Q&A: Leo Sawikin Is Finally Making the Record That's His with “Burning Love”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
Photo By Tommy Krause
MANHATTAN-BORN SINGER-SONGWRITER LEO SAWIKIN HAS SPENT YEARS QUIETLY BUILDING A CATALOG THAT DEFIES EASY CATEGORIZATION - part classic rock, part shoegaze, part doo-wop, all of it filtered through an indie sensibility that feels entirely his own. His last album produced a #1 on the Mediabase A/C Independent Artists Chart and a most-streamed track that still finds new listeners from the U.K. to Brazil to Indonesia. Now, after three projects honed alongside producer Phil Ek, the same man behind Fleet Foxes, The Shins, and Built to Spill, Sawikin is stepping into the most personal work of his career. His forthcoming self-titled album, due in 2027, is the record he's been building toward.
"Burning Love," the first single, announces that shift immediately. It's the closest thing to a hard rock song Sawikin has ever released: a shuffling, dopamine-rush of a track born from a chord he stumbled onto while trying to remember something else entirely. It's the kind of song that sounds accidental and inevitable at the same time, which is maybe the best way to describe where Sawikin is as an artist right now: someone who has finally stopped trying to find his sound and started trusting it.
The self-titled album spans shoegaze, psych rock, doo-wop, and old school soft rock, with arrangements built alongside his band — including his brother William on keys, drummer Max Yassky, bassist Nick Katz, and guitarist Josh Cruz — recorded live in the studio in a way that lets every influence breathe without any of them taking over. It's a record that sounds like someone who knows exactly who he is. Read on to learn how Leo Sawikin got there.
LUNA: "Burning Love" is the first taste of your self-titled album. What does it mean to put your name on a record, and how does that change the stakes of what you're making?
SAWIKIN: I think I decided to put my name on this record because I feel this is the record where I finally realized my potential as an artist and truly came into my own. I put everything I had into these songs so of course it's very anxiety producing waiting to see how people will respond.
LUNA: Walk us through where "Burning Love" came from. What was the emotional starting point for the song?
SAWIKIN: I was trying to remember how to play another song I had written a year prior and I was moving this specific finger position up and down in this tuning that's sort of a mix of open g and open d. I came across this chord that was basically just a bunch of fifths stacked on each other and started strumming in this shuffle rhythm that felt sort of like something you could do an Irish jig to. I was just messing around at first, but I quickly realized that there was a really cool song in there somewhere. And it all kind of unfolded from there!
LUNA: How have you seen your music evolve over the years?
SAWIKIN: I've seen it evolve quite a lot! I worked with a great arranger/songwriter and producer named Marc Swersky when I was in my twenties and he helped me hone my song craft. I learned how to make songs dynamically interesting. My first records definitely pulled a lot from classic rock, and I think working with Marc brought that out as I would always try to impress him with references that I knew he'd be into. But I hadn't really developed my own sonic identity yet. When I started working with Phil I definitely started leaning more on my new wave/brit pop/shoegaze influences. And Phil always encouraged me to figure out how to arrange and execute these songs myself which was a huge challenge for a while, but getting through that led to my finding my own sound. Phil's role as producer was more about telling me what didn't work so more of my own ideas just wound up in the recordings. For this last record, I brought my band out to his studio, which really helped with the arrangements and allowed everything to feel very organic. I also started working more closely with my drummer Max who I wrote a couple of the songs with. I think this record is special because it spans the range of my influences, but each song is arranged and executed in a way that feels original and personal to me and the band.
LUNA: You've worked with producer Phil Ek across three projects now. What does that ongoing relationship bring to the music that a fresh set of ears couldn't?
SAWIKIN: I just feel like at this point he knows me and understands my strengths and weaknesses and what circumstances I operate best under. I trust him and I trust his taste, both because of the work he's done for me and also his incredible credentials from over the years.
LUNA: You've been touring solo opening for Jon McLaughlin at places like City Winery and the Troubadour, but then you also play buzzy clubs and secret house parties with the full band. How do you approach each type of set?
SAWIKIN: I'd say that when I have opened for Jon or do solo sets I tend to play things a bit slower and the focus is really on my voice. I have more control over how I sing since I can hear myself better. It's more about connection with the audience on an emotional level. The full band shows are more about the wow factor of the band and the massive arrangements we have for some of these songs. Band shows are more about excitement and getting the audience's blood pressure up!
LUNA: Who have you been listening to lately?
SAWIKIN: I've been listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, Beach Boys. I really love Phoebe Bridgers' new single Lost Boys. I also was recently put onto this great local dream pop band Whisper Doll by a friend!
LUNA: What do you want someone to feel the first time they hear "Burning Love"?
SAWIKIN: I want people to get a rush from it! This is like the closest thing to a hard rock song I've ever put out and my intention is for people to get a nice hit of dopamine and excitement from it. It is my most sincere and earnest wish that people will feel like they can rock out to this song.
LUNA: What intentions do you have for the rest of this year leading into the album?
SAWIKIN: We're planning to release 4 singles leading up to the album release. Each song has a very distinct vibe, and I feel like different people will gravitate towards different tracks. This record pulls from shoegaze, psych rock, doo-wop, old school soft rock, all kinds of music spanning from the 1940s to today, but it's all done in a way that feels personal to me. I hope that people who like all different kinds of music will be able to find something in this record that they feel they can get something out of!
