Photography by Hayley Hill
"A lot of the stories I’ve written about have to do with distance," says New York songwriter Gabrielle Marlena, whose new album Good Music For You releases this Friday. The songs on this record grapple with "leaving behind love" and all of the strain a relationship takes on when two people are separated by continents, "Today it’s so easy to live in the past through social media, so it’s harder to let go of things, and it inspires a lot of music in me." Rescue you, which comes from a piece of advice given to Marlena by her sister: "No one’s going to rescue you" is a uniquely memorable song with a classic, dreamy, Mazzy Star like quality, punctuated with twangy guitars and Gabrielle's soaring, soulful voice, "I've forgotten how to put myself to sleep," the song becoming a meditation on self-love, independence, and perseverance. What does it mean to define ourselves apart from our partners, to come to our own aid in hours of crises, to find the answers, like a phone call, coming from within? Each time a song is reopened so too are the wounds of broken hearts and lost love, but in the moment when that first chord is struck and the voice amplifies and fills the room, when ears and hearts are open, healing, it seems, fills up the space between what happened and where one is now. Hearts always break again, but maybe they break differently, when we become the ones capable of rescuing ourselves. Good Music For You, is exactly that; cathartic, self aware and asking big questions. "Communication," after all "is so important, and it’s the only thing that will get you through." AHC: What has this journey in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way? Gabrielle: I think it’s more about music as an outlet for expression during the highs and lows of general life experience. Music has gotten me through heartbreak, through the stress of college, through moving to new cities, and through fights with my siblings. Music will forever remain a high. Yea, there’s been the occasional singing to an almost empty room, but as long as I’m expressing myself and others are relating to what I’m saying, I’m on a high. In terms of life lessons that I’ve picked up along the way, self-expression solves everything. Never be afraid to send that text, make that phone call, write a song, have that conversation. Communication is so important, and it’s the only thing that will get you through. Songwriting is how I communicate. AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them? Gabrielle: When I was about 9, my whole family participated in the local theater production of The Wizard of Oz. I was a munchkin (hard to believe, as I’m now 6’ tall), my brother was a flying monkey, and my mom played Glinda. I remember I memorized the lyrics to all the songs in the play, and I would help my mom remember her lines, even though I only had one. The theater phase only lasted a short while, but my mom would always sing folk songs to put me to bed. And my dad would make me collect all my concert tickets in a binder. He couldn’t carry a tune, but he had his Fender Stratocaster electric guitar in the attic that he bought when he was 18, which now sits in my Brooklyn apartment. Music was always a topic of conversation, and I chose to focus on Britney Spears, Fefe Dobson, Avril Lavigne, and Vanessa Carlton. “I’m With You” by Avril Lavigne is what comes to mind as my earliest “wow” moment, and I won first place in my 6th grade talent show singing Avril’s “Too Much to Ask.” AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote or played? Or that first moment when you picked up a pen and realized that you could create whole worlds just by putting it to paper? Gabrielle: I don’t think it was the first song I ever played, but my earliest memory of really learning how to perform a song was “Two Points” by Deb Talan, from a mixed CD that my cool older sister gave me. I still play that song today during sound checks. First song I ever wrote? About a boy I had a crush on when I was 12 at summer camp, who happens to now be my best friend. AHC: Which musicians have you learned the most from? Or writers, artists, filmmakers, teachers/mentors etc? What are the works you could not possibly live without? Gabrielle: I think music and art is mostly about honesty. The artists that have taught me most about honesty are Alannis Morrisette, Dido, Adele, Amy Winehouse, First Aid Kit, Sharon Van Etten, and more recently, Julia Jacklin, who I talk about all the time. I’m waiting for her to notice. Looking at my Spotify library right now, a lot of the artists I listen to today are focusing on experimentation with sound, which is awesome, but I guess I’m trying to bring back a focus on lyrics. AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak? Gabrielle: I think it’s really important to emote several emotions within one song. There need to be motivational bits, soft bits, strong bits, sad bits. The feeling of the listener needs to change over the 4 or 5 minutes, otherwise they get bored. I know I’ve written a good song when I’m out of breath at the powerful part, but then I have a moment to relax and listen to the guitar strings. After all, songs are little more than just stories, and every good