ION INDIE MAGAZINE June 2016, Volume 25 | Page 72

Lacey: Thank you. That's awesome to hear. Rei: And so poignant and so emotional…your debut back. What has this experience been like for you coming back as a solo artist? Lacey: It's been freeing. That's the word I would say is the word of the season: freedom. It just feels like I get to be myself and I get to do what is true to my heart, and if people like it, then that's amazing, and if they don't, it's still honest to me. It's been great to see the responses so well received, because that really isn't the goal, as much as it's just to be genuine and honest and to do what we love. So that's what brings the freedom, because we don't have a record label to please right now. We started our own record label with our management--FOLLOWSPOT RECORDS--and we did that because we just wanted to go out on our own. We tried to go with some majors a while ago and see how that worked out, and the doors weren’t open there. So it just seemed like the timing of everything was for us to do ourselves, and we were able to invest in it--we're still investing. But it's so worth it because we believe in it so much. And it's not that we're trying to make a big splash, because obviously with Flyleaf it was ten years and I was ready to give it up. But it was just to get out what's already in your heart. Whenever, however it happens is providential, so we're just thankful. [LAUGH] Rei: Absolutely. What song off the new album would you say has been resonating with fans the most? Lacey: We've gotten the biggest response from the song “Rot”. And “Rot” is actually one of my favorite songs on the record. I also got a big response from the song “Run to You”. And I think the common thread message wise of those songs is again-freedom. It's the honoring of someone's freedom. Because “Rot” is actually from the perspective of someone who is in a relationship where they don't feel free. And “Run to You” is from the perspective of somebody who's honoring the freedom of someone who wants to leave. And so both of those perspectives are important to know that true love honors your freedom. Not just in romance, but there's a lot of times as a parent too. I mean, one day my kid is gonna go off and be his own human. [LAUGH] And I'm gonna have to honor his freedom. I've seen it in my own family too--like sometimes parents don't want to honor your kids' freedom. But in the end they're gonna be their own human, and you're working yourself out of a job. You know what I mean? Eventually you’ve got to. Rei: If you've done a good job, yes. Lacey: [LAUGH] Hopefully, you can be happy with that, but freedom is so beautiful and it's such a new concept to me. Because when I was younger, I thought love means you trap someone and they trap you, and if they're not trying to trap you, they don't love you. Rei: “And I will love you until I die—” Lacey: ”And I will die if you don't love me.” Rei: Mm-hm. Lacey: It's emotional blackmail, and I've done that. And I thought that that was love. And I've been in relationships like that, but it's just so suffocating and we're not meant to carry the weight of being the savior for someone. Because I say this a lot: “But only God is God enough to be God for someone, and we can't be God enough for them.” I always fail, ending that way. So I talk about that a lot in messages in songs, because it's brought me so much freedom. And it's really just my own heart working out what I've learned--and hope it'll help other people who are trying to process the same kind of situations. Rei: I mean, I can speak from my experience…I've also had relationships like that. I listened to your TED TALK about freedom and love, and was just going, “Yes, yes, yes, yes!” the whole time. It was amazing. Not to mention, the acoustic set--that was really awesome. Hearing you speak about freedom and love and what that means…and then hearing “Rot”...and how poignant that message is. “Rot” and “Vanity” are so different, being a spoken word piece like that. How was that experience of recording? Lacey: Well, it was crazy ‘cause there's a guy named PROPAGANDA who is a spoken word artist. We became friends through this tour that we did where I was going to talk about how I overcame suicide and how I barely survived being 16. And I talked to kids about that, because of my book, “The Reason”--I was making sure that I could give that out if people wanted it to read about that. And I met Propaganda there—his name is JASON, but his name is Propaganda on the credits—and so he was just