“This Is Me”: The Road To Releasing ‘When We Weren’t So Far’

Posted On March 2, 2026

Samantha Colleran, March 2026

New York raised, Nashville based singer-songwriter Luke Mock is a master of creating immersive worlds with his expressive vocals, relatable lyrics, and bold production. With a number of singles under his belt, Luke is ready to present himself to the world with his recently released EP, When We Weren’t So Far (Feb. 20). The EP is a culmination of three previously released tracks and two new releases that showcase different chapters of Luke’s musical journey. Each track stands out on its own, but as a body of work it allows listeners to learn more about Luke as an artist. We sat down to chat about the release; the importance of putting these songs out as a full body of work, the move to Nashville inspiring his approach to making music, why he held onto some of these songs for so long, and what we can expect for the future. 

You can read the full interview below, and read to the end to see where to keep up with all things Luke Mock. When We Weren’t So Far is available on all streaming platforms. All photos featured in this interview were taken by Bella Sgarlata.

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Samantha Colleran: Hi, Luke! First off, I want to say congratulations on the release of your EP When We Weren’t So Far. 

Luke Mock: Thank you so much!

SC: Why at this particular moment did you feel it was most important for you to release this EP?

LM: It’s not really about this one moment. It’s definitely a culmination of years and the things I’ve learned and the people that have entered and collaborated with me during that time. This moment, why put out a project or bundle these songs together- because as you may know, some of these songs have been out for a long time. It has to do with the fact that I’m in Nashville now and I wanted to have something to present. It felt like these songs embodied my life post-COVID to now, if I had to put a timestamp on it. On top of that, I have so much new music I’m ready to get to. Some of these songs, like “Please” which is one of the more recent releases, is one of the oldest songs I’ve ever written. 

SC: We will certainly be circling back to “Please”. As you mentioned, you’re currently based in Nashville, but you’re originally from New York. What made you decide to take the plunge to move to Nashville?

LM: I was missing being around people that do what I do. Music is obviously everywhere, but I was reminded of our time at school (SUNY Oneonta) where we were surrounded by such a community for it whether it be house shows or being around musicians and collaborating. In general, I figured it would be a nice place to be based because there’s so many songwriters here and it’s not just country music, differing from what some people tend to believe. On top of that, Hannah Goldberg, who is our colleague, told me “I’m going, and you’re coming, too!” 

SC: Definitely one of those “If I’m going, you’re going, no questions asked” moments! That is so cool. How has it been there? Have you found any inspirations through the different scene out there, or are there any people you’ve found inspiring?

LM: Absolutely. The thing about Nashville is that everyone’s amazing, so friendly, and wants to collaborate. Everyone has that mindset of working together, almost like making a song yourself would be weird. The goal is to collaborate. Everything has been inspiring me. I had this beautiful job over the summer where I got to meet a bunch of strangers. I don’t know if this is relevant to music, but I was a tour guide giving kayaking tours, and I got to meet so many people. No matter what you’re doing, you’ll always run into musicians or someone who knows this person or who had this experience. It’s a music based community. I’m most inspired by artists who are trying to set a foundation here. I’m taking a lot of inspiration. I don’t know if you remember Sarah Gross, she went to Syracuse. She moved here recently and she’s doing fantastic. She actually mixed the final version of “Please” for the EP. It’s not just an individual artist I’m inspired by, it’s the whole community here. 

SC: That’s so beautiful, it sounds like an absolute dream! Talking a little bit more about the EP, you did mention earlier that it’s a culmination of work that spans across a few different chapters of your career. What about those particular songs felt important to include on your debut?

LM: They kind of… whenever I look back at my songs, especially in a singles driven world, it felt like a congruent storyline of what I’ve gone through. On top of that, it’s also the creative process. These songs all hover around a similar maturity level and a certain sound. My sound has continued to evolve and grow and I can’t wait to work on new stuff and get it out, too. This is the pop music side of me; it can be soft, it can be cinematic, I felt that these songs fit together and tell a story. 

The closer, “Carry On”, really ties them all together. It reflects on all of those past songs and where they came from, and choosing to bring them with me and knowing I’m growing from them. In this case, it was moving to Nashville, and not forgetting who I was and keeping that inspiration for what was to come. 

