DINA RENEE: INTERVIEW

August 9, 2021

by abby crabill

photo by artsybastards hair/makeup by carisa arellano — photo by artsybastards
hair/makeup by carisa arellano

Tennessee native Dina Renee has explored all different aspects of the arts from a young age. The musical influence of her older siblings inspired her to teach herself music, beginning with the piano. Through this she found her gift for music.

Now, Dina is still heavily involved with many different artistic endeavors. Along with creating music, she has also created the Hollywood Pastel Palace, a photoshoot spot in Los Angeles, California.

Dina is heavily focused on inspiring others through her art, while continuing to grow by pursuing her own dreams.

What was it like teaching yourself to play the piano at such a young age?

Dina: “I just remembered I could hear something by ear and I wanted to recreate it. I also was trying to prove to my parents that I had a gift for music. I remember when I finally begged my mom to take me to get lessons from my sister’s teacher, she was dumbfounded. She told my mom she has never seen a student like me in 20 years of teaching. I had learned every song by ear on my older sister’s level just to prove myself. I think that day my mom finally recognized I had a gift for music.”

What is it about the arts that has drawn you in and kept you pursuing them all this time?

D: “I think I just really want to inspire people and also feel inspired to keep going… to keep living. Music has always been the one thing to help me feel something and to help me with my depression and anxiety. I want to help others too and I do feel being an empath I have a story to tell.”

Can you tell me a little bit about your single "Can't Let You Go?”

D: “It’s a song about not giving up on someone that you love even though it’s toxic to you. Giving someone another chance over and over again without even realizing the consequences.”

Besides music, you also created Hollywood Pastel Palace. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

D: “I wanted to create a photoshoot spot that inspires people to see their colorful selves. It looks like a Barbie house and is a photoshoot spot where people can film their music videos or also take photos. I also do photography so I love creating here. It means so much when people get excited about my place because I decorated it all myself.”

Which do you prefer, music or photography? Why?

D: “Both. I think they go hand and hand. Obviously if I had to pick one it would always be music, but I get such joy in capturing photos of others whenever I can.”

What inspires you to create?

D: “I just want to make people happy and I want to celebrate people.”

From music and makeup to photography and CEO, how do you balance all of the positions you take on in the industry?

D: “I really am always working. I’m never not busy and sometimes I think I should try to take a day to just do nothing at all.”

What advice do you have for anyone who is afraid to take that leap towards their dream?

D: “Do it now. Don’t wait and don’t think you’re not ready yet. You’ll always make mistakes in the beginning but you won’t become an expert at anything until you start trying.”

What do you hope that the future has in store for you?

D: “I would love to sign a record deal and tour all over.”

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BRIDA: INTERVIEW

August 5, 2021

by danielle holian

Nashville based singer-songwriter Brida has been turning heads with her debut single “In My Dreams” and follow-up single “You Found Me,” which was accompanied by her debut music video. These tracks will feature on her debut album Down in Flames, which is inspired by her journey with her twin flame, releasing on August 22nd. Unclear Magazine caught up with the songstress to discuss all this music in the hype of her upcoming debut album.

You will release your debut album, Down in Flames, later this month. What can you tell us about this forthcoming album, and what inspired it?

Brida: “It is a concept album, of sorts, based on the life-altering experience of meeting my Twin Flame. I had already been married to my soulmate for 10 years when my Twin Flame walked into a room. I felt an immediate soul recognition, lifetimes of emotions coursed through my body like energetic shockwaves, and I knew in an instant my life would never be the same. The blessed thing is that this meeting sent me on a healing journey that not only burned away everything that was inauthentic about my life, it also improved my relationships, including my marriage. The devastating thing is that after years of my Twin Flame being my closest confidant, he moved out of my life and we never even spoke about our deep connection. This album was the result of me processing why the most important soul connection one could have would show up only for them to disappear. Although our relationship was never romantic, the album will come across as a break-up album, but with deeper spiritual and metaphysical references because of the nature of our connection.”

