Screaming Supreme

On singer Siiickbrain’s single “Palo Santo” from her upcoming full-length “Houndstooth” album, she kicks off the track with the exclamation, “I always get what I want. I get everything I want.” It becomes an anthemic cheer as it continues, and she layers the vocal atop its noisy backdrop. Delivered with hearty conviction, a little sonic distortion, and a grinding, frenetic beat, there’s no reason to doubt her words. The ferocity is cranked up and keeps you in a tight grip ‘til its end.

The song’s video is an opportunity to see the artist in action as she slinks through the shots, exemplifying the unique style that has made her a style icon — a dynamic buzz cut, dramatic makeup, and a slew of ink across her body, eyelids included. It all connects the “getting everything I want” to doing things one’s own way.

Her ink journey began when she was still living at her family home — a horseshoe on the back of her neck because she lived on a farm and “still had hair and could cover it up.” At one point, she had a lot of color on one of her arms, and she covered it all black. “How come? It didn’t go with my outfits,” she said, laughing. Funny, for sure, but she means it, too. Some color combinations between outfits and tattoos just didn’t work. “Now,” she said, “it looks good.”

Makeup, Music, and Mayhem

Siiickbrain, born Caroline Miner Smith, grew up in North Carolina, and she said that while music really started for her around the time of the COVID pandemic, it’s always been a part of her life. “I always imagined it. I could see myself performing on a stage, but it seemed sort of far-fetched, so I moved from career to career.”

When she first left home, she went to New York to study makeup artistry. She worked as a makeup artist for a bit before moving to Los Angeles, where makeup became something she still has an affinity for, just not on a professional level. She said she thought about opening a cosmetics company and also “fell into modeling.”

“I still to this day love doing makeup on everyone else. I do it on my friends all the time. But music is where my heart is. I do love everything else, but music is like my number one,” Siiickbrain said.

Pressing the ‘go’ button to create music and begin that evolution of her life was a cathartic undertaking for Siiickbrain. “It really started for me in 2020,” she explained. “I finally let go of the fear and anxiety surrounding it because I realized that life is so short. It kind of hit me like a brick wall when I had my best friend pass away. That pushed me to be ready to experience what it could be like to be an artist.”

She didn’t overthink it; she just put her passion into action, which gave her a pressure-free sense of creative expression. And she’s been influenced by a lot of things. “I love Imogen Heap; I think she’s amazing. Thom Yorke from Radiohead is one of my favorites,” Siiickbrain said, adding, “When I first started, I was really heavily influenced by bands like the Deftones and rock-leaning music. Lately, weird electronic and experimental music. I love that experimental music is having a moment. I feel like that gives me a space to feel even more free in creating.

“Honestly, when I first started doing music, I was kind of just doing it more as a fulfilling purpose for me because, in my heart, I knew that I wanted to be an artist in some capacity, but I didn’t really try to make it my job or my career,” she explained. “I was just kind of doing it for me. And I think that that’s why it did well when I started, because I was genuinely just being real and creating things just for me, not thinking about what would do well. That was a blessing.”

Her efforts resulted in a mix of industrial, alternative, and experimental rock, dark pop, and trap metal. It spawned collaborations with performers like Maggie Lindemann, Skrillex, and Hawthorne Heights — all that time she spent exploring helped.

“At first, the sound leaned more toward metal because I knew that I could scream; I was always screaming along to songs. I thought, ‘Oh, I could automatically do that.’ I didn’t need training, though I ended up getting some after,” Siiickbrain said. “I knew I could scream; I knew I could write. I had been writing poetry my whole life. I knew that I could, and I knew I was like, meant to. I just wasn’t sure in what capacity.”

Siiickbrain reflected on a lifetime of writing words and poetry to get through anxiety and challenging times. Now, she wants her words and music to give strength to others.

“‘Houndstooth’ is a very fun project. Even though a lot of the lyrics are reflective of things that I’ve been through, it’s in an empowering way. And it’s not a sad album,” she said. “I don’t want to make a sad album right now, especially in the state of the world. We don’t need to be feeding into any sadness right now. Right now, I’m only listening to happy music.”

And her name? “It basically was my Instagram handle. Before I was making music, that is,” she revealed. “I kind of had mental health stuff, so I was like ‘my brain is sick,’ but also I’m creative and think of cool things. I was like ‘sick,’ yeah, it’s like a double entendre.”

In addition to preparing for the record release and parallel live show, Siiickbrain said she’s always creating and is just overall content.

“I love what I’m doing now and where I’m at. I think to feel complete in what I’m doing, it’s just a matter of expansion. I’m not seeking out fame. I’m just looking for the opportunity to influence people,” she said. “I want to make a difference in how people feel. I want them to hear my work and be inspired.”