Songwriter and performer Regina Spektor is one of the most dazzling artists on the planet. This makes sense considering she cares for each work as if it is its own little thriving universe. Soul-stirring on the piano, Spektor’s voice bounces and her words alight.
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Sadly, as you can read below, she has been feeling deep distress due to the dire conflict overseas. Still, she has hope for peace, inspiration, health, and laughter. And her music will assuredly give that to others along the way.
[RELATED: Regina Spektor: Imagining a New World]
We caught up with Spektor to ask her some questions about her work as a songwriter, her feelings about 2023, and what she’s looking forward to in 2024.
American Songwriter: When you’re going to co-write or collaborate with another artist, either for one of your songs or theirs, how do you approach the experience?
Regina Spektor: I try to let go of preconceived ideas as much as possible, and to be really present. The hardest thing for me is probably patience. I tend to want it all to just appear. But I’ve been working on that part. Trying to keep an open mind and hold things malleable for longer. Probably the most important thing of all is the person or people you choose to collaborate with. If you love their art and trust them, it’s much easier to stay open.
AS: When you write lyrics, what thing or two do you keep in mind—either a technique like alliteration or a way of voicing a story succinctly? Another way of asking this is what tip or trick do you hold close when writing lyrics, if anything?
RS: Every song is its own universe and so whatever the lyrics become, they usually tend to come from that universe. I can’t just pick them cause I want them. The song has to need them. That sounds weird as I say it—ha! Well, [anyway,] I can’t really advise much in the way of tips other than to feel for what the song wants or needs and that the words should feel really good being sung. That they feel right in your mouth, if that makes sense.
AS: When it comes to news stories of 2023, what was one that really raised your eyebrow when it came to the world of music?
RS: For me the hardest moment of 2023 news came on October 7th. I’ve not been the same since. I had never imagined this level of massacre, with rape, murder and kidnapping of Jewish civilians would be possible after the Holocaust. As a Jewish woman I was shocked by the silence of most musicians, and their inability to simply condemn terrorists. I am still attempting to come to terms with this hypocrisy on the part of my music community.
AS: What were your one or two favorite songs, artists, or albums from 2023?
RS: Ben Folds put out a beautiful record this year, What Matters Most. His song “Kristine from the 7th Grade” was played a lot. So good. But mostly this year I listened to a lot of old music, kind of like every year! But I had an amazing rediscovery. I had listened to Maria Teresa Vera when I was 22 and then after a few years lost her CD and forgot her name. This year I rediscovered her. Mostly you’ll find Mozart and Chopin and Yevgeny Kissin and Vladimir Horowitz and endless Beatles. The Beatles forever.
AS: What are your hopes for 2024 personally, professionally, or for the world, looking ahead?
RS: I hope the world can somehow find a way to keep nuance and gentleness as qualities of value. To be able to speak with others in deep ways rather than “us vs. them.” I’m a refugee from a land where silencing people was, and still is, a tactic, and so I try to keep my voice heard even when I find it really difficult. I hope to always have that privilege and opportunity. Professionally and personally I hope for peace, I hope for inspiration, I hope for health, for some more laughter, and of course for many more records! Wishing you all lots of love and health in the new year!
Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images