SC: You can feel how grounded some of these songs are. Even though some of them came out a few years ago, they hold up really well. As a collection of songs, they do work really well together. You mentioned “Carry On”, which is the last song on the EP. I was really intrigued by that one the most out of all of them, and the title of the EP comes from that song. What was it about that particular lyric that stood out to you when you were putting the tracklist together, and of course choosing to put “Carry On” as the closing of the chapter?

LM: That’s a great question. It’s so funny, as an artist, you sit with songs for so long and you drive yourself mad listening to the song over and over again or imagining what it’ll be like when it’s all finished. In this case, the line “When we weren’t so far” really hit differently once it was recorded. To me, it represented all of the songs and the emotions tied to them, whether it be when I’m so far away in time from a situation or a person and how much things have changed but how they’ve also stayed the same. It’s a reflection, reflecting on memories. The chorus in general isn’t necessarily focusing on a person. As a listener, you might correlate it to what you’re experiencing, but for me it was an all encompassing thing, and that’s why it fit into the project. 

SC: I love that! Since you said some of the songs had been written before you even thought about putting out the EP, I would love to talk about “Please”, the opening track. You’ve been posting about it, and I think you said it was written when you were sixteen, if I’m remembering correctly?

LM: Yes.

SC: Was there a reason you held onto it for so long? How did you know that now was the appropriate time to share it with the world?

LM: You know, it’s a complicated question. The reasons I’ve held onto it have changed. At first, I didn’t know how to produce it. To me, it’s a sister song to something like “Universe” structurally and pop music wise. This is circling back and taking a song that’s really catchy with a similar structure and having more producing and arrangement experience and giving it my all, filling in that pop niche since it’s one of the more upbeat songs on the EP. I held onto it at first because for the longest time, I didn’t know how to arrange it. There’s demos of me when I didn’t know how to record anything, on my phone recording in Garageband with a really poor demo back from 2018. The melody was so infectious, even after working on so many songs and so many years passing by, it wouldn’t leave my head. I knew it was going to be such a fun track. It’s deep, but the meaning is like- not that it doesn’t mean anything to me, it means a lot to me- but it’s written from someone else’s perspective. It was a relationship I was in while I was in high school. Although I’m detached from who I was back then, I thought that the song- it was my friends, at the end of the day. All of the collaborators and what the idea of the song could be, and then giving it my own personality. I knew I wanted “Please” to lead the EP. I had “What You Deserve”, “Love Of My Life”, and “I Said I Love You In The Morning”, and I had already started “Carry On”. “Carry On” had a demo for years that was sitting around and I was waiting to see if I wanted to pursue the track completely. I knew with “Please” and “Carry On” that one had to be in the front and the other had to be the back. 

SC: You can see the journey in the tracks, and “Please” is a great starting point. I think it’s really sweet that it’s turned into something not necessarily far removed from what it was, but you can feel the fun energy as much as it does have some deep hitting lyrics. The fact it’s evolved all this way, it’s cool to hear how it started, and to know more about the collaboration process. What would you say to sixteen year old Luke who was writing “Please”?

LM: I think there’s so much I would say about so many different topics. In terms of music and these songs, don’t focus on how ‘good’ it is. I would remind myself why I’m making these songs, to lean into the passion I have for music and continue feeling inspired by the process. 

SC: If it’s not feeling fun, then it’s work, and sometimes work can be overwhelming!

LM: As an artist, especially with the way social media has changed and the way people consume content, it’s been hard. You feel like you have to do so much on your own and the way you have to focus on social media and your songs… my advice would just be “Remember why you’re here”. I wasn’t aware at the time how much things would change and how that would influence what I’m doing. I was just doing it for me and following my own inspirations and doing what I wanted. It’s good to grow and learn, but at times I’ve forgotten or felt less joy because I have to do a certain part of the job, and sometimes it may feel like you’re taking away from another part of something else. 

For me, it’s remembering the connection. I don’t want to say ‘audience’ per se, but it’s about giving your song to someone else so they can have their own experience with it. I want to share that, keep expressing myself so we can have shared experiences, and hopefully at live shows. 

SC: I can see “Please” being a total banger at live shows!

LM: I can’t wait to get a band together and play shows, it’ll be really fun. 

