- Words Isabelle Cassidy
We sat down with singer-songwriter Ber to rundown her new single, bad Tinder dates, and musical journey so far.
The disastrous Tinder date is a story most people hope to forget, but Ber is an artist using her artistic licence to lean into these scenarios. Minnesota-based, the singer-songwriter is back with a new single, “Boys Who Kiss You In Their Car”, chronicling her own experiences in the Minneapolis dating scene.
Growing up playing piano and getting into musical theatre from a young age, Ber went to school in Bemidji, Minnesota, before moving to the UK and studying at Leeds Conservatoire. Moving back home in 2021, and it was during this transition that Ber began to create her debut EP, ‘And I’m Still Thinking About That’. Limited by pandemic restrictions, she remotely collaborated with the likes of Sfven, Hazel English and Hot Dennis. The EP’s lead single went viral, and when the world opened-up, Ber hit stages at SXSW, Latitude and Wisconsin’s Summerfest, as well as touring with Tom Odell.
Returning with a new single, alongside accompanying visuals, Ber describes writing “Boys Who Kiss You In Their Car” after realising that she “may have a type”. We caught up with Ber to chat all things boys, new music and plans for the future. Dive in!
Hey, how are you, how are things?
I’m great, thank you. It’s been a big week, at the minute I’m in a hectic state packing and prepping for tour which comes with its fair share of stress and funny moments. I keep spilling my coffee and burning my toast because there’s lots on my mind, but overall, I’m just really excited to be headed on tour.
Congratulations on the new track! Could you talk us through the recording process for the music video of your latest track, “Boys Who Kiss You in Their Car”?
Thank you! We had so much fun planning and shooting this video, and it was really hard to take seriously. I love this song, it’s very much an autobiographical account of several dates that had gone wrong and when we wrote it, we just wanted to poke fun at my own taste in men. We laughed our way through writing the lyrics, which I think are just as self-deprecating as they are targeted at a specific “type”, so when we sat down to brainstorm about the visuals, all I knew was that I wanted it to feel sarcastic, self-aware, but essentially paint the picture of exactly what I was talking about. No metaphors, no alternative perspectives, just word for word what was happening.
And how did the visuals come about?
I facetimed my friend Sawyer (who directed the video- he is incredibly talented) while in London and told him I wanted to dress up as a bunch of different f*ckboys that were stereotypically Minnesotan There’s a lot of Minneapolis in the video, several local bands and artists (whom I love and am lucky to call friends) have cameos, and the art and set design was done by local artist Flavorworld, so its fun to highlight so much of the art scene here, but throw it into this funny context. I love this video so much and am so proud of how it turned out.
You gained a lot of traffic from your 2021 single “Meant to Be,” which surpassed 50 million streams. Why do you think it struck a chord with such a large audience?
I think “Meant To Be” offers a perspective that I hadn’t heard written in a song like that before. I’ll admit, even when Charlie and I wrote it, I sent it to my manager with the comment “I don’t know if anyone will get this, it feels pretty niche” because it really just came from such a personal place, and I’ve never been happier to be wrong about something. With TikTok and the internet driving so much of the industry right now, being able to connect with so many people over a song like that was a really beautiful thing— the stories that people have shared with me brought me to tears more times than I can count, which in return really just made me feel seen emotionally and was a very validating feeling, not only as a songwriter but just as a human.
Your latest, “Boys Who Kiss You in Their Car” is quite a big contrast to its predecessor “Superspreader,” what’s your process for creating new music, whilst maintaining it as a core BER project?
I love this question. It IS very different, but the two songs were written by the same version of me, which melds them together in my mind. Breakups and heartbreaks and healing are a really messy process. Healing is not linear at all, but both of those songs came from the mess of it, and I think the fact that they are just 2 different pieces to the same exact story is what makes them feel honest to me and my project.
You’re off on tour with Sigrid this weekend! Exciting – which date are you most looking forward to playing and why?
I know! I really am just so excited to be back on tour, and with Sigrid especially, who inspired so much of my writing and gave me the confidence to start showing people my songs back when I first started writing in Uni. I think I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t most excited for the hometown show- I’ve dreamed of playing First Avenue since I was 6, and my whole family and lots of friends will be there, I think that will be really surreal. But also… Terminal 5? I’m honestly still in shock that this is happening in two days.
