 Em, well-known as Emma Blue Jeans within musical spheres, just released their EP, TV People, on Friday, August 19th. I had the joy of speaking with them about writing songs that 'cradle your childhood,’ the growing pains and pleasures of growing up, and their favorite brand of blue jeans. Em’s feelings toward the suburbs are nuanced—they believe that it contains many hidden flaws, but they also widely associate the suburban lifestyle with warm memories with their mom, one of their best friends. They believe it’s important to give into your wants when you sing, and that you can hold space for your own unique experiences whilst feeling the same as others. TV People is a beautiful reflection of the heart, and everyone should give it a listen. Listen to the full interview here: Emma My first question is how are you feeling these days with the upcoming release of your EP? Emma Blue Jeans: Yeah. It feels kind of surreal in a way because it's like just normal days…I think I always imagined that it would feel really intense or something like because I’ve put music out before, but never anything I've like really put a lot into or gotten produced or have like a full band. But I feel just truly, very excited.  Emma: I was wondering what the story is behind your songwriter name, because I really love it. I think it's super endearing. I was wondering if there's any story behind it? Emma Blue Jeans: Yeah. Well, that's such a great question. My name is Emma Jean. My middle name is Jean, and I was always obsessed with that, and I always wanted people to like call me Emma Jean instead of Emma, because I really resented my name as a kid because it was the most popular name…I tried to get people to call me Emma Jean, but the only time it would happen is if my parents were mad at me and were telling me to come down the stairs or something. And then I think that most of my songs are pretty sad or have like some sort of angsty angle, so I thought that putting Blue is a little bit sad, and it's a play on words. So it's—Emma Blue Jeans. I kind of like that it can be like a separate character, like a lot of my friends as a joke, we refer to when I'm doing music as—EBJ. So it kind of feels like it's all me, but I like to pretend I can go into this character that really knows what they're doing. Emma: I love that. Yeah. And when I think of the name as well…there's definitely such a rich story behind that. I'm glad to hear it. And I think that another thing that's cool, you know, is that it kind of does also feel like playful and nostalgic, which I feel like your music, there’s this nostalgic feeling to it. I feel like you channel memories from your past. And then also, you know, you're talking about how as a kid, your parents would call you Emma Jean when they were telling you to come down the stairs.  Emma: I was also wondering where you're currently living because I did notice that there were a lot of references to your childhood home in your EP. So in the suburbs, especially. What prompted you to write about this subject? Is it because you were in that area a lot or were you just thinking about it? Emma Blue Jeans: I'm from New Jersey, born and raised. I only moved to Brooklyn in 2020, but I ended up spending a lot more time in New Jersey than I ever anticipated. So I feel like it's kind of a shift between New Jersey and Brooklyn daily because I work there part-time and I’m with my family a lot…I like the song Suburbia, which is like really about a specific phrase that I feel like is representational of other things. I wrote that when I was still living in New Jersey, but I feel like it matters now because it still really resonates, and I still have those feelings going back. My mom is one of my best friends, so I’m around her a lot, which yeah—my mom is suburbia, and I have to be there. Emma: So just interacting with her reminds you of your childhood home, of course. And then physically, it sounds like you were there a fair amount of the time, too. When you write about these things—because it sounds like in some ways you think, you feel a lot of loving feelings and affection— what would you say the predominant feelings are for you when you're writing about these things, including suburbia? Because I did notice there's some less pleasant feelings associated, as well addressed in the album. Emma Blue Jeans: I definitely think it's easier to, in some ways, talk about the hard things, or I also think if you describe something, kinda like if you stare at something long enough, you'll see something wrong with it. So it's like, if you're writing about an experience, you start to remember things or you'll be like—why did that happen? That was weird. I am a generally positive person, but I think that you can find the bad in everything. What I struggle to just talk about day to day and stuff—that's what songwriting has been, kind of my outlet for those negative feelings and it's like, I'd say the prominent feeling is probably nostalgia or I guess it's like, tinted. One of the things I know I'm good at is—memory. I can imagine a room that I grew up in, and I can remember the feelings and stuff, but it's rare that I put myself there. Listen to "T.V. People" now by clicking here or Emma Blue Jean's EP cover below.  Find Emma Blue Jeans on social media:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
