To celebrate the release of the moving new single and video for The Signal, we caught an interview with long-time songwriter and producer TLP, to find out more about the music and the journey towards this release. We talk about grief, songwriting, inner strength, ambition, and plenty more. Here’s the conversation in full.
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TLP – great to connect, my congrats for the wonderful new single and video. For those new to your music, where are you based, how long have you been writing songs, and who or what inspired you to start?
Thank you and thanks for having me! I live on the south coast of England, but thanks to the internet I’m somewhat of a digital nomad, existing everywhere. I’ve been writing songs since childhood, bashing away on a tiny Casio keyboard, trying to escape into another world. I’m inspired by melody, any song with a strong melody draws me in.
The Signal is a refreshingly upbeat take on grief, a song that came to you during a completely routine moment – can you tell us that story?
I was washing up and something about standing there by the sink triggered a memory of him. Grief hits and stuns when you least expect it and I wasn’t coping too well with it, but in that moment I thought ‘what if these random memories of him are signals that he’s actually still around’, which ended up helping me to process the grief.
Instead of feeling tormented by memories, keeping his coffee mug and the sight of his favourite chair, I started to see them as sources of comfort. As a songwriter I like to wrap heavy subjects in a pop sensibility.
Was it the hook and lyrics all at once that emerged, or a certain part of the song that was sparked by this memory intervention?
The end of the song came first … ‘I keep the window off the latch, just in case you come back’ and then I opened up to the stream of consciousness. I still keep the bedroom window slightly open.
It’s an incredibly catchy song – will you be arranging a live take or performing it at any point, or just hoping to send it out to help more people heal and feel happy in their memories of lost ones?
When I tour, The Signal will definitely be included! Absolutely I hope my music heals and helps others to understand the person you love moves on, but the connection remains.
You mentioned that you were able to sleep suddenly after receiving The Signal – what was it about that crossing of the real and ethereal that gifted you peace, and how long after the fact did this clarity arrive?
It was reframing the grief. For me the misery and torment was my way of not letting go, it’s all I had to stay connected to him after he died. Once I reconnected with his frequency and saw things in a more helpful way, life became more bearable.
Although you’ve applied modern production tools to help finalise the track, what’s your organic songwriting process away from the tech – are you a multi-instrumentalist, just a notepad and melody artist; how does it usually start?
Songs always start with pen and paper, or humming a melody line into my phone. I then transfer to the keyboard and record rough demos and build from there. I’m obsessive over every sound and get really excited when a mix can move a song in another direction.
What can other people do to help themselves reach this state of calm and acceptance when faced with the weight of grief?
Talk your grief through. It’s something I didn’t do initially which is maybe why writing this album was so cathartic. Reframe the feeling of loss to accepting a new way of connecting. Their energy never dies, tap into that and make sure their energy lives on through you.
You’ve also got an album on the way with the same title – would you call this a concept album, or just a collection of songs impacted by a single experience?
The Signal is definitely an album about him. We had a somewhat closeted relationship and it’s important to step out of that protective bubble and tell the world about the most amazing person I’ve ever known.
What sort of extensions of this theme can listeners expect, and stylistically is the single representative of the bigger project, or do things get more diverse?
The album explores the first rush of new love, the loneliness of and ultimately the acceptance of grief. Sonically the album plays tribute to his love of acoustic guitar, pop and dance music. His DNA is woven throughout. We met on the beach and so for The Sound of His Name, I recorded the sound of waves crashing onto the shore and incorporated that into the song.
What’s something about you as an artist that might surprise fans of your music?
That I also work a full-time job. That certainly surprises me!
What’s your biggest ambition for this project?
I want people to know his name. I want fans of the music to dance to the songs Chris can’t dance to. And I hope his story – our story – helps others going through similar feelings of loss and heartbreak to find acceptance and peace.
Is there anything else we should know?
Everyone reading this needs to bookmark Stereo Stickman and make the website part of their daily ritual!
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Massive thanks to TLP for the time, insight & kind words. Find TLP on Instagram, X & his Website.
