What first inspired you to pursue music, and who were your biggest musical influences growing up?
I have a hard time picking out a specific moment in my life where I decided I wanted to pursue music. It always kind of felt like the thing I was meant to do for as long as I can remember. My first solo was at 3 years old in church choir, and I haven’t stopped singing or performing since. Growing up I had a lot of musical influences, but the biggest ones were always The Beatles and Taylor Swift. My mom says I could pick out a Beatles song playing in the grocery store as a toddler.
When did you write your first song, and what was it about?
The first song I ever wrote was with a friend when I was 8 years old. It was summer and we were bored hanging out at her house. I remember getting a piece of college lined paper and a pencil and telling her we should write a song. It was called Butterflies, and it was about seeing a boy you had a crush on all over town. It wasn’t very good!
How do you feel you’ve evolved as an artist and as a person since you first started making music?
My artistry has evolved so much over the years. Even just since two years ago I’m a totally different person. Music and art are always shifting, just as your personality does as you age. I see my music as an extension of me, and looking back I feel we’ve grown up together. My writing has matured with me and changes as I go through different seasons in life. I think the biggest thing music has given me is a space to express myself and how I’m feeling, which is something I feel I struggled with as a kid.
Where do you feel most inspired to create music, and what does your creative process look like?
The outdoors always bring me a lot of inspiration. Especially if I’m around water or big trees. That’s one of my favorite things about where I live in Washington state. Nature has a way of stirring things inside me.
My creative process I feel is a very spiritual thing for me. Ideas are coming to me all the time and I keep thousands of notes in my phone. But when I sit down to write, I let the song find me. I envision creating as tapping into a bottomless well of ideas and songs that are waiting to be written. I sit quietly with my eyes closed for a few moments and listen. Usually while sitting at a piano or with my guitar. Then a song comes. Sometimes it’s easier than others, and things don’t always get finished right then or ever. But that’s how I get in tune with myself and the universe in order to create.
Who has been your biggest supporter throughout your journey, and how have they influenced your work?
My family and friends have always been incredibly supportive of my art. They encouraged me to study music at university, and to quit my well-paying retail job to become the Music Director at a School Of Rock. Without their support I don’t think I’d have ever come as far as I have, and I’m truly grateful for every last one of them.
What does the title “From Beginning to End” mean to you, and how does it reflect the themes of the EP?
The EP tells the story of a relationship literally from the beginning to the end. I had a few other ideas for the title, but ultimately decided to go with this one as I felt it captured the message without being too abstract. I wanted to talk the listener on a journey, from beginning to end.
How long did it take to create this EP, and what was the most rewarding part of the process?
This EP was about a two year process. I had the help of an amazing studio out of Boston called Plaid Dog who worked with me to create a crowdfunding campaign to make the project. It was my first project ever done completely in a studio which was super exciting! So many parts of the process were incredibly rewarding; it was amazing to see how many people donated to the campaign. Starting out, I didn’t think I was gonna raise any money but we ended up surpassing our goal! That was just priceless to see and feel the support of so many people in my life. The actual recording process was amazing for me as well. I loved being in the studio environment with these amazing musicians and my producer Ryan who walked with me through the whole thing. I loved every second of it!
Can you walk us through the inspiration behind one of the tracks on the EP?
All of the tracks are inspired and based on my real life, but one that stands out to me is the closing track Blurred Gray Memories. I wrote that song after waking up from the dream that’s described in the opening lines. The dream was literally verbatim what I wrote down in that verse, and the rest of the song just sort of spilled out of me.
Do you have a favorite song on the EP, and if so, why does it stand out to you?
I think my favorite song off the EP is Enough. This is the oldest song on the record and one I’ve been playing at gigs for years so it’s really exciting to finally have it out in the world.
If you could summarize the message or takeaway you want listeners to have from “From Beginning to End”, what would it be?
The main thing I wanted listeners to feel from this album was comfort. And to know that even though a lot of our relationships have expiration dates, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t important and influential pieces of our lives. This EP came out of my real life, and a relationship that ended after a long time. I know people can relate to the story and maybe see a bit of themselves in some of the lyrics, and that’s my goal with my music. To touch others in the way that music has touched me. To maybe give them a song that describes perfectly what they’re feeling, because I’m feeling that too. We can be sad together! Then we can be happy together.
