V Wanna Know: Angel Olsen Learns About Synesthesia

Singer-song writer Angel Olsen learns about the neurological condition of synesthesia with Mathias Rosenzweig and artist Carol Steen


In the latest episode of V Wanna Know podcast, singer-songwriter Angel Olsen sits down with host Mathias Rosenzweig to learn about the complex phenomenon of synesthesia with the help of the artist and founder of the American Synesthesia Association, Carol Steen. 

In her latest album, Big Time, Olsen explores a life of new love after coming out as queer, while actively dealing with the devastating grief from the passing of her parents. This album laid it all out on the table, as the songwriter focused on writing for herself, without any pretense.

“I think what it was was that I was just really sad, and I was like I’m just gonna say that its really sad, and its a simple, profound thing, and it doesn’t have to be anything other than what it is”, Olsen said referring to the breakup that was a catalyst for her writing the album. “I’m a somewhat famous musician and someone f-cking ghosted me and I want to write a song about it, you know? It doesn’t matter how far you’ve come, or how far you think you’ve come, people will disappoint you.”

Angel opens up about her own relationship with sound and visuals, and how from a young age they were always intertwined in her mind. With the help of Steen, we learn more about the condition of synesthesia and how to tell if you have it. 

Synesthesia is a condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Some people see an array of colors and shapes when listening to music or equate letters with specific colors. It’s a topic we are still actively learning about and researching, with help from people like Steen, who realized she was a synesthete at age 7. 

“When I was 7, I made a mistake and I told my best friend the color of the letter A, and she stopped talking to me, so I decided that silence was safer,” Steen said, pointing out that a lot of people may have synesthesia, but are either afraid of being seen as crazy or simply assume that everyone thinks this way. 

“When I play music I see a lot of visuals. It’s like turning on a movie in my mind. […] I think it’s so beautiful that music can take up space and you can measure the amount of space a sound can take up which is wild, and then it makes its own shape, and I think that that’s so cool,” said Olsen. Although we don’t know if Olsen for sure has synesthesia, many musicians and composers realize later in life that they are synesthetes. 

Tune in to this episode of V Wanna Know to learn more about Olsen’s relationship with music and to hear more from Steen about the highs and lows of living with synesthesia. 

 

 

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