Minda Lacy “The Eyeball Song”
Minda Lacy is known to tackle serious subjects with a light-hearted, quirky approach. A vivid, twangy fiddle makes its cherry entrance into the tune, and Lacy’s expressive vocal style shines throughout the track. “The Eyeball Song” is quirky, theatrical, and fun. It paints vivid imagery with flamboyant sonics and sparks that has hardly anything to do with eyeballs. Duality comes naturally in Lacy’s music. Between the instrumentation and the song’s underlying meaning, there’s a beautiful collision, a contradiction, which blessed the tune with width and depth. “The Eyeball Song” is darkly imaginative, but it’s also innocent and fun. It hardly stays conventional in its storytelling, but it’s deep-rooted in Americana influence. There are so many things to love in “The Eyeball Song.” And it seems that Lacy’s untamed creativity alone is enough for one to fall in love. She gives you something that is true and from the heart.
To some people, the imagery of one’s eyeball touching another’s evokes certain feelings, but in Lacy’s song, it becomes a wonderful, bizarre metaphor for the struggle for intimacy and the embrace of differences. Everyone is an island, but there’s a desire in all of us to connect and relate. “Touching your eye with mine” is about wanting that connection with another person and the frustration of understanding how one can’t force it to happen despite how much one wants it to be. In the sonics, “The Eyeball Song” celebrates diversity and differences with its unbending love for quirks. “The Eyeball Song” is very special. Just like what Lacy said, being alive is weird and painful, but also pretty cool.
Ahead of Lacy’s upcoming full-length album, Loneliest Bug, set to release on April 9, we had a chance to chat with her about “The Eyeball Song” and all things creative. Check it out below:
Punk Head: I love the duality of the track, how you take a lighthearted approach and tackle serious topics. Can you tell us more about “The Eyeball Song?”
Minda Lacy: It's interesting that you use the word “duality,” because I think the concept of duality, or the contrasting nature of things in general come out in my songwriting a lot, even if I'm not intentionally doing it. I wasn't intentionally doing it in “The Eyeball Song,” but I think the thread of duality is still there stylistically. In “The Eyeball Song,” I think this duality exists in my tendency to talk about serious things in silly ways. If I'm introducing what the song is about at a show, I will often just say, “This is a song about wondering what it would be like touching your eyeball to another persons eyeball,” and leave it up to the audience to listen and pick up on the nuance that goes beyond that silly first remark. I suppose I like keeping things light-hearted, but doing it in a way that remains honest to the messy human experience. “The Eyeball Song” at its core, I think, is about intimacy, and the struggles of trying to connect with someone that just doesn't understand you, and how while it may hurt, ultimately connection is something you can't force. I suppose something I'm often trying to convey in my songwriting is—being alive is weird and painful but also pretty cool, and it's a good thing to take all of it in regardless of whether or not you like it. Everything just is, and personally, I like staying curious.
PH: I can definitely hear the core Americana, Root influences in your music. What would you say is your biggest inspiration musically?
Minda Lacy: It's hard to say who my biggest musical influences are because I listen to a lot of music in a lot of different genres. I am influenced in ways by all of the genres even if I don't sound similar to all of them. I think much of what contributed to me sounding the way I do is due to the fact that the instrument I happened to learn and have access to for most of my life was an acoustic guitar. Someone writing lyrical songs using an acoustic guitar will often tend towards certain stylistic tendencies. About a year ago, I got an electric guitar and an analogue synth, and when I write songs using those tools, the style is definitely different. It's fun to explore that way. That being said, I have definitely been influenced by artists like Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, The Be Good Tanya's, Tom Waits, and John Prine. The list goes on, but I'll stop there for now.
PH: What was the creation process like for you? Did the ideas come to you more spontaneously or is it more of a longer process?
Minda Lacy: With “The Eyeball Song,” the idea came pretty quickly and the song just kinda fell into my lap. This isn't always the case though. Sometimes I have to work harder to pry songs out of the void, but many songs, including the eyeball song were surprisingly easy. I sometimes find that the songs that come easiest are the ones I like the most. I feel like if you keep your writing/music making muscles sharp with a regular practice, meaning you spend time working in or exploring in the creative zone, songs start coming to you more often. It's kinda like if you show up for them, they will show up for you. I also think it's important to approach creativity from a place of intrinsic value. Songwriting is a very special thing to me, and ultimately I do it because I love it. If I start to attach expectations to where a song might go, or who it might impress, I'm losing the point.
PH: Is there any ritual that you’d do before performing or writing?
Minda Lacy: I wouldn't say I have rituals, but I do have some tendencies. I am notoriously pretty bad with routine, and find that sometimes I write the best songs when I'm "supposed" to be doing something else.
PH: Any exciting upcoming project in the near future?
Minda Lacy: There is an exciting thing coming up in the near future! “The Eyeball Song” is a single released from my full length album, Loneliest Bug, which is not yet released. The Album release date is set for April 9th, and I'll be performing my album release show in Portland, Oregon at The Doug Fir that night. I'm very proud of this album and it should be available on all streaming platforms on April 9th. I am also embarking on a long indefinite US tour starting the beginning of May. Tour Dates and locations are on my website.
Currently, there are about 10 shows up there, but there are many more to come soon. For anyone who wants to support me musically and wants exclusive access to my newest songs and other various projects, I have a Patreon which you can access here. Support from my patrons will be extremely helpful while I'm on the road with my music.
