Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Chatting on a 16 hour trek from Texas to Tampa, pop-starlet Anna Shoemaker is enthusiastically embarking on her first ever US tour. Joining indie pop artist Aidan Bissett, Shoemaker is reeling off this summer’s release of her critically praised EP, Hey Anna. Currently making her way through the tour’s early stops, Shoemaker and her band are eagerly dominating each city with her arresting songwriting, incredibly catchy melodies, and dynamic stage presence. Combining her newest material with hits from her 2022 debut album, Everything is Fine (I’m Only on Fire), Shoemaker is finally bringing her music to life in 18 cities across the country on Bissett’s “Supernova Tour”.
You can read our conversation with Anna below, and be sure to check out all tour dates here.
Music Existence: You’ve just hit the road on tour with Aidan Bissett. You’re able to bring your new songs from the Hey Anna EP to life, along with your new single. What has that experience been like so far?
AS: It’s been so rewarding and so amazing to bring those songs to life. It’s just been really cool and I feel really lucky. I have one of my good friends Richie Quake with me and he really helped me set up the songs for success live. It is just really important to me to work with my friends and he really made sure that these songs were going to sound the way that they sound in our heads, and on Spotify and stuff. So we just really wanted to make sure that people would get that experience and hopefully that shines through. But playing them live has been so exciting.
What songs are getting the best reactions live? Are there any you love playing the most yourself?
I think we all love playing “666” live, especially our drummer Teeno. He kind of can do his thing on that and we can all rock out. It’s really fun. So “666” and “ADHD” are two of the favorite live songs to play.
You live in New York and there’s a lot of that influence heavy in your songs. You’ve got the sweetness of pop but with a darker edge to it, sometimes with alternative, electronic or shoegaze elements. How would you describe the blend of your sound and what you’re influenced by?
It’s really interesting, because I feel I’m very pop-minded and my melodies lean very, very pop. If left to my own devices, it would probably be more pop than I want it to be. So I’ve been very mindful about who I work with. Especially on this EP, I worked with my friend Constantine [Anastasakis] and he definitely leans a lot more rock, like alt rock and kind of grungier. It’s been really fun for him and I to split the difference. He’ll be like, ‘We should go rogue in this area’ and I am like ‘Nope, bring it back. We gotta hit the chorus.’ It’s a fun compromise.
That’s a nice balance. You get the best of both worlds. Do you listen to any rock bands yourself?
I’ve been so obsessed with the newest Alex G record. That has been on repeat for me, that’s just been my obsession. I just think it is really, really insanely cool.
He is such a versatile artist as well, and isn’t afraid to switch it up.
Yeah! See, I am so inspired by that. There are no rules and boundaries, it is kind of just like whatever you want to do. And it’s cool because I saw him live, and it felt like a lot of the more experimental songs that he had really translated well live, and I kind of feel similarly like that for me. “666” and “ADHD,” after we wrote those, we were like ‘Is that gonna be too crazy for streaming to put out?’ Those didn’t get as good of a response on streaming as some of the other songs, but live they get a way better response. It’s just so interesting.
You went to college for poetry. Is that how you approach songwriting, writing your lyrics as poems first? How do they interplay with each other?
Especially for Hey Anna, my producer would come in with a chord progression or we would alter it a little bit, and then we would write melody and lyrics over that. But sometimes I would definitely come in with a line and be like, ‘We definitely have to use this line’. The first line of “Holly” was a line that we had been talking about- ‘Did you mean to put your cigarette out on my heart’. Initially we had ‘on my arm’ or something and we just kind of did a lot of wordplay and for me that is a really fun part. Writing and playing around with words because that is what I really love to do.
Yes, absolutely! I love the line you mentioned, but then also the lyrics to “ADHD” as well. You are really great at creating a visceral sense within your lyrics. I think that is the poetic influence.
Thank you so much! Yeah, that one is really fun to write. It’s funny, I feel like Constantine will come and it feels like such a safe space that sometimes we’ll be writing and one of us will say something as a joke. I had said ‘I’ve got ADD and a new TV’ as a joke and he was like ‘No, that’s actually the line.’ Which is pretty cool. We just kind of go back and forth and I really trust him. He wouldn’t steer me wrong.
Yes, and so often it is those lyrics that jump out the most, that maybe start as accidents or silly phrases you hear on the street or say with your friends, so that’s awesome. Do you have a favorite poet or favorite style of poetry?
Oh that’s a really good question. When I was writing poetry and even now, I am always drawn to anything narrative. Kind of like stream of conscious and diary type writing, because I feel like in songs you can’t get away with that as much. Writing poems you can get more information in there and it can kind of be a little more word-vomitty, whereas in songwriting you have to cut the darlings, or whatever they say. You have to say nope, it has to rhyme, it has to be catchy, or it has to be this. You can’t talk about your mom’s this that, that, that. You can’t give the full backstory. So I love anything narrative like that, or anything that has TMI.
Your lyrics really jump out of each song. They tend to be very confessional about your life, your relationships, so on. How do you approach songwriting, especially with topics that might be scary or vulnerable to put out into the world?
