Lael Summer‘s recent full-length, Burden To Bear, shows undeniable talent from a young artist with a massive voice. After reviewing the effort late last month, Summer took some time to speak with us openly about her musical roots, her newest album, and a lot of the deeply personal themes that make up the lyrical content and tones found on Burden To Bear.

Read through the jump and get further acquainted with the Los Angeles-based up-and-comer.

First off, I’d love to know a little about your history with music. What is your first memory of experiencing it and how were you involved with it when you were growing up?

I fell in love with music when I was just a toddler. By 2 or 3 I had memorized the lyrics to every song in The Sound of Music and would pedal my plastic bicycle around the apartment as I acted out the 3-hour movie, scene by scene. My mom took me to a children’s music school in the neighborhood, and apparently, I outshined the other toddlers with my enthusiasm and my voice ringing out above the others. Susan Sarandon, whose son was also a Church Street Music School “regular,” once made a comment about it — my claim to fame! [laughs]

Throughout my childhood I participated in after school musical theater programs, and began taking voice lessons at 10 years old. That was about the time I decided to pursue music as more than just a hobby.

Outside of music, what other kind of work have you done? Did you ever second-guess whether or not this is what you really wanted to do?

I second-guess myself every day, but it’s never a question of passion, it’s always catalyzed by fear–fear of failure, of rejection, not being good enough, of being impractical, and so on. But when I close my eyes and manage to silence those thoughts I know that I could never be fulfilled if I gave up on music. I don’t imagine I could ever be satisfied doing something else.

This doesn’t mean I have no other interests–in fact, I am obsessed with psychology (hence, why I chose to minor in it) and have considered going into clinical psych from time to time. I love party planning; my mother owns her own event planning company so I suppose it’s in my blood. I have been an avid writer since I was a child, and not just songwriting–I wrote all sorts of things. That also goes for reading; there’s nothing I enjoy more than spending the day in Barnes and Noble. Dork alert!

I have also been practicing yoga for 11 years, and am planning on getting my teaching certification this summer!

Are you still enrolled in the USC music program? How do you feel that experience has contributed to your growth as a musician?

I am still enrolled in the Popular Music program, but I graduate in two months, which is both exciting and terrifying. My experience in the program has been very intense, and very tumultuous. I really struggled with classes like music theory, aural skills, and arranging because I had little to no background with any of that sort of stuff prior to college, while a lot of my peers did. I’m a hardcore perfectionist, and was devastated when I realized I could no longer be the straight-A honors student I had always been. To a certain degree I am grateful for the struggle because everyone has to fail sometimes, no one is good at everything, but it doesn’t have to ruin your life–we are still wonderful and worthy in spite of our weaknesses. Being surrounded by 25 of the most talented musicians of my age group in the country hasn’t been easy either. I have a bad habit of comparing myself to others, and can’t even begin to describe how difficult it’s been to stay confident in the face of such talent. But like I said, I now recognize the value of these experiences; I’ve worked mental and emotional muscles that needed to be strengthened and I am very thankful for that. Sure, I am undoubtedly a better and more knowledgeable musician than I was four years ago, but the most important growth was internal.

You’re clearly very young but there’s a maturity in your voice and music that would easily convince listeners otherwise. What influences or experiences have lead to how your sound and writing has developed up to this point?

I have always been and felt older than my age–a blessing and a curse, but also experienced a great deal throughout my life that made me more mature than perhaps was healthy. I have suffered with an eating disorder, depression and the whole nine yards for nearly 11 years, and though I am in recovery, it remains an everyday battle. All I have seen and all I’ve grappled with, and at such a young age too, would corrode inside of me if I didn’t have music and writing as an outlet.

What musicians have always kind of stuck with you in terms of being an inspiration? It would seem that you probably followed a lot of what your family played when you were younger.

