Synthia Looper Interview
Q: Can you talk about the history of Synthia Looper?
A: Synthia Looper was conceptualized out of a deep love of music, sci-fi, fantasy, makeup, graphic novels, cosplay and social justice. I created her character as a means of coping with all of the turbulence in society, especially in the last few years, while providing myself with a healthy, creative outlet. However, despite all of the political and global chaos, I’m grateful for the recent pop-culture shift (brewing on high especially over the last decade or so) popularizing what I lovingly refer to as nerd-dom (ex: Marvel / DC movies, special effects makeup, cosplay, graphic novels, etc.). The same elements that make nerdom alive and well today are what established the very foundation of creativity my entire life, so it finally felt like the right time to showcase all of my own personal nerdom while exploring so many other facets that weren’t as accessible in the past to create Synthia Looper.
However, because I absolutely love dressing in various costumes, wigs, makeup, etc., I couldn’t settle on just one type of character, so I developed her into what I call a ‘Synthapien,’ a part human, alien and synthetic android capable of changing forms based on the current dimensions in which she resides. Her surname ‘Looper’ implies she loops through space and time. Through song and art, she generates otherworldly sounds, lyrics and even visuals to regale listeners of her interdimensional travels. Despite her various forms however, she remains a strong, bold artist whose compassion for humanity never sways, and she’s made it her mission to transport listeners to her worlds where delicate beauty and romance coexist with the dark, the light and cybernetics.
Q: What inspired you to make your recent EP?
A: I created the EP as a means of introducing Synthia Looper’s music to listeners, as it’s the first EP to be released. In addition, I needed to provide myself with a creative outlet as a means of coping with all of the societal issues related to social injustice, especially those stemming from the global pandemic and political polarization.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes on the EP?
A: “Sentient” is Synthia Looper’s intro song and tells the story of how she was made into a sentient cyber being, as well as highlights her love for other sentient beings. It is a metaphor for equality and loving oneself and others, despite race, age, sex, religious belief, sexual orientation, looks, etc.
“Brilliant Minds” is about the pandemic during which leadership and transparency dissolved, further reinforcing inequality, misinformation and devastation for so many. “The Ascent” is about a mental health breakdown, but ultimately trusting and loving oneself by finding guidance, love, and support from friends and loved ones.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: When a melody or lyric comes to mind, it’s as though a cinematic vision within my mind begins to play out. I’ll first reflect on the emotion provoked by the melody, then I consider what sort of visual this feeling conjures, and it begins to progress from there, shifting into a fantasy story of some sort, like an action sequence, or a theatrical performance of some kind that takes place in a sci-fi, cyberpunk or whimsical realm. Then, each of these fantasies becomes its own world, and I build on it (ie the song progresses). I like to think of this process as a term a lot of creatives use called “world building.” I absolutely love to make these many worlds as much of a reality as possible firstly (and primarily) through music with the use of software instruments that sound otherworldly; then secondly through visuals and performance.
Q: What was your recording process like? And has it changed over the years? Would you explain some of the tools you use?
A: Thankfully, it doesn’t require too much space to be able to record music in your own home nowadays, and I’m grateful that ever since my husband and I have been together we’ve always dedicated space in our home to music. Currently, we have a section of our basement dedicated solely to playing, practicing, recording and editing. Accessibility is very important to me, so it’s always been a priority to be able to easily and effectively record music within close proximity.
As much as I love trying to ‘do it all,’ I am all for building a reliable and supportive team when it comes to achieving success, so in this instance I look to my husband a great deal for production and editing support, as he’s a certified audio engineer and very savvy with Apple’s Logic Pro recording software.
In the past, we traditionally wrote music using instruments like piano and guitar, then recorded various non-software instruments to achieve a fuller sound. For this project however, because we were aiming for an otherworldly sound, we decided to take a different approach. Although some songs have been written using more traditional instruments, most of the songs were written utilizing software instruments in Logic. This helped to maintain our goal of a cohesive EP and full length album down the road. It was a refreshing approach, and oddly in our case saved a lot of time, mostly because we didn’t have to deal with the conundrum of transposing non-software instrument pieces into software instruments.
