Premiere: Sloan Golden Finds Catharsis in "Parking Lot"
LA-BASED SINGER-SONGWRITER SLOAN GOLDEN lays bare her soul with her debut single, "Parking Lot," and its accompanying cinematic music video. This unflinching track explores the raw emotions of anxiety and the solace found in late-night conversations with friends.
"Parking Lot" is more than just a catchy song; it's a window into Golden's experiences with mental health struggles. Co-written with rising artist Jensen McRae and produced by indie rock musician Runnner, the song pulsates with the intensity of a panic attack, building and releasing to mirror the emotional rollercoaster Sloan Golden describes.
The official video, directed by Madi Boll, perfectly captures the disorientation and heightened anxiety of a panic attack. Sloan Golden says, "[The video] depicts my lived experience of using my car as both a place to have hard conversations with both herself and others, and as a safe space to collect her thoughts."
This introspective debut marks the beginning of a promising career for Sloan Golden. With raw honesty and undeniable talent, she's poised to connect with listeners on a deep level. Check out our premiere of the "Parking Lot" music video and see Sloan Golden perform live at the Breaking Sound Showcase in Los Angeles on May 16th.
LUNA: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your debut single, "Parking Lot," and what led you to collaborate with Jensen McRae on this track?
GOLDEN: I often come up with titles and concepts for songs before lyrics and melody, and with “Parking Lot” that was the case. I had known for a while that I wanted to write a song that contextualized my senior year of high school in which my friends and I would sit in our cars, or stand around in the parking lot, after work at Panera Bread, and have deep, meaningful conversations. We were too young to go to a bar, and by that time of night coffee shops were closed, so empty parking lots or my mother’s driveway kind of became these safe havens to say all the things I was too afraid to say anywhere else. At the time I was really struggling with my mental health, so I’d often confide in my friends, in our cars, in empty parking lots, and that experience is what inspired “Parking Lot.”
Jensen and I went to college at USC together and I had always admired her songwriting. I remember my freshman year roommate played a song of hers that was on Soundcloud, at the time, and I was really taken by her lyricism. We had mutual friends and eventually got together to write my junior year. I had brought this idea I had for what would become “Parking Lot,” and I think we wrote it in less than an hour, but then ended up just hanging out for the rest of the night. Jensen is a really gifted songwriter and I’m so glad we were able to collaborate on this song.
LUNA: The song explores themes of anxiety and vulnerability. How did you translate these emotions into the sonic landscape of "Parking Lot"?
GOLDEN: When I thought about how I wanted “Parking Lot” to be produced, I wanted it to sonically emulate the waves of a panic attack. I worked with Noah Weinman, of Runnner, on the production and he absolutely killed it. The first verse begins with fingerpicked guitar and airier vocals which continues through the first chorus. This is meant to set the scene of the song, inviting listeners into this world and its emotional complexities. The second verse through the second chorus is where panic sets in which we conveyed with the addition of drums, distorted guitar, and my vocals becoming more impassioned. The bridge, which is my favorite part of the song, is the climax of a panic attack, where someone might experience intense thoughts, crying, screaming, etc. The lyric, “I’m so alive and I hate to admit it,” is all of the pent up feelings coming to a head, where I’m experiencing the full extent of my emotions, but it’s way too much for me to handle. Finally the last chorus is the come down, as we circle back to the fingerpicked guitar and warm synths that we heard in the beginning.
LUNA: The official video for "Parking Lot" captures the intense feelings and uneasy energy of a panic attack. Can you share more about the creative process behind the video and how it reflects the song's message?
GOLDEN: My director Madi Boll and I worked on the creative for “Parking Lot” for nearly nine months. I knew that I wanted to visually achieve what it felt like to have a panic attack without it being too on the nose, and I think we really captured that. Madi came up with the concept of having two different worlds. In one world, I’m with my on screen boyfriend and friends experiencing real life. In the other world we go to what it feels like in my head. I’m in this black void, not really knowing where I am or what’s going on except I’m feeling all of the anxiety from the real world to the fullest extent. There are also miscellaneous objects with me in the void that are anxiety inducing in their own right. For example, we have an alarm clock that starts out ticking like normal, but then the hands on the clock start to speed up before the alarm goes off all together. We also have a water balloon that gets fuller and fuller before bursting. Then there’s me who starts off kind of confused, but then gets more and more anxious before crying and panicking. Madi came up with these objects being used as a metaphor for anxiety as their intensity slowly builds, eventually reaching a breaking point, before returning to their original state as the clock starts to rewind, the fire on the flowers gets put out and the Newton’s Cradle gets untwisted.
