Kat Harlton
Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Sierra Noble recently released their latest track “Let Me Out Of Here“. The lush and dreamy new single showcases Sierra’s epic poise and crystalline melodies in response to the unwelcomed opinions and judgments of others.
Returning from a 5-year hiatus to regroup, recharge, and begin to rewrite their story, Sierra has been fine-tuning their production and song writing skills, working on co- produced projects with Matyas (formerly of The Weakerthans, The Sheepdogs, Slow Leaves, Imaginary Cities). Since entering the music industry at the young age of 14, Sierra has experienced the limited opportunities for women and gender non- conforming people (Noble recently came out as gender non-conforming) and wants to use their re-aligned sense of self and production work to help and inspire others. Sierra has opened for incredible artists including Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, and Johnny Reid, and was a featured performer for the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Their music has also been in TV shows and films like One Tree Hill, Switched at Birth, Parenthood, 40 Weeks, and Fostering Hope.
Most recently, Sierra was accepted into the prestigious Music Publishers of Canada Women in the Studio program, and also received an MFM Pre-Production and Manitoba Arts Council grant to write and record their next album which is set to be released in 2022.
We had the opportunity to chat with Sierra about their latest single, career highlights and what’s next.
Kat: Can you talk about the inspiration behind your latest single “Let Me Out Of Here”?
Sierra: “Let Me Out Of Here” came from a sharing of both my and Rusty Matyas’ (my collaborator – co-writer and co-producer on this song) experiences with mental health. In 2016 I was living in Nashville and from the outside in I think it looked like I was doing pretty great, y’know, singer songwriter moves to Nashville, pretty exciting stuff, but the reality was that I was in the deepest depression I’d ever been in, and was experiencing debilitating panic attacks on my bathroom floor every day for months. It was rooted in over a decade of chronic and traumatic stress, experience with abuse of all kinds including sexual abuse and harrassment throughout my life since I was very young. I never took the time to process any of it, because I was always too busy with my music career, since I was 13 years old. While I’m aware of how lucky I have been in my career, being a person in a female body in the entertainment industry is far from safe and supportive.
In 2016, the box full of traumas labeled “deal with this later” came bursting open and my mind and body forced me to stop. I came back to Winnipeg, and while I was still performing here and there, I effectively took 5 years off to regroup. Rusty’s side of this song comes from his experience with alcoholism and his journey to sobriety. Alcoholism had him on the brink of death, and music is in large part what helped him heal…what helped both of us heal. The bed tracks to Let Me Out Of Here was one of a series of tracks that Rusty recorded as soon as he got out of detox, centered around a voice note that he made in one of his darkest times, laying on his kitchen floor. Without knowing any of that, the first time I heard the track something about it brought me right back to laying on my bathroom floor in Nashville, and the words “let me out of here” came to my mind almost as soon as I heard the chorus. We really put our whole hearts into this one, we are grateful for this song, and proud of it, and we hope that it will give someone else the hope they need to reach out toward the light from the darkness.
Kat: What do you hope fans take from the track?
Sierra: I really hope that this song will remind people who have been in those dark places that they are not alone in their experience or their pain, and give people who are maybe there right now some hope to hold on and keep reaching for the light.
Kat: What do you find is the most challenging part of your creative process?
Sierra: Finding the time to be creative! There are so many other demands for artists, especially now, with having to keep up on social media and be performative, 24/7, even within our own personal lives. Making an impactful social media post can take the same amount of time as it would to write a song. Between that, producing music for others, the interviews, the performances, the appearances, and trying to be a good partner, family member, and friend, it can be tough just to find the physical and mental space to allow the creativity to really flow. I am looking forward to a quiet winter of solitude and writing.
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far? What have you learned along the way?
Sierra: You know, there have been so many, and there are obvious ones of course like being an opening act for Paul McCartney and Bon Jovi and playing in the opening ceremony for the 2010 olympics. What a rush! But – and this will sound cheesy but ask anyone who knows me, I’m a sentimental cheese ball – my biggest career highlight are all of the amazing people who are in my life in such meaningful ways who I never otherwise would have met.
Everyone I’ve ever worked with, from co-writers, producers, musicians, sound/light/stage techs, tour managers, photographers, videographers, graphic designers, the list goes on. Without good people around you, this industry can be extremely lonely. Relationships are an important part of this industry, but for me, they’ve always just been an important part of the experience of life, period. I have such a beautiful network of friends across the country and around the world – how lucky is that? Knowing the number of people in my life who would go out of their way to help me if I needed it…that’s really something. And music gave me that. So…a career highlight for me so far has been…friendships? Haha not the answer you were looking for I’m sure, but that’s the one I’ve got.
Kat: What’s next for the remainder of 2021?
Sierra: I’ll be spending the rest of 2021 writing and producing an album which I intend to release in 2022. Apart from that, finding some time to reflect on this release and how it feels to finally be “let out of” a box, working towards the next project which will be wholly and authentically me…whatever that looks like :)
To connect with Sierra visit: https://www.sierranoblemusic.com