INTERVIEW: Annie O'Malley
Annie O'Malley
The Photo Ladies Interview
19 year old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie O'Malley is unlike most teenagers. When she was a senior in high school, she sent a demo to rock band Chicago's manager that led to her opening for the band at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati with 3 days notice. To kickstart a music career in front of 20,000 people was an experience most musicians rarely experience. She then joined Chicago for 16 dates on that tour, which taught her a lot about touring and performing live. Having had a lifelong love of music, O'Malley has always had a love of performing and started songwriting at a young age, a skill that has evolved over the years. With influences that range from Taylor Swift, alt-J, U2 and Flume, she derives her inspiration from many different sounds to create her indie-pop tracks. Growing up in Chicago, her parents always encouraged an open dialogue in their house and were adamant that everyone talk about their feelings, which has led to an open, honest and raw approach to her lyrics when songwriting. She believes in having a transparency to her lyrics, with a desire to make music for those going through similar changes and growth as her. Annie first garnered attention last year with her independently released single "Chase Me Down," which has organically collected over 200,000 streams on Spotify and caught the attention of producer of Johnny K (Plain White T's). She has since released several tracks such as "Planet Golden", "Island", "You're The Drug", "Golden Doves", and most recently "Mrs Nice", songs that aim to reflect her own life events and some that have a message of empowerment, each showcasing her journey towards being a more confident artist. O'Malley released her debut EP Golden on April 29th, produced by Johnny K, which addresses topics such as love, self-empowerment, loneliness, and heartache. With her goal to be a positive influence for her generation, she is well on her way to achieving that goal! You can follow Annie O'Malley and stay up-to-date on all upcoming music and artist news, as well as stream and purchase her music, via the following links.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | SoundCloud | iTunes/Apple Music | YouTube | Deezer
You released your new EP Golden today! What can you tell me about the process of writing and recording the EP and the message you hope people take away from it? What has it been like to release an EP during a shutdown, when you might normally be preparing to tour?
This EP has songs on it that I have written in the last 6 years. They have been some of the staple songs of me starting this career and were the first couple songs I saw people had responded well to! The most important thing for me is that people know that every melody and every word came from my head and my heart and was seen through my eyes. These are my experiences that I have learned and written about and I hope people can get a glimpse into my mind.
You have said that you have a new mindset for 2020 and that this is the year for big things. In what ways have the COVID-19 shutdowns affected your goals for this year?
When I said that I have a new mindset for 2020, the biggest things are being okay to make mistakes, understanding my feelings and dealing with the ones I really don't want to, making sure I have a good balance in my life and staying healthy and not pushing so hard for me to do everything. To learn and pay attention to the things that make me happy and incorporate more of that into my life. To understand that I do not know where I will end up or the end results or to stress about what I cannot control, and to learn to not avoid obstacles and to face things head on. These are things I have always struggled with like most 19 years do and so I have been very verbal about dealing with it all:) I had a lot of fun planned that COVID had to put on pause but I really believe everything happens for a reason. Sitting and waiting for this all to pass has made me realize how much more I want to go out and get what I want and to not take for granted being able to plan what my next week or month will look like.
You’ve mentioned that one of the hardest parts of being a musician is dealing with the music industry being a roller coaster! What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced in the industry and what lessons have you learned over the years?
I would say some of the big challenges would be taking advice but not letting it make things unnatural, trying to focus on your path and don’t look at others and think you are doing things wrong. To know that everything you encounter makes you stronger and better, people will not like you or your music and won’t have a reason why and you have to have peace with it, and learning to enjoy the journey and not think so much about the outcome.
When you first started out, you have said that you did what your idols did and sang their songs and copied them. What has your journey been like, as you’ve grown and evolved over the years, in creating your own sound and vision as an artist? What has it been like to develop and gain the confidence to be yourself?