And ahead of this album release, you released your debut singles “In My Dreams,” and “You Found Me” — why were these particular tracks the perfect introduction to you as an artist?

B: “‘You Found Me’ is the first track on the album because it envelops the entire story, with lyrics that share what that first moment I laid eyes on my Twin Flame felt like, to the aftermath of my life going up in flames when he left. This one song is the over-arching theme of the album: me processing the deepest awe and loss I’ve ever known. ‘In My Dreams’ is a musical representation of my favorite aspect of our Twin Flame connection. Although my Twin is no longer a regular part of my daily life, his soul often meets up with my soul in our dreams at night. We speak to one another and our energetic bodies often intertwine. It’s the single most mind-blowing experience of my lifetime! I wanted people to know that this is more than a love story or a ‘break-up’ story. It’s the kind of connection that not even real life circumstances can block, and it can open our eyes that we are so much more than our physical bodies. Love is so much bigger than we ever knew it was.”

How was the songwriting process for Down in Flames?

B: “My usual songwriting methods flew out the window with this one. Most of it was written in tears at my piano, me just letting the emotions take me where they needed to go to achieve some sense of peace or healing over the situation. But I think the result is the most authentic music I’ve ever written. I’m a big believer in transmutation of energy: taking an intense emotion and diving into it, then transforming it into something of beauty. Creating the songs on this album is one of the ways I personally healed and gave myself closure so that I could move forward.”

And how has it been for you personally creating music during the pandemic?

B: “Most of this album was written previous to the pandemic. However, the pandemic gave me the freedom of time and finances that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. My husband is a teacher who got to be home for nine months. He told me he wanted to take care of every aspect of our personal life — our home, our child, cooking, cleaning, etc. so that I could have time to focus solely on my album. I also had a large travel fund saved up for us to go to Iceland for our 15-year wedding anniversary. The trip was cancelled due to the pandemic and I was given the green light to put that money towards the album. I was so grateful to have something so meaningful to focus on during a time when most people were in a state of waiting. I am also grateful that I had the means to hire and collaborate with so many other creatives like producers, filmmakers, and photographers when those industries had slowed down.”

What do you want the listeners to take away from your music?

B: “I want the listeners to sing along, cry along, and heal along to this album. Everyone, whether they are a Twin Flame or not, knows the feeling of grief when they lose someone they hold so dear. I want them to have a catharsis as they listen, and to know they are not alone in the midst of the darkness of loss.”

And finally, what’s one fun fact about yourself for our readers?

B: “I have been obsessed with camels since childhood. My husband and I are currently in the process of buying our dream home and property to not only raise Bactrian Camels, but will also be a sanctuary for creativity and enrichment for our community.”

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CAROLESDAUGHTER: INTERVIEW

August 4, 2021

by madden levin

This next artist is surely one to watch, if you haven't already been graced by her presence. carolesdaughter is a powerhouse in all aspects; with her insanely strong voice and love for instrumentals and visuals, she truly has it all! The meaning behind carolesdaughter's music is what stands out to us the most, though, as I'm sure her fans would agree. In our exclusive interview with carolesdaughter, we talk about her newest song, "please put me in a medically induced coma," which was an amazingly honest step into the music world for this project. Check out the interview below and make sure to follow carolesdaughter on social media so you don't miss out on anything new and exciting — like her support on Machine Gun Kelly's tour this Fall!

For those who aren’t sure who carolesdaughter is yet, can you tell us a bit about who you are? For a new listener, what’s one of your songs that you would recommend be their first listen?

carolesdaughter: “I’m an 18 year old singer-songwriter from southern California. I write about my experiences going to rehab and growing up Mormon, where I never fit in. I named myself carolesdaughter because I love my mom. I would recommend ‘please put me in a medically induced coma.’ I think it’s a really honest first step into the project.”

If you could describe your music in three words (bonus points if you use alliteration), what would they be?

carolesdaughter: “Honest, fun, and fluid.”

