Scarlett Sno On the Making Of “Terrified”
Is there a person/event that stimulated the creation of "Terrified?”
Yes, “Terrified” was born from my pain, anxiety, and fear of the unknown when I was at one of my lowest points. In 2022, I was diagnosed with mono for two months and then immediately fell ill with COVID-19. Both illnesses caused respiratory difficulty and damage to my throat from coughing for so many months. Eventually, the damage became severe enough with COVID-19 that it developed into muscle tension dysphonia. As the year progressed, it became increasingly painful to speak or sing. Ultimately, this led to me receiving care from a specialist to rehabilitate my voice. Throughout that year of sickness and recovery, I struggled with the fear of never being able to sing or speak again, the anxiety of not knowing what would happen to my career, and what would I sacrifice to make my dreams come true. I was mentally in a dark place, and for a while it felt like my recovery was getting me nowhere. It wasn’t until two months in that I started seeing signs of it actually working. As I slowly dug myself out of that dark place, I looked for a way to process what I had been through. Music has always been the diary of my life, so it’s no surprise to me that I woke up from a dead sleep with this song’s melody haunting me.
How did you work with the producer or engineers to bring your vision for "Terrified" to life?
When creating a song, I need a producer that has effective communication skills, a technical but creative mind, synergy with me, and the ability to read my mind a little. Since I am self-taught with DAW programs, I work with producers who are open to experimenting with new ideas and techniques and have extensive knowledge of their chosen DAW. My producing background is based heavily in recording piano midi, creating full orchestras, experimenting with samples and loops, and recording vocal tracks, so I need a producer who can balance me when we co-produce. I often hear the song’s track in my head as I’m songwriting, so I was very excited to work with my producer Breeze as she brought many creative twists to “Terrified”. Our studio space was a combination of a home studio laptop and a recording studio in East Nashville called HOME (Helping Our Music Evolve). Due to her drum background, Breeze was heavily involved with the drum and rhythm tracks. She also had the brilliant idea to add the psychedelic electric guitars in the choruses. I had the idea to add the echoing ticking clock amidst the eerie soundscape at the beginning. The eerie soundscape was a concoction from us both consisting of a few sounds we created mixed with a scratch vocal take we highly distorted and weren’t originally planning to use. The last touch we added to the track was the symphony orchestra I created. I am a bit strange in that I like working with sheet music due to my violin background. Therefore, I notated the entire symphony orchestra in digital sheet music and then uploaded it as midi tracks into the DAW. Collaborating is a push and pull to find the right creative direction, and I think Breeze and I created a beautiful musical story. The track creation process with Breeze lasted from September through November. In December, I put the final touches on the track with my mixing engineer and producer Brandon Salewsky before sending it over to be mastered by Benjamin K. Warsaw. By the time January 5, 2024 came around, we had a finalized version of “Terrified.”
How do you feel this song represents your artistic identity?
I create music for the human condition. The human condition in simple terms is the events that make up a human’s life - emotion, morality, death, lived experiences, etc. I like to describe my discography as the diary of my life. I explore the complexities of my emotions and experiences of love, loss, mental health, happiness, courage, etc. I often work through these in my life by combining music, fantasy, and storytelling. Through this, I have crafted a dark fantasy world in my head for these works of art to live and tell their stories. “Terrified” is a part of me - a part of this world in my head. My stage name Scarlett Sno represents a safe place for me to live out my emotions and experiences through the artistry of music, fantasy, and storytelling. It only makes sense with the song’s topic that “Terrified” is the doorway into the world that holds my artistic identity.
What is your songwriting process like? How do you usually start crafting a new song?
For years, I have built a collection of possible lyrics and concepts. Some are inspired by my own experiences while others are inspired by things I have witnessed unfold in front of me. If something is not currently begging to be written into existence, I usually peruse this list until something strikes me. More often than not, I start with the lyrics first. Sometimes I’m lucky and the lyrics and melody come to me simultaneously, while other times the melody and chords come after the lyrics are written. Once I have a work tape or demo that I like, I’ll then take it to my producer so we can build out a track. However, “Terrified” was specifically unusual for me. It was near the end of my recovery in May 2023, when I was woken up from a dead sleep by a melody surrounding the phrase “I’m terrified it won’t all work out”. The melody and words haunted me for days until I finally gave in and wrote the song into fruition. Songs don’t often come to me like that, but when they do, I know there must be a reason it needs to be written into the world and I am just a vessel for it. In recent years, toplining - the art of writing lyrics over existing tracks - has grown on me. However, I think I will always prefer to start my songs in poetry.
How do you approach creating something new and different?
To create something new and different, you have to be authentic to yourself. Everyone has their own unique life experiences, aesthetics, interests, loves, and dislikes that make up who they are. People may have similarities but no two people are exactly 100% the same. When I am creating I do my best to stick to my authentic self by pulling from my personal experiences, interests, and inspirations. Much of my discography is inspired by the human condition and many fantasy stories of my childhood such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Those fantasy stories shaped my childhood and influenced me as an adult to have a unique poetic expression when discussing the inner workings of my mind. I don’t believe that is something someone can 100% replicate as the only person who can emulate me is myself. Your audience can tell when something is not authentic to you, so the only way to create something new and different is by being authentic to you.