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Your last album, <\/strong>We\u2019ve Been Going About This All Wrong<\/em><\/strong>, was recorded during the LA wildfire season. Of course, as we speak the city is experiencing its worst fire in history.<\/strong><\/p>\n S:<\/strong> One of our friends Josh, who was one of the main people that helped get these songs started \u2013 he engineered our writing sessions \u2013 lost his and his family\u2019s house. They lived in Altadena and his wife is pregnant with twins right now. And our friend Max who\u2019s part of our team, he\u2019s four blocks away and he\u2019s watering his house and cutting down trees and cleaning debris. A lot of people aren\u2019t really covering [what\u2019s happening] in Altadena and the Eaton Fires, because this was a very diverse area, predominantly Black and creative community. It has the most people displaced outside of the Pacific Palisades \u2013 it\u2019s horrible and I feel guilty that I\u2019m not there now. It\u2019s momentous.<\/p>\n D:<\/strong> It\u2019s so devastating to see. We all have such close connections to the city, I\u2019ve lived there in the past, a lot of the band have lived there at one time or another, and I know so many people in Altadena. There\u2019s so many creative people in that neighbourhood, especially in the indie music world. The city is so wild, right? That\u2019s what\u2019s so beautiful about it, so it\u2019s so sad to see the wildlife<\/p>\n S:<\/strong> But seeing all the community activism, and so many businesses and families doing pop-ups and donation centres and constantly resharing resources \u2013 it\u2019s community, hope, giving and collectiveness that really help people get through times like these. When you see people come together, in a way, that gives you hope.<\/p>\n Sharon, being a mother has been a key theme of recent albums, can you talk about how your relationship between music and motherhood has evolved to the present record?<\/strong><\/p>\n S:<\/strong> It\u2019s constantly changing for sure \u2013 my overall perspective on how to be an artist, mother, a partner and person. Have you seen that movie Nightbitch <\/em>with Amy Adams? It\u2019s an interesting perspective of a woman who was an artist and became a mother, who has a lot of these inner monologues about how she\u2019s changed since \u2013 you\u2019re a completely different person and it\u2019s totally fine for you to give this part of yourself up. I\u2019m very grateful that I\u2019m in a relationship with somebody who wasn\u2019t expecting that of me, and from the very beginning encouraged us to figure out a way to do both. It\u2019s still a struggle. I still feel a pull even when I\u2019m in my creative space, the guilt of choosing to tour and make a record over being present for my child.<\/p>\n But I have open conversations with my child about what I do, and I couldn\u2019t have asked for a cooler kid. He\u2019s very much a fan of what I do and has encouraged me by saying: \u201cYou can\u2019t stop singing, mum, what are you talking about?\u201d And I say: \u201cYou know what happens when I make a record?\u201d Then he\u2019s like: \u201cYou go on tour, but I get to visit you right?\u201d So, we have these conversations and the guilt is mostly my own, and I have to constantly retrain myself to think about the reasons why I\u2019m doing it.<\/p>\n Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory<\/em><\/a> is now via Jagjaguwar.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Consider donating to Musicares<\/a>, Mutual Aid LA<\/a> and Red Cross LA<\/a> to support those affected by the LA wildfires.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Follow Isaac on Bluesky<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Buy your copy of Huck 81 here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Enjoyed this article? Follow Huck on Instagram<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Support stories like this by becoming a member of Club Huck<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n