SEPH On the Making Of “Secrets Taste Like You”
How does "Secrets Taste Like You" reflect your musical journey and growth as an artist?
I really believe that my new song showcases my vocal talents, which is an area that I’ve needed to grow in as an artist. Compared to previous releases, I wasn’t always the strongest vocalist, but this song truly shows my talent in singing without needing autotune. I will say, using autotune in the past (such as in my song “Static Crush” and others) was more of an artistic choice rather than lack of vocal abilities, but with “Secrets” I wanted to let my real vocals shine through.
Could you discuss the lyrical themes or messages conveyed in "Secrets Taste Like You?"
This one definitely has many lyrical themes and messages. I sing “Secrets taste just like you”, which personifies “secrets”.. meaning every time I reflect on my past relationship, I think of things that weren’t so great about it, including the many secrets he hid from me at the time. I also sing in the chorus "As long as I live, I don't wanna see another day without you”, showing my devotion during the length of time that we were together. I wanted to convey that despite how I was thinking this person is perfect and so good for me, there were underlying secrets that rose to the surface and ruined what was good in the relationship. After it all happened, now I'm on the other side and yet I still have both good and bad memories of this person.
Can you talk about the recording and production process for "Secrets Taste Like You?"
To start, I usually gather a couple looping synths and then I just start binge-writing lyrics, meaning I just start typing out whatever I wanna sing about at the time. I try to come up with a melody that fits the vibe of the song and sing whatever comes into my head. For this one, I wrote “Secrets” amidst the relationship I was in (written 2 years ago, July 2021). The demo was actually called, as you may have guessed, “Without You.” I re-wrote the 2nd verse and added lyrics about keeping secrets after the relationship ended to show my many conflicting emotions. The “Secrets taste just like you” robot voice actually came from a random vocal loop I found and I just thought it sounded like “secrets taste just like you”, which fit the song very well, in my opinion.
After sitting with it for about a year, I recorded it at Vaughan Music Studios, where I’ve been recording music since late 2016. Matt Hagberg added his own magic production touches to it and that’s how you can now hear the final version on streaming platforms! Shoutout to Matt for working so hard on my robot voice too… the demos sounded pretty wild…
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
I’ve always known I wanted to be an artist ever since I was a kid. I loved drawing, painting, singing, dancing, writing, etc. However, I didn’t really get into songwriting until I was 13 though, with a silly song I wrote called “The Little Things” (It was bad…). Since then, I got back into writing songs in college. I tentatively called my “first” album “The Unforgettable High” and wrote a ton of demos in my notebook at school (they will definitely never see the light of day). Then, my twin and I decided we wanted to do some performances with our friends in a band called Mighty Kites. We called ourselves “Twinzsz” (pronounced just like “twins” but with two extras “z” letters). It was mostly cover songs at first and then I dabbled around in GarageBand. Suddenly I found so much inspiration from loops I was playing around with. I wrote this one song called “You” and thought it was incredible (it’s not…) so I called Vaughan Music Studios to schedule a session. We met Matt there and made a bunch of new songs for an EP called “Afterglow” (released in October 2017). The demos I wrote in my bedroom were absolutely terrible, but Matt (at Vaughan Music Studios) turned them into real sounding pop songs (Thanks again, Matt. You are incredible.)
Can you share a valuable lesson or piece of advice that you have learned along your musical journey?
As I’m still on my musical journey, it’s hard to say I have a lot of advice just yet. I will say though, however, that you should never give up on your songwriting. Just keep writing, writing, and … writing! Try to find inspiration through your experiences in life. The hardships, the ups and downs, and the triumphs. But never give up on yourself or your craft. Your voice matters despite the many people who won’t believe in you. And if you don’t have a lot of fans or people listening to your music yet, just know that someday there will be someone who tells you that your song really spoke to them. That’s why music matters so much and you should never give up on yourself.
