Get to know Lesbiana

Halfway into our new compilation daylight x darknight sits Lesbiana’s “Shock My Mother!” Lesbiana is the solo project of singer-songwriter Hannah Kocsmiersky. Her work is a blend of experimental indie rock and folk. “Shock My Mother!” is different. The song was written in high school. It’s a voice memo that taps into her subconscious mind. Her words float into the space above. It’s personal and powerful. “The lyrics and the recording itself came very much in a stream of consciousness,” she says, “and it’s meant to feel like that–something otherworldly, something ephemeral.”

In our artist profile, Lesbiana talks about writing songs as a way to process emotions, holding onto musical ideas, strange comparisons and evolving away from the synth folk genre.

Tell us about “Shock My Mother!"

"Shock My Mother!" is quite literally about my mother getting electroconvulsive therapy. It's a stream-of-consciousness song that I wrote in April 2021; it's the first song I wrote on my autoharp, which is what I'm playing. It's very raw and very much a sonic departure from the rest of the material on the compilation, right smack in the middle. It's a sitting-alone-in-a-dark-room-watching-the-ceiling-fan track; it gives you a pondering break. Either way, I thought the recording deserved a home, so now it's here.

What artists would you say have shaped your sound?

Z Berg, The Like, and Sir Chloe are big ones. However, one of the artists I've seen the most live is I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME.

Has writing ever helped you process something significant?

Oh, absolutely. This, for one, but also every other uncomfortable emotion or change throughout my life. Like many others, I often use songwriting as a tool to process my emotions yet I sometimes don't even realize it. Songs also change and develop meanings over time. In one particular case, I didn't fully realize what my song "Destiny's Child" was about until months afterward. My go-to for working through anything is writing about it, in whatever form it takes. Usually that becomes a song in some shape or form... sometimes taking months or even years to develop. I'm a big fan of creating a hodgepodge of different ideas, mashing them together and recycling them. I hate throwing anything away, mentally or physically.

If you could come up with a new genre name for your music, what would it be?

A friend of mine called me "synth folk" many years back, which I still like. Although I think I've evolved past that a little bit. The label fits my previous album, but I was actually called a jazz musician when I was last in the studio. That caught me off guard-- I think it's my voice and how I write, with a bit of theatrical flair to it-- but I'm not opposed to leaning into it. So we'll see what happens in the future, and what that would be called.

What’s the strangest comparison you’ve ever received?

Probably that I reminded someone of Nelly Furtado, specifically her album "Folklore." I listened to it and still don't know what to think. I enjoyed the music, it just wasn't what I expected.

Anything else you want people to know about you and your music?

I put an album out a year ago called Lesbiana, made up of other songs I wrote in high school. I also post more recent things I've been writing and working on to my newsletter, so maybe I won't put out 4-year-old songs next time. But don't hold me to it! I am one stubborn son-of-a-gun.

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daylight x darknight is out now. You can listen on Bandcamp or wherever you stream music. The compilation is also available for purchase on a Limited Edition Black Marble cassette.

Follow Lesbiana on Instagram.

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