Words + Photos By: Leila Castillo
While on tour with Adam Melchor, one of our contributors, Leila Castillo, got the chance to sit down and talk with Grace about her new EP “Peach”, goals she hopes to achieve, and what she hopes her EP shows her fans. Read the interview down below!
LC: What was the main inspiration behind your EP and its title?
GG: I grew up loving peaches. Peaches were my favorite fruit. I grew up outside of Dallas, near Fredericksburg. It’s like 2 and a half hours west of Austin and they brag about their peaches and winery there. It’s like their personality trait. We would visit [ them] all the time growing up. It’s also something that my ex was coincidentally allergic to, so I wanted to reference it as a “Ha-Ha” funny thing. I think in movies that came out when I was in high school, starting college like “Call Me by Your Name” and stuff, had peach references. It was kind of a reference to my childhood and how happy that was, but it also calls to the heartache that I was experiencing during the last two years.
LC: What was the hardest part about writing and making your EP?
GG: Honestly, I think the hardest part was learning how to produce. It was like Greek to me. It was very much a different language. I have never been technologically strong, but I felt like I knew exactly how I wanted my songs to sound in my head and if I could just go on YouTube and be like “how to do __ sound in logic”. I had playlists that I would weed through and take diligent notes on to try and figure out how to emulate certain sounds. I wouldn’t recommend that intense of a process to anyone trying to learn how to produce. It was the most demanding part of the process. I’ve been writing and performing for a while but learning how to produce and channel what I heard in my head into a computer was a learning curve.
LC: How does a typical songwriting session go for you? Where do you get inspiration for songs?
GG: I took some songwriting classes when I was in college, and we did a lot of object writing. We would set a 10–15-minute timer and write about something random. I found that my friends and I would come up with things that were unknowingly poetic and doing that for a whole semester helps it become like a second nature to you. You can find metaphors in everything. I’m really lucky to be thinking that way. It is also like a blessing and a curse because I constantly whip out my Notes App around people. In terms of songwriting sessions, when I’m co-writing with other people, I’m always on the floor. I don’t sit in chairs or couches. It always starts with like really heartfelt discussions. We try to find common ground, and sometimes it’s totally random. It can come from everywhere.
LC: What do you hope your fans take away from your new EP?
GG: I think like processing is not the scary monster that it seems like it can be. There were so many times over the last 3 years that there was not a light at the end of the tunnel. I was stuck in that position for such a long time and no matter how much I wrote, I felt like I couldn’t get closer. When I stepped out of myself and looked inward, It was almost like a “Good Riddance” by Gracie Abrams type of moment where she writes how she was the problem in a lot of scenarios and when I looked at myself in that perspective, everything shifted. Getting some of those obstacles through my brain, it was totally okay, and it wasn’t this huge thing to be afraid of. I think I spent a lot of my life being really scared of big feelings. I am a teacher of children, and they experience big feelings on the regular, so it’s something I am used to handling but not in myself. So, I would say to not be afraid of big feelings, ya know.
LC: Who are your inspirations when it comes to songwriting/making music in general?
GG: There’s so many. I mean Adam Melchor has been inspiring me since high school. I was listening to “Real Estate” my senior year, and since then he’s been an inspiration for such a long time. To be opening for him, is like *deep breath out*. Huge fan of Lizzy McAlpine, I love her writing style, I think it’s gorgeous. I love Madison Cunningham, I got into her recently. [She’s] incredible.
LC: What are you looking forward to for the year? what are some things you would like
to achieve?
GG: I am definitely putting out my album this year. I personally have so much that I want to share with everybody. That’s definitely coming out. We’re trying to figure out what to do our next music video on, so we are waiting for input from everybody on that. I am really looking forward to that because I had so much fun shooting the “Deny Me” music video. Other than that, I am just going to be doing a whole lot of writing and playing.
LC: You’ve opened for amazing artists like Ella Jane and recently Adam Melchor, who are some other artists you would love to open for one day?
GG: Leith. Ross. I idolize Leith Ross. I think they are the freaking coolest. I have like a whole list in my Notes App of artists I would love to open for. I love Samia [seeing her next week], I’m excited. Also [Samia’s] opener, Tommy Lefroy, I would love to open for them too. Alix Page, rocks, Lizzy McAlpine, rocks. There are so many artists I would like lay my life down
to open for them.
LC: Thank you so much! It was amazing to get to talk to you!
GG: Thank you so much for having me. It was so nice getting to meet you again.
Find more from Grace Gardner here.
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