Hey Josephine, can you tell us about your background and how you first got started in music?
I started out by writing cringey songs to sing on a toy mic set. There’s one I still remember because it was in Dutch, as soon as I started to learn English at school, I started writing songs in English as well.
When I got a guitar for Christmas, I taught myself basic open chords to write songs. I used to write them down on paper and I still have the folder that holds those even though I forgot most of them. Smartphones weren’t a thing yet, so without recording it was hard for me to remember the rhythm and melody.
In my teens I bought this camcorder and I just started recording one-takes of myself whenever I finished a song and uploaded those to YouTube. Where, to this day, I still have about a hundred songs: on guitar, on a semi-toy keyboard, again on guitar, on piano, etc.
I did this for years until I went to college and bought an iMac, saw this weird “GarageBand” app that I never heard off and a whole new world opened for me, after a while of experimentation I learned how to make a basic piano track using midi with my computer keyboard. Later I learned about harmonies and layering vocals.
I think that technology helped me tremendously to find my own voice and to express myself musically in a way that I was kind of limited to do before that.
How would you describe your journey as an artist up to this point?
It’s so interesting to be honest. I didn’t really know people who made music like this personally so I kind of figured everything out by myself.
At the same time, songwriting came so natural to me that I didn’t see it as a skill I could work on, it was just something I did. So here I was taking every opportunity to find out what I wanted to do in life: I took lessons in music theory, classical guitar, electrical guitar, piano, drums, choir rehearsals, pop vocals, classical vocals. And I just couldn’t find what I was good at… meanwhile I was writing song after song after song.
In 2019 my songs were still mediocre. I was in college, just writing songs as a hobby when I had time.
One day, a YouTuber I followed “RoomieOfficial” started posting challenge videos, “write a song without the letter E in it”, “make a remix from the Nintendo Wii theme”, “do something creative with Dance Monkey”. I sent in a submission where I turned Dance Monkey into a bit of a sultry song. He featured it in a video and today it has 10K views on YouTube. It was insane. Of course, “virality” is temporary. The impact of the challenge, however, was huge! Not in terms of numbers but because it helped me find my voice, my sound.
Are there any personal experiences or life events that have had a significant impact on your music?
Poor mental health and people pleasing let me to a very low place with suicidal thoughts, where I went from “I wish I didn’t feel so alone in this” to “I don’t want anyone to feel this way and if I can help people by sharing my story, then I absolutely will”. Today’s world is filled with the need to keep up appearances. We live in a world where social status and society’s perception is more important than happiness and mental health. I never fit into the image of perfection, but I was trying to fit in. I don’t want to live like that anymore. I’d rather be honest, show people what real life actually looks like and that what they’re going through is okay and imperfection is normal.
I want to be the voice for the unheard.
How do you approach songwriting and the creative process in general?
Song ideas strike when least expected: at work, in the shower, on public transport. That’s when I record my ideas. It’s awkward af but I’ve gotten used to it.
I now have about 10 drafts that are ready to go (ready to be re-recorded, produced). So I never really experience writers block because I don’t put pressure on myself in that way. I get uninspired all the time, but when I do, I record and produce.
This time I let my audience vote on which out of 10 songs they want me to work on first. There were rock songs, ballads, pop songs, etc. The majority chose for me to write a song about my dad, who passed away last year.
No matter how big or small my audience is, I like to incorporate them in the process here and there. Which is why I used to do songwriting/ production livestreams. The audiences’ input could turn the whole song around and it’s so interesting. Their perspective is like a breath of fresh air.
What do you hope to achieve as an artist in the future?
I would love to release more of my music, write more songs, but also I’d love to start performing them. I’m really nervous about that but I have a feeling it can be the most fun thing I’ve ever done!
Can you share any personal hobbies or interests outside of music that inspire your creativity?
Of course! I like to work on myself, which might be a strange thing to mention as a hobby but
improving myself, setting goals for myself, makes me so happy. I hoard Mac lipsticks, I hoard
fragrances. Because that’s also a way I like to express myself. Whether the color is pink, red, brown or purple, blue, green, black, you can change your whole look with just a pop of color. And different scents bring me to different memories and moods. I also like horror movies. I tried to watch everything Marvel but it’s nearly impossible. I like working out; so home workouts, walks, running.
Could you provide some background on your song “Bitter Pill” and its inspiration?
I wrote it years ago when I had a crush on someone, it seemed mutual but after spending the night together and him complimenting me, he started ghosting me. I was really confused and sad. I tried reaching out so I could understand and move on.
One day, we were in a video call with mutual friends and somehow in the conversation he said “some people should really know their place, don’t they, Josephine”. I was even more confused and sad and angry.
It turned out he was still together with his girlfriend… I didn’t know this at the time. He talked about her like they broke up but after a little while, photos with his girlfriend started resurfacing. So it suddenly clicked why he was acting so weird.
I just spit Bitter Pill out in a furious mood. And I love it. It’s vengeful, playful, provocative. It was a little confidence boost to myself: “I see what you’re doing, don’t forget I have the truth on my side”.
How does “Bitter Pill” fit into your larger body of work and musical evolution?
I said before that I want to be the voice of the unheard and I can do that in so many ways:
- What If I’m Right was about finding out my mom relapsed with alcohol addiction.
- I Only Trust Myself was about breaking free from society’s expectations and living for yourself. The video is full of quotes representing limiting believes around religion, sexual
- assault, mental illness, racism, etc.
- Last I See is about IPSV: intimate partner sexual violence, it’s a breakup song about breaking free from a toxic relationship.
- Enemy represents the biggest hurdle in your life: yourself. If you can overcome that, there’s
- nothing that can stop you.
- Bitter Pill is about not allowing someone to control your narrative and that you can take back your power by coming forward with the truth and owning up to your actions.
I might write songs about revenge, adultery, self-harm. And although it’s usually to get something out of my system I will always offer an interesting point of view or make someone feel seen.
Can you share any interesting or memorable anecdotes from the creation or performance of “Bitter Pill”?
Now I get erections
The bridge holds the name of the person I wrote it about
There’s a little motive you hear in the intro and the break after the first chorus, it sounds like
kekekeke scraping but it’s actually my breath
I let my audience pick the color scheme for the album art
The contest
- I almost changed the lyrics from the second verse because I think it sounds like “okay, so now
I get erections” instead of “okay, so now I get your actions” but I left it in cause I thought it
was funny. - The bridge actually holds the name of the guy it’s about.
- There’s a little motive you hear in the intro and in the break after the first chorus, the one
with the breaths, that sounds like scraping something, but it’s actually my breathing, edited. - Tonic Audio, two-time grammy award winning producer Nahuel Bronzini and I organized a remix challenge where the winner got a mixing session with Nahuel Bronzini himself. The winner made a rock version of Bitter Pill, which – if he’s okay with it – will appear on my
Spotify.
Is there a specific moment or line in the song that holds special significance for you?
I love the line “I don’t live in the past cause I’m a present, I can smell her despair she’s a depressant”.
The second verse in general, I really love, it’s very empowering to me, very playful. It says “I hold the power, whether or not I have you, is my choice”.
What do you hope listeners will take away from “Bitter Pill” after hearing it?
Some people like to hunt, to conquer people, with no goal other than to have sex with them.
Without clear communication that can end up hurting us. We turn events like that into shame, into negative self-talk. Sex should be as fun for anyone as it is for hunters. No matter what happens, no matter who you are, you are powerful, desirable, sensual. Don’t forget that, don’t base your value on others’ perception.
