Sed, vocalist heard on “Siren Serpent” by Offworld Narcotics

Q: “Siren Serpent” is so emotionally powerful. What inspired you to write it?
Super loaded question. lol.
My process to write is to just freestyle until something sticks. But really I just kind of feel like a vessel for my subconscious or even God to take over and send me messages from like a future self.
I was doing a winemaking harvest in Sonoma county for like 3 months last summer/fall off the heels of a relationship and band break up. I was working manual labor for 12-16 hour days and like completely exhausted all the time but it felt amazing. So when I got this track, it was like a challenge for me because I was separate from the world where my break ups existed and in this new world where work and this new community took over my life. But the subconscious spoke and I just let them.

Q: The song speaks to frustration and longing in a relationship. Were those emotions pulled from experience?
Of course! I really wanted to be with this person but we were on this loop where we(I) could never just like, be. We just weren’t on the same page.

Q: You discuss being drained by a partner’s emotions but still wanting to be intimate. How do you navigate that balance personally in relationships?
I think maybe that’s why I’m not good at relationships. And maybe that’s why I said, “wishing I could be a lot softer than I am. But you know sometimes I’m social like a man”. Because I feel like I’m an open and accepting person but babes, I simply refuse to suffer. I can be kind of strict in this way. Like, I will absolutely leave lmao

Q: Do you believe the song has a positive resolution, or is it more focused on the struggle itself?
Maybe both? I think the concept of getting it right in the first part of the song is more like still being in the loop and wanting to make things work. But the end is more like at the breaking point. Almost like talking to your friend after a break up and about how you’ll get the next one right.  Like i will get it right. i know you get it, right? And also soothing yourself and the other person, cooing, “I know. I know. I know.” I’m not sure if it’s positive or negative. I think sometimes resolution just is.

Q: There’s a very introspective sense to the lyrics. Do you think that songwriting helps you process emotions?
Totally. There’s a meme that’s like, “I didn’t know I was going through anything until about 2 years later. I thought I was chilling.” I’m an Aquarius sun and moon with a Capricorn Venus and mars. So I’m like emotionally intelligent, but in a way that can be more logistical and robotic and almost separate. Thinking like the Aquarius is the water bearer, so the water(emotion) is always outside of us, filtered, processed, and ready to share.
Songwriting lets me tap into the emotions I know are there but can’t always feel super directly.

Q: The song has a pattern of trying and failing. Do you think we ever actually “get it right,” or is it always a process?
There literally only is process. Even when you complete something, it’s just the building block for the next thing and when you have an unpredictable variable of other humans involved, there’s no such thing as getting it right. But we love to lean on the idea that, even if it’s temporary, we can get something that makes it feel worth it.

Q: “Siren Serpent” is so personal. Is it scary to put something so vulnerable out into the world?
Nah man. I’ve been baring my silly little soul to the world for like 10 years. I just try to be honest as possible when I’m singing. I guess that’s vulnerability. But really, I’m just a real nigga.

Q: The track plays with power dynamics within relationships. Do you think love is always a push-and-pull?
In my experience power dynamics are unsustainable. I do believe none of this shit is linear and nothing is perfect but the whole “fight for love” thing is kind of missed on me. Cause like, who are you fighting other than yourself or each other? Like, maybe just chill. Idk.

Q: The lyrics also brush up against confidence and self-doubt. Do you think that those two emotions tend to go hand in hand?
For sure. I think to have confidence, you probably doubted yourself first and then proved yourself wrong. After like the 3rd “oh shit, I actually pulled this off” you kinda realize you can do whatever you want.

Q: Would you say this song is about a specific relationship, or is it indicative of a pattern that you’re recognizing in yourself?
Maybe both. At the time, like I said, I was going through a 6 year band and friendship break up and a year long relationship break up. So those themes were both definitely present when I was coming up with the song. I’m also a repeat breaker upper. I be over people’s shit, man. I be over my own shit. But fuck it we ball.

Q: Do you find it easier personally to write about emotional problems after you’ve passed through them, or do you write when you’re still in the process of it?
Whatever messages the universe, my future or past selves, god or the collective consciousness want to express through me or to me, I open myself up to that. I think I’m trying too hard when I’m just like notebook and paper listening to something over and over trying to force a theme or words to come. I think it makes me lean more into a biased or incomplete POV. I’m patient with myself though. Sometimes I can talk about something that happened that day. Sometimes I sing something and think it’s about 1 thing, then a year later listen back, and I’m like “bitch, exactly!” because it’s more relevant to another situation.

Q: Have people written back with any personal meanings for the song that you didn’t expect?
So far, no. Usually people just tell me my songs have helped them through things, but I never really ask for details cause it’s kinda none of my business, you know?

Q: The song has this intoxicating feel. Do you think that love can be addictive?
10000037484%. As a recovering habitual spin the blocker and someone that has been referred to as “heroin”, love is one of the most addictive forces on the planet. We crave it constantly. But I think when you start healing those compulsory spaces that come from a sense of deficit and start realizing you’re enough, love becomes more secure and healthy and safe.

Q: If “Siren Serpent” was a message to someone, what do you hope that they’d take away from it?
lol. They can take whatever they need. It’s none of my business anymore.

Q: If someone else is going through the same emotional battle, what do you hope they would take away from this song?
Break up with them.

Q: What can we look forward to next from you following “Siren Serpent”? Are you exploring the same themes for your future music?
I’m excited to continue working with the Offworld Narcotics fam. It’s been really cool working with a new band. I’m also working on some solo stuff. I think with both there’s going to be a lot of versatility in sound and themes. I love to sing about heartbreak and love loss because that’s really been a lot of my experience(everyone cry) but it’s really about softening for me right now. I want to write about more lasting loves, and love letters to Palestine and Sudan. I want to write about the dead and the living that have been left behind. I want to write about religious psychosis and cults. But we’ll see what comes out in the wash.