Interview with Zoe Gabrielle

                 Hey guys! I know it’s been a while, but I AM BACK!!! And I’m back with a special treat for all of us because for the first time, I had the awesome opportunity to interview an artist and pick her brain on her opinions on both making music and the music scene we see today. Zoe Gabrielle is an upcoming singer who is originally from Nebraska but moved to Chicago to both pursue her education and her passions in the music industry.

Zoe’s upbringing is a unique one that is surrounded by singing and musical theatre her whole life, giving her the impression that she was meant to be a part of the music/theatre field in some way, but didn’t realize her path until she impulsively released her first song in 2021. This path didn’t come quickly though as Zoe experimented with different aspects of music to see what works for her and what skills she wanted to perfect. Singing throughout high school, Zoe took an extra step by experimenting with production with FL Studio and later realized that she loved the performance aspect of music but dreaded writing. However, once she released her first song, she immediately knew this would have to change as she felt more inspired to work on her musical career. 

To practice her music writing skills, Zoe took to YouTube and started creating melodies to beats she found online to try to create lyrics for them. For her, the hardest part of writing music was structure and finding a balance between expressing creativity and staying to a certain formulaic song structure. It’s so easy to make a chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, outro, but it’s definitely harder to manipulate these structures to allow personal expression to take over and make the song truly yours. These questions and practices of writing lyrics to beats are important because it allowed her to practice something she knew could’ve been improved. It’s often common to think that when an artist decides to make music, they need to have a certain standard of musical skill before they take to the mic so they don’t make music that could be considered less than their contemporaries. But it’s clear here that it’s not the case. By Zoe sharing her experience early on with learning how to write music, we can see that it’s the struggle and the ability to grow in your career that truly creates the aspects of artists that we cherish today.

Loving genres that range from indie to r&b to alternative, Zoe knew that she wanted to make music that sounded like the music she listened to her whole life. Taking in inspirational musical artists like The Spice Girls, the 1975, The Growlers, and many others, Zoe entered the musical scene with a clear reference for how she wanted to go about her music, her visuals, and concept art. She also enjoys listening to artists that took over today’s music scene with Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Tame Impala to name a few. Again, this is another important aspect of Zoe to understand because these numerous references from both the past and present help give a solid idea of how she wants to go about making music. Taking all of this with her musical theatre experience in mind, Zoe knew right away that she loved telling stories through her music. To do this, she enjoys creating characters in her work that flesh out the stories that she creates for each song she makes. This storytelling aspect of her music is effective as it shows quality and range in her music when Zoe creates personas that reflect both her and the figures her stories reflect on. Her recent song, “Copy”, showcases this storytelling vision as the song does an effective job of describing the confusion and emotions that come with a complicated relationship.

As I mentioned before, Zoe’s musical journey started in the middle of a pandemic in 2021. That’s a very interesting time to start being an artist, so it was interesting to hear her speak on the pros and cons that come with making music during a turbulent time like this. Starting with the pros, Zoe actually found it easier to collaborate with people virtually during a time when lockdowns were ending and the world had to adjust to normal social contact. One thing I personally noticed was that ever since the pandemic came, companies have definitely taken it upon themselves to create virtual services that offer the same product that people would have used in person. Applications such as Zoom, Discord, Twitch, and many others offer a sense of social interaction while being away from the people you talk to physically. This being the case, I thought it was interesting to hear Zoe talk about how easy it felt to meet people online that wanted to collaborate on certain projects and assist her with her musical career.

The cons aren’t a surprise though with the pandemic taking away the live sector of the music industry worldwide. Performing live in cities where COVID was still rampant in cases were not common, hurting Zoe’s ability to express herself in front of an audience and engage in face-to-face conversations with people who could help her get to the next level. Another thing that the pandemic brought was more pressure on balancing school and everything else in life. As a full-time student, Zoe definitely faced initial pressure from trying to cater to her studies, social life, and her personal ambition to be a singer.  However, she’s still hopeful for the future as she plans on eventually being on a stage and expressing her ability to narrate amazing stories in front of a live audience. The pandemic also shifted the pacing of music we had with artists taking longer to both create and release music. Writer’s block became one of the common by-products of the confusion that came with COVID-19, and overall created a different landscape for music when the pandemic got better. This definitely affected Zoe initially, stating that she struggled with being an artist in the beginning as it put her in her most vulnerable state. It was difficult carrying the weight of music quality on her shoulders coming from a small town that didn’t promote music as a career, but it got better when she noticed the amount of positive and constructive feedback from her loved ones after releasing her first song. This allowed Zoe to eventually feel more confident with her music and who she was as an artist, becoming more comfortable with taking her own pace with musical creation.

The reception from her first song also allowed Zoe to start creating the “thick skin” that helps her deal with the numerous public opinions that come with her music. One thing that Zoe says is essential as a rising artist is the ability to know when to take criticism and when to ignore certain comments. As a singer that tries to create stories to share with her fans, she tries to take in as much feedback as possible. However, there are moments when you have to remind yourself that being yourself is more important than adjusting aspects of your music to the criticism. Zoe says that criticism is just part of the job, and “when you start getting negative feedback, it just means you’re on the right track”. Overall, Zoe shared that when it comes to public opinion, the good always outweighs the bad depending on how you go about it.

Zoe Gabrielle is an upcoming artist from Nebraska that aims to share her passion for theatre and the spotlight through her unique storytelling ability that’s apparent in her music. Her recent single “Copy” is an amazing track in my opinion, and she plans on furthering the story covered in that song through an upcoming music video that furthers the dark theme that’s shown in her lyrics. I definitely recommend checking her out as she’s on all the major platforms we use to listen to music today. I want to give a huge thanks to Zoe for giving me the time to sit down and talk about what it’s like to be an aspiring artist during a pandemic, and I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post. Let me know what you guys think about this style of post and I can’t wait to talk to you guys again soon. Take care!