It’s hard, but in the moment when you are writing it, I’m not thinking like ‘oh, this is gonna be out one day,’ probably to a fault. I am never like ‘oh, I need to make sure that this is appropriate to put out’ or I’m not calling anyone out. It is just not really a thought when we are in the studio or writing. Sometimes when it comes out, I’ll have a little mini panic attack, but usually by that time so much time has gone by that it’s like you become numb to the lyrics. So it is really never that big of an issue because it takes so much time.
Yeah absolutely, and one issue or topic you might be writing about, maybe six months later you don’t even care about it anymore by the time the song comes out.
Exactly, I’m like ‘I hope they hear this!’ [Laughs] A lot of my writing is stuff I wish I could say. Someone just asked me recently if me on stage is an alter ego or if it is the real me. I think it is sort of an alter ego in that so many of my songs are the things I wish I could say out loud in the moment, but ya know, you don’t think of it, that kind of thing. That meme that is like you’re in the shower and you remember every comeback to everything and you wish you said that.
Yes, oh my god. That’s great though and it’s interesting you say you’re not consciously thinking about it in the moment because that is probably what leads to the most organic storytelling and songwriting anyway.
I have been obsessed with your EP, playing it all summer long. Tracks like “Hey Anna” and “Holly” feel really personally narrative and allow people immerse themselves in them, or feel like they’re part of the conversation or story. I heard you refer to the writing here on this EP as reflective and not reactive. Is this a conscious decision when you’re writing, or is it just how you are feeling in the moment?
I think it’s hard because it is definitely a thing that I realize after. Nothing, unfortunately because I wish it was, but nothing really in my writing is that much of a conscious decision. I wish I was like, ‘this is the perfect way to round out this story, and this and this and this.’ It’s not until way later that I realize like, ‘I’m still upset about that,’ or ‘I have made peace with that.’ I think that after writing Hey Anna, I was like ‘Oh, I am at peace. I feel good, this is good.’
That’s great and speaking to that sense of accomplishment or weight being lifted with this collection of song, I feel like “666” does that. It is such an earworm and all the angel number, astrology loving people out there can definitely relate to it. It feels more transformative and empowering. What is the message behind it for you? Is it your favorite angel number?
Yeah, I read about it and I like that it’s a signal of redirection. Kind of the opposite of what people say about 222, where it’s like you’re on the right path. When you see 666, it’s like reevaluate yourself and I think that is something for me that is so important, to constantly be reevaluating. I guess some people would call it overthinking, but for me I just like to overthink in a way, I like to constantly question if I’m okay or if everything is good. If I should I do this or that. I like the thought of 666. When we were writing that song, we were kind of thinking a lot about the music industry and you know, being an artist because that is something that Constantine and I talk a lot about because it takes a lot of energy. It kind of hits you from all sides and that’s where we were. There are crazy ups and crazy downs and not a lot in the middle, so you are constantly reevaluating and it’s this whole rollercoaster.
Totally and I am sure in those down moments when you have more time to reflect, that is when the intensity of it all really hits. Going from both your debut album into your newest material, and you have just put out a new single as well (“Not Coming Back”), one thing has remained the same and that’s how real and relatable your music and your narrative is. Even experimenting with different sounds and evolving as a person and an artist, you still are as confessional as ever. Thematically on the album a lot of the songs revolved around the aftermath of heartbreak and turmoil. Then, the EP is rising out of the ashes and prioritizing yourself. Where does that leave you now? What’s next in the music to come?
Yeah we have a lot of the songs for the next project and I really like to think it is an extension of Hey Anna and this self discovery. I think that, I don’t want to say I use relationships as a crutch, but like if you always have a problem with someone else and there is always kind of an issue in your love life, it’s like you have this ability to look away from yourself and think ‘They’re the problem, not me. They’re cheating on me. They’re this, they’re that.’ It doesn’t allow you to look inward, but once you are on your own you can look inward and be like ‘Maybe I was the issue there. Maybe I am the problem in some areas.’ I think that the next music is definitely an extension of this Hey Anna self discovery. I am really excited about some of these songs, I can’t wait to finish them. I have a lot of them written and I’ve been doing rewrites like crazy, which I never usually do, but I am really excited.
That’s awesome! Are you going to debut any of them on this tour, give them a test run?
I don’t know, I don’t think so. I would love to, but I don’t know. We do switch the setlist around a little bit and we might do a cover and we are trying to figure out ways to switch it up to help it feel a little more interesting every night. Keep us on our toes, but we’ll see.
You originally started doing covers and medleys on SoundCloud, so that would be pretty full circle. Do you still try to incorporate covers, or mashups, or anything?
No, not really but we are thinking of doing a cover. It is fun being in front of a crowd who has never heard your music before, but I think it could be cool to bring in a song that everybody knows, so maybe something like Taylor Swift.
Friday night (October 27) you will be playing at Paradise Rock Club in Boston. This will be your first show in Boston! There was a venue change too, so you guys have leveled up to a bigger venue. Where you are playing is known as the breeding ground for where a lot of artists come to play their first shows in Boston. So, it’s perfect you guys are doing that. Do you ever think about that when you play and does the city impact the show?
Sometimes! We try to go thrifting in every city and see what the vibes are, fashion and culture wise.
Awesome. What should fans look forward to at these shows and for everything coming up after?
I am really excited for the rest of tour, to keep playing my EP, and meeting the fans has just been the best part. I’m excited to meet more and more people!
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