Musicians Featured: Leah Marlene
April 18th, 2022
American Idol’s Leah Marlene on Songwriting, Authenticity, and Embracing What Makes You Different
Last week, I got to sit down with American Idol’s Leah Marlene – a singer-songwriter whose authentic personality is as engaging as her exceptional voice. Leah was no stranger to the music scene before appearing on the show, releasing albums including Many Colors and The Space Between. Her captivating lyrics and stunning vocals combine to create a transcendent listening experience – a personal favourite of mine is her song Spacesuit, which takes the feeling of escapism all the way to outer space.
Keep reading below to learn more about her musical journey, her thoughts on the power of embracing what makes you different, and the beauty of finding moments of music in everything. (And don’t forget to VOTE to keep seeing her on American Idol every week!)
- Emily Weatherhead, Founder
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EW: To get started, how did you first get involved with music, and how did that lead you to where you are today?
LM: My dad is in an 80’s rock band, so there was always recording gear, and guitars, and instruments all around my house. I was exposed to music from a very young age, and I was always drawn to it. For American Idol, I had to send in a bunch of childhood photos, and in every photo there is of me, I am touching a guitar or an instrument. I was just so fascinated with music from a very early age, so it was very natural to begin to learn how to actually make music, and that turned into this career of doing music.
“My music is an overflow of my own life – what I’m experiencing in life is going to be what comes out in my songs, in the music and in the sound.”
EW: Your music has such a unique sound that comes through even in your covers – you make them completely your own. In terms of your own songs, what moments in life is your music made for?
LM: It’s made for everything. My music is an overflow of my own life – what I’m experiencing in life is going to be what comes out in my songs, in the music and in the sound. If I don’t have the words for the experience I am in, whether it’s amazing or terrible, the sound of the music itself can articulate that, maybe even before I can through the lyrics. In general, my music is an overflow of my own life. Whatever is happening in my own life is what’s happening in my music.
“Music is like an unspoken language that every single person is drawn to.”
EW: Getting more into the community side of things, how do you think music can build community and connect us?
LM: Oh my god, in every way. Music is like an unspoken language that every single person is drawn to. You can be from completely different walks of life and all feel understood by the same song, or the same instrument, or the same recording. I’ve made so many friends just from being obsessed with the same artist or the same song or the same songwriter. Music is a universal language that I think speaks to every single person on this planet, and I think it’s so beautiful how that can connect us.
“I would say I just try to collect as much inspiration in my day-to-day life as possible. Yes, you can wait for inspiration to strike, but you’re not going to be able to write a whole lot of songs that way.”
EW: You’ve already released music, such as your albums The Space Between and Many Colors. What’s the song writing process like for you?
LM: The song writing process differs for everything, but in general, I would say I just try to collect as much inspiration in my day-to-day life as possible. Yes, you can wait for inspiration to strike, but you’re not going to be able to write a whole lot of songs that way. I think there’s so much in the day to day that is just so beautiful and intriguing – it’s like a higher level of awareness of what’s going on around you.
What that looks like more tangibly is keeping notes of random conversations I have, or thoughts that I have about what’s going on, or things that I see that I think are particularly interesting. And then musically, I try to sit down with an instrument every day, and just play for five or ten minutes, and just put down something. Even if it’s the most simple chord progression in the world, just something that I could start a song off of.
Then I have all of these song prompts, and when I want to sit down and write a full song, I can kind of put them together, or just pick one and run with it. But it’s always different – a different instrument, a different spark. Sometimes a song is just calling you to sit down and write it, and then sometimes you’re digging for two years to write the song. So it varies, it varies every time.
EW: Yeah, it’s cool having all those little pieces to bring together, like all these little building blocks of inspiration.
LM: Yeah. Exactly.
“Music grounds me to be the self-aware human that I am because it’s a way of reflection, and music can understand things before I even can.”
EW: You have this authenticity and this confidence about you that’s super engaging – you have a really strong sense of self. How do you think music has influenced how you show up in the world?
LM: Music has been a very large part of my identity since I was young. As far as sense of self, music helps me to process so many things in life. It’s such a huge tool for my mental wellbeing, to be able to sit down with a song or with a melody, and just feel whatever it is that I need to feel and sort through whatever it is that I’m sorting through. Music grounds me to be the self-aware human that I am because it’s a way of reflection, and music can understand things before I even can.
“Music speaks to the unspoken parts of me.”
EW: Your own songs have these really vulnerable and real lyrics. Is there something about music that allows you to express yourself in a way that you might not be able to otherwise?
LM: Yes. A lot of times when you’re in the midst of a situation, it’s hard to find the words to articulate it. But when you have this sonic landscape that brings out the feelings that you feel within it, this sonic landscape that feels like it understands you, it helps conjure the words. Music speaks to the unspoken parts of me, I suppose.
“The things that people get bullied for in say, junior high and high school, are the things that people are drawn to you for later on in life. So be yourself.”
EW: You started releasing music when you were just 13 years old, so you’ve been doing this for a while! What advice would you give to musicians who are just starting out?
LM: Oh, so many things! I think this is life advice as much as it is music advice. Embrace the things that make you different, or weird, or whatever it is. And just be yourself, ten feet tall. Be your boldest, bravest self. In the long run, career-wise, that stuff is an asset. But life-wise, that is the stuff that makes you so beautiful, and that people are going to be drawn to about you, even if it doesn’t feel like that.
The things that people get bullied for in say, junior high and high school, are the things that people are drawn to you for later on in life. So be yourself, and don’t hide any of the things that you feel like you need to hide. Just embrace them, and embrace them in your music.
“Every single human benefits from the existence of music, and every single community benefits from being able to share music together.”
EW: Do you have any final thoughts on why it’s important to make music more accessible to our communities?
LM: I grew up in Normal, Illinois, and I’m so lucky because I had so many opportunities there to do music before I was even really very good at it. I started gigging when I was in the fourth grade. Normal had so many different music events, and I made some of my best friends through them, and I’ve been able to grow into myself through musical opportunities.
Every single human benefits from the existence of music, and every single community benefits from being able to share music together. And so, having music be an accessible part of a community is an essential for bonding people and bringing people together.
EW: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience? What’s next for you?
LM: I have the album (Many Colors) that just came out, but my life after American Idol right now is quite a mystery. I’m really hoping to get out on the road and tour, and I’m absolutely positive I’ll be in Ontario if I do! And I would tell people to vote!
