I really enjoyed your recent EP, “Winter”. What can you tell me about it?
Thank you! This EP started for me in October of 2022 when I wrote the title track, "Winter." At the point of writing this song, which I did at basically a whisper in my dorm room my freshman year of college, I had recently decided to "quit music." I had been releasing music since my sophomore year of high school, but had decided it was embarrassing and time consuming as I approached college. However, something in me had other ideas. I put this song on the back burner for a long time because I didn't feel ready to share this kind of honesty and vulnerability in my writing with the world yet, but I released other singles like "Untouchable You" and "What Could've Been" and received so much support from my community that I eventually decided to construct a project. Something I realized when I moved from Florida to Boston was how inspired I am by the seasons. Maybe it is because I never truly experienced them, but something about the dread and cyclical nature of the weather and the emotions associated with it has become a consistent metaphor for my own life that I draw upon frequently. In tandem with my realization of the seasons, I also moved away to college, and with that came its own challenges and realizations. The six songs on the EP are a time capsule of the last two years of my life and explore themes of identity, coming of age, and struggling with love and relationships. Each song represents a season to me, and I have carefully selected certain visuals and sounds in the project to try to communicate that with my audience. The brutal honesty that I put into the writing of the project was frankly terrifying for me, but a lot of my personal growth has been about letting go of worrying about what anyone else thinks of my music, and just putting what I believe is my best work out there. My hope is that any person of any age can listen to the EP and be transported to the universal experiences that accompany coming of age and feel validated in that.
Do you have a favorite song from the EP?
This is a tough question, and it changes depending on the day! I would say my favorite at the moment is "You Ruined This, You Ruined Them." I will always have a special affinity for the songs I write in less than 20 minutes that are like a time capsule to a very specific, and very emotionally charged point in my life. My producer, Cathy Ponce, also did an amazing job of capturing my exact vision for how I wanted this song to sound and feel. The structure differs from my normal style of writing, and it is definitely the most honest and searing song I have ever written to date. The repetition of the line "you ruined this, you ruined them" in a variety of different contexts feels very poetic to me, which is always the goal of my songwriting.
You also made a music video for the title track “Winter”. What was it like putting that together?
Making the music video for "Winter" was so exciting to be able to bring my entire vision of the project to life. My cinematographer, Daniel Botton, who also worked with me on my first music video for "What Could've Been," was also incredible at guiding the creative interpretation of my music. It was a very low budget two day shoot on Hutchinson Island, FL, where we used my grandparents house and other natural scenery for the set. The different settings are supposed to represent the four seasons, the leaves area being fall, the house being winter, the grass and bridge being spring, and the beach being summer. Each setting was actually color graded by Daniel in a different way to represent this! I have always been so inspired by nature, so it was really meaningful to have so many scenes of my home in the video. Like the project, I wanted to video to convey the cyclical nature of a tumultuous relationship- fall being the beginnings of love, fear, and expectations, winter being difficulty and emotional abuse, spring being "defrosting" and healing after finally leaving the relationship, and summer being the beginning of a new relationship and version of oneself. Fun fact, when we shot the fall scene in the leaves in jackets and jeans, it was 90 degrees in the middle of Florida summer!
Who or what would you say are your biggest musical influences?
My biggest musical influences when I was younger that got me inspired were Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks. I love them specifically because of the amount of emotion they put into all of their music, regardless of whether the songs are happy or sad. More recently, I am being inspired by folk-pop artists such as Lizzy McAlpine. I absolutely adore her style of writing, and there are very few songs of mine that she hasn't influenced both lyrically and through production. Lately, 70s folk artists such as Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell have been inspirations because of the poetic nature of their writing and my desire to write about different things in the future.
What is the biggest challenge you face when it comes to your music?
The biggest challenges I face are being so damn busy! I am a full time college student, student-athlete, and much much more, so it is difficult to also be a full time creative, music marketer, and performer. It is an essential part of my life and my happiness, but I definitely wish I had more time to put towards it. That is why all of my major songs and projects come after the summer!
What are your immediate music goals?
I want as many people to listen to Winter as possible and really connect with the music and the story. Right now, I am focusing on playing shows, getting the word out, and connecting with my fan base trying to build real connections and relationships. I am working on some more songs right now to release, so hopefully I can maintain steady growth in the future and continue to strengthen my craft as an artist and a performer!
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Let's see if we can get a few more people to stream "Winter"!
As always, I want to thank Lilly for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview.
I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. I would follow her on Instagram, and Spotify to make sure you don't miss a thing.
Thanks again Lilly, and good luck reaching your goals!
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