Whitefish teen releases debut album 'Different'
Music was Meta LeCompte’s only friend when she first moved from Iowa to Montana midway through her seventh grade school year. Naturally shy, she turned to her guitar for companionship.
“Music has always been a part of my life, but that’s when I started to write real songs,” LeCompte, 16, told the Pilot in a recent interview at Crush Lounge where she regularly plays gigs.
Four years after moving to a new city and entering a new school, music has helped LeCompte break out of her shell in a big way. She’s played a handful of live shows this summer, about a dozen open mics, and this month she released her debut album “Different.”
LeCompte’s sound is unlike anything you would expect from a self-described shy teenager who “doesn’t know how to talk to people.” Her voice is powerful, mature and commands attention. Think Neko Case meets Cat Power.
She says no one else in her family has pipes like hers, and that her unique sound is totally natural.
“I don’t really work on it,” she said. “I had singing lessons when I was little, but eventually I just did my own thing. I don’t know were it comes from.”
As a singer and songwriter, every track on the debut album is original work, and features songs LeCompte has written over the past four years.
LeCompte says she can write an entire song in as little as five minutes. An emotion comes over her and she gets lost in the moment.
“When you’re feeling sad or happy, you start writing,” she said. “But then you go back and edit and make it good. When you’re so deep in an emotion, you don’t think straight.”
While the writing happens quickly, working in the studio can be arduous. It took nearly a year working with producer Brett Allen to mix, master and produce the 11 tracks on her new album.
“It has to be perfect. You have to have it dead on in the studio,” she said. “It takes a while to have a perfect take. You have to have emotion and skill. It’s hard to mix those together.”
She’s grown to love playing live shows and can often be found at local open mic nights or playing a gig at Crush Lounge.
LeCompte named the debut album “Different” because she’s always been the kid that doesn’t quite fit in.
“It simply wasn’t a desire to belong, but a need to feel comfortable in my own skin,” she writes on the album’s liner notes. “I have always resorted to music to make myself feel better.”
“This album is about finding yourself and all the adventures that come along on that journey.”
A second album is in the works already, keeping LeCompte busier than ever.
“I don’t feel busy though because I love it so much,” she said.