story needs a beginning, middle, and end, with a few elements of surprise. AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, a slightly imperfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, states of rupture/rapture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener, even if only momentarily? Gabrielle: I think about songwriting and healing a lot. I struggle with the issue that, though songwriting is cathartic and healing, it also immortalizes an experience that, for other people, might fade with time. For example, the album I’m releasing next month is made up of songs about a relationship that ended two years ago, and I’m going to be singing these songs for the next year and probably for the rest of my life. Though writing them helped me move past a heartbreak, performing them sometimes brings me back to that pain. But you develop a certain type of maturity that allows you to look at your work as exactly that: a piece of work. It’s important to find the emotion again while performing the song, because emotion is what makes a great performance, but you learn to snap back into reality and remember that it’s been two years… chill. But what I’m trying to say is, yes, songwriting saves me. I don’t think I would have the emotional maturity that I do today without it. AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road? Gabrielle: Summer camp! Guitars by the fire, singing folk songs, singing Sublime, my friends rapping Kanye West lyrics. AHC: When you set out to write a song, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell? Gabrielle: Well a lot of the stories I’ve written about have to do with distance, namely the one that is my debut album: leaving behind love in Australia. A lot of it has to do with communicating from the literal other side of the world, and the difficulties of allowing something so strong to fizzle out because of distance and only distance. That kind of story might have existed 100 years ago, but there wasn’t Skype and Facebook messenger and Instagram. Today it’s so easy to live in the past through social media, so it’s harder to let go of things, and it inspires a lot of music in me. Between the ages of 17 and 22, I moved around a lot, from the US to Canada to Europe to Australia to Canada to the US, and I’m so grateful that that movement has been accessible to me, but it comes with it’s difficulties. AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are just starting out and trying to find their voice and their way in this world? What are the kinds of things that you tell yourself when you begin to have doubts or are struggling with the creative process? Or what kinds of things have others told you that have helped push you past moments of self doubt/creative blocks? Gabrielle: Only write about what you know. People will sense if something is not earnest. I have a tattoo on my arm that says “To be an artist” that everyone loves to ask about, and I hate to answer. I think I saw a quote on Tumblr once that said, “To be an artist, you have to know something that is true,” so I tagged along to another friend’s tattoo appointment and got the first half of that tattooed on me. Don’t know why I only got half. Maybe because full quote tattoos seemed cheesy? Also, if you’re feeling something while you’re performing, other people will feel it too. If you’re struggling with the creative process, stop trying to be creative. You can’t force it. The best songs I’ve written didn’t start when I was holding my guitar. They started when I got distracted while doing something else, which is why most of my lyrics begin on my iPhone. In terms of advice from others, my sister’s advice that “No one’s going to rescue you” inspired my first single, ‘Rescue You.’ That was more life advice than music advice, about learning to count on myself rather than guys, but that’s what songwriting is about, right? AHC: Your new record, Good Music For You, is set to release this August, could you expand on your ideas behind this record, what its message/appeal to the world is, your hopes for where this lands? Gabrielle: When I moved to New York and started to meet with my producer Katie Buchanan, I had a folder on my computer of demos that I thought were my “best songs.” They were written anywhere between my first year of college and six months post graduation. I was planning on making those songs into an EP. But I was still stuck on this breakup even after I moved to New York, one year later. I finally realized that I needed closure, and if it wasn’t going to come from this guy, it was going to come from my debut album, 11 songs that told the story of the fallout of my first relationship. Like a line in my song referring to my ex-boyfriend, “You told me heartbreak would help me write, and that was rude but you were right.” For more visit www.gabriellemarlena.com/ Good Music For You will be available this Friday. Visit gabriellemarlena.bandcamp.com/ to purchase a copy. 8/11/2017 12:52:22 pm
I absolutely love this song (the new ones posted later, too)! And, my four-year-old dances like a little pixie to your music. Comments are closed.
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December 2024
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