While we wanted the music video to be the visual encapsulation of a panic attack, similarly to how the song does that sonically, through the ebb and flow of the emotions in the video we reach a calm at the end, just like we do in the song. Sometimes your head will feel too loud and you’ll feel like you can’t take it anymore, but with enough time and space, you’ll find your calm again.
LUNA: In "Parking Lot," you mention using your car as both a place for introspection and a safe space. How does this personal experience inform the themes of the song?
GOLDEN: The themes of “Parking Lot” were ripped straight from my life when I was 16 or 17 years old. Those feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and ultimately suicidal ideation were all really, real for me. When writing and producing “Parking Lot” I wanted to create a sonic and visual world in which that experience in my life and all of those feelings had a place to exist. When I was a teenager those feelings existed in my Hyundai Tucson. My car, in the empty parking lot, outside my first job, was the only place I could really be alone to feel my feelings or that I could really confide in someone without being scared someone of authority would hear me. I still drive that Hyundai Tucson, and I even still have moments where I use my car as a place for reflection or to express upset, but those feelings don’t exist inside me in the same way anymore. Now they exist in this song.
LUNA: As a queer indie pop artist, how does your identity influence your songwriting and the stories you want to tell through your music?
GOLDEN: Labeling myself as a queer indie pop artist allows me to be fully myself. Sometimes I can find it hard to take up space as a queer person because I’m not fully straight and I’m not fully gay, but by labeling myself as queer I’ve given myself the permission to tell my stories exactly as they are, and for me to fully accept myself, my sexuality, and my life experiences through my music.
LUNA: You've mentioned that songwriting has been a way for you to process emotions and experiences. How does your personal journey shape the stories you tell in your music?
GOLDEN: The way that I see it, my personal journey and my music are one in the same. My life heavily informs my music in terms of the stories I tell and the sonic world I create. For example, “Parking Lot” is pulled from a real life experience, but it’s also just one part of the puzzle. When writing music with the intention of putting together a body of work I have to really think about where each song fits in the narrative I’m creating within my music, but also the narrative of my life.
Writing from personal experiences can also be tricky. I have such a strong vision and idea of what “Parking Lot” means to me and sending it out into the world means that it might be interpreted differently than I intended. It also means letting people into what was a really vulnerable time in my life and hoping people understand.
LUNA: What do you hope listeners take away from "Parking Lot," both musically and thematically?
GOLDEN: I hope people are able to resonate with the experience of having a safe space to say all the things they’re too afraid to say, either to themselves or to somebody else. I purposefully never say “parking lot” in the song so that people are able to place themselves in their own parking lots, whether that be their car, their room, a friend's house, their mother’s driveway, etc. I really believe that being in your mid to late teens and having a space that you go to, to find some sort of mental and emotional relief is such a universal experience. I hope others are able to see themselves in the song and feel less alone in their struggles knowing so many of us have been through it.
LUNA: As you prepare to perform live at the Breaking Sound Showcase, what can audiences expect from your performance, and how does it feel to share your music in a live setting?
GOLDEN: I’m so excited to perform at Breaking Sound! The audience can expect a stripped set where I’ll be performing “Parking Lot” for the first time since its release, as well as some other songs that are on the way, and maybe a fun cover. Getting to bring these songs to life in a live setting is so special, as I get to connect with people in real time while they listen to the rawest form of my music. I feel really proud of the songs I’ll be performing and can’t wait!
LUNA: What intentions do you have for the rest of the spring season?
GOLDEN: I really want to let myself feel proud for a second. “Parking Lot” has been six years in the making and I want to feel how big of an accomplishment this is for me on a personal level. Besides that, I’ll be gearing up to release more music throughout the rest of the year, shooting some more visuals, maybe even another music video, and hopefully playing some more live shows!
