By: Lisa Steinberg
Q) How would you describe your sound?
A) Before this album, I would’ve said folky-pop, but in my ears this album is me trying out a more alternative sound. I’ll always love singing just me and my acoustic, but I’ve always wanted to make music like this album, and I’m soooo excited about these songs!!!
Q) Who are some of your musical influences?
A) I started writing music because of Cavetown when I was twelve or thirteen years old. I think some part of their creative process will probably always be engrained in how I write, how I play and how I produce. I’m also a big fan of world-building in the emo/rock/alt music scenes. My Chemical Romance, Pierce The Veil, Pinegrove and even old 5SOS…I just love how cohesive their ideas are. I definitely wanted to do something similar for Noelle.
Q) Talk about the story behind your new single “Florida Girl.”
A) You’ve heard of Florida men…crazy guys that wrangle alligators…but there’s crazy girls that do the same things!!!! Sometimes I feel like I’m WAY too much for people. I hate shutting up. I looooove talking. Things deeply upset me! I grew up going to the beach every day. I’m too loud and I have random tattoos and I’ve held gators and I somehow don’t fit in anywhere even though everybody seems to do the same things. Also, sometimes I love saying that I’m from Florida. Owning the crazy!!!!
Q) It has a bit of a “Jack & Diane” by John Cougar Mellencamp vibe to it. Was that your intention when you crafted it?
A) I hadn’t ever thought of it before but OMG!!! I was mostly inspired by Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life,” so a bit later on, but I totally totally hear that!
Q) As a fellow Florida girl myself, what kind of response have you been receiving to the fans?
A) I think the Florida Girls like it!!! I think tons of people understand feeling like too much for everybody around you. Everybody listening who isn’t from Florida is an honorary Florida Girl, 100000%!!!! You guys get meeee!
Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?
A) We filmed the video at a speedway as a nod to where I’m from (Daytona and the Daytona 500). “Florida Girl” is all about owning the crazy and getting to run around a speedway with a bunch of loud cars driving around me definitely had me feeling a bit crazy. [laughs]
Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?
A) I honestly don’t really have one! Sometimes I start with chords, sometimes I start with words, sometimes I start with a picture…I’ve never been super consistent with the way I write. I find it way more fun to just go with whatever happens first!
Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?
A) I produced 8/12 tracks on my first project, Nep’s Storybook, and the other four were produced by my best friend Jake and I. On Noelle, it was a much more collaborative experience! I always bring lyrics and chords to Jake to start and sometimes we work together to change the structure entirely, but sometimes we keep it mostly the same as it started. We’re always bouncing things back and forth, saying yes, saying no…there’s really nobody else I work this well with! It helps to be best friends and to know that we’re not gonna offend each other if we don’t like something.
Q) Your LP Noelle is out this month. What are some themes you’ll be exploring on it?
A) I wrote this album really struggling with the idea of being stuck somewhere or in something. Of never challenging myself. Of feeling like a bad person. Or at least someone who does bad things. Most of the songs touch on that in some way, whether that’s me feeling totally right or totally wrong or totally nothing. Noelle feels like me at every extreme of every emotion.
Q) I love “Biketoberfest,” “All Around Beauty” and “July (It Feels So Lovely to Cry).” Which song(s) on the LP hold a special place in your heart and what makes them so significant?
A) Thank you!!! My favorite pairing of songs on this record are “Scar” and “I Will Always Love You Alright.” “Scar” is saying that I’ll just keep doing the same thing over and over and over until it hurts less. Reading my old journal entries, looking at pictures of us…anything to feel worse. Like when you pick a scab too much so it turns into a mark on your body that you’ll have forever. That other people can see forever. “Scar” blends into “I Will Always Love You Alright,” which is about the same situation, but from a few steps back. Like, I will literally always love you, no matter what you do. Nothing will make me care less about you.
Q) What message or emotion do you hope lingers with people that explore your music?
A) I honestly hope people can still tell I’m having fun! While Noelle is a bit sadder than Nep’s Storybook, I’ve had the best time writing, making and releasing this record!!!! I’ve always wanted to make music like this and I am sooooo happy to be sharing it after all this time!!!!