Isabel Maria On the Making Of “Holy Smokes!”
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind "Holy Smokes!" and the story it tells?
“Holy Smokes!” is a song I wrote about anger, and I’d say it’s inspired by alt-pop artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Phoebe Bridgers. Someone once told me that anger is like fire in the sense that it only burns the person who is holding onto it - so really I wrote the song as a way of letting go. It’s definitely a new and explorative sound for me so I’m super excited to have it out into the world!
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for this song?
I actually wrote the song just after a very intense period of writer’s block, so at first I was really critical of it, and hesitant to show anyone out of fear it was ‘cringe’ - I think this is a common songwriter fear! I took the chance, though, and I showed it to Josh - the producer of this song - and he was super complimentary of it. I think the really explorative (and fun) production process helped me see the light a bit, and “Holy Smokes!” is now a song I’m incredibly proud of.
What impact do you hope "Holy Smokes!" will have on your audience?
This was actually a nerve-wracking one to share, because it’s so different to anything I’ve put out before! I guess I just hope that people like the new vibe, and that the hard work has paid off. I also hope that people can find something of value to relate to within it, that’s always special.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
Yeah! I started writing songs when I was eleven, so about seven years ago - which is a bit scary. It all started when my grandad gave me an old Casio he’d found in his attic, and it was all chaos from there - I’ve been really lucky to have found other musicians my age though something called the Young Musicians Project which runs locally, and they definitely encouraged me to start playing shows and releasing more music.
How do you continuously grow and evolve as an artist?
I think as people we all are constantly growing and changing our minds about things, so I think really the music follows this. I could write one song per year about the exact same thing and it would always come out different because people change - and people evolve! The art just follows that, I think.