girl in red on writers block, self-censorship, and going cinematic – The FADER

For a lot of the songs across this album, it explores love from many different angles. Did making the album teach you anything about love, how you love, how you approach love?

I think it definitely made me sort of Im a lot more aware of my own role in a relationship now. And that might just be a result of growing up and kind of not thinking that everything bad that happens to you is, its someone else and putting the blame on others which is not something I do and not something I want to do. But sometimes people have the tendency to not look within before they start judging others. Im really looking at myself on a few of these songs and kind of thats also what Ive just been doing so much this past year. Is just looking in at myself and just being, Wait, what? What did I do here? And what could I have said differently here and how can I make it up to this person? Or how can I let this person know what I feel? And kind of just being like Thinking a lot more about communication which is so key in all of our relationships, really. So I feel like thats something Ive sort of been thinking about this past year when it comes to love and just

Are you a person who communicates better through their art than in conversation?

I would say so, because I dont know. Its definitely easier writing a song. Writing a song is like talking to yourself really. As long as youre okay with saying it to yourself, its not that hard to put it out on paper either or into your notes. Its definitely easier for me to write songs instead of communicating in real life. Im aware of that and thats something I want to get better at. I want to be like, Hey, you know what? What you said there that actually made me feel really shitty, instead of going home and being left with a weird feeling and then writing about it three months later.

And sort of on that tip, has keeping a diary helped you as a musician?

Yes. I would say so. It wasnt necessarily about a feeling, but I read a diary entry from 2014 the other day and I kind of go back to it sometimes where Im like, I want to be I was 15, 16, whatever. I want to make music. I havent been making any music recently. I feel like Ive lost my ability. And I was like, Oh my God. This is 15 year old, 16 year old Marie saying the shit Im feeling right now. And I was like So even though it wasnt anything related to a love entry or anything that, but it was just really great to see that I was struggling with feeling like Im never going to write a good song again at that age. And then Ive written several albums worth of music after that and that its going to be okay and that I just got to keep making stuff. So in a way I would say a diary entry has actually helped me as a musician.

When you look back at the music that youve released under your birth name, what is some of the key differences that you hear in it, between that work and your work as girl in red?

I would say the key difference is that this music really sounds like what I want it to sound like. And this music is straight out from my head and not someone elses. The music that was under my real name, I didnt know what producing was at that point. Even when I was in the studio with the studio guy, I didnt know that his role was a producer. And I didnt know that word. And I was just like, You glued the song together. I was so beyond a rabbit hole of not knowing anything. I would just say that the biggest difference is that this is truly how I want my music to sound and its coming from me because Im a producer now and I have abilities that I didnt have. I feel like thats the biggest difference other than the fact that its Norwegian and really bad.

So have you listened to some of your older girl in red songs recently? And if so, how do you feel about them now that youre going to release your first album?

I have. I actually checked out a few ones very briefly. But I still love them, but Im also like, Whoa, this sounds different. Ive gotten so much better. And that really so Im actually I get this really cool boost when I listen to them because Im like, Ive just been working so hard to get better and Im getting better and thats really inspiring. Even though sometimes I kind of lose track of that, Im actually progressing. Im actually getting better. And I listen to my old stuff and I was like, This sounds like mud. This sounds like I love this, but it also sounds like the mix is so off. The bass tone is literally Its the wrong key. Its dissonance. But its so raw and its so straight from my heart. So you can still feel how much I met everything and I just think thats really cool.

I also read that you really like film scores and of course the final track on your album is this beautiful instrumental piece. I was wondering if you had any favorite film scores and what kinds of movies you would like to score.

Thank you by the way. I also kind of look at that as a film score. And I think it sounds really peaceful. I dont Trying to I dont really have a favorite film score that comes to mind, but I always know when I really I always really appreciate it, but Im not a film score geek. But I want to score a movie maybe at some point in my life. Maybe not all by myself, but with someone. I feel like that would be great. To be in a studio with someone and kind of compose something together for a movie would be so cool. I dont even know what movie, but probably some indie movie thats shot on film, that just feels really A movie that would be really important to me as a teenager, I want to score one of those movies so that I can have something to say in a young persons adolescence and make the soundtrack to a movie that changed their life. That would be really cool.

So have you started thinking at all about how you want your next record to sound?

Yes, actually I have. And Im kind of in the middle of making that right now and figuring that out. Yes. I got to be productive. I have the weird opportunity now to not go on tour, but then to make more music. I kind of want to make the most out of that opportunity. I want to get cracking. Im going to the studio very soon. In three weeks, Im going back to the studio and Im going to be working on an idea that Ive been producing and writing on. So Im definitely trying to figure out what I want my second album to sound like.

Was writing an album something that you always wanted to do from when you started playing music? Because for a while, at least as girl in red it seemed like you were content to just put out singles and EPs.

That is something Ive always wanted. I saw this TikTok the other day that showed you how you could read your old Instagram bios. So I went to one of my first Instagrams. And I was in my bio, it was 16 and then music emoji. And then, Im making an album, music emoji. So when I was 16 years old, thats six years ago. So that was 16. And I was already, then, I was like, Im making an album. Obviously I wasnt because I did not know what it took at that point. I was just like, Im making many songs that is equals making album, which is not the same. But I think in some ways that is something Ive always wanted to do. I just think that the reason I was putting out so many songs was because I was kind of I had figured out that I could make songs and produce songs.

And that was such a big wow moment for me. So I wanted to sort of explore that a little bit before I wanted And sort of learn what it meant for me as a musician and kind of who am I as a musician and what role do I have? So I wanted to really take that time to figure it out. And I feel like if I wouldve made an album earlier, it wouldnt be If I Can Make It Go Quiet, it would, it would be something completely different and it would be rushed. And I also dont want to rush music.

I think thats a good point to talk a little about the album title, If I Could Make It Go Quiet. What does that album title mean to you in the context of the record?

In the context of the record, it means that theres so much shit going on in my head and I want to make it all go away, kind of. Its all about the mental noise thats so loud and it takes up all your mind space and it sort of sits in your chest and its everywhere. And its that loud feeling of wanting to make it all sort of go away and wanting to make it go quiet and wanting to just be happy and in a quiet place, kind of. Its a metaphor. So the quiet, the noise is everything thats not okay, kind of. And the world is a lot. So I just wanted to lower that shit.

And does making music help you do that?

Ironically, yes. Making music makes me really happy and it allows me to have a lot of other noise in my head instead of my thoughts that are incredibly annoying sometimes. So I would definitely say that making music makes other stuff go quiet.

Ive also read in a couple of interviews from you that world domination is the end goal. So in your mind, how is the world changed after girl in red has dominated it?

Thats a good question. Oh my God. I honestly dont even know. I should know this. I would just say that a lot of people are happy. People are being filled with great music. That is world domination. People are listening to music and they are connecting through music. I feel like that would be awesome.

Okay, great. I think well leave it there. Thanks for joining us, girl in red.

Thank you for talking to me. I hope you have a good day.

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girl in red on writers block, self-censorship, and going cinematic - The FADER