Chloe Berry for The Meadow
interviewer: Sara Sharif (@sarangelic)
interviewee: Chloe Berry (@thecampergirls)
With her boyfriend, producer and fellow artist Spoonuel, Chloe began to create fully imagined songs. Chloe’s music can be found to be lighthearted and airy despite starkly real and borderline frustrated lyrics.
With four singles already, Chloe has begun to start to define her sound. Her new project is an album entitled “Blueberry Jams.” With seven new songs, the project includes songs Chloe has rewritten dating back to her very first song written on guitar. The album was written by Chloe and produced in her bedroom by Spoonuel. Inspired by tough relationships and feelings, Chloe conveys a certain teenage angst with her new album. Some tracks ring sweeter and more optimistic while others dwell on tiredness.
Chloe shares a fear...
"My fear is never being heard. "
* in relevance to our issue #2 FEAR
t h e i n t e r v i e w
1. Please start with a little introduction about yourself!
Hi there! I’m Chloe and I’m a 19 year old musician based in New York City. I make songs in my bedroom with my boyfriend and fellow artist Spoonuel. I’ve been releasing music for only two years now, but I have been writing songs since elementary school.
2. What genre would you say your music belongs to?
My music definitely swings to the indie/bedroom pop genre, but I listen to every music genre, personally, so there’s a lot of different influences in there. I would say usually say the songs I create are more rock and some are more pop.
3. What is the story behind your musical journey?
I started writing songs when I was seven. I had a big notebook of lyrics and chords since middle school and still do! My family has been a big influence as my grandpa and uncle are both insanely gifted musicians and my dad is a DJ. Throughout middle school and high school I had many failed attempts at starting a band. I was really encouraged by all the amazing concerts I got to see and wanted to share my own music. I met my boyfriend, Spoonuel, towards the end of high school and we began making songs together!
4. And how has your journey been so far?
I’m so happy to finally be sharing my music and when people tell me they like one of my songs it makes my day. I started performing live right before the pandemic and now do lots of livestream performances. It hasn’t been easy to find listeners especially with the times and the over-saturation of music right now, but I feel that I’ve already got a lot of really loyal supporters. I have a lot of music projects I’m always working on and it is difficult to balance with my job, but my ultimate goal is to keep improving as a musician and find people who like my music. Since I’ve been releasing music I’ve been able to meet and collaborate with a lot of other small artists, and the community and encouragement is like no other.
5. I really love your song “Bugs” and now you have an upcoming single “Sweeter Honey” which is also going to be a part of your next album, “Blueberry Jams”. Tell us what “Sweeter Honey” means to you!
“Sweeter Honey” was originally written when I was 16. It was the first song I felt really good about and I got a lot of good feedback from my friends. I rewrote the song this year, but the lyrics stayed the same. The song itself is about feeling inadequate and trying to do everything to get someone to love you. I feel that young people have a lot of expectations to live up and when we don’t fit the norm people don’t accept us. I’m a perfectionist and it is hard to feel good enough, and “Blueberry Jams” talks a lot about how that can hinder a relationship and life in general. I’ve gained a lot of self-worth since high school, but I still look back, fondly in a weird way, to learn from how I’ve been second-guessing myself.
6. There seems to be this fruity theme going around! Tell us more about your theme for “Blueberry Jams”.
My last name is Berry and people have always thought I just made it up. Funnily enough, I’m allergic to pretty much all fruit. “Blueberry Jams” is a sort of a play on words. Blue being that the songs are sad, berry because I wrote them and jams because they’re meant to make you sing along.
7. How was/is the process of the making of the album?
I’ve been writing a ton this pandemic, so the hard part was choosing which songs I wanted to release. I found a lot of my songs were talking about similar feelings and wanted my album to be one big emotional rollercoaster. A lot of the songs were originally slightly different and I reworked them (as some were written three years ago). My boyfriend has been working really hard on getting the engineering and production down. Our apartment is incredibly loud and impossible to record vocals in so that’s been something we’ve had to overcome. It isn’t easy being a completely independent artist and I’ve wanted to give up a lot, but I do really love my songs and really want people to hear them. I’ve been crafty and made my own resources and connections slowly!
8. Your album and song cover art seems to be like it was a fun experience to design! We would love to know more about it and your idea behind it! (do include credits and social handles if possible and apt)
My boyfriend and I were staying with his