reach a new audience as well. I think that slowcore is definitely growing as a genre, so I hope to grow with it.