SC: I think little Luke would be really proud of adult Luke for sure. Throughout the EP there’s a unique balance of reflection without dwelling too much on the past, but you can also feel the excitement of moving forward to a new chapter. When piecing the songs together and writing them and reworking them, were reflection and moving forward themes you kept in the back of your mind?

LM: It wasn’t necessarily a theme I had in the beginning, it was a lesson I put together from it all. You think of a song like “What You Deserve”, which is right before the closing track, and it’s all about regret, which is the opposite of wanting to remember and carry things with you and not see them as a bad thing. I think reflection itself… I’ve always looked inward and have always been a self-aware person whether it be for my own detriment or growth. It represents me really well, even if it wasn’t intentional. You’ll find that with a lot of songwriters, they’ll have parts of their personality really shine through. 

SC: I think that even though some of the songs are a little bit older, as I said, they hold up really well. You can feel so much of your artistry shine through, and I feel as if I got to know you better in terms of being a songwriter and how you think musically, which was really cool. Is there anything you hope listeners take away from the EP? A message, a feeling?

LM: Just remember what it is you love, and don’t think too much about the ‘why’. Who you end up becoming isn’t the answer to those questions, it’s what you’ve experienced. If you spend too much time digging into it or being too self-aware, which I’ve talked about myself, it’s not going to- I don’t want to say it won’t hit the same- but it’s like spending too much time reading into the script and not enjoying the show. Don’t weigh in too much on the ‘why’ and just try to realize what makes you happy, carry what you had to learn to get there with you. 

SC: Wise words from Luke Mock! Do you feel like since being in Nashville your process has changed in terms of how you approach writing or producing a song?

LM: Potentially. Since we were college COVID kids, the remote collaboration is engrained in me a little bit. I don’t necessarily prefer remote, but having certain people I know I mesh with really well, I’ll call them if they don’t live here and we’ll continue together. In terms of changing my process, it’s the same answer. I find people I collaborate with really well. It might be for songwriting, or producing, or arranging a song like this song or this genre or this atmosphere. It’s an ever changing thing. There’s so many people here I haven’t met and everyone’s a musician, so, it’s definitely changed my process, but I haven’t had the chance to take advantage of the Nashville resources yet like studios, it’s been more about the people. 

SC: Connection is always important. That’s an incredible place to start. Now that all of these songs are out in the world, how are you feeling about it? I know that some of them have been out, but now that they’re part of a full body of work, how are you feeling? What can we expect next in terms of new music, tours?

LM: I’m feeling really… This is a rewarding feeling. It’s been a really long time since I put out a project. From my last project, even though it’s not out anymore, I learned so much and I think the same goes for this. While I’m still in the game right now, after release week, I finally feel like I have something I can show people. Every song is an era in a way for me, but this is a real, “This is me, here you go”. It feels like I made a stamp with my music, which is a really satisfying feeling in contrast to my last project I put out which was a lot of learning. Now, I don’t know everything, but I know enough, this is me, this is coming from me directly. That’s what I have to say about things coming in the future as well. I have so many songs. My music won’t drift away from pop music, but it’ll be much more lyrical and intimate and involved with my life and how I’ve matured. That’ll shine through when you guys get to hear the new stuff. Let me know, I’ll send over some demos anytime if you’re interested. I’d love to know what you think.

SC: Absolutely!

LM: I’m hoping to be playing more shows. Since being in Nashville, right now it’s been more about meeting people and playing some shows out and about here, gaining and finding community. Once I have that, I’d love to be hitting the road and playing shows whether it be smaller tours or opening for someone. I want to get out there and play these songs now that I have an EP to play and momentum building up. I don’t plan on letting up, that’s for sure. 

SC: Please don’t let up, we need your music! I’m so excited that When We Weren’t So Far is out, I’m so happy people get to listen to it in full, as I’m sure you’re feeling all the feelings about it. So people can stay up to date, where can they follow you, where can they find you on social media?

LM: You can find me @LukeMockMusic anywhere, on YouTube it’s Luke Mock.

SC: Wonderful. Luke, thank you so much for your time, and congratulations on the release!

LM: Thank you!

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When We Weren’t So Far is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and any other streaming service you may get your music. Follow Luke on Instagram and TikTok, and subscribe on YouTube to stay up to date on future releases!