I was really drawn to how perfectly your voice ties in with the unique take on the modern day alternative genre, while still dipping into so many other genres and sounds. Did you always have an idea of what you wanted to create musically or did you have to do some soul-searching to get there? Did it arise from some idols or role models that you want to share with us?

carolesdaughter: “I think I’ve always had a pretty specific way of writing that is very blunt. When I got a little bit older and starting really using the internet, that’s when I got into using experimental sounds. I was really into hardcore and electronic music, when previously it was mostly singer-songwriters. It didn’t really come from any particular role models.”

We are loving your new song “please put me in a medically induced coma!” It’s clear you were very passionate about creating this song to share a bit of a story with your fans and the world. Can you share with us a bit about the process of creating this song and why you thought it would be important to release?

carolesdaughter: “I wrote this song while I was in rehab. Everyone there seemed to really relate to it — they even still sing it at that place. Just knowing that it captured their experience made me want to release it. Even if I don’t necessarily feel like that anymore, I think everyone does every once in awhile.”

And the production quality of the video! It’s amazing. How was it like working with some great directors to create this vision of yours? Did you know how you wanted the video to look or was it a bit of a puzzle?

carolesdaughter: “This song was written so long ago that it was more of a struggle to truly know how I wanted to portray the music video. The director was really cool. It was supposed to be like a dream, as a look inside of my mind. There’s a combination of literal and metaphorical representations in it. Like the straight jacket, for example, it supposed to be symbolic of being trapped in your own mind.”

Why do you think it’s so important to use your platform to talk about real and personal topics like this?

carolesdaughter: “I think we have a viewpoint in our society where people who are successful have no problems and are perfect all the time. I didn’t start making music to get where I am. I started because I had important something to say, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable being an artist if I didn’t.”

I’m genuinely curious… what color hair has been your favorite so far?

carolesdaughter: “Red. I miss red and I wish I never left it, but I felt like if I kept it for too long then I would only be known as having that color. I wanted to be able to do any other color, but I still miss it. I am rocking some green right now though!”

I see that you are doing/have done some acoustic shows across the US! Were you excited to get to live shows and have you been surprised with the turnout of amazing fans and supporters? Favorite experience so far/overall?

carolesdaughter: “It’s been really crazy just to see how many people will come out to random cities that I’ve never even been in. It’s always those shows, with a surprising turn out that are my favorite. I really loved playing in Greensboro, NC. I got a really cool tattoo there, made new friends and the energy of the show was one of the best. Those fans were the sweetest.”

Do you have anything coming up in the near future that you want to share with us that you are extremely excited about?

carolesdaughter: “I’m super excited for my EP to come out and I have two songs that I’m especially excited for people to hear, called ‘Target Practice’ and ‘Audrey.’ I’m also opening up for Machine Gun Kelly on his fall tour with a full band. I can’t wait!”

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'I'M DONE WITH YOU' / JACQUELINE LOOR: SINGLE REVIEW

August 3, 2021

by shelly decaigny

Jacqueline Loor recently released a powerful and dramatic new single entitled “I’m Done With You.” This emotional presentation is dark and eerie, but with undertones of energy and empowerment. Her soft slow intro embodies the feelings of defeat and exhaustion caused by a toxic relationship. As the intensity of the song grows, you can feel the shift that occurs when someone decides to break the unhealthy connection they have with another person.

The depth of sound, between Loor’s voice and the instrumentals, effortlessly takes the listener on a journey from the realization that things are over to the termination of the relationship. The journey from despair to liberation.

While listening for the first time, I found myself picturing this song as part of the soundtrack for a drama film. Jaqueline is a true artist, as she can paint a vivid picture in the minds of those who hear her creations.

I look forward to hearing more from Jacqueline Loor. I wonder if I might, in fact, hear “I’m Done With You” while watching a movie on the big screen. Sit back, take in the song with all of your senses, and see if you feel the same.

