Today, we’d like to introduce you to Sweetlove. Wendy was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Jillian Armenante.
Sweetlove, can you walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I come by telling stories honestly: my dad is a writer, preacher and a teacher; my mom is a writer and a teacher, my aunts are writers and poets, my uncles love to spin yarns, most of which may be true (or if they’re not completely, they could have happened that way ;)) … I’ve loved good writing and good stories since I can remember. I’ve also loved music as long as I can remember: I grew up listening to the great folk singers of the 60s and 70s on vinyl, and I grew up in a church pew, and the idea that you can find god through worship is infused into my bones. These days I have a very different definition of the divine, but I always knew that stories and music could move hearts and minds. Imagine my delight when I discovered I could put both together and write songs: it was like I had found my purpose. A few years ago, I lost three people I adored within a year, all to various forms of mental illness – these were all people that were beloved and they couldn’t find their way out of the dark. I was so crushed it was difficult to breathe, so I turned to songwriting. I poured out all of my anguish and grief and regret into small writing rooms with brilliant and compassionate writers, and came out with a beautiful collection of songs called “Goodnight, Lover”. Songwriting really saved me, it was the thing that really saved my own mental health and I’ve heard from so many people since that the songs have really spoken to them – we’ve all had so much loss, trauma, and reframing lately, and I think that people are more than ever looking to connect and collectively grieve what we’ve lost. It’s so moving to me that people feel less alone when they listen to my songs, that they feel more understood. I’ve become really committed to the idea of songwriting as healing, as giving back, as a reflection of my own and others’ humanity.
Please talk to us about your creative work and career. What should we know?
My creative work has always been sort of a fumbling-into-magic kind of feeling. I always loved music and stories, but never imagined myself a professional singer and songwriter. I started out loving to read, I read very early and read everything I could get my hands on: when I was a kid my mom would take me to the library for fun, and I would check out the max books I could get, and read them all before they were due – I loved how books could expand your world so profoundly, maybe because I was somewhat trying to escape the world I was in at the time. Eventually I started writing poetry (really bad poetry, let’s be honest but the community was kind), and then I got into songwriting. I performed rock, blues, I sang in a comedic, disco, burlesque band (that my dad was definitely not allowed to come see) but had a blast; I sang on some incredible stages with some incredible musicians, and then I decided that I wanted to tell my own stories. As I grew as a songwriter, I had the opportunity to write with some incredible writers that really made me a much better writer, and I got to the point where I realized that telling these stories was something I needed to do. I’m excited to say I’ve been writing more for film and television, which has been a blast: and I’ve really enjoyed finding ways to bring someone else’s stories and visions to life in music. I’ve got some exciting new music coming out this year, and a new record coming out next year: which is a follow up record to Goodnight, Lover and an examination of how to take grief and loss and turn it into something that inspires you to be braver, to be more yourself.
I also have a new song that came out on May 26th, on my dad’s birthday. It’s a song we wrote together (with the amazing Garen) about his grandfather (my great-grandfather) and how spending summers as his farm as a kid gave him a sense of solace and faith. I surprised him with it on his birthday with a beautiful production of it by Wes Hutchinson. You can listen to it here: https://soulspazm.ffm.
So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Jillian Armenante and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Jillian.
Oh man, Jillian is an artist I profoundly admire: she is brilliant, she is creative, she is hilarious, she is wildly supportive of other artists, she is scrappy as hell, she just doesn’t quit. She came up in the Seattle theater scene with a bunch of broke artists and knows the magic of collaborating: she knows how to make art in the face of any obstacle and make it her own. And of course I’m lucky to call her a friend. I think the first time I met her she was over at this crazy house I used to live in, in WeHo and she was playing guitar hero and crushing it – I’ve been a fan ever since. Every project she’s ever done from small black box theaters to huge hollywood movies, she walks away with lifelong friends – she is a consummate pro and very generous to people around her. I was lucky to have a couple of my songs in her feature film “Stuck” that starred Heather Matarazzo and Constantine Maroulis. But I think my favorite project I’ve seen her do lately was Kittens in a Cage – a wickedly funny prison comedy that she adapted and brought in a slew of fantastic actors into, including the incredible Joel McHale. (Joel’s scenes made me cry, I was laughing so hard). I would be honored to work with Jillian on any project, I’d love to do an interview where we talk about our creative processes, I’d be honored to have my music in any project she ever does, … and anyone would be lucky to have her involved in their work: in front of or behind the camera – she is a force with an incredible vision, and brilliant mind and a heart as big as her talent. Love you, Jilly.
Website: www.sweetlovesounds.com
Instagram: @sweetlovesounds
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sweetlovesounds
Twitter: @sweetlovesounds
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetlovesounds/
Youtube: @sweetlovesounds
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sweetlovesounds
Image Credits
Wide stage photo: Gayle Davidson Shot with guitar and lights overhead: Chris Suchanek B&W upside down shot: Joan Jones All others: Anna Azarov
