GEORGIA WEBSTER: INTERVIEW

June 10, 2024

by kendall nicole yakshe

Blending genres and painting vivid sonic masterpieces with her dainty yet punchy lyricism, rising pop sensation Georgia Webster gets candid about her creative upbringing, her brand new EP SIGNS, and her journey thus far in the music world. Having moved to Nashville straight out of high school, Webster has spent the last few years honing her skills and putting them to work alongside various collaborator s— such as opening for Kelsea Ballerini on tour and working alongside decorated producer King Henry. She has an open mind, an open heart, and a whole lot to say with SIGNS — a project that will appeal dearly to her veteran fans, as well as something that will draw in new listeners and get them completely hooked for what’s next.

Congratulations on the release of your EP SIGNS! How are you feeling about it, and what are you wanting to say to the world with it?

Georgia: “Thank you! I’m so, so excited about it this EP — I truly feel like I have found my sound with it and have made songs that I’m so proud of sharing. It’s sort of what I’ve been calling an anti-breakup-breakup album (or EP) and I just want anyone going through a situationship breakup or something similar to feel seen and hopefully find comfort like I did while making the project.”

Which song on the EP did you begin writing first, and how did it inspire the rest?

Georgia: “I actually wrote a lot of songs for this EP... there are around 30 in my notes app that were geared towards this project but it wasn’t initially intended to be towards anything specific, I was just writing a ton because of how much emotion I was feeling at the time. So I honestly forget which one was first because there were a bunch that I wrote by myself before I wrote any of these!!”

What kind of music did you grow up listening to? Did you live in a music-oriented household?

Georgia: “My dad is a huge dead-head and loved jamming on acoustic around the house when we were growing up. He taught me how to play some cowboy chords and bought me my first guitar, a Taylor GS mini. I immediately became obsessed with learning my favorite pop songs — this was at like age 11 or so — and I started by learning One Direction, Taylor Swift, Coldplay and other similar artists. My mom loved Eva Cassidy and Keane, and my grandma is a huge music lover and got me on Kacey Musgraves and some country-er/ folk stuff early on. So there was definitely a variety!”

You take influence from a variety of genres and artists. If you could collaborate with any one of them, who would that be?

Georgia: “Hmmm that’s so hard. I’ve been loving this artist Medium Build who lives in Nashville — I would love to write with him someday or do some sort of collab. Also Post Malone because people say we have similar tremors in our voices [laughs]!”

Do you have a favorite lyric or two from the EP?

Georgia: “‘I would have killed my every dream if it meant some of yours would of happened’ — (Wedding Song)

‘Nashville will hurt you more than I will’ — (Town Talks)”

You’ve opened for Kelsea Ballerini in the past and have been on the Town Talks Tour this year so far. How have you managed stage nerves from being an opener to a headliner?

Georgia: “Honestly I’ve been a lot less nervous being a headliner! I’ve only done a couple shows of my own, but so far they’ve been great and I think my brain just puts a lot of pressure on myself when it’s on me to make the vibes good at someone else’s show; like I know that’s not how Kelsea was thinking of it, but I am just sooo much more comfortable when people are there for me and there’s no risk of ruining the show or me being anxious that something is going to go wrong for the headliner.”

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received that you’d pass on to a smaller artist who’s just starting out?

Georgia: “‘It’s just music.’ Literally, it’s supposed to be fun. So don’t stress. Best advice I’ve ever received!”

How would you describe your musical evolution from your first EP, First Goodbye, to SIGNS? What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about your creative process?

Georgia: “Moving to Nashville and pursuing music professionally allowed me to grow so much as a musician and writer and just opened my mind so much to collaboration and how amazing it can be. Almost all the songs on this project are co-written, compared to First Goodbye where everything is literally just me. I want my fans to know that I still write on my own quite often and there will be some stuff coming out soon that’s just me, but I truly have just been loving making music with friends and writers that I trust and I think it’s helped me evolve exponentially as an artist.”

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OLIVIA BARTON: INTERVIEW

May 31, 2024

by kendall nicole yakshe

“I feel like my music guides me towards people who I need to know exist,” says 28-year-old Olivia Barton, transparent and sterling singer/songwriter pioneer. Standing as a pillar and brave spokesperson for those trying to make sense of their darker experiences and traumas, Barton lays out her thoughts in the most melodically beautiful fashion possible, with effortless relatability waterfalling from her gentle guitar strums and velvet folk harmonies. Having opened for Lizzy McAlpine on her 2023 tour, Olivia Barton has garnered a truly special audience for her truly special art — and is working on a new album that is being eagerly awaited as she continuously grows and morphs her career into new corners of her timeless musicality.

