POPSUGAR: I know the EP was born out of "People, I've Been Sad," and you said in an interview with KEXP that you needed to address that sadness so it wouldn't eat you alive — and I thought, what a beautiful metaphor to express the need to make art. I was wondering if you could tell me more about the making of the EP.
"But it was beautiful in a way, because the stage was saving me every night, but it was not enough."
Chris: Yeah, I mean, it really started with that song. I was touring the second album, Chris, and it was such a dance-powerful record, and every night on stage was, you know, sweaty and joyful. But, I was going through a really rough moment of my life where I was dealing with grief and heartbreak. And I think at some point, the dichotomy between the stage and the personal life was almost comical. At some point I was joking with my friends, like, "This could be a movie and people would not even believe it." But it was beautiful in a way, because the stage was saving me every night, but it was not enough. It was not long enough for me to be saved: it was just two hours of a show, and I was back to the sadness.
But, what was really humbling too is that when I wrote "People, I've Been Sad," I actually thought I was doing OK. You know, you're in a place where you tell yourself, "It's fine, I'm going to do it," because I was also the lead of a tour and I had a whole team. You can't really let people down, in a way: you have to be brave. And then I wrote that song and I was like, "Oh."
Image Source: Courtesy of Gold Atlas