My taste in music is really eclectic. I have a hard time with this question because I draw inspiration from so, so, so many different genres and artists. A lot of my music has its roots in soul–some R&B, funk, Motown. But a few of my songs stray; “The Good Fight” is a classic anthem song/pop/rock ballad, and “Make You Whole” is a rock/pop ballad a la Alanis Morissette. “In Time” is clearly bossa nova, and “You’re So Small” is another rock-influenced tune. I’m a very lyrically-oriented person; the first thing I notice about a song is its lyrics, which is an anomaly among listeners. You’d be surprised by the music I regularly listen to. The music that I listen to and inspires me (in one way or another) include classics like The Who, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Eric Clapton etc., the angry female singer-songwriters like Alanis, Fiona Apple, Ani DiFranco, Lily Allen, and Tori Amos, too. I am a big fan of folk rock music, meaning James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, CSN&Y, Neil Young, and Johnny Cash. My guilty pleasure is 90s music (maybe because I am nostalgic for my childhood?). This includes everyone from Nirvana and Pearl Jam to Blink-182 and Third Eye Blind, Biggie and Tupac to Sublime, The Cranberries, Jewel and so on.

I am currently listening to a lot of “mainstream alternative” like Imagine Dragons, The xx, Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, The Lumineers, etc.

None of this really makes sense, because my music is more so in the ballpark of James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Earth Wind and Fire, some Aretha in there (all of whom I love). I think that I try and fuse elements from all of my favorite artists and music to create my own writing style and musical flavor.

Following your EP last year, you just released your first full-length album last month, so what’s it feel like to finally be at this point after all the years of progressing and pursuing that dream?

It’s an incredible feeling to watch your hard work materialize into a finished product. I poured my heart and soul into this album, and it’s amazing to be able to share it with others. The work has only just begun, but the momentum I’ve generated from producing Burden to Bear is invaluable to my process, and all that has yet to come.

And you have an impressive support group with production and accompanying musicians on the album. What was the process like of working with all these talents?

I can’t even begin to express my love and gratitude for all those who have made Burden to Bear possible. They are my family. I owe an arm and leg to Tomas Doncker, my producer, co-writer, guitarist, musical director and mentor. I would not have achieved all I have without his guidance. The guys (in the band) are world-class professionals whom I adore and who continuously astound me with their talent. I am a very lucky girl.

For someone that’s never heard your work before, how would you introduce Burden To Bear? How would you describe your sound, your lyrical themes, and what you put into this album that you hope comes across to listeners?

The title of my album is Burden to Bear (and also the hook in my song “Too Much”) and is essentially about my lifelong struggle as an incredibly sensitive person. I fought to swallow my emotions for years and years, believing that I must be innately defective because I feel everything so intensely. Denying myself the right to feel kept me ill for a very long time. I have only just begun to see my sensitivity as a gift. Everyone has their own burden to bear, and that’s mine (well, one of them).

I would like to think that my music is relevant to many different populations. I hope to pioneer a movement propagating self-love and provide hope to girls and women everywhere by exposing my core self and my recovery process. I hope to be a role model and an anti-pop culture female icon. If I am able to help and comfort even a single person through my music, my life will be complete.

I have a lot of hidden messages in my lyrics–a lot of double innuendos. I write a lot about recovery (from addiction and mental illness), embracing oneself (including one’s body), sexual abuse, girl power, and accepting oneself as a whole person with the capacity to love and to hate, get angry, sad, frustrated, hurt, and to feel happy, inspired, hopeful, and lustful–that every facet of oneself is important and that is okay! I do like writing about sex as well–guilty as charged.

I know that my song topics will morph as I do.

You have an excellent Hall & Oates cover on the album, too, with slightly altered lyrics obviously. What made you want to rework that song and include it on Burden To Bear?

Aw, thank you! It was actually Tomas’ suggestion! When I heard it for the first time, I understood why. “Do What You Want, Be What You Are” is a classic that has kind of slipped under the radar, which is unfortunate; but by the same token, the fact that it isn’t super popular or frequently covered gave me more liberty to play around. We wanted to stay true to the original rather than completely reconstruct it, and I think it worked out really nicely.

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Brian Leak

Editor-In-Chief. King of forgetting drinks in the freezer. Pop culture pack rat. X-Phile. LOST apologist.

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