VALLEY: INTERVIEW

August 3, 2021

by brittany and everly ormiston

Valley is a note-worthy alternative-pop band who is known for their upbeat songs accompanied by melancholy lyrics. The band wanted to push the envelope and demonstrate their willingness for experimentation by releasing a new track with a blissful, nostalgic feel. “Tempo” was released on July 21st, and has easily become a summer anthem for all listeners. This track paints a clear picture of living in the moment with the one(s) you love and wanting to slow down time to treasure it all even more. Valley will continue to “change the tempo” when they reunite with fans on tour and partake in live music once again. The band will be performing at Wonderbus Festival in Columbus, OH and Bottlerock Festival in Napa Valley, CA at the end of the summer, and then opening for COIN on a 17-date North American tour in the fall.

How do you guys feel now that “Tempo” is out?

Valley: “Really good! The reactions have been way past our beliefs. Regardless of how much we are growing as a band the past year, every time we put out a song it’s kind of nerve-wracking because you just don’t know if people are going to love it or not. The response has been crazy. Everyone has said, ‘This is my new summer bop’ and ‘I needed this [song] this summer.’ We’ve been getting a lot of messages. We are really excited because we definitely took a risk with this one. We were experimenting and wanted to do something a bit more dancey and upbeat. There is not a lot of instrumentation happening. Our songs are usually pretty dense, and with this one we were very strict about keeping just the elements and keeping it focused and positive. We are excited that people love it so much.”

The other day you described “Tempo” as “...definitely us breaking ground on what Valley can be and sound like.” Can you expand on that? Did you officially find your sound/discover what direction you want the band to go in?

Valley: “A lot of our music comes from this obsessive idea of happy and sad. I think everyone is. There is nothing more sweet than when you compare a sad lyric to a happy melody or a happy melody to a sad lyric. With this song we were trying to see how far we could push the envelope of not doing that. Can we just write something a little more uplifting and is ironic with itself. That’s where it came from. We actually wrote it over Zoom with this wonderful artist and writer called Soaky Siren. She brought a lot of positive energy to the session. We were pitching sad concepts and any time we did that she would say, ‘Why don’t you flip that? The world doesn’t need that right now. Flip it and make it positive.’ That’s why we love collaborating with other people because they force us to see things through a different lens. We programmed that piano and it became the anchor for the whole song. Karah laid down insane harmonies and layers and we tweaked the lyrics. There’s a crazy bass synth that Alex plays now live. It’s so intense. It’s just fun. It’s us experimenting. I always say it reminds me of ‘Slide’ by Calvin Harris, that feel and groove. Just us trying something new because it’s fun to keep it interesting. We want to paint with all the colors until there is no more.”

You were talking about collaboration and we saw Josh Gudwin mixed “Tempo.” He is a well-respected name in the music industry. How was it having him as part of the process?

Valley: “Incredible. I’ve been obsessed with Josh Gudwin for a while because he mixes all the stuff that we really love. He mixed a bunch of the Dua Lipa tracks and a lot of Selena and all of the Justin Bieber songs, all of the pop music that we’re obsessed with. He’s also a producer and a writer as well. This has been a dream of ours for a while. Our team and us reach out to him and he really loved the music and said, ‘I would love to mix this.’ He actually worked on ‘Sucks to See You Doing Better.’ He mixed that record. When we got to this song we said, ‘This song needs to smack really hard,’ and if anyone should mix this song it’s Josh. When we messaged him, we were even smaller than we are now. I consider him an honorary Canadian because he got an email saying, ‘This tiny band from Toronto wants you to mix their stuff,’ and he responded and said, ‘I love this music. Yeah, let’s do it.’ Definitely an honorary Canadian move in my book.”

What is your creative process? Do you hear a random beat and add lyrics in or do you tend to come up with a lyric and then add the melodies?