You recently performed as part of a supergroup with Holly Humberstone, Maisie Peters, JP Saxe, Dylan Fraser and Flyte’s Will Taylor – is collaboration important to you?
First of all, that was such an honour. I really didn’t see that coming, I was definitely the underdog of the group, and to be welcomed in and allowed to even just breathe the same air was really special. I’ve been such a fan of each of them for years and always admired them from afar, so meeting them and singing with them was so special, but also a definite imposter-syndrome moment.
But to answer your question, yes, collaboration is at the heart of every song I’ve released and undoubtedly my favourite method of writing. I doubt myself often. I think most writers do. When I write by my own, I’m quick to convince myself something is bad, or a lyric doesn’t make sense. I also think it can be quite lonely, so deep in your own head like that. But when I write with others, songs are born out of common ground.
You’ve also toured with Tom Odell, do you enjoy touring? Is it something you feel you’re suited to?
I love touring. It’s hectic and exhausting and anything could go wrong at any second, but I really do just love it so much. It was so kind of Tom to take me across North America with him, you get to know everyone so well and it’s a fun way to see different cities/ be a tourist. I think it’s an experience that evolves for artists who tour often as it is quite taxing, physically and emotionally. I’m really extroverted which I think is a good thing, because you definitely need a strong social battery to go to shows every night and perform at that capacity, but I feel like I learn something new every day, and this tour supporting Sigrid will be very different from my last.
Across your music videos you seem to scope a polished DIY perspective, would you say this is an intentional angle?
I’d say yes, both intentionally and accidentally. I really like how DIY the process has been so far, it’s fun not skipping any steps and learning about the different elements of the music industry by being involved in them. I’ve directed, edited and illustrated music and lyric videos for my songs, made them myself on a whim just to see if I could, and it’s become something I really love doing, and it’s helped our budget as we released the whole first project independently. But I think the DIY perspective also lends a hand in making sure the videos and songs feel like they come from me, because they really do. I put a lot of thought and time into details and love doing that, I don’t see myself doing it differently anytime soon.
You’re originally from Bemidji, Minnesota, but have spent most of your adult life in the UK. Now back in the States, what are some of the most significant differences you’ve found living between the two? Do you feel you’re adjusted yet?
THE PEOPLE. I miss the sarcasm and their sense of humour because it took me so long to acclimate when I moved there, but I really do miss good old British pessimism and their obsession for beans on toast. Minnesotans are very nice and optimistic and not that often quick to judge, which I’d move to say is quite opposite a typical Londoner, but never in a bad way.
I also love that every building you step into in England is older than the United States itself and I miss the way public transport is genuinely a normal thing. Moving to England has definitely provided me with just a different perspective on Minnesota and the State. I don’t think I’ve adjusted and honestly I probably never fully will adjust again. Which I’m honestly okay with.
In February you released your debut EP ‘And I’m Still Thinking About That’ – have you had time to reflect, or do you have eyes on your next project?
Both, I have such an appreciation for the EP and love every song on it, it’s been so fun to tour with it and have it out in the world, but equally I am SO excited for the music I’ve been writing recently and very ready to tell these stories to the world as well.
You played a handful of acclaimed festivals this summer, what event would you say has been your most memorable moment of the year?
Barn On The Farm, no doubt. It has certainly been a wild ride this year, ever since debuting at SXSW in March really, but BoTF was one of those career moments I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Second to that may be the show I played opening for Tom [Odell] in Montreal. I had never played to such a large sold out room before, and it was just one of those beautiful shows where everything settles into place. I fell in love with Montreal and its people that night and I can’t wait to go back.
What can we expect next from BER, – musically, visually, what’s on the horizon?
I think I’m in my RED era, I really can’t wait to wrap up this project and continue working on it. As I mentioned before, I’ve been writing from a place that feels like its somewhere in the middle of the healing process, reflecting lots about my last relationship and dating after having not being single for 5 years and how weird that is, and these songs come from really funny moments that I’ve pulled out of the last 18 months of my life. I’m also the happiest I’ve ever been in terms of the collaborative side of things, working with Brad and Cacie has been so fun and inspiring and I just feel really ready for these songs and videos to be out in the world. They feel a lot more confident to me, and I really hope you like them.