You’ve shared on your social media that you are currently working on a new record! What can you say about it?

Olivia: “I’m so glad you started with this because it’s my favorite thing to talk about. I’m currently making an album in New York with a producer named Sam Skinner. He's the producer/engineer and guitarist for my favorite band of all time, Pinegrove. I started writing stubs of some of the songs on this album in the months following my last album, but I really wasn’t writing all that much after it came out. I was knee deep in marketing-land and just wasn’t feeling very creative, so it took me a while to get back into it, and then I wrote a handful of songs that were co-written. I’ve incorporated a lot more co-writing on this album than before and that has been really great. We began recording it in December and I’ve been going back up there for a long weekend once a month or so to keep chipping away at it. I believe as of today, I’m halfway through the last song to be written for the album — I wrote the first part of it yesterday after feeling like it was on the tip of my tongue for months.”

How do you navigate the pressure within modern media to follow trends of songwriting and not be pulled away from your own authenticity?

Olivia: “The truth for me is that when I am in that headspace, trying to write a ‘certain way,’ it just does not work. I’m in a constant state of frustration and rarely ever get a whole song out that I guess would qualify as ‘trendy.’ And even in writing these last few months for this album, I’ve gotten really bogged down in the mindset of trying to figure out the coolest thing to say or finding what you think people really want to hear — but my favorite songs I’ve ever written were all songs that I wrote because I needed to write it, without thinking if it would make sense to anyone else.”

On that note, how has your songwriting process been affected by the growth of your audience?

Olivia: “Well, the process I just described was not my process before I knew anyone else was listening. I didn’t overthink it until I felt like I had a reason to. I think that has probably changed more in my writing process than I’m even currently aware of, since I’m still in the middle of feeling that pressure for the first time. It’s not that I worry about what other people will think, but because I know that people are going to hear it, it takes me out of being inside the song and instead I’m looking at it from the outside. And I think that’s even a reflection of how we live as a whole. Because when in a social situation, are you actually speaking from your heart or are you saying what you think is the right thing to say in that moment?”

How do you have the courage to be honest in moments where it gets difficult?

Olivia: “I believe songwriting is an expression of how you think and feel, and my music would be entirely different if I wasn’t in therapy. Therapy has given me a language for what I experience in the world and a space to be emotionally aware — and then I use my songs to process that outside of that one hour of therapy. It’s not a songwriting tool, it’s an emotional skill. I do it as a human choice, not a creative one.”

Tell me about your experience in the live performing side of your career and how it differs from your recording process.

Olivia: “I love performing, and I tend to feel very disconnected from the world and from myself when I haven’t played a show in a long time. On one hand, playing live is challenging because it requires a kind of presence that is difficult to always maintain, and that can be scary for me because I have a lot of stage fright. But once I feel centered in my body and up on stage, it’s wonderful. I just love it so much. I genuinely can’t believe I’ve been able to tour, and I’m still fairly new to it. It comes with its challenges — it’s very expensive and eating and sleeping consistently is hard, but as of now, it’s all super worth it for now.”

When did you begin to really dig into your passion for writing, and who were the people that encouraged you along the way in your upbringing?

Olivia: “I taught myself guitar in eighth grade, and then started writing in freshman year of high school. I not only was privileged enough to go to a high school with a very high quality arts program, but I had a voice teacher in high school, who had previously been my choir director in middle school, and she was a phenomenal opera singer — and the first person to encourage me to write my own music. She passed away about eight years ago from cancer while I was in college. It’s wild to think back to those days because I really had no idea what I was doing — and she was the first person to say things like, ‘You don’t have to know what you’re playing on piano, you can just play.’ I really wish that she could see what I’m doing now — because I believe she knew it would happen for me even though I had no idea.”

What advice would you give young people trying to channel their experiences into art?

Olivia: “Can I re-gift advice? I don’t really remember who told me this or if I read it somewhere, but it was ‘create the thing that you think is so specific to you that you believe nobody will understand it — and that will be the thing that connects with people the most.’”

