What Would Walt Whitman Do? An Interview with a Disciplinary Expert: Sasha Uvarova, Songwriting Expert

(pictured are Babyteeth [For Milla] members, Belle Petajan, Sasha Uvarova and Nathan Groves, left to right. Photo credits: Tess Wyniemko )

Sasha Uvarova is 1/4th of Chicago-based band, Babyteeth [For Milla]. Songwriting since she was 14 years old, she has been carefully cultivating her craft for 5 years. Sasha utilizes many forms of content in her daily media consumption to guide her songwriting and urges new songwriters to carefully consume such media through the lens of inspiration rather than imitation.  With other musicians, Sasha shares her songwriting in band practices, shows, and through voice memos on text messages. Guided by the question, What would Walt Whitman do right now?, she interacts with the world so beautifully through her literary art form of songwriting. Sasha Uvarova's approach to songwriting exemplifies the transformative power of mindful literary consumption as she blends media influences and collaborative practices to create art. 

On Thursday, September 26th, I had the opportunity to have a chat with Sasha Uvarova about her discipline of songwriting. While we often share songs and write together, I’ve never gotten too deep into her process and brain on the matter. She was so receptive and open to answering my questions, and we were eager to continue the conversation beyond the interview. I expected to talk a lot about her mindful media consumption but didn’t expect to leave with my whole perspective shifted. 

Sasha has an ever-evolving position in Babyteeth [For Milla] as a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist. She and I work together to craft harmonies reflective of the moods of the songs we write together, using sounds to convey a larger feeling. Babyteeth [For Milla] is Uvarova’s first big music project. Though she has been writing songs since elementary school, the band has played a huge role in her commitment to growth as a songwriter. Working alongside Belle Petajan, Gavin Bohan, and Nathan “Cloudy” Groves, Sasha describes her responsibilities in the band as staying open-minded and flexible as a songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist. 

Sasha has been cultivating her songwriting practice for over 5 years through experimentation and repetition. She believes that songwriting falls under the discipline of Literary Arts and Poetry and that it is more of an art than a science. In the same breath, Uvarova believes that something that is common knowledge amongst creatives alike is an almost ritualistic process or formula to create their work. Sasha uses her personal life and outside observations to fuel her creative process and uses songwriting to process her own identity and emotions. Once the mood to write strikes, she begins her process by either writing a poem or a guitar riff and then building upon it. When she begins with poetry, she tends to focus on stanzas and then looks for a line that stands out to pull for a repetitive chorus. When she is writing songs, she feels her weakness lies in selecting a chorus because of a looming pressure to select the most catchy yet meaningful line. When feeling uninspired or repetitive, she adds a beat in GarageBand or experiments with different guitar tunings.

Being a Communications major, Sasha Uvarova values expression through the use of literary texts. She digests a diverse literary diet consisting of Spotify, podcasts, weather, Netflix, Instagram Reels, and books. She starts each day by scrolling through her self-described, “stupid digestible Instagram Reels” and then moves on to checking the Weather app. At this point in her media consumption, she is looking for entertainment as well as information to guide her day. When she is on her commute, she digests music via Spotify to curate or match a mood for the day. Notable artists include Babehoven, Adrianne Lenker, Jessica Pratt, and Chappell Roan. When she is listening to music, she is careful not to draw too much from their styles into her own works and allows them to inspire her without imitating them. During her meals, Sasha likes to indulge in a TV show like Portlandia, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, or Game of Thrones. She likes to end her night by reading and enjoys works by Celeste Ng, focusing on the themes and motifs of family dynamics. She admires that “there's something behind everything” in the media she consumes on a daily basis. 

Sasha’s most regularly consumed text is a podcast called Emergency Intercom. She uses this casual and candid podcast during alone time in her own space. She likes to listen when she is having a bad day or is in need of a pick-me-up or some comedic reflection. She feels that listening to such light conversations mirrors both connection and expression and it gives her space to reflect. She is looking for comfort both in the media and in the routine- a moment of narrated solitude where she doesn’t have to be anything, and she can just close her eyes and meditate. She often takes notes in her notes app of things that they say that make her laugh or are uniquely profound. This downtime is a vital source of inspiration for her songwriting. The podcast mirrors the emotional authenticity she strives for in her music. By listening during moments of solitude, especially on challenging days, she cultivates a reflective space that allows her to process her feelings and thoughts. The insights and humor she derives from the podcast resonate with her songwriting, offering both comfort and creative sparks. 

Even though Sasha has been writing songs personally for half a decade, she still would modestly claim she is not yet proficient. While she believes in her songwriting capabilities to write something that pleases her, she has a growth mindset and believes there is so much she doesn’t yet know. To be proficient, Uvarova says, is to practice being authentic. Authenticity plays a huge role in what Sasha believes is a good songwriter. She and her confidant, Liza Purcell, often have conversations about what makes a great songwriter. What comes up most is honesty and syncopation where it feels like all the words are immensely important and nothing feels forced or embarrassing.

The media that helped to shape Sasha’s songwriting process are Adrianne Lenker’s discography and songwriting classes, Celeste Ng, and Walt Whitman. In her practice, she declares Adrianne Lenker’s songwriting class as a holy grail resource for music creation. In her everyday life, she holds near and dear her songwriting friends, Belle and Nate. They bounce ideas off each other, try out new content together, and take turns sharing songs. When sharing, they are looking for feedback and collaboration. 

To new songwriters, she shared advice to start writing based on their stream of consciousness and let themselves fully express and work through their inner workings and outer observations.  Songwriting doesn’t have to follow a structure, you can build from the abstract. When interacting with the media, she urges others not to let the media influence them but to let it inspire them. 

Sasha Uvarova is a songwriting expert who utilizes multiple texts in her daily life to inform her songwriting and guide her life. She draws from personal experience with the aim of processing emotions and writing using a stream of consciousness. Through this interview, I have opened my eyes to more creative expression in the classroom and would love to employ this mindful media consumption and conscious creation in projects. Sasha Uvarova's intentional literary engagement inspires me to consume and create more attentively and authentically.