Empowerment is not always loud. Sometimes it is the quiet decision to choose better, to grow, and to take back control of your own story. For Siiickbrain, that journey is exactly what her sophomore Houndstooth is built on. Raw, genre-blending, and deeply personal, it is the kind of project that could only come from someone who has done the inner work.
Raised on a farm in small-town North Carolina and now based in LA, Caroline has lived in two very different worlds, and both have shaped her in ways that still show up in everything she creates. She opens up about toxic love, self-acceptance, and the music that first made her feel something, including the Radiohead records her sister used to play. As she steps into the next chapter with Houndstooth, what is clear is that this is an artist who knows exactly who she is. And she is just getting started.
Congratulations on Houndstooth. It’s coming out on 3rd June, so you must be so excited.
Thank you so much! I’m so excited for Houndstooth; it feels like such a long time coming.
I really like the vibe of your song “Palo Santo,” especially how the pace slows down towards the end with the “rewiring of the brain” moment. Why do you think your fans love it so much?
I really hope they love “Palo Santo” as much as I do! I think right now, the world needs to have more fun music and music that gives you a bit of an escape from what’s going on in the world. I want people to feel like they’re in the club, thinking of everything they want to obtain in life with this track.
I know that your album is about empowerment. What personally makes you feel empowered as a person?
Feeling empowered is so important, especially to those who have felt powerless in so many ways throughout life and trauma. Something that makes me feel empowered is having freedom in my art and being able to present myself in a creative and positive way. The way that I present myself feels like I’m gaining control of my autonomy.
Touching on some of your earlier work, your 2021 song “Silence” is about toxic love. When you look back on it now, how does the song make you feel?
Luckily, my love life, as I’ve grown, has become so healthy and stable, and that’s something that takes a lot of inner work and also choosing a partner who is willing to grow with you and communicate in a positive way. I think my choices in romantic relationships in the past definitely are a reflection of what I believed I was worth, and that makes me sad. But at the same time, I think making mistakes and the wrong choices are all part of the path that leads you to making the right ones.
I love how you also slowed the tone down on your 2023 song “Liar.” What do you love most about writing from that honest, exposed place?
I love that song so much! I think it all comes down to the mood that I have surrounding the topic at the time, and bringing the emotion not only through lyrics but through production as well. It can be cathartic to lean into the melancholy feeling surrounding certain topics, but with the upcoming project, I feel that I’ve flipped certain feelings. I have to see the positive and regain control of my emotions in that way, and that’s something that I wanted to communicate through production.
You grew up in small-town North Carolina and ended up in the heart of LA. What do you love most about who you are today, and how have both worlds shaped you?
I love how growing up in North Carolina really taught me about the importance of family, and being raised on a farm around animals instilled in me the importance of being present and empathetic. Also, in the South, I was shown a lot of things that taught me who I don’t want to be. It’s a place where, unfortunately, racism and homophobia, along with the judgment of those who struggle with mental health, are still wildly prevalent.
Growing up around people like that in the community was really eye-opening and disturbing from such a young age. Seeing the impact that it made on people I hold so dear to my heart, and myself in some ways, was extremely shaping. The most important thing to me is pure humanity and respect for the real world, not just the entertainment world and the fashion space. As much as I love that, and that’s my career, if all of that were stripped away, I can say confidently that I would be the same person I am today.
Do you remember when you first fell in love with music?
My first memory of music was dancing with my mom as a really young child to our player piano, which, if I recall correctly, was playing Chopin. I remember that really vividly as such a core memory, and being surrounded by so much different music growing up, I couldn’t help but love it.
You’ve collaborated with some incredible artists, including Skrillex, Swae Lee, WILLOW, and Maggie Lindemann. What do you love most about those creative relationships, and is there an artist you’d absolutely love to collaborate with next?
I love collaborating with my friends! The energy in the room when creating with people you love, who also happen to be wildly talented, is something that I will never get enough of. It’s my favourite thing to do for sure. I really would love to work with Imogen Heap because I think she’s brilliant, and I would love to learn from her.
House of Solo is as much about fashion as it is music, and your style is so distinctive and unapologetic. What is your personal relationship with fashion, and what do you love most about using image and style as part of your artistry?
I’ve loved exploring style and fashion since I was younger, but it was pretty hard to dive into while growing up. Living in New York and LA and being surrounded by it after leaving North Carolina really gave me an opportunity to explore it a bit more.
When I fell into modelling before music, I think that’s when I realised how much I truly loved it. Using it as another art form to express myself and build a world alongside music helps elevate my brand as a whole and helps people see the world that is inside of my head.
I love letting my fashion and style expand and grow as I do the same with my sound. Evolution is important to me.
Rick Owens and Demna are absolutely aligned with the world and the sound that I’m building for sure. They’re my favourites.
We just touched on your style, which I love. It’s so important for young women especially, to know they can be whoever they want to be. If you could speak words of love to your younger self, or even young people in the industry, what would you say?
I would say keep experimenting because you’re never going to find yourself if you don’t allow yourself to make mistakes or take risks.
I started making music as a form of therapy, so naturally, it’s continued to feel that way, and I feel so lucky that I have it as an outlet. Building production with my collaborators that translates the feeling I have surrounding a topic, and listening to that as I write lyrics, helps me to process how I feel and turn it into something that feels more empowering and positive.
No matter what I may be going through, I feel that if I look at it through a different lens and process it with a different outlook, I almost always feel better and stronger after making a song that way. It sounds cliché, but it works for me.
The title of your new album Houndstooth is so personal, paying homage to your Scottish and Irish heritage. Was there any music from your childhood that your grandfather introduced to you that has impacted you?
My grandfather mainly listened to NPR, so I think I was definitely more impacted by my parents and my siblings in terms of sound. My sister played a lot of Radiohead and Imogen Heap, and I think, if anything, those artists influenced the sound the most on the project, along with others that I discovered on my own as I grew up.
Last question, your music blends so many genres. What do you love most about genre-blending, and where do you feel it could take your sound next?
I love experimenting, and I think that a lot of artists that I look up to have their own sound. So I think that just trying to do my own thing and find my own sound, which I feel like I’ve done with this project, is something I can just keep building off and continue to let evolve naturally without holding back. I’m sure that the next project will feel in a similar world, but who knows what could be next? I’m just as interested as you are to find out.xt? I’m just as interested as you are to find out.