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HAZLETT: INTERVIEW

May 27, 2024

by martina rexrode

Australian-born indie-folk artist Hazlett released his first single of the year “Bones Shake” a month ago. Since then, he’s completed a European tour opening for Calum Scott and is preparing to open for Ocie Elliott in Europe at the end of this month. His upcoming EP is a second part to his EP Goodbye to the Valley Low released at the end of last year. Unclear was lucky enough to catch him amid all of his tour stops to talk about his new single, his plans for the year, and what it’s like supporting different artists on tour.

Congratulations on “Bones Shake!” In the couple weeks since its release, how has the reception to this single been?

Hazlett: “Thank you very much. It’s been great so far, I think. A bunch of folks seeing a moment of themselves in it, which is always the most heartwarming thing for me. People listening, interpreting and claiming it as their own.”

Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration or the meaning behind this song?

Hazlett: “It’s based around the thought of running away and how I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. Sometimes you need a little space when you mess up or things go badly, so you can see it all a little more clearly before moving forward.”

What made you choose “Bones Shake” as your first single of 2024?

Hazlett: “For me, when writing you’re always waiting for one of those subtle moments that feels like a nudge saying ‘you’re in the right time and place.’ ‘Bones Shake’ was the first time I’ve had that in a while. I’ve never really thought of music as being attached to a calendar year though, it’s more just as the collection of songs or point in time it belongs to. So ‘Bones Shake’ just felt like a key moment in the Goodbye to the Valley Low world and was the natural next step in the story.”

After releasing your debut album and an EP last year, how are you feeling about putting more music out this year? Will future releases feel similar to styles and themes you’ve tapped into before, or will there be noticeable differences?

Hazlett: “Looking back it was a lot of music, but in my head creatively it never felt like I was forcing any of it, I’m just trying to stay in tune with that elusive writer’s feeling. Write if I’m inspired or have something to say and if I reach that point where I don’t, I’ve got to try and make sure I go and find ways to fill up my cup a little more. Yeah, the EP at the end of the year was actually just part one of an album. So part two is coming along later this year. It all revolves around that cabin and the feeling that I found out there.”

How has touring treated you? What are your favorite parts of providing support for other artists on the road?

Hazlett: “Touring is great, but it’s tough being far from home and spending a lot of time by myself. It can get pretty isolating and lonesome surprisingly. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Because my favorite thing about it all is just being able to meet one or two people after a show that liked a few songs. That’s the thing that keeps me going on the low days, as cheesy as that may sound. I could write a hundred songs in my bedroom and it almost means nothing if I haven’t got people to share them with, so I owe everything to the artists who have given me a shot opening for them.”

How does touring in North America differ from touring in Europe?

Hazlett: “I love exploring new places, so being from Australia both feel exciting to me. In Europe it’s all quite close together and you’re changing countries and cultures quite a lot so I imagined that touring North America was going to feel more cohesive than that. But I was wrong, it was so exciting seeing just how different it all was state to state, city to city. Driving from the midwest, down to Florida then making my way all across the country and ending up in Seattle. It strangely felt very similar to Europe where each place felt so different from the next. But there’s also this romantic rite of passage about touring America that feels strangely nostalgic in a way.”

Have you played “Bones Shake” live yet? Are you going to play any unreleased songs on this next stretch of tour dates?

Hazlett: “I’ve played it a few times in the US and Europe recently before it came out. But it’s been a gut feeling kind of decision night to night. If I had a good soundcheck and I’m feeling confident, I’d throw it in the set. It’s tough though because it’s such a sentimental song to me, so I want to do it justice. Now that it’s actually out though it’s time to make it a permanent fixture in the set list moving forward.”

Is there anything else you’d like to share about this single or anything we might expect from you this year?

Hazlett: “I just hope it keeps finding the right people. I hope that for all my music. I know how much certain songs have found me at the right time, saved me and I’m forever grateful for that. So I always thought the best thing I can do is to just pay it forward and keep writing and touring while I can, telling my stories in the hopes that it does that for someone else too.”

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DARUMAS: INTERVIEW

May 17, 2024

by martina rexrode

With an exciting, funky debut single released just last month, Latin band DARUMAS is already dropping their debut self-titled album. The band is composed of three members — Aldana, Ceci, and Vedala — each with their own unique musical and personal backgrounds that create a perfect blend of the three women’s influences. Their debut album comes at a time when women have already been dominating the music industry in all sectors with new releases, so a brand new voice like theirs is more than welcome.

Congratulations on your debut single! What made you choose “Daruma” as your first release? How does this single introduce listeners to the band?

