Sidney Sierota Of Hit Pop Band Echosmith Talks About Their Album Lonely Generation, And Their HIt Songs “Cool Kids” And “Bright”

A young band whose members are now in their early 20s, Echosmith has already been a successful alt-pop trio for several years, since they released their debut album, Talking Dreams (on Warner Bros. Records) in 2013. This album was certified gold and contained their breakthrough hits, “Cool Kids” and “Bright.” Then in 2018, they also had a chart hit with their single, “Over My Head.”

Based in Southern Calilfornia, Echosmith—which consists of Sydney Sierota (lead vocals) and her two brothers, Noah Sierota (vocals, bass) and Graham Sierota (drums)—are set to release their second album this week (on January 10). Their new album is called Lonely Generation, and it’s full of hooky, appealing pop songs that the trio is known for. In addition, the album displays their recent development and maturity as a band.

SPECIAL FEATURE: STREAMING AUDIO Here’s an excerpt of our interview with Sydney Sierota of Echosmith, who talks about the making of their new album, Lonely Generation.

 

The album’s lead single is the uptempo title cut, “Lonely Generation,” which has a video that already has attracted 3 million YouTube views. Impressively, the band has filmed videos of all 12 songs on their new album, and they’ve released the video for their song, “Shut Up and Kiss Me.” They plan to release their other 10 videos throughout 2020.

Notably, Echosmith has decided to form their own record label called Echosmith Music, which is a joint venture with Warner/ADA (for sales, marketing & distribution). This has given the trio creative control over their new album and all the songs.

Following the launch of Lonely Generation, Echosmith will kick off their headlining tour in February. They will be playing shows in many cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver and Seattle.

Echosmith InterviewWe are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Sydney Sierota of Echosmith. She tells how she and her brothers got started in the music business, and discusses their early success with “Cool Kids” and “Bright.” She also talks about their new album and their songwriting.

DK: It’s been two years since Echosmith released its previous EP, Inside a Dream. Can you talk about the past two years with the band, leading up to your new album?

Sydney Sierota: Yeah, it’s been quite the process, and we definitely took our time with it. Obviously, any album you do is really important…to feel good and excited about it. Also, since it was our sophomore album, we wanted to make sure that we felt passionate about every little thing that you heard, whether it was a lyric, a keyboard sound, or a guitar line. We wanted to feel great about it, and that we could stand behind every thing that you listen to and feel when you hear the music.

We took our time writing a lot of different songs, and we wrote plenty of songs for this album that didn’t make it. I’m glad we took our time, to explore what we wanted to do and what we wanted to say artistically and musically. It was important for our band, because we went through a self-discovery stage, and I think we came out better for it.

DK: Will you be releasing your album independently, or are you still with Warner Bros.?

Sierota: We actually created our own label [in a joint venture with] ADA and Warner. So it’s really our own label, and it’s been a different experience being able to make a lot of decisions as a band, and about our new album and what songs we wanted to put out. We work with a great team at ADA (distribution & marketing), but at the end of the day, we get to make the final decision on what people see and hear from our band.

DK: I like your title song, “Lonely Generation,” from your new album. Is this song your lead single?

Sierota: Yes. Right now, we’re focusing on the title track “Lonely Generation.” We wanted to put this song out first, and have it lead the charge for the entire album. Musically, it’s really fun and it’s a good representation of where Echosmith is at right now. But also lyrically, I think it’s important for us and everyone to open up the conversation about how [our generation] is spending our time, with so much time on our phones and living through social media. I’m 22, and I’m trying to figure out a balance between real life and relationships, yet also making sure that I’m spending time talking to our fans and responding to as many of them as possible.

DK: For your new album, besides the song “Lonely Generation,” what are your favorite songs on the album?

Sierota: It’s a hard question, because I love all of the songs for different reasons. But I’d say “Follow You” and “I Don’t Wanna Lose My Love” are two of my favorites, because they’re the final two tracks on the album. “Follow You” is such a personal song for me…I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put it on the album because it was so personal and vulnerable, but I’m glad I did. When people hear it, they’re going to get an inside look on me and into my heart, and how I was feeling at that moment. I wrote and recorded it in the middle of the night for my husband as a surprise. It was two weeks before we got married, and I wanted to play it for our first dance. When he heard it, it was a special moment for us, and for everyone at the wedding. It was a song that I wanted to give him as a wedding gift.

“I Don’t Want To Lose My Love” is also an inside look into my heart and who I am. and it’s an emotional song. So I love both of those songs; I think they’re a great way to finish the album.

DK: You’ve already done videos of “Lonely Generation” and “Shut Up and Kiss Me.” Will you be filming videos of other songs from your album?

Sierota: Yes. We did a video for every song on the album. We have 12 music videos that are ready to go. We filmed them all in seven or eight days, and we have so many different kinds of videos. We have fun ones like “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” and we also have some serious and emotional videos. We did the videos with Danny Drysdale, who’s a video director who’s worked with the Killers, and we love the Killers. He has such a unique style, and we were over the moon when he was down to do 12 videos with us. It was such a fun and crazy process—it was insane how much we got done on those days (laughs). It turned out so great, and Danny was such a great partner to work with. We’ll be releasing the videos, spreading them out out next year.

DK: Earlier in your career, you had big success as teenagers, with your first album having two hits. What was it like to have that success at a young age?

Sierota: It was awesome to experience [having hits with] “Cool Kids” and “Bright.” It was exciting, and there’s so much adrenaline. There were a couple years of non-stop touring, promo, traveling and all that. We were on the road while we were still growing up and discovering who we were. So it was the beginning stages of who I am and what I wanted to be and what I wanted to say. I got to travel and interact with so many people across the world. We realized that life is about trying to make a difference with the people that you can. And I think learning that at a young age was important for me, and I hope that I keep that with me forever. It was crazy and hard at times because I was so young, but I’m thankful for it. And I think I’ve gotten to sleep a little more [in the past couple years], so I feel good now (laughs).

Here’s the link to Echosmith’s site: https://www.echosmith.com/