Valley: “Every song happens differently. We don’t have a formula or a set creative process. It is chaotic and all over the place which is how we want it to be. If you make it formulaic then you will start to see the same results. When there is a formula to the process, it can hinder how much creativity you are expelling. We overthink quite a bit. We are overthinkers for sure, but when we are writing songs we have thoughts like ‘It’s all good.’ ‘It’s all good when Rob sang it for the first time.’ ‘Don’t touch it. Leave it. Keep it.’ Usually melody and lyrics happen in tandem and it’s never really just melody and just lyrics. Lyrics are tougher because you’re creating a narrative. It’s not typical to create a narrative from top to bottom. I don’t know anyone who does that. It mostly happens in phases and in drafts. You’re going through it and [figure out] this word makes more sense than this one. As you guys know, you have to go through it multiple times and make sure everything makes sense and there is a storyline. That’s usually how we do it, and obviously if it starts to feel like work then we are doing something wrong. Then we check ourselves and go back to square one and figure out how we are going to continue to create without making it mundane. It can feel like that sometimes when we are doing so much of it, but at the end of the day songs only come out that have hit us in the gut. We don’t put stuff out that we can’t feel or cry to.

Also, for any younger fans or artists listening I’ve started giving this advice out because I have thought about it a lot: the biggest breakthrough for our band was not assigning roles. For the longest time, kids who wanted to start a band or a project would assign roles like ‘the singer will sing the songs and then I’ll play my guitar part and then the drummer will add the drum part.’ They were cutting their creativity short by doing that. Some of our biggest breakthroughs with songs and with lyrics have been Mickey suggesting a lyric or doing the drum beat or Karah writing the bass line or Alex doing the guitar part. When you don’t assign roles, you are going to have so many more creative breakthroughs. To reference our friends: [The Band] CAMINO is a great example. They are not locked on roles. Spencer can sing the most heartfelt song as Jeffrey and Garrison can add production. You never want to assign roles to creativity, especially in a band dynamic. That’s what caused our biggest breakthrough as a band and when everything clicked. We have different roles a lot because we aren’t octopuses. When we are in the studio there are no roles. Obviously Karah and Rob will sing the vocals finally but that doesn’t mean that we wrote it. Mickey and Alex could have written the whole verse. Naturally, you fall into what your strongest role is in terms of what you end up contributing the most of, but also there is space to grow because you aren’t necessarily locked to that so you get to dabble in everything. In terms of the dynamic being smooth, people kind of know when to trust the other people because they have seen it work out or not work out.”

We want to tap into your musical inspirations in general, and also in relation to “Tempo.”

Valley: “For ‘Tempo’ we went into the session referencing Mura Masa. There is a song called ‘Live Like We Are Dancing’ so we referenced that along with ‘Slide,’ just upbeat and dance bops. There is almost a split screen to the inspiration thing. Say Fleetwood Mac is Valley’s favorite band because there is a lot of our spirit in that band. But when you listen to our music you don’t necessarily hear Fleetwood Mac. We have career-inspiring bands and then specific artists we pull into our stuff. For example, Coldplay is a career-inspiring band because they’ve managed to be such a generational band and constantly evolve and will consistently sell out arenas for the rest of their lives. Now that is a dream. Do we sound like Coldplay in particular? You hear it somewhere here and there. Other overarching artists [for us] are The 1975, Fleetwood Mac, and pop stars such as Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift. [Those] groundbreaking career artists. Then we have specific artists that inspire specific songs. For ‘Tempo’ definitely artists like Calvin Harris and Mura Masa [inspired it]. ‘Society’ was Smashmouth. It’s hard to say one artist for us because it’s crazy all the time. We are never referencing the same thing. We literally referenced the drum from Lion King once.”

Is there a backstory behind the Michael Jordan reference in ‘Tempo’?

