Interview: Lorenna

“Hi, my name is Lorenna, I’m an indie pop artist. I write my own music and I produce a lot of it, I’ll co-produce it sometimes. I write a lot about mental health, mental illness and love.”

What are some of your musical inspirations?

“Growing up, I would say Marvin Gaye, The Beach Boys and all the old school music, but now I listen to producers that I like. There's a producer named Stint, he’s done a lot of: Sabrina Claudio, Lennon Stella, Madison Beer.”

Can you share with us why Mental Health and Awareness is so important to you?

“I’ve posted a lot online about mental illness since I was really young. I was just reaching out to anyone on the internet that could be really similar to me. I’m a big advocate of it because I have it myself, I am bipolar, my family members have a form of schizophrenia and bipolar, so in just living with it. I write a lot about it, because that's one way that I can cope with it, but when it comes to advocating for it, I just feel like when I was younger I wish I had more outlets to connect with people, so I just talk about it so there's less of a stigma being a quiet thing.”

Would you say music is a big emotional release for you?

“Totally, I’m bipolar, so in upswings I make tons of songs and have so many great ideas, or at least I think they’re great in my bipolar state. For example, I have a whole album called sugar pills all dedicated to that, and it's the only way I can kind of make sense of things sometimes, like putting them in this little capsule of time.”

What would say your song writing process is like?

“It's different every time, but when writing a song it can start with playing a guitar and singing over it or creating a beat and then writing over that drum loop. Every time it's different and I write a lot by myself, because it's easier to make sense of all my ideas, but when co-writing it’s also really nice, because they’ll give their input on the direction the song will take. Sometimes it's not what I want, but it's good to let go of control and see what else could happen.”

Would you say there's a particular artist that you are looking forward to collaborating with in the future?

“All my friends are songwriters, so I can’t think of anyone famous off the top of my head. In my head I’m always writing for myself, but it would be nice if some of my favorite artists ever got to perform my songs.”

What are your top 5 songs right now if you had to choose?

“It changes all the time, because I’m always studying music for the production and writing. Lennon Stella Older than I Am, Sabrina Claudia Unravel Me, Olivia O’Brien Better than Feeling Lonely… This is the stuff I’m listening to just now, Madison Beer Carried Away… When I get

obsessed with some artists, I really listen to just them for a while and then I’ll move back onto another group. Those are the one’s I’m currently looping and studying, trying to figure out how they do that baseline, etc.”

Which of your songs do you think more people should hear?

“I’ve been dying to put out my next EP, it's about 6-7 songs. There’s one called Strangers from that album that I’m itching to put out, that I think could be like my baby. From the ones that are out, I’m still hard on myself and don’t think they’re good enough. But I feel like I’m getting better and I’m excited for the new songs coming out.”

Do you have any advice for songwriters?

“I think the best thing you can do if you want to get into songwriting is see how much you can get yourself to collaborate. Consistency is key, I would say I’ve written thousands of bad songs, and then there’s one song in there that's good. As songwriters it's really hard to be consistent, because we’re all about feeling, but you know there’s people, I believe it’s called the Nashville way, where they get up from 9 to 5 and work on their craft. So the more consistent you can make it, even on the days you aren’t feeling it, the closer you are to making a good song. You could also join some song writing club or take classes as well.”

What are challenges you face as a female artist?

“I speak about this all the time. I want to be a woman producer, because I feel like a lot of the time in this industry it is really sad how a lot of the male producers will prey on women. I really wish for someday in the future to have a sort of course for girls on red flags, because a lot of people prey on you and your hopes and your dreams. Jessie Reyez has a song on this that is so good where she talks about her experience where a producer pretends that he wants to record her song as a way to get with her and I think that's the hardest part, it's just having to navigate so many disingenuous people. But if you do find the right people, really do stick with them, because good people can be sort of hard to find.”

Do you plan on releasing any music soon or are you still in the process?

“I have a new album called Checklist Love, releasing in June, and hopefully the single will release in April or May around my birthday.”

What song would you like the audience to listen to in order to know you more?

“Window Shopping. It’s basically a love song to mental illness, saying if I wasn’t so mentally ill maybe I would have found love by now. It's about going through trauma and how trauma can affect all of your relationships. So Window Shopping is just about feeling as though I feel my whole life is just passing me by as I’m just staring at people moving on with their lives, as I’m stuck in this sort of traumatic state. Of course, now I am better, I’m going to therapy and such.”

How do you feel about people being able to relate to your music so closely, even if it isn’t the same experience?

“Sometimes when I write I forget that not everyone has mental illness and I realize that mental illness is somewhat like human emotion, somewhat expanded. So I feel like ‘oh I may not find love because I’m too damaged’, whatever those feelings are I can tell they’re a universal thing and it makes me feel good that my pain and loneliness over the years, not only can make me feel better with a song, but hopefully it's cool that people are listening and relating to that even if they don’t have the same condition.”