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Ezzah Rafique | October 7, 2021
Photo by: Joacim Fougner
Q: "Hi! How have you been so far into the year? Tell us about yourself! What inspired you to pursue music? E: Hi! I’ve had an amazing year, thank you, despite a crazy scary pandemic, it’s probably been my favourite year ever! When I slowly found out that I had a great ability to convert feelings into melodies and words, I was like ‘Oh, damn, I guess I’m pretty good at this, AND it’s fun, maybe I should try it out!’
Q: "You've said before that your music is for those who have been pushed in an 'uncomfortable extrovert way to view the world.' Has there ever been a time where you were put into one of those situations?"
E: The music industry expects you to do so much more than just being good at singing and writing songs, and all this extra fluff has always terrified me; ‘Am I interesting enough to interview? Do I look interesting enough to take photos of? etc.’ But then I realized that it’s about the songs! If people are gonna be interested in me, it’s because my songs are great! That’s reassuring and gives me a lot of courage. If my songs are small great novels, I'm just the author, and I have to promote these books and put them in people's hands so they can read them.
Q: "What is the backstory to your most recent single, 'Killing It'?"
E: I moved from Copenhagen to New York, which is sooo exciting and fun, but I’ve also been dealing with anxiety, insecurities, and loneliness. And I felt it clashed with all the courage I had gathered for my adventures ahead. Not knowing where you’re going is the epitome of being an artist. In ‘Killing It’ I’m just trying to put some of my worries aside. I’m ‘faking it till I’m killing it’.
Q: "For 'Killing It,' what was the process like for you when it came to creating the music video?"
E: I wanted to emphasize the part of me that still feels like a tourist in this city that I’m trying to make my home. I talked to the amazing directors Sam Guest and Julia Baylis about wanting to ridicule myself a bit by wearing the iconic N.Y. touristy souvenirs, and we thought it would be perfect to use the chaotic busy New York as a setting for zooming in and out of my loneliness in this people crowded city.
Q: "What would you want fans to take away from the 'Killing It' music video?"
E: That it’s okay and normal to feel lonely no matter what you’re doing and where you are in the world! And sometimes it can be uplifting to look at your sadness, restlessness or loneliness from a humoristic perspective.
Q: "You have two other singles which released earlier this year as well, 'Favourite Lover' and 'All or Nothing'. How was the experience like for you as these are some of your first few songs you released?"
E: It’s been nerve-wracking and exciting to get started! But I also feel like I’ve felt very confident in sharing these songs. I don’t take it personal[ly] if people don’t like my music, I don’t expect everyone to like me either! My most important job as a songwriter is just to write songs that hopefully some people can mirror themselves in.
Q: "Between all three songs that you released this year, do you have one that resonates with you the most or one you enjoyed creating more?"
E: I am really proud of how simply written and produced ‘Killing It’ is, just a few elements that all work perfectly together, to me it’s just old-school good songwriting with nothing to hide, haha! <3
Q: "To someone who hasn't heard your music before, what do you hope they take away from it? What atmosphere are you trying to create with your music?"
E: I want my music to feel like a therapy session, where we can talk about heavy subjects in a lighthearted way. I want my songs to be unpretentious and inviting, and I want people to feel less weird, introverted and alone when they don’t have the energy to be social.
Q: "Every artist has a different method of making music, how do you tackle a project? What's your creative process like or how would you describe it as?"
E: I write different songs when I’m alone than when I write with other people, so I enjoy doing both! It’s always fun, frustrating, and interesting to switch between guitar and piano and see what mood shapes the song of the day. Some of my favourite songs have started with one simple good melody, then I circle around it for weeks. I start loving that bit so much that I fear I will never find parts to match its superiority, but then I force myself to pair it with some other melodies and finally finish the song. Haha. It’s so weird when I come up with a good melody, I sometimes hit the break, maybe it’s because I know that if I finish the song and release it, it won’t be my precious secret anymore! That first meeting with a good melody is a drug.
Q: "Lastly, what can fans expect from you in regards to new music?" E: Expect a whole lot! This is gonna be a great decade for eee gee lovers!