Valley: “We wrote this song right after we came back from an Airbnb for a month where we wrote constantly. While we were at the Airbnb, we watched ‘The Last Dance,’ the Michael Jordan documentary, and we all got so obsessed with basketball. There was a basketball court next door to our Airbnb and we went out to a store and bought a basketball. Every day we would play basketball and then write songs. Karah broke her finger playing basketball so we should’ve found a way to put that in the song. We talked about having good vibes with somebody you love whether it’s a relationship (romantically or platonically) or family or whatever. Then we came up with the line, ‘the way you move is so pro.’ You’re like Michael Jordan: so eloquent, you’re presenting yourself at highest form, to me you’re as iconic as Michael Jordan in 1998 on The Bulls in Chicago. You could have no interest in sports and this documentary could change your life. It’s focused more on life and mental health and there’s so much more to it than just basketball.”

Any reason you’ve referenced Chicago multiple times in your music?

Valley: “Yeah, this is the second time we have shouted out Chicago in our songs. Since Michael Jordan played for Chicago we just connected that, but we like Chicago. We also say, ‘that night we had in Chicago’ [in our other song] so it’s a double whammy. Chicago as a city is very much a mix of Toronto and LA together. It’s a really cool city. Every time we reference Chicago in one of our songs the ticket sales go up. I have a feeling the next show in Chicago is going to be really special.”

Also, why Denny’s?

Valley: “With Denny’s, the outro thing was very last minute. The song was ready to go to mixing and one night it was really late and my friend showed me the song called ‘Good Days’ by SZA. It has this pump and it was in the same key too. I thought I would love to do something like this right now. I started messing around with samples and for some reason with ‘Tempo’ being this upbeat dancey song, I wanted the outro to feel like nighttime. You know when it’s two in the morning and you’ve had a long night out with your friends? You go to the greasiest place just to get food because that’s all that’s open. The outro is the end chapter to a night out for us sonically. We got Karah to say it in the mic and we just kept it. We also have memories at Denny’s. We would go to Denny’s at two in the morning in Niagara Falls. About a month ago, we needed to shoot a music video and afterwards thought, ‘We should get food from Denny’s.’ We ended up driving 45 minutes to get it. With a song this playful it’s fun to add things like that.”

What are you hoping the fans will take away from this song?

Valley: “Feeling good, bringing joy. That’s pretty much the point of this song. Someone tweeted this yesterday: ‘I always get anxious when Valley releases a new song because I never know if I will have a serotonin boost or I’ll need extra therapy.’ This one is to give you a serotonin boost. Escapism is the word. Forgetting the stress of everyday life and having a good time and just living. That’s what this song is about, just living. We wanted a song like this for ourselves too. We have park hangs with our friends and Karah will bring her Bose speaker. We aren’t going to bump sad, existential music. We are bumping dance songs, good vibes. We wanted our fans when they go to a park hang or at a party with their friends to have a Valley song for that moment. Maybe ‘Sucks to See You Doing Better’ isn’t the vibe there and maybe ‘Tempo’ can fit in that playlist now which makes us really happy. Coldplay has ‘Yellow,’ but they also have ‘Charlie Brown’ or ‘Something Just Like This’. They have the party bops.”

There are several festivals you will be performing at here soon, and you will be going on tour with COIN in the fall. Do you have any pre-show rituals? Any must-have items on tour?

Valley: “This is our pre-show ritual: ‘cinnamon roll!’ We literally put our hands together and we make a cinnamon roll. It’s hard to explain but your hands fold in a way that creates a cinnamon roll type movement. If we are playing with [The Band] CAMINO, we guarantee they will knock on our door and they will bring shots so sometimes we will have those. This tour I really want to practice music in the green room before a show because it’s always quiet. We should make a green room playlist and have something always playing. A good dinner before a show is good luck too and we have some time to sit together and talk about the show. We can say things like, ‘Last night you did this and that was really cool. You should do it again tonight.’ A shower is nice and when a venue has a good shower I love that. Mike has a thing where he always buys new shoes before shows because he always loses or forgets his shoes at the hotel or at the last venue. The most comfortable, fresh clothes you could wear on stage... and then get them completely ruined with sweat. Meeting fans before shows also gets us so hype. If we walk by a line and if we were given a gift or a letter then that automatically makes us want to go 200% that night.”

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