Today we’d like to introduce you to Emeline.
Emeline, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been writing music since I was a little kid, like eight years old. I had my first band in the third grade and I remember we would play songs we wrote at our lemonade stand on the street corner. I remember telling people that when I grew up, I wanted to be a singer and songwriter, I think it’s really cool that my childhood dream never changed. I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and was very involved in the theatre scene. Theatre is very close to my heart, and I think it shows in my music and the music videos that will soon be released! For middle school and high school, I attended a prep school. I had a hard time at a place that was so rigid with their learning style. A lot of the kids weren’t kind to me about having a passion for music or having any differences at all.
This was especially hard as a queer person to feel like I had to hide myself. They were mean because I was someone who didn’t want to hide. I ended up switching schools to a really alternative school called The Met, a school that basically had a flexible structure and allowed me to immerse myself completely in a world of my own and personalize my education. I thrived in that environment. For math, I chose to learn about music theory, for science I learned about soundwaves, and for English I wrote songs. I definitely wouldn’t have had the confidence to move to Los Angeles a week after graduation without the skills of independence that place gave me. Originally, the plan was for me to go to college. I was cast in a film in LA over the summer of 2017 and decided to live out there until the start of my first semester.
Over those months, I got to work in the music industry, writing with people, for artists and working on my music for myself. It was so exciting and I knew that this was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. I then found out that the college I was supposed to attend didn’t want their students doing any outside artistic projects, which I thought was ridiculous to be restricted in that way while living in Los Angeles. So I never ended up going and I just continued to dive into the music world on my own. For the past year and a half, I’ve been working on my own music released under my name EMELINE with my producer, Oscar Neidhardt. I’m very grateful for Oscar and his energy, I’m able to write so freely around him. It’s so exciting for me to finally have released “6 foot deep”, the first single of many to come. After working so much behind the scenes, it finally feels like my time to step out.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My newest single, “6 foot deep” alludes to some of the struggles I’ve gone through being a woman in the industry. It can be hard, even if you know your worth, to feel strong all the time. Especially when the people in power can be belittling. The most important thing is to have those friends and/or family who remind you of your importance. Once I found my people, I decided to only surround myself with the positive energy I know I deserve. It changed my life when I realized that I don’t owe my time to anybody but myself and I’m a lot happier now because of it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a singer/songwriter. Within my group of co-writers, I’m known as the “queen of melodies” because I get into the studio and I never stop coming up with ideas that top what we already wrote. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced writer’s block, my brain just never stops creating. It can be quite exhausting but I know it’s what I’m best at. Being the artist/singer is the other side of it. I feel most free and myself when I’m on the stage. The most insane moment I’ve ever had on a stage was performing at the Boston Women’s March in 2017. Anyone who went knew how incredible the energy felt. I realized that being able to use my art and voice to encourage, heal, and uplift is what’s most amazing about what I do. It’s become apparent during the pandemic how essential art really is in our lives. Concerts, funny videos, shopping mall displays, museums, music you can feel your feelings to… Having a lot of that art taken away made the world feel so empty, it reminded me why it’s so important to keep making it. It was really jarring to be mid-tour in March and go from sweaty bodies, lights, and a new city every night to complete isolation.
I was really grateful to have done my first tour this year with the band I’m in called GARZA. I’ve gotten many messages from people telling me that we were the last concert they got to see! Touring with GARZA all happened because I went to a writing session with Rob from Thievery Corporation and my good friends SMLE who I work with often. I never know where a song is going to go when I enter the room, half the time nothing happens with it. Sometimes it will find its place years later. This time, I thought I was writing for a different singer but we had created such a unique sound and Rob Garza loved my voice on the track. One thing led to another and we were touring as a band! It’s very special to write with Rob, we wrote most of the project in that one night. Seann Bowe, who’s an amazing writer, was also there and he does all the male vocals you can hear on the project. The first song we wrote that night is called “Where The Moon Hides” and it ended up being the title track to the EP.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Some of the best networking you can do and find is by using social media. I met a lot of the people I work within music through Instagram and Twitter. It’s especially a great tool if you are somewhere other than a big creative city where it might be harder to network. Some advice I would give is to always be genuine. I think it’s important to express yourself as you are because it always reads through in art and that will lead to creating quality relationships and friendships. I’ve had many mentors throughout my life and they’ve taught me so much whether good or bad. I’ve actually taken up mentoring a few girls who are just getting into the industry. There are pieces of advice that I wish I received when I was new to the business and things that I had to figure out for myself. I love teaching songwriting and helping people grow. It makes me happy to help people feel confident and safe in an industry that can be really cold.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: emelineofficial.com
- Instagram: emelineofficial
- Facebook: facebook.com/emelineofficial
- Twitter: @EmelineMusic
- Youtube: youtube.com/emelineofficial
- SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/emelineofficial
Image Credits
Ian Bakar (purple indoor shots, red jacket headshot) Faith Bakar (outdoor shots, purple wig) Chris Alvarado (black and white guitar) Kaizen Creative Studio (Singing purple on stage) Mario Villeda (singing black and white)
