Q&A: A Voyage Through Heartache and Loneliness, Colyer Heals Through ‘Lonestardom’
TO TURN YOUR DARKEST MOMENTS INTO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL — is a talent of Colyer’s that is overwhelmingly evident in his newest album, Lonestardom. Confessional, delicate, and healing, the album focuses on Colyer’s experience with heartbreak and its ensuing loneliness.
Immersed in music from childhood, Colyer grew up listening to his mother play piano while his father sang. Struggling to pick up sheet music, he only began connecting with music after discovering his love for playing guitar. From then on, music was the one and only path he’d follow.
Created throughout the course of multiple years, Lonestardom is as meticulous as it is powerful. Incorporating jaw-dropping blends between tracks and intricately weaving bird sounds, wind chimes, and street noise into the songs, Colyer has created an otherworldly sonic canvas that proves that music truly is art.
The product of the end of a four-year relationship, the album chronicles Colyer's journey through heartache, providing the medium through which he processed it all. Lonestardom showcases a collection of snapshots into his mind and psyche following the breakup, placing specific focus on the ways in which Hollywood and faith warped his already vulnerable perception — themes he effortlessly threads throughout the album. Introspective and authentic, Lonestardom is best listened to in solitude, with room to think and feel the intensity of each and every track.
Keep reading to explore more of Colyer and his art as he dives into Lonestardom, its inspiration, and his careful and painstaking curation of each track.
LUNA: Congrats on Lonestardom! Can you talk us through the inspiration for this album?
COLYER: Thank you so much! It’s truly been a labor of love and I almost can’t believe it’s time to release it. The story of Lonestardom is my own personal experience through the heavy reality of heartbreak and loneliness. I had just come out of a four-year relationship and was devastated. At first, I hated everything I was writing because my thoughts and feelings were so loud. Sometimes you need to gain perspective in order to communicate effectively.
The concept of the album fell into place pretty easily because it was happening in real time. I wanted to make an album that represented various shapes and stages of my post-breakup mentality. There were also themes of Hollywood and faith that felt important to tie in because of how I’d become disillusioned by them both. Every line of Lonestardom has truth behind it. And although the album can be perceived as sad, it was really healing to create it.
Sonically, I heard this soundtrack that I fell in love with. It was for a Belgian erotic horror movie called Daughters Of Darkness, composed by François de Roubaix — incredible music and the film itself is wild. Also, Richard Swift’s The Hex was a big inspiration. His production has such a unique sound, and it would’ve been a dream to have had the chance to work with him.
LUNA: Of all the songs on the album, which do you feel you have a close connection with?
COLYER: Hmm, great question but hard question because I think this answer changes over time. But I’d have to say “River Of Youth” feels closest to me right now based on its parallel symbolism between love and religion. It’s about me coming to grips with losing faith in all I once knew. With this, I intended the focus to be on the honesty of the lyrics more than the production or melody. Everything stripped back, so the words could be the star.
LUNA: Are the stories behind the tracks on Lonestardom more introspective, or externally influenced?
COLYER: The songs are both introspective and real-life moments that fold into a larger story. There are personal details that, for me, really hit but might mean something completely different to you. That’s the beauty of interpretation. Also, there are three songs on the album that represent dreams within the storyline, a headspace I often occupied.
LUNA: Was there a process to the ordering of the songs in the album? Or was it more of a random chronology?
COLYER: While the order they were written in was random and based on moments of introspection, there is a sort of story order. Definitely recommend listening from start to finish for a full understanding of the project. I was meticulous about transitions and background sounds that you’ll hear throughout. There are birds from outside my apartment’s window, wind chimes from my parent’s house in the Carolinas, rainfall in west LA, street noise, etc. Then there are melodic and lyrical callbacks that set a tonal theme, much like a film soundtrack.
LUNA: What lyrics are you most proud of from the album?
COLYER: “I know all the rules / I don’t have one good excuse” because it’s such a technical way to look at love. If only it were that easy.
LUNA: How would you describe the overall vibe or feeling the album radiates?
COLYER: It’s an album best listened to on headphones or alone on long drives — with lots of space to think and feel. Most of all, I’d say it feels like “me.” After making music for years I can’t tell you how important that is.
LUNA: How does the finished album compare to your initial vision for it?
COLYER: I actually had the title before half of the album was even done. Because of that, I felt like I had to measure up to it. Continuing to write for two more years gave me this clarity on its overarching storyline and how to enhance that. It’s strange because “Weird World” was written in 2019. So wild how much more meaning it has now, in a universal sense.
LUNA: What was your first exposure to music? How did this then evolve into you pursuing music further?
COLYER: My first exposure to music was hearing my mom play piano while my dad sang. I have so many of those memories. My mom tried to teach me piano with sheet music, but I had no patience to practice and gave up pretty quickly. I guess I’ve always preferred learning to play music by ear. I didn't realize it at the time but that’s what made concert band so difficult for me. Other than the torture of playing trumpet with braces, I felt a disconnect from the music and my contribution to it.
But my experience with music truly evolved when my parents bought me my first guitar — I was obsessed. Soon after learning about guitar tabs, I’d get off the bus and print pages and pages of songs to learn (shoutout to mxtabs.net). It was really then that I knew playing music was all I ever wanted to do. I’d even take those “career tests” in high school and answer the questions as if they’d give me some sort of answer like “rock star.” Ridiculous.
LUNA: Do you feel the physical space you inhabit influences your creative process?
COLYER: I absolutely do. During the making of the album, my window overlooked Sunset Boulevard at Wilcox. It was such a strange location to be in, really. The heart of Hollywood — a weird but inspiring place. If you look hard enough at my album cover, you can find that window. Creatively, being crammed into that room was the perfect way for me to conjure the right words and sounds out. It left me with little space to be anything but fully myself in the writing and production — that was invaluable.
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