- Words Notion Staff
- Photo Credit Dara P
Indie’s latest visionary, singer-songwriter carina talks to us about her latest single, “accessory,” and next steps.
18-year-old carina is a young singer-songwriter taking the indie scene by storm, drawing inspiration from notorious musicians Tate McRae and Billie Eillish. Surrounded by a family of talented music writers, carina has always seen writing as an effective way of expressing herself.
Working towards the release of her fast-coming EP ‘spaceout!,’ carina’s latest “accessory,” sees the artist pour out raw lyrics across an emotive ballad. A track never initially intended for her up-and-coming EP, “accessory,” is a treat and awakening of heart-wrenching realisations. Detailing why she decided to add this track into the EP, carina tells: “accessory” wasn’t on the original record, but I added it as a bonus track. It ends with this really beautiful instrumental string section which is really special to me.”
Having produced a solid amount of her work from the comfort of her bedroom in 2021, carina has managed to scope a transparent sound of earnest songs, detailing her personal journey of overcoming past traumas. Heavily influenced by lo-fi beats, ‘spaceout!,’ documents carina’s journey through her favourite moments as a teenager – enjoying the highs, lows and trouble-some in-betweens: it’s with tracks, “summer air buzz,” “accessory,” and “skets&stoners” does this theme really translate.
Speaking about the new EP, carina tells: “To me, the record is basically a dream-like spacey version of my life at the time when I was 16.” We sat down with carina to talk all things musical influences, her highly anticipated EP ‘spaceout!,’ and ambitious future plans. Check the interview out below:
Hey carina, for anyone who doesn’t yet know, can you let us know a bit about yourself and your music?
Hi I’m carina. I’m 18 and I’ve just put out my debut project ‘spaceout!’ EP. I wrote and produced it myself during the pandemic and since then I have a lot more music I have made and am itching to share. My music is very special to me, I’ve done almost all my life. It’s kind of like taking a shit for my emotions, I just find myself doing it as a way to deal with whatever I’m feeling.
What artists did you listen to growing up and how have they inspired you?
I listened to a lot of Joan Armatrading growing up. My first crush was George Ezra as well I was a big fan of him when I was little. I also loved a bit of Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, and Oasis. My Dad and I always connected over music and have had many discussions over what songwriting really is, and the effective communication of emotion via the medium of music.
Have you always made music or is it something you’ve turned to quite recently?
I’ve always made music, although I would say I’ve always been more talented in the writing department. I can’t play particularly well technically on either piano or guitar and my singing voice isn’t exceptional. I’d say songwriting is my strength.
With the majority of your music made at home, how have you found putting tracks out into the world and making them public? Is it cathartic? Intimidating at times?
Releasing music from home was very interesting. When I released it initially I expected literally no one to listen to it, and I was hoping to get enough money from royalties to pay for a meal deal. Safe to say it did a lot better than I expected, and I’m signed now. But yes it is very scary, but then also not because I love being able to share the one thing that I’m good at with the world. Or at least the thing that makes me happy.
How are you feeling about the release of your EP ’spaceout!’?
Well, when I was making it I had the goal in mind of: as dark as it sounds, if I was going to die of covid, I wanted to have created something that is truly reflective of who I am and that if someone was to listen to it, they would understand me and my life. That sounds incredibly dramatic, but yeah. I wanted to sonically represent my life when I was 16 through the EP. My life sonically is now very different at 18, but I still like ‘spaceout!’ and I think it takes me back to that time when I listen to it.
Other than your own experiences, what inspired you making the EP? Any albums, artists, films, places?
Most of the ep is inspired by videos from my camera roll of my friends (which I included in the tracks). I also was struggling a lot with dissociation at the time, which is why the whole project has a distant sound to it, I wanted to capture what dissociation felt like to me. I wanted the project to be immersive, so you have a sense of seeing the world through my very spacey lens. Some of the artists that inspired me were LAUSSE THE CAT’s immersive soundscapes and Still Woozy’s chilled and mellow sound palette. I also was inspired by Arlo Park’s song “Cola,” especially for skets & stoners.
How do you imagine the visual world this project will sit in? Where do you draw visual references from?
I imagine this to be set in a park at night, with a bunch of 16 year olds drinking straight vodka from the bottle. Rolling cigarettes and taking the piss out of each other, but then take that, and look at it through purple, blue and red tinted glasses and in slow motion. That I would say, is the visual the project sits in for me. But whatever anyone else sees when they listen to it, is more important to me than how I see it to be honest with you.
Would you put the project in a genre?
I mean technically, it is bedroom pop, because it’s pop I made in my bedroom. It’s a little indie as well. I don’t know, whatever other people say it is, then fine it can be that too. I don’t really care if I’m honest.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Either touring worldwide or making 100 grand a year in a tech job. I also code as well as doing music, that’s also a passion of mine. Or in a gutter somewhere. I’ll probably have quite a few albums out, my manager says I’m a songwriting machine so I’m hoping I’ll have shared a lot.
In the meantime, what can we expect next from you?
Well I actually have a new project that is almost ready to go, so stay tuned for that. You should be hearing it soon, I would say it is the sequel to ‘spaceout!’ And definitely a level up. I really am constantly making music so, I’m hoping I can continue to share it with you for as long as possible.