DARUMAS: “‘Daruma’ is a song that perfectly introduces the band because it has a funky pop sound with something old school and that also greatly marks the DARUMAS sound. ‘Daruma’ is a letter of presentation of what DARUMAS is and that is why we chose it as our first song since it also has that touch of freshness and a lot of funkiness.”

Can you tell us a little about the meaning behind the lyrics?

DARUMAS: “The lyrics are based on making a wish to the Daruma doll from Japan, which is an amulet which comes without eyes. You set a goal and you draw one eye (the left one) and when that goal is fulfilled you draw the other eye. Basically it motivates you to meet your goals and to be persistent in what you set out to do.”

Who are some of your main musical inspirations, both individually and collectively?

DARUMAS: “Michael Jackson, Al Green, Robert Glasper, N.E.R.D, y también Luis Alberto Spinetta, Djavan. Lauryn Hill, Dinah Washington, Tracy Chapman, Bruno Mars, Nathy Peluso etc.”

The three of you come from different parts of the world with different musical roots. How easy or difficult was it to come together as a band and find a sound that blended those roots together?

DARUMAS: “In fact it has been very easy and enriching, since the three of us have very similar musical tastes and at the same time the different culture of each one adds a perfect mix that gives us something I think is unique. It was not at all difficult to connect between the three of us since we clicked from the first time we saw each other, we shared musical tastes among other things.”

How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never listened to your music?

DARUMAS: “We have an organic, funky pop sound with old school elements and very prominent bass lines. They are very happy songs musically, which have a lot of funk pop sounds.”

Following this single, you have released your debut album! Which part of this release are you most excited for?

DARUMAS: “We are very excited that you can listen to the entire album so that we can finish showing you the different nuances that we have with DARUMAS, always following the same line and sound but in different ways in each song.”

What are some of your biggest goals for your future as a band?

DARUMAS: “To leave a mark on music and open paths. Being able to connect and also make history in the music industry by leaving a mark.”

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the single or anything you’d like to make our readers aware of?

DARUMAS: “We are musicians making music, wanting to bring freshness and something new to the current Latin music scene. DARUMAS is coming to make you happy.”

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APRIL JUNE: INTERVIEW

May 7, 2024

by martina rexrode

Rising dream-pop artist april june’s newest single “starstruck” is out on May 10th. Evoking a sense of clarity accompanied by a piano-driven instrumental, “starstruck” is just one of april’s film-inspired tracks from her forthcoming EP out this August. She taps into themes everyone is familiar with in a unique and refreshing way, making her an artist to keep an eye on this year. To keep up with april, follow her on social media (@apriljune19) and be on the lookout for her spring and summer releases!

You’re gearing up to release a new single! What can you tell us about “starstruck” and what this release adds to your growing discography?

april: “‘starstruck’ is a departure from my usual production style, as it's quite minimalistic and revolves around embracing the simplicity of its elements. The backbone consists solely of the folk-inspired acoustic guitar and slightly pitched-down vocals, which set the direction for the entire song.”

How did the film True Romance inspire the atmosphere and the lyrics of this single?

april: “I never grow tired of the final scene; Patricia Arquette's character's monologue is perfect.”

Following that same thread, I read that you have this writing exercise where you compose a song while watching a film on mute. When did you first start using this method?

april: “I remember reading an interview with Dev Hynes where he mentioned this method, and I thought it was absolutely genius. I've been using it ever since.”

Which types of films produce the songs you’re proudest of? Is there a certain cinematic vibe that you find yourself returning to again and again?

april: “Anything by Sofia Coppola or Eric Rohmer is almost always guaranteed to be a good starting point.”

Where else do you pull inspiration from for your songwriting?

april: “The way people talk about things, I always keep a little notebook on me where I try to jot down anything that catches my attention when I'm out and about.”

I don’t know how much you can tell us about your upcoming EP, but I’d love to hear a bit about the process of putting together a longer project after focusing on singles for so long. How easy or difficult was it for you to collect a solid group of songs for an EP?

april: “I've never been into highly conceptual albums. Instead, I tend to prefer albums that read like a collection of thoughts and diary entries from a certain period of time in the life of a musician.”

Which themes does the EP tap into?

april: “Obsessive love, luck, gambling, and destiny; a bit of nostalgia (is that ever not a theme in music?); addictive personality; objects of desire.”

How are you feeling about the thought of releasing “starstruck” soon?

april: “Just like with any release, it's a mix of feeling nervous and excited at the same time.”

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