I think all girls do struggle with image, despite not knowing what's going on with other people.
Soccer Mommy
Being a guitarist was scary, honestly, as a girl in Nashville. It just felt like no one was gonna ask me to be in a band and play guitar, like I never was gonna get asked to do that.
I haven't had a terrible relationship, but I've always been the type in a relationship to give too much and not speak out about problems I had or problems that were bothering me. I just wouldn't stand up for myself in any way if I was upset about something.
I've had so many young girls come up to me after a show and say, 'How do I start putting my music on Bandcamp?' or 'I used to play music, but I don't anymore, and I really want to start writing again.' That's just the most amazing feeling.
'Your Dog' I tried to re-record at my house, like, four times after the studio recordings were done.
I definitely learned stuff like advancing a show, what percentage I should be paid, what's going be in a contract I'm going sign.
Playing all the time keeps you on everybody's mind.
You're always just going to be who you are.
I've always wanted to do stuff to help encourage more women to play, whether it's booking women on my shows at home, even when I was just playing DIY shows, or booking benefit shows and having all women play.
'Under My Skin' was the first CD I ever owned.
I didn't make music until I was about 18. I'd been playing my whole life, but I wasn't putting it out because I didn't feel like people would take it seriously. I thought people would be like, 'It's just like sad girl music - it's like Taylor Swift.'
I went through a lot of maturing in a year or two. I left all my best friends, and I didn't really want to make new friends, so I spent a lot of time inside just being depressed.
Social media being used to discover new artists is great. There's not a barrier to enter the industry. People can just post music and share it. And if it's good enough, and people like it, it will grow.
When I was younger, I definitely wish I had felt more... I just wish I had started actually putting out my music earlier because I didn't do it until I graduated high school and felt like I was leaving. That's mostly because I have never liked my voice a lot or been like a particularly great singer.
Sadly, you can't just pretend that you haven't seen the creepy things that people have said about you. It's something that gets in your brain.
It's good to try and stay humble and down to earth, despite media and social media.
I thought that I wouldn't be able to make it because I'm a girl, but I think it was just a subconscious feeling. Pretty much every gig I went to was a band with four dudes.
I've played music since I was six, and I always wrote songs just for myself. I did it for fun, posting songs on Tumblr, Bandcamp, and Soundcloud. I didn't think anyone would notice.
I have more of a soccer dad. He was always the one taking us to sports practice.
I'm a huge fan of Joni Mitchell, and I think her music has inspired me lyrically and guitar-wise.
It's really cathartic to play my songs live. I'm a really non-confrontational person, so my songs are kind of like all the things I never get to say to anyone.
I think a lot of women could be making great music but still don't feel like they're capable - in fact, I know that's the case for a lot of young girls who try to do music.
It's hard for me to see myself as meaningful, but people seem to like my music, so who knows. Maybe my music is empowering some more young women to pick up songwriting/playing.
'Still Clean' discusses the hopelessness of waiting for someone who's abandoned you.
I feel like a crazy person all the time, and I feel like people are watching me, and I feel paranoid.
I don't really idolize artists.
It hasn't been a conscious thing, like, 'I don't want to listen to a bunch of dudes,' but I genuinely like music by women better.
The summer after high school, I got a TASCAM because I had been writing a lot and thought it would be cool if I recorded stuff not just on my phone.
When I released 'Songs From My Bedroom'... that's the one that people started actually listening to.
It's not an easy thing to manage - school and being in a band.
I have to not let anything get to me and not get an ego about it and just do what I want to do, do things because I like them, and make the music that I like unapologetically.
A lot of music that's my favorite doesn't sound like the music I write.
Mitski is an influence to me as a writer.
I think I'm much more of a guitar-songwriter than a singer. I start with chords and then test out melodies rather than improvising over it.
I listen to a lot of Nashville local music, which, for the most part, is punk and grunge music but also alt-country stuff down here.
I love Grimes!
I got a toy guitar at a fundraiser and was trying to write songs with it that were ridiculous. After a week, my parents bought me a real acoustic guitar, and I started taking guitar lessons.
Those reflective moments for me usually come from loneliness and separation from people.
I've seen girls start playing music who have told me they were inspired by me.
I kind of tend to write a lot of songs, so it's never too hard for me to finish an album; it's more about just getting enough songs that I really love.
I don't talk with people about how I am feeling - I just usually write a song about it.
I'm not really a sports girl anymore - I used to be a huge sports girl.
I am way too competitive! I get so crazy that I don't even care.
I was definitely thinking I'd go to college and make music on the side.
I never thought I would get signed to a label.
It's not that I can't collaborate. It's just that I don't know how to say no to people. If someone's like, 'Let's write a song together,' it's like, 'You'll write the song, and I'm gonna okay everything.' It's very hard to think that their ideas work with what I'm trying to do.
I was just happy with having friends that I liked and going to shows that I wanted to see.
When a lot of people think about how to be business-savvy as an artist, they think about how to brand themselves. At the end of the day, that stuff doesn't really help you. People know when you're being fake.
Moving gave me confidence. I was really reclusive when I first moved. I stayed home a lot or went to shows alone. But by the second semester of my freshman year, I started making friends.
When I signed my first record deal, I brought it over to my lawyer to look over.
