Q&A: Siichaq Releases Reflective ‘CATCHER’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
Photo by Tyler Carty
THERE IS AN IMPRESSIVE SELF-AWARENESS TO SIICHAQ—and it is apparent on her latest indie-rock album CATCHER. Released on August 8, it’s an album that doesn’t try to solve anything. It lays out the facts of Siichaq’s hopes and doubts, and there’s no prescription for the correct way through it all.
“I Keep Getting Sicker” is a good example. Siichaq sings, “Got a stomach ache in May and it lasted ‘till December / I just can’t get better.”
That is exactly what makes CATCHER accessible—you can listen and remember your own in-betweens without feeling a need to resolve them. On CATCHER, difficult emotions are allowed to exist.
“I think there are universal feelings that everybody experiences,” Siichaq describes of her writing process. “If you can tap into that collective consciousness, it’s easy to draw inspiration from it or craft lyrics around that shared experience.”
The sophomore album follows Atlanta-based Siichaq’s debut album My Dog Ate My Patriotism, released in 2024. “It took a long time to make the album,” she shares. “I’ve been sitting on it for a while. I operate with a sense of urgency most of the time. I hate to sit on something once it’s finished because I always worry I’ll maybe lose interest if it’s too long. I’m really excited for other people to get to hear it, and I haven’t lost interest [laughs]. I still love this record.”
Read our full conversation with Siichaq about CATCHER below.
LUNA: CATCHER follows your first album. In some ways, the debut album is an artist’s biggest learning opportunity. Do you feel like anything has changed in your approach since then?
SIICHAQ: I think everything changed. The first album was me generating ideas and calling the shots. It was my dad playing drums and one of my best friends, Drew, was engineering. It was just the three of us for the whole thing. Going into CATCHER, it was a lot more of a group effort. It was me, Ben Wulkan, and Evan Dangerfield who were engineering and producing. They brought in their friends to brainstorm instrument parts. Connor Dowd did basically all of the drumming.
It was definitely a learning curve because I can be kind of controlling. I had to learn how to not be so controlling, which was great for me. I needed that. It felt like a completely different process than the first one. My approach to songwriting also changed a lot. I get “demo-itis” really bad. I make a demo and I’m like, “I want it to be exactly like the demo.” That’s basically what we did on the first record. I had to get over my demo-itis. I started writing music that had more space in it so that we could come up with things in the studio on the day.
LUNA: There is a lot of collaboration across this album. How did it all come together?
SIICHAQ: Basically everyone that worked on CATCHER, besides Evan, is in Lunar Vacation. I was a huge fan in high school—I idolized them. We opened for them in my old band and I sprained my ankle so badly at that show. They remembered me from that … After years of seeing them every once in a while, Maggie was like, “Ben just opened a studio. I’ll put you in touch.” The studio was in the backyard of where Lunar Vacation lived, so they would just walk across the yard, play a part, and walk back.
LUNA: My favourite track on the album is “World Equestrian Center.” It’s dreamy, with some banjo on there. Do you have a favorite?
SIICHAQ: I really love “World Equestrian Center.” It’s sad but it doesn’t make me sad to listen to it. I really loved the instruments. Maggie coming to play the banjo was kind of a last-minute choice. It really solidified that song—probably one of my favorites. “A Couple Bad People” is so up my alley, in terms of my personal music taste. It was so fun to record and I just have so many positive memories associated with it.
“Project 3” is probably my favorite. It’s so noisy, which I love. I felt a lot of embarrassment about that song and the desperation that is inherent to it. It’s basically a plea to the world. Overcoming that shame of wanting something really badly was important for me. I think so. Yeah, I love that one.
LUNA: The video has that noisy vibe too. It’s fast paced with images flashing throughout. It almost feels like found material.
SIICHAQ: I think it really does add a deeper understanding of the album as a whole, which wasn’t the intention, but the video kind of looks how my brain works. It’s like, bam, bam, bam, bam. I feel like you can pick up on that in the music too. I like how it ties everything together.
LUNA: “Life’s A Mess” was kind of inspired by the feeling of being a control freak. Do you feel like your relationship to that feeling has changed since releasing it in a cathartic way through the song?
SIICHAQ: I’ve definitely lightened up on myself about making everything perfect all the time and wanting to dictate the narrative around the music or people’s perception of it. I have learned that making music isn’t just about other people enjoying it. It’s [about] enjoying the process of making it, enjoying the result, then hoping it resonates. Writing “Life’s A Mess” was like, “I have to address this because I can’t expect to be happy with my art if I put this much thought into what other people think about it.” That was definitely a good lesson.
I never feel like I fully have control over what I make. I know that sounds strange, but I don’t always feel like I’m the one in charge of what I write. It feels instinctual, or like I’m pulling it out of the sky. I don’t really go back and revise my songs. I write them and if I like them, that’s what they are. I’m not rewriting because it feels like they exist before I write them down. Understanding that has helped me a lot with giving into the flow.
LUNA: What are you excited about playing these songs live?
SIICHAQ: We’ve been playing basically all music that isn’t released. I try really hard to get the live show as close to the recordings as possible. I’m nervous and excited to see people’s reactions, and if they think it sounds close to the record or if we’re missing the mark a little. It’ll be a new opportunity for feedback and that’s the most exciting for me.
