UPSAHL has been making waves all throughout the music world. Her songs are indie-pop perfection and her lyrics are quirky and sometimes dark but always original. We talked to her about her debut EP.
How does it feel to release your EP?
UPSAHL: Insane. I have been working towards this for the past couple years. I’m just glad I finally get to release a body of work that is representative of where my life is at right now.
Your lyrics are so unique! Tell me about your writing process?
UPSAHL: Thanks! I really like to keep my lyrics conversational and relatable. A lot of my writing process just stems from somebody unknowingly dropping a song title during a conversation, and then everyone in the room is kind of like, “that could be a song,” and then we write from there. Songwriting is really like therapy for me, so it really just depends on how I’m feeling and what I’m going through on any given day, as well as how my co writers are feeling. Pro tip: if you don’t want to pay for professional therapy, just go to writing sessions 😉
What has been inspiring you lately?
UPSAHL: Everything. I’m in a part of my life and in my career where pretty much everything I’m doing is new territory. I just moved to LA last year, so I’m still adjusting to that, I just left for my first tour across the US, and I’m releasing my first EP, the relationships I have with the people around me are evolving, and I’m re discovering who I am as I enter into my twenties. So my life is full of a bunch of firsts right now.
What’s your favorite song off the EP, or the one with the best backstory?
UPSAHL: Best backstory to a song off the EP would probably be “All My Friends Are Rich.” I was with the producer, KillaGraham, who also produced “Drugs.” We had a session with another writer that day, and they had just left. I literally had my bag on my shoulder ready to leave the session for a party, and I said something along the lines of, “It’s so annoying, like all of my friends are rich.” Graham was like “Ok we have to write a song called All My Friends Are Rich right now.” So we wrote the song in 30 minutes. It was one of those songs where I knew I wanted it on the EP the day we wrote it.
How are you prepping for your tour?
UPSAHL: Since it’s my first tour ever, I’m obviously very nervous about everything, but I’m also super pumped to just jump into it and embrace the chaos of it. We’ve just been rehearsing a ton the past week or so to prep. Most importantly, I got a Memory Foam neck pillow for the road, so I feel like I’m ready to conquer the world.
What keeps you motivated?
UPSAHL: I think at the end of the day, what keeps me motivated the most is knowing that I literally can not do anything else except for music. For me it’s not a matter of wanting to be an artist, it’s just that it’s the only thing I can ever picture myself doing, so there’s really no option other than to make it work.
Follow her on Twitter and Instagram and listen to the new album now.