I definitely looked up to many people, I wouldn’t say I copied them, but I studied how they were and took bits and pieces. I always watch live performances of people for hours and see how they interact with the crowd and how they perform. So that has been a big part in where I am today. My journey has been long and detailed and really cool. I have tons of things pop up that didn’t work and some things that have, I really honestly have no complaints. I will be where i am meant to be in my own time. Confidence is a hard thing to find sometimes but I was born with a very big personality, I always wanted the attention, I always wanted to perform, I always wanted people to watch what I did and that really paid off because I was never afraid. As you get older it’s much harder to live so fearlessly because for a very long time I put what others thought of me before anything else but I’m getting a lot better with that.
A lot of artists in the industry often find it hard to be the kind of artist they want to be. Have you felt those pressures as an artist, to pursue a musical path that didn’t feel right to you?
I have totally felt those pressures because people around you will tell you that you are doing the wrong thing and you will have a million opinions if you ask enough people. But that’s something I had to learn by experience. You don't want to be difficult but you want to be heard so it’s very important to do what feels right to you. Whenever I post something that is very raw verses more practiced or finetuned people know and they react very differently.
You had the opportunity to kickstart your music career by opening for the band Chicago and playing in front of 20,000 people, ultimately joining them on tour! What did you learn from that experience about touring and performing an artist?
I learned a lot, they were so incredibly welcoming and kind to me even though I was so young and new. They actually watched parts of my performance and gave me tips and even compliments. I saw what it was like for them to perform for 2 and a half hours a night and do meet and greets and I wanted nothing less. It was just more proof that it was exactly what I wanted, and it was what I needed in my life.
You have talked about how your music is documenting this transitional time in your life. What has that been like for you? Do you feel that you have learned things about yourself through your music?
When you find a song you love, and you listen to it on repeat you get to imagine that song as the soundtrack to your life. And sometimes there are songs that are so moving and so special to you that you get like 2 seconds of relief, just 2 seconds of "I could do anything" or "I’m gonna be okay" or "I’m not alone" and that’s an incredible feeling. I get to live my life and write my own soundtrack and then people get to hear it. Regardless of what the numbers are or how many people like it, if I have reached one person like that, then I did exactly what I wanted to. When I sleep, I think of lyrics, when I get hurt, when I laugh, when I read, when I watch, all the time, I imagine things in a song and it’s so fun I love it so so much.
Why do you feel that time spent outdoors fuels your creativity more than anything else?
Being outdoors lets you listen to yourself and in our crazy world sometimes it’s good to just listen for a second.
You are also very hands on with your music videos, designing the storyboards and recording them yourself more recently on your camera. Having mentioned how conscious you are about the way visuals can impact an auditory experience, what do you hope your videos say about your songs?
I want my videos to portray the vision I have when writing the song, but I also want them to feel like I had a very big part in them, because it makes it more of a conversation between me and the listener rather than me and a hundred other people and the listener. With that said, I have also worked with some amazing people and I couldn't do it all alone.
People turn to the arts in times of uncertainty and anxiety, which we are certainly facing now. How has making music helped you during this time?
I strongly believe in doing what makes you happy and what keeps you calm, and music does do that for me, so I have been playing and writing a lot. It’s a hard time and it’s important to look at the facts and not get caught up in a lot of the false reporting because it will drive you mad.
What kinds of things do you like to do when you aren’t playing music? Do you have any fun hobbies outside of music?
Really anything artistic is good for me, I like listening to people talk through problems and helping them coming up with solutions and keeping on track with them about their life, and I love to journal. I journal all the time, I love to be with people who make me laugh, to run on the treadmill while singing my songs. Things like that.
You just released your new single "Mrs Nice"! What can you tell me about the song? Are you planning to do a music video for the song?
“Mrs. Nice” is a song I wrote about what would happen if I did the wrong thing for a second. If I didn't do exactly what I was supposed to and I made mistakes. Would that be the worst thing in the world? This has been something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently because I am at an age where I am expected to be mature, but I don't wanna grow up too fast because I won't learn enough from my failures. I am hoping to do a music video, I have lots of ideas!
What’s next for you?
What’s next is just keep living my life and paying attention to all the detail and putting it into my music :)