In addition to Logic, we utilize a midi keyboard, and a condenser mic. Over the years we’ve transitioned from utilizing a variety of instruments to now focusing mostly on software instruments, as the tools available are absolutely insane to what was available only a decade ago.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: Lyrics are typically inspired by personal experiences I’ve had. When I’m feeling particularly emotional (and not just sad, but also excited or anxious), I like to process these feelings by journaling and writing music. Usually, I’ll come up with a melody first, and this melody sometimes happens when I sit down in front of a piano, guitar, Logic Pro, or oddly enough when I hear a gentle rhythmic whirring in the key of D from an appliance (ha!). But truthfully, it happens most often when I play around with my loop station. I’ll loop several layers of my vocals, usually doing harmonies or layering different sounds that represent different instruments (like bass, guitar, or an odd sound here and there, etc.). As I’d previously mentioned, it’s at this point that a cinematic visual within my mind begins to play out, a theme presents itself, and an otherworldly fantasy begins to evolve. Sometimes, the lyrics will progress into storytelling from Synthia’s perspective, or become a variety of poetic metaphors related to the theme. I’ll write the lyrics in whichever direction I feel suits the melody and underlying tone of the song best, or in some cases write chord progressions according to the mood of the lyrics. Either way, it all progresses based on the emotion.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: As I’d previously mentioned, my goal is to transport listeners to Synthia’s worlds where delicate beauty and romance coexist with the dark, the light, and cybernetics. Synthia Looper is more than just a musician, and although my first love is and always will be music, the truth is I am a multimedia artist and nerdette whose passion for sci-fi spans across various genres and sub-genres. That is why I love to incorporate live streaming, photography, modeling, dance, filmmaking, 3-D printing, special FX makeup, set design and peculiar fashion into this project. As a result, various mediums represent the entirety of Synthia Looper and I am eager to see the effect this may have in drawing not only listeners, but also the general art appreciator.
Q: Can you talk about the history of Synthia Looper?
A: Synthia Looper was conceptualized out of a deep love of music, sci-fi, fantasy, makeup, graphic novels, cosplay and social justice. I created her character as a means of coping with all of the turbulence in society, especially in the last few years, while providing myself with a healthy, creative outlet. However, despite all of the political and global chaos, I’m grateful for the recent pop-culture shift (brewing on high especially over the last decade or so) popularizing what I lovingly refer to as nerd-dom (ex: Marvel / DC movies, special effects makeup, cosplay, graphic novels, etc.). The same elements that make nerdom alive and well today are what established the very foundation of creativity my entire life, so it finally felt like the right time to showcase all of my own personal nerdom while exploring so many other facets that weren’t as accessible in the past to create Synthia Looper.
However, because I absolutely love dressing in various costumes, wigs, makeup, etc., I couldn’t settle on just one type of character, so I developed her into what I call a ‘Synthapien,’ a part human, alien and synthetic android capable of changing forms based on the current dimensions in which she resides. Her surname ‘Looper’ implies she loops through space and time. Through song and art, she generates otherworldly sounds, lyrics and even visuals to regale listeners of her interdimensional travels. Despite her various forms however, she remains a strong, bold artist whose compassion for humanity never sways, and she’s made it her mission to transport listeners to her worlds where delicate beauty and romance coexist with the dark, the light and cybernetics.
Q: What inspired you to make your recent EP?
A: I created the EP as a means of introducing Synthia Looper’s music to listeners, as it’s the first EP to be released. In addition, I needed to provide myself with a creative outlet as a means of coping with all of the societal issues related to social injustice, especially those stemming from the global pandemic and political polarization.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes on the EP?
A: “Sentient” is Synthia Looper’s intro song and tells the story of how she was made into a sentient cyber being, as well as highlights her love for other sentient beings. It is a metaphor for equality and loving oneself and others, despite race, age, sex, religious belief, sexual orientation, looks, etc.
“Brilliant Minds” is about the pandemic during which leadership and transparency dissolved, further reinforcing inequality, misinformation and devastation for so many. “The Ascent” is about a mental health breakdown, but ultimately trusting and loving oneself by finding guidance, love, and support from friends and loved ones.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: When a melody or lyric comes to mind, it’s as though a cinematic vision within my mind begins to play out. I’ll first reflect on the emotion provoked by the melody, then I consider what sort of visual this feeling conjures, and it begins to progress from there, shifting into a fantasy story of some sort, like an action sequence, or a theatrical performance of some kind that takes place in a sci-fi, cyberpunk or whimsical realm. Then, each of these fantasies becomes its own world, and I build on it (ie the song progresses). I like to think of this process as a term a lot of creatives use called “world building.” I absolutely love to make these many worlds as much of a reality as possible firstly (and primarily) through music with the use of software instruments that sound otherworldly; then secondly through visuals and performance.
Q: What was your recording process like? And has it changed over the years? Would you explain some of the tools you use?
A: Thankfully, it doesn’t require too much space to be able to record music in your own home nowadays, and I’m grateful that ever since my husband and I have been together we’ve always dedicated space in our home to music. Currently, we have a section of our basement dedicated solely to playing, practicing, recording and editing. Accessibility is very important to me, so it’s always been a priority to be able to easily and effectively record music within close proximity.
As much as I love trying to ‘do it all,’ I am all for building a reliable and supportive team when it comes to achieving success, so in this instance I look to my husband a great deal for production and editing support, as he’s a certified audio engineer and very savvy with Apple’s Logic Pro recording software.
In the past, we traditionally wrote music using instruments like piano and guitar, then recorded various non-software instruments to achieve a fuller sound. For this project however, because we were aiming for an otherworldly sound, we decided to take a different approach. Although some songs have been written using more traditional instruments, most of the songs were written utilizing software instruments in Logic. This helped to maintain our goal of a cohesive EP and full length album down the road. It was a refreshing approach, and oddly in our case saved a lot of time, mostly because we didn’t have to deal with the conundrum of transposing non-software instrument pieces into software instruments.
In addition to Logic, we utilize a midi keyboard, and a condenser mic. Over the years we’ve transitioned from utilizing a variety of instruments to now focusing mostly on software instruments, as the tools available are absolutely insane to what was available only a decade ago.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: Lyrics are typically inspired by personal experiences I’ve had. When I’m feeling particularly emotional (and not just sad, but also excited or anxious), I like to process these feelings by journaling and writing music. Usually, I’ll come up with a melody first, and this melody sometimes happens when I sit down in front of a piano, guitar, Logic Pro, or oddly enough when I hear a gentle rhythmic whirring in the key of D from an appliance (ha!). But truthfully, it happens most often when I play around with my loop station. I’ll loop several layers of my vocals, usually doing harmonies or layering different sounds that represent different instruments (like bass, guitar, or an odd sound here and there, etc.). As I’d previously mentioned, it’s at this point that a cinematic visual within my mind begins to play out, a theme presents itself, and an otherworldly fantasy begins to evolve. Sometimes, the lyrics will progress into storytelling from Synthia’s perspective, or become a variety of poetic metaphors related to the theme. I’ll write the lyrics in whichever direction I feel suits the melody and underlying tone of the song best, or in some cases write chord progressions according to the mood of the lyrics. Either way, it all progresses based on the emotion.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: As I’d previously mentioned, my goal is to transport listeners to Synthia’s worlds where delicate beauty and romance coexist with the dark, the light, and cybernetics. Synthia Looper is more than just a musician, and although my first love is and always will be music, the truth is I am a multimedia artist and nerdette whose passion for sci-fi spans across various genres and sub-genres. That is why I love to incorporate live streaming, photography, modeling, dance, filmmaking, 3-D printing, special FX makeup, set design and peculiar fashion into this project. As a result, various mediums represent the entirety of Synthia Looper and I am eager to see the effect this may have in drawing not only listeners, but also the general art appreciator.