Grammy-nominated artist Skylar Grey releasing new album about growing up in Wisconsin

Before Skylar Grey was writing songs and performing with Eminem and Dr. Dre, she was growing up in Mazomanie, Wisconsin, about 20 miles west of Madison.

A music performer from a young age, Grey never quite felt like she fit in with the other kids in her town of 1,500. She said she was focused on her future career and didn’t always take the time to enjoy her home and childhood. 

The five-time Grammy-nominated artist is trying to make up for that with her new album, “Wasted Potential,” set to release in May. It tells the story of her life in Wisconsin before she made it big in Los Angeles and how she grew to appreciate her small-town roots. 

“That’s why I wanted to write these songs, in a way, to kind of relive my childhood through the music, because I can’t go back in time,” Grey told WPR. “So the next best thing is to do it through art.”

Late last year, she released the first single from the album, a song called “Nirvana,” which describes how she grew to love the things she used to loathe about life in her hometown. The album’s next single, “Motivation,” will be released Jan. 30.

Grey joined WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” to share details about her new songs, her album and her return trip to Mazomanie for the making of the project.

The following interview was edited for clarity and brevity.

Rob Ferrett: What drew you to writing and singing about your roots in Mazomanie at this point in your career?

Skylar Grey: Nostalgia is like the best drug ever, and I’ve been feeling it a lot lately. So I was just realizing that people mostly just know the story of what I went through and the songs that I wrote and everything after I left Wisconsin, from my Los Angeles move when I was 17 forward, working with Eminem and all that.

That’s just not the core of who I am. So I felt like it was time to start telling the origin story of who I am and how I became the artist and songwriter that I am now.

RF: Your new single “Nirvana” is about growing up in Mazomanie and really wanting to leave. What was it that made you feel like you needed to get out and go somewhere else?

SG: Well, growing up, I was always very creative and mission-oriented. I was very motivated and driven as a kid, and I started performing with my mom when I was 6. Having a career already as a kid, basically, I never really felt like I fit in. I was always looking into the future. And so instead of hanging out with kids my age, or when I did, I always felt like I wanted to be playing the piano. I wanted to be writing a song. I wanted to be performing. 

I just wasn’t super interested in normal childhood stuff, because I was so motivated and so passionate about making music. It was like the only thing I cared about. So growing up in Wisconsin with that feeling, I felt a little bit trapped there. I knew that if I wanted my career to go farther, I really had to leave Wisconsin. I was constantly trying to get out and trying to leave, and I eventually did. When I was 16, I dropped out of high school, and then I made the move to Los Angeles when I was 17.

RF: You came back to Mazomanie to film videos for the upcoming album. What was it like to see your hometown with this new perspective?

SG: I had so much fun. I appreciate it so much more now than I did when I was a kid. I think everybody can relate to that. As a kid, you’re always trying to detach from your parents and move on and start your own life. But then, as you grow up and you learn about the real world and all the real struggles of adulthood and stuff, you go, “Actually, that wasn’t so bad.” Going back for this trip to film all this content to go with these songs, I had more fun maybe than I’ve ever had in Wisconsin.

RF: Your song “Nirvana” talks about some of the things you’ve grown to appreciate, including the line “I never thought I’d miss the way the cold feels.” Now that you’re in Los Angeles, what is it that you miss about the cold?

SG: The cold gets really sucky sometimes in winter, and you’re just over it. I remember having to dig my car out of the snow in the morning if we were going to drive to school, and so that sucked, and I hated it.

But then when I moved to LA, there were no seasons. It felt like all the years blended together because there was no real seasonal shift to mark different points of the year. I felt like my life was just passing me by. So I started to really miss the seasons and also the variety. The same thing every day, sunshine 24/7, gets a little old.

RF: How will the whole album expand upon “Nirvana” to connect the narrative of your life in Wisconsin before moving to Los Angeles?

SG: “Nirvana” was actually the last song I wrote for the album, and it was like the missing glue for the album. I had been writing a lot of nostalgic songs about different moments in my childhood, but Nirvana was the one that kind of bundled it all together in a package where I felt like, “OK, this narrative really tells a full, complete story.” 

Actually the first song I wrote for the album, or one of the first ones, was maybe the saddest song I’ve ever written in my life. It’s called “Bruises.” … I’m kind of known for my darker, sadder songs in general, like “Love the Way You Lie.” Then I did a song with Eminem last year called “Temporary.” It’s very much a tear jerker. “Passed Yesterday” with Jelly Roll, I did last year — another heavy subject matter. But as soon as I wrote the darkest song of my life, “Bruises,” I felt a weight lift off of me, like I got it off my chest. Suddenly I was like, “OK, I’m done writing sad songs. I don’t want to write sad songs anymore.” So then I started writing all these more fun songs. 

“Nirvana” is somewhere in the middle, but there’s another song I’m about to release called “Motivation,” and it’s one of the more fun songs that I’ve ever put out. … This song is a fun up tempo song about lacking motivation. But it touches on all this childhood stuff. There are a ton of lyrics in there about my childhood as well. So the whole album is childhood-based. Going through, it’s kind of a coming of age story, going through a bunch of different moments in my life and then finally coming to a resolution at the end.