Giving space for listeners to see both sides of a partnership tearing apart due to the sheer weight of mental illness, Neil Potter’s ‘Shipwrecked‘ is a poignant and raw track, released ahead of his upcoming debut album. We spoke to Neil about ‘Shipwrecked’, and what influenced it.
Neil, with ‘Shipwrecked’, you’ve managed to take something as heavy as OCD and depression and make it both deeply personal and universal. How did the song first take shape for you?
I wanted to write about all life’s experiences, from the good to the bad. To help myself as well as anybody else who may be struggling, who’s listening? So penning the words first of the darkest point in my life, to then making the music fit in with them. And shipwrecked is what was born out of it all.
The track almost tricks the listener at first – it feels lighthearted, then plunges into something darker and heavier. What made you want to mirror that emotional switch musically?
It seems lighthearted musically, but the words aren’t. It’s just like depression, where you’re reflecting on those things that may be getting better, and then boom, it just gets even worse to the point where you may even lose yourself. To which I did at this one moment in time. With the metaphor being in a shipwreck lost at sea. Which is a line used in another song off the album, ‘New Found Lands’. Taking on the same meaning.
You chose to tell this story from two sides of a relationship, not just the person struggling. Why was it important for you to show both perspectives?
It’s hard to answer this one as it just ended up this way; maybe the other person was on my mind, so they were just naturally written into it. It wasn’t till I took a complete step back that I knew actually, what the song was about as a whole.
That line – “I always find myself back to land…while you find yourself shipwrecked” – feels like the heart of the song. Do you remember the moment it came to you?
Thank you so much, I love it when people get it! Yes, it was pure magic, with the whole song leading up to this point, especially the bridge, which tells all. And then I finally reveal that even though times have been hard. That I always find myself back to which they let it consume them, leaving all destruction in their wake…. dramatic! Haha. The same thing happened on the song ‘Over The Hills.
Producing and directing your own video, you leaned into abstraction rather than literal storytelling. Was that a deliberate choice to leave space for listeners to see themselves in it?
It’s bloody hard trying to find free video clips for one! Haha. But yes! The words go with the visuals for the most part, with people upset, etc, and then the epicness of the song with the epic scenery. I think with a lot of my music, it has to be listened to, and maybe even watched multiple time,s to get it all. I know in the modern world that’s asking a lot of people with songs evidently getting shorter and straight to the point. Though for me, a good song is about the story and the clever ways musically you can help tell it. And just like a great song, when on numerous listeners you will hear, and here see, something new each time.
The visuals move from hopelessness to wide-open landscapes. Did making the video shift the way you see your own battles with mental health?
In a way, yes, but there’s also a lot of metaphors and hidden meanings in the song and vide,o too. Some deep in history and thought.
You’ve spent so many years teaching, studying, and helping others grow musically. How did stepping into the spotlight with your own album feel after that long journey?
A relief! Because I only became a teacher to further develop myself as a musician to a point where I wanted to be. I just didn’t think it would have took me as long as it has! Haha, but I do love my job and enjoy making students monsters at each of the individual crafts.
Liverpool is such a musical city with its own legacy. Do you feel that history shaping your work, or do you see yourself as carving out something entirely different?
Wow, what a question! Both! I think one of the factors that it took me so long to finally get work out there is the pressure of writing a good song if you’re from here; come on, the Beatles had three of the best to do it all in the same band! But at the same time, with the fusion of styles and the continued studying. I hope not to be labeled as just another Liverpool songwriter, but someone who at least tried to do something a little different and in the most moody of ways possible!! I’m only getting started, I feel.
‘Shipwrecked’ feels like a statement piece ahead of your debut album. What does it tell us about the rest of the record?
Epicness, epicness, epicness! Haha, more of the same but in all different kinds of weird and wonderful ways.
When someone walks away from this song or video, what do you most hope they carry with them?
That there’s always hope even at the darkest of times, and you’re not alone or ever alone.
Submerge yourself in the music video for ‘Shipwrecked’ below, and find out more about Neil Potter and his music online on his official website, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
