I want to dive deeper into the BTS of the two singles from my upcoming EP, Remnants of You, arriving this fall. My debut single, “I Wish You Were a Bad Guy,” is also the opening track of the EP. It was the first song I decided to fully finish at Berklee, and I wrote it late at night in a Berklee practice room on October 29th. The original version actually sounded completely different! The tempo, melody, and rhythm of the chorus all changed through the revision process. I spent time workshopping the song until the production and songwriting captured the exact emotion I wanted to express.
The song is, at its core, raw heartbreak. When I wrote it, I wasn’t thinking about holding anything back because I had no idea an entire EP would eventually grow from it. At the time, it was simply a way to get my emotions out and make sense of what I was feeling. As I continued songwriting and realized how much it helped me process my emotions, I decided I didn’t want to lose that honesty, even when I knew I wanted to share these songs publicly. I realized that if I was feeling these things, someone else probably was too. I want my music to be a source of comfort and connection and remind people that they aren’t alone in whatever they’re feeling!
The second single, “A Good Thing,” was written with my friend and fellow Berklee songwriter Jayda Shaye. We met in Songwriting Foundations and were paired together for our very first assignment, connecting immediately. I really admire Jayda as a songwriter, and we have always had a natural ability to understand each other when we write together. By the time we wrote “A Good Thing,” I had five songs for the EP but felt like something was missing. I wanted one more song that told a different story and had a different sound, and I knew Jayda was the person I wanted to write it with.
The only day our schedules aligned was Marathon Monday, April 20th. After cheering on the marathon with my friends, Jayda and I locked ourselves in a practice room for about an hour and a half and wrote the song. It was completely last minute, but somehow it became the final piece of the puzzle. I’m so glad we made it work because it brought a different energy to the EP that I knew it needed!
With the help of my producer and engineer, Fooey Gomez, who I met in a songwriting class at Berklee, we created distinct moods for each song that reflect how my perspective on the same breakup changed over time. “I Wish You Were a Bad Guy” captures the intensity of the immediate aftermath, so we built it around electric guitars, dynamic shifts, and a more emotional, powerful production. “A Good Thing,” on the other hand, looks back from further in the future, describing the emotions of reconnecting with someone from your past. We made this one more acoustic, conversational, and reflective. Using different instruments and levels of intensity allowed each song to represent a different stage of processing heartbreak, creating an EP that takes the listener through that emotional journey.
We recorded the vocals during finals week, squeezing sessions in wherever we could. I'm endlessly grateful for Fooey and PTK5’s help throughout this recording process, we made it work in a practice room with a very makeshift setup. In a way, that feels fitting, because my songwriting journey started the same way: imperfectly, through trial and error, and by simply taking the leap.
After a summer of revisions, mixing, and mastering, the EP is finally ready! I couldn’t be more excited to share these songs with the world! More than anything, I hope they make someone feel understood. If even one person feels a little less alone because of these songs, it will all have been worth it.
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