When third-year Design | Media Arts student Sienna Moffitt made plans to study abroad in Europe, appearing on BBC Radio Merseyside and recording her first demo were not part of her agenda.
Moffitt, who sang her original song “I Shan’t Be There (When You Go)” at Pauley Pavilion as part of Spring Sing 2014, released her Liverpool-recorded demo, “this is a demo,” on Bandcamp Monday night.
In August, Moffitt decided that she no longer wanted to study abroad, but rather backpack across Europe in the same time frame.
“I would have never thought to go there without structure,” Moffitt said. “I was oscillating between extreme fear and excitement before I did.”
In Wales Moffitt bought a run-down guitar for 5 pounds, which she was playing in Liverpool when a violin maker, Michael Phoenix, approached her. Phoenix talked to Moffitt for hours before asking her to play him something, Moffitt said.
“And then he asked ‘Would you like to be on the BBC tonight?'” Moffitt said. “Turns out that the studio for BBC Merseyside (in Liverpool) was right across the street.”
Moffitt appeared on “Late night conversation with Linda McDermott ,” a weekday nightly radio segment on BBC Merseyside. On the show, she chatted with the hosts on-air about musicians such as Phillip Black and performed three songs: “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals, “Dance Till The Morning Light” by Slow Club and an original piece, “Song #2.”
When Moffitt left Liverpool, she bought a pad of pink paper and used the two tubes of paint she had – green and burnt sienna – to make thank-you notes for everyone on the show. In the process, she used the paint to decorate her new guitar.
“I had made a promise to Michael Phoenix, who opened up wonderful opportunities for me – he made me promise to always keep my eyes open and my ears open,” Moffitt said. “I have that written on the guitar: ‘Never shut your eyes, never shut your ears.’”
Phoenix, who Moffitt said was like a father figure, helped Moffitt earn and fund the opportunity to record her music in Liverpool, Moffitt said.
“After Spring Sing happened last year, I wanted to start playing at venues and recording but I couldn’t make it happen before I left,” Moffitt said. “(Phoenix) offered and I just jumped on it … I want to go all in.”
While recently recording, Moffitt noticed a change in her music as a result of her travels. Previously confining herself to a set of her favorite artists and songs she performed, Moffitt said she became more adventurous in regards to her musical style.
“I didn’t bring any music with me on my trip; the only music I was listening to was what was playing around me and from the street,” Moffitt said. “I was watching music being played and got to truly observe how they were creating this music … I got out of the hole I had dug myself into.”
Jackson Wargo, a producer and high school classmate of Moffitt’s who recently recorded Moffitt, said her music is freer than what he’s used to hearing from his other recording clients.
“She’s kind of wordy, but it sounds negative when I say it,” Wargo said. “(Her wordiness) gives her more liberty to her song. It’s very different than most things that are floating around right now.”
When Moffitt sits down to create a song, she said she tends to write everything all at once as she did with her eight-song demo.
“Only once have I written part of a song, and then later gone back and finished it,” Moffitt said. “I’ll start singing, and then start recording (on my phone), singing and rambling.”
Hope Anderson, Moffitt’s childhood friend and musical inspiration, said she finds a rare rawness in Moffitt’s music.
“With some music I think that you can feel the struggle for (artists) to create something that other people will like,” Anderson said. “Her music is honest because she just absolutely does it for herself.”
Tending to weave stories into her lyrics, Moffitt said she often blends personal experience with fiction and fantasy.
“There’s some things that I wrote that I keep with me and read over and over – not in a ‘I’m so talented kind of way,’ but in a way that I don’t know where it came from or how it all came, and it excites me,” Moffitt said. “When I do tap into stuff and I grab it, I don’t write things to share with people, I just do it because it makes me excited.”
In the coming year, Moffitt plans to participate in Spring Sing again and continue to develop her music alongside her graphic arts career.