Ahead of her performance at C2C Festival this week, we interview Avery Anna about her new single ‘Narcissist,’ her viral TikTok success and how she has wrapped her head around the last few years.
Hi Avery. How are you today?
I’m so good. How are you?
Not too bad. You’re gearing up for your UK trip – how are you feeling about it? I guess it must feel very strange and slightly daunting after the past few years being inside, suddenly doing this big international trip?
Yes, I’m very, very excited. I’ve never been out of the country before and I’ve heard London’s amazing
Oh, you’ll love it. It’ll be so much fun and the atmosphere at C2C every year is just crazy. Obviously, the past few years have been crazy for you, how have you navigated this world – the world shut down but you’ve also had so many opportunities come your way? I feel like you’re one of those people who really took it took it by the horns and just made the best of it.
Yeah, you know, it’s such a blessing. I feel very, very grateful for the opportunity and I know that that was such a hard time for so many people. I just had a lot of time to focus on my music and I did not even know that I wanted to make a career out of it, but then the career kind of built itself, you know? I’m very blessed, I’m in awe of it all.
Obviously, you’ve had the opportunity to release loads of singles now. Can you talk me back to when you started singing and the inspiration behind some of the songs you’ve created? We always see the finished product and the singles that people release, but there’s so much work that’s going on behind it. Can you talk about that?
Yeah, so I’ve been singing ever since I can remember really. I would sing with my grandpa. He was very into old country and he’d tell me about all the old country music and we would sing together and that’s what really got me into country music. Ever since I was in elementary school, I’ve kept a journal. With my songs, a lot of my inspiration comes from my personal journaling.
When did that become songwriting? It’s one thing journaling, then it’s another thing making those journal entries into music. Is that something that you’ve always done in tandem – have you thought of the music when you’re journalling or is it that something that happened recently?
When I was in fourth grade, I would write songs for fun. Sometimes it’s not writing about my day, sometimes I write a poem. It’s been an outlet for me since I was young. I never thought I was really good at it and then people started believing in me.
I mean you became known as the bathtub TikTok star – where did the idea for that come from? You’re one of those people who really has harnessed the power of TikTok – I feel that a lot of people are still trying to figure out how to go viral. How have you found it and did you go in with any expectations before releasing those?
No, genuinely my first bathtub video was for fun. I wasn’t doing it to beat the algorithm or anything and then it blew up. I just kept creating and posting things that were very ‘me’ and what I love and the songs that I liked. People liked it, I guess.
That’s the best way, I think that’s the way that more people relate to your music and that’s the power of TikTok to share this unvarnished version of you. Leading on from that, you’ve obviously released some singles, and the most recent one is ‘Narcissist’, which I freaking loved. Can you talk a little bit about that one?
Yeah, so that was definitely one of those journal songs. All of my songs are very personal and deep, but that one’s the most real to me. There’s been multiple people in my life where every time they did something that didn’t make me feel very good, I would confront them about it and they would say the same things like, ‘You’re crazy,’ or ‘you’re being dramatic’ or ‘you’re overreacting.’ I just started to pick up on these tendencies of specific people in my life that I surrounded myself with that were gaslighting and manipulative. I don’t know, I just wrote that song about being in that space of what it feels like to fight with someone who’s a narcissist.
It’s a very powerful song. Talking about being in that space and gathering your inspirations, how has being in Nashville changed the way you write? Obviously, you’ve talked about starting off journaling, but I know that co-writing is such a huge part of being in Nashville, so how has being there altered the way you write?
Yeah, you know, I never co-wrote before. I think it was last February, I had my first co-write with some guys here and then I moved here a while ago, and it’s so fun. Being in Nashville, surrounded by people that have the same passion as me, it feels so comforting. I feel like I’m in the right place. I love bringing ideas and listening to other people’s ideas and feeding off of each other. I’ve never had to bounce ideas off other people. It’s just so great, I feel that it makes it more well written.
I guess it’s amazing to to share experiences and hearing other sides of things. I know you’ve also had the opportunity to play the Bluebird and obviously, you’ve got your record deal… are there any particular highlights that stand out to you or has it been so much of a whirlwind that it’s almost too much to wrap your brain around?
Yeah, it’s a very big whirlwind that I can’t even describe just how blessed I feel with the opportunities that I’ve been given. The Bluebird was such a great experience, I used to watch YouTube videos of people playing there…
It’s iconic. I feel that when people want to go to visit Nashville, it’s where they want to go, it’s the beating heart because it’s all about the song and the story first in country music.
Yeah, it’s all been crazy.
For the rest of the year – obviously, you’re going to the UK – but what is the plan? Are you going to be releasing more music and kind of drip feeding it and seeing the response?
I’m kind of navigating that right now – definitely more music, I’ve been writing a ton. I have so many songs that I would like to release.
It’s a great position to be in.
Yeah, I’m very excited. I feel I have so much to say and so much to share with people andconnections to make?
Yeah, I completely understand, it’s certainly a great start. I feel like you’ve got such a bright future ahead of you, listening to the music you’ve released so far, I’m amazed. So, congratulations. I hope you have a very safe trip over here and good luck – though you don’t need it.
Thank you so much.
