Artist Interview: Clark Smith
We sat down with the independent artist, Clark Smith , to discuss his new single "Love," his artistic influences, and the unique, layered persona he brings to his music. Read on for the full interview.
Tori: Your new single is titled "Love." What is the central message or feeling you hoped to capture in this track, and how does it represent your current artistic headspace?
Clark: “Love” is a lamentation I wrote as a college freshman just beginning to make the connection that my issues with anxiety and low self-esteem were direct results of my upbringing - specifically, my toxic relationship to my father. Disappointment at one point, grew into anger at another, and has since become sadness and grief. “Love” represents my artistic headspace in 2015!
Tori: "Love" plays like a a "parallel universe" to the classic R&B ballad. Can you elaborate on that concept and how you created that unique, slightly unexpected sound?
Clark: I created this song on a pirated copy of Logic Pro X on my college roommate Chris’s laptop. I found sounds that spoke to me and I did what felt right, and what we hear on the song is the unplanned outcome of that. I don’t feel finished with a production until I’m jumping out of my seat and shouting with excitement.
Tori: How do you reconcile the "Black Joker" image with the vulnerable, emotional subject matter of a song like "Love"?
Clark: I don’t find a need to reconcile the two, because they work in tandem. It was my recording engineer who joked one day that I came across as a ‘Black Joker’ because a juxtaposition of humor and light-heartedness with sadness and darkness, he noted, were through-lines not only in my art but also in my personality. I ran with the joke he made because I think it nailed my artistic intentions perfectly. The Joker character we see in the Batman universe is a tragic character despite his outwardly eccentric behavior.
Tori: Growing up in Northern New Jersey, what were the first musical sounds you connected with, and how did that environment shape your decision to pursue music seriously?
Clark: Northern New Jersey is suburban to New York City, and so my parents (New Yorkers themselves) were avid listeners of the two dominating Urban AC stations in the area, 107.5 WBLS and 98.7 KissFM. The R&B, Gospel, and House music of yesteryear was always a constant at home and in the car.
Tori: When did you first start writing and performing? Can you share a formative memory or turning point that solidified your commitment to becoming a recording artist?
Clark: My parents had a massive CD collection in the house; boxes on top of crates, on top of shelves, on top of bins and closets full of physical music media. Perhaps by some act of God, I began digging in these crates of CDs and commandeering some of them for my own personal collection at age 6. My hobby as a young boy was listening to music, and it got to the point where my mom would even ask me to choose the music to be played for the gatherings she hosted for her friends, which I did not like! My music hobby was private! I think I chose music as a career aspiration and began writing my own songs at about 8 years-old.
Tori: Who are some of your biggest influences from both R&B and Soul that informed the creation of your sound?
Clark: Mary J. Blige was the first artist I ever called myself a fan of as a kid. Shortly thereafter, I fell in love with Missy Elliott, and then Aaliyah. I’d say my #1 favorite artist ever is Janet Jackson, whom I became obsessed with back in high school, and one man I look up to more than anyone else is Prince, whose fan I became in college.
I view these people, as well as their collaborators, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Timbaland, and Static Major among others, as my musical mothers and fathers.
Tori: Was there a specific individual—a mentor, family member, or teacher—who was most instrumental in encouraging or guiding your early artistic development?
Clark: No, but my mother was always very adamant about letting myself and my brother pursue whatever we felt passionate about. She was deeply supportive and attentive.
Tori: What does a typical songwriting session look like for you? Do you start with a beat, a lyrical concept, or a melody?
Clark: I start with pretty intentional and specific concepts as far as subject matter and overall sound and do my best to execute those concepts, but ultimately let the cards fall where they may.
Tori: The final line of "Love" is noted as an important twist: What was your intention behind that particular lyric and surprise reveal?
Clark: The last line is: “Never knew why we couldn’t all just feel this way, too, but different people tolerate different levels of this hell, and ‘he can’t help it,’ and ‘we can't help him.’”
I didn’t mean for this to come across as a twist. It was simply another piece to the story.
There is a concept in psychology known as the ‘codependent family’ or the ‘addicted family’ which refers to a household dynamic organized around one dysfunctional member, and the roles the other members take on in response to their dysfunction. One classic archetypal role is that of the ‘placator’ or ‘enabler’ who, in an attempt to keep the peace, excuses, overlooks, or somehow cleans up the damage caused by the dysfunctional member’s bad behavior.
As a child, I played this role of placator and routinely found myself in conflict with my mother and brother because of it. They were very clear-eyed about the fact that my father was the problematic figure in the picture, and made no bones about objecting - and they were right. However, I loved my father, I wanted him to love me, and therefore I took on a far more forgiving, wrongly validating perspective of him.
Tori: As an independent artist, what has been the most challenging aspect of putting out music, and what is the most rewarding part of maintaining creative control?
Clark: The most challenging aspect has been finishing the music, and loving myself enough and being realistic enough to acknowledge that I was not worlds away from my peers in terms of the objective sonic quality of my product, for one example among many. Creative control is precious to me because I know exactly what it is I want to say and how, and I don’t intend to be policed about it.
Tori: What do you feel is the most important element for a new listener to take away from your music?
Clark: I want people who have gone through the same things that I have in life to know that they are not alone, that they are responsible for their own happiness, and that they are able to become happy.
Tori: If you could give any advice to a kid wanting to pursue a musical career, what would you say and why?
Clark: Research the history as well as the modern-day schematics of the role you are pursuing and make as many real friends in the music space as you possibly can. College is a great idea.
Tori: Are there plans for an album or EP following the "Love" single, and what can listeners expect from your next body of work?
Clark: I have a whole album recorded and I have another one written! All of the material on this first album was created back in college, and so everything on the following body work is what I created immediately thereafter. It only gets sadder and funnier. 2020-2022 was a mess.
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