“When I was 16, I had planned to commit suicide and I had this encounter with God, as an atheist.”
At the Louder Than Life festival this year, Flyleaf’s Lacey Sturm caught up with Loudwire’s Kat Mykals for an incredibly powerful and personal conversation. Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.
“It changed my perspective of life and of people,” Sturm shared with Kat on Loudwire Nights.
“I didn’t think there was anything else and to be able to look back and see that life can change, that your soul can change, your thought process, your mind can change about things.”
Not long after departing Flyleaf in 2012, she embarked on a speaking tour to share her life experience. But, as she explained, she wasn’t sure how she should talk about it.
“I didn’t know how to speak without singing,” she admitted.
“So, I wrote a song to go along with this story called ‘The Reason.’ I started singing that one song and telling my story — and sometimes I would even wear my baby while I was doing it.”
Through this process, Sturm realized she could make decisions for her music while keeping her priorities.
READ MORE: Tech N9ne Interview — ‘Wherever Music Is Being Played, We Will Be There’
“I didn’t realize that was possible, so little by little, we started doing music, my husband and I,” she said.
“We finally decided we should just play together. And so we started doing music together and we made an album and it was just very, very easy and on our terms.”
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website. Resource information is provided for free as well as a chat message service. To speak directly to a professional, call 1-800-273-8255. You are not alone and help is available. Every life is important.
What Else Did Lacey Sturm Discuss on Loudwire Nights?
- What it was like reuniting with Flyleaf in 2022: “It was difficult. We all have different lives now, we’re different people. And it brought up old things that we didn’t realize we still had never resolved. Even though it was an amicable split, there were a lot of things that Flyleaf went through without me that was hard — and that I went through without them around that was hard … There was this kind of reconciliation process that had to happen in our perspectives about each other.”
- The meaning behind her latest solo album, 2023’s Kenotic Metanoia: “It’s a self-emptying process that changes the way you think … Writing this record, I’ve had to face choices to go through things intentionally that I knew were going to be difficult, that I knew were going to be painful, that I knew were going to be not seemingly productive.”
- Her friendship with Ben Burnley of Breaking Benjamin: “It’s such a sweet thing to get to see people that you’ve known that long and see the different phases of their lives … He’s like a brother to me. He’s so wise. I don’t think people know how wise he is. He’s very humble and he’s always self-effacing.”
Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below
Lacey Sturm joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, Nov. 20; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.
2025 Rock + Metal Tour Guide
The bands that are touring in 2025, who is opening and how to get tickets.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
