Lisa a swain
Lyricist & Storyteller
Co-Founder of Sleeps Under Beams
In Lisa's Own Words
I was born in Ohio but spent most of my life in North Carolina and have just recently moved back after having spent the last three years in California.
When I was 20, I wrote my first song completely by accident, with absolutely no intention of writing it. I'd started writing a letter to a friend and it was as though some otherworldly force took control of my hand and instead of writing a letter, I'd written a song titled “Scarred”. For some unknown reason those lyrics had a profound effect on me, even years later I could recite most of it, word for word. Today, 30+ years later, I've blown off the dust and polished it up a bit and now with the unbeatable talents of both Drew Campbell (who I fully believe is my musical soulmate) and Anna Rea, it's ready to be “born” and will be included on our new album, “Glossed Souls.” The wait for it has been a long one but I'm a firm believer that things happen when and as they're supposed to…IT was waiting for the perfect time, the perfect combination of artists to work with it to bring it to life and that time has now come. The lyrics are completely different thematically than anything we've ever done yet it carries that blend of darkness and yes, even a bit of hope at the end. The realness and the rawness are there in those words and I'm so excited that both Drew and Anna will be pouring their hearts into as well, as they always do.
I really can't explain my writing process as there isn't one. When the words want to come, they come…I consider myself to be more like someone who channels some higher power that's greater than myself. than a lyricist. Lines come to me like little gifts, sometimes when I'm trying to sleep, other times I've been in the shower, or sitting outside staring up at the moon, unprepared with no pen or paper…my preferred writing tools, there's just more “heart” in that for me, unlike typing words on a screen.
As far as influences go…for me my favorite group to listen to is The Cure, but I also love Depeche Mode, Wolfsheim, and New Order, as well as Keane and Coldplay. But I think my “writing” resonates more with the styles of Bread, Jim Croce, and the great Gordon Lightfoot, all brilliant story tellers. And really, that's what I am at heart and at the core of my being…A Storyteller.
