her voice box On the Making Of “teenage jaws”
What was the creative process like for this particular "teenage jaws?"
I tried my best not to overthink this time. Making a rather painful process into a painless process, which is rare for my songwriting. It gave me a freedom, where I'm not trying to be perfect. Once I thought of something, I recorded it, and didn't change it. Unless it was awful.
Can you talk about the recording and production process for "teenage jaws?"
I made it in my room. So I used free samples for the instruments from labs by Spitfire (check them out!). The only thing performed was the guitar and the singing. I don't spend too much money on my production process, this is because I know it won't be worth the money. Because I can hardly hear the difference between fancy stuff and cheap stuff. I want to inspire people to make music like me. And us musicians are tempted to buy into expensive gear because we think "it might make the difference that will make or break the song." This fear of missing out has put me in a prison which I broke free of. Please note I don't want people to never buy stuff, I buy things too, I just want people to realize that you don't have to go fancy!
What has been one of your most favorite memories along the path to making "teenage jaws?"
When I recorded the vocals I told myself to make it sound completely awful with effects like distortion and EQ. So to add to the badly recorded vibe I decided to whisper sing. Barely making any noise at all. And so I cranked it up with distortion and compressed the crap out of it. After I really liked how it sounded, which had never happened before. I've never before heard vocals I recorded that I thought sounded cool. So it gave me joy, and I always cherish brief moments like this in the painful process of music.
Can you share a bit about your musical background and the journey that led you to where you are today?
My parents or family weren't musical growing up. So I never was exposed at an early age. Therefore I always felt like I was late to the party and this has bothered me a lot. I used to feel like I was too late, and I would eat the negativity, making it very painful to learn guitar. I started learning when I was 16. And I could barely bring myself to play, but I think my negativity turned into determination at some point, and I told myself "I'm going to be the best" and basically stayed home all day practicing guitar for like a year. Making sure to not go on social media and see videos of kids going crazy on guitar, makes me hate myself more. My singing journey has been the same, but the hopelessness I felt with singing was probably greater than my guitar process.
What role do you feel emotions play in your music, and how do you channel them into your performances?
I guess it's a thing people associate with art. The idea that you channel you're suffering into an artistic medium such as painting and music. And maybe for some artists, this is definitely a big thing for them. But for me, I have always tried to channel my emotions into the songs I write, and I always feel like it doesn't express it. It feels like I'm not doing a good enough job or something. And if I sing and try to channel it, I start sounding like an annoying whining version of myself. So I'd say the role my emotions play is getting started in the first place. I'll hear a song and it brings out my emotions, and I get to a state of mind where I want to start and make art.
