Among the pride’s hunters, the lioness is the most prominent. Single mothers are a clear example of this. They will do whatever it takes to raise their children.”Lioness” by S/M/B shows appreciation for these lovely queens. We had the pleasure of interviewing Only Bricks, and here is what they had to say:
Q: What is the story behind your latest single “Lioness” ?
S/M/B: The song is a shout-out to all mothers, especially the ones having to raise their kids alone. It expresses respect and humility for women who are facing all the challenges that life in a patriarchal society holds for you when you shoulder the immense distress, the hardship, the structural discrimination, the unpaid labor of being a single care-taker of a human being.
Q: Is there a collaborative effort or does one personally take the lead in S/M/B?
S/M/B: The songs are mostly created by one person and then worked on collectively during the recording process. Most of the songs and arrangements are written by Sebastian (keyboards), but there are songs composed by other band members, as well. On “3” we decided to take a more collaborative approach, include more musicians and work less with pre-written arrangements, spending more time arranging stuff in the studio session.
Q: I see you have two albums S/M/B 1 & 2. How does your creative process differ from album to album?
S/M/B: The albums “1” & “2” actually belong together, as they were recorded in the same session, but released separately. They are about exploring musical possibilities and contain a variety of styles, from Big Band arrangements, Pop & R’n’B to scoring poems or traditional folk songs. On the upcoming album “3” we started out by writing most of the lyrics first, focusing less on the musical aspects, rather than the content and the story of the songs.
Q: Any interesting behind-the-scenes stories from the studio sessions?
S/M/B: Our studio sessions are always filled with loads of fun. When we were recording “Lioness”, some of our band members had the task of sampling any sounds related to heat or fire, as the lyrics often relate to those. For example you can hear a sizzle (for example at 0:04, sounding kind of like a cymbal) which is actually water poured into a hot pan. If you listen carefully, you can hear one of our singers exhale at 0:03. The process of recording this got some band members to bed early that night.
Q: What’s next for the band?
S/M/B: We’re planning to record our next album in July and August, and then hopefully get to work on a brand-new live performance.
Q: Any words of wisdom for up and coming bands out there trying to make it in the music industry?
S/M/B: Well, I can recommend trying to understand what makes you happy about creating music and keeping doing it for that reason. Becoming successful in the music industry is really a gamble and as the music industry is an industry, it’s all about making money not about creating music. So if you really wanna try, prepare for years of hard work and probably no outcome – just remember that each day about 20,000 songs are released on Spotify.
Interviewed by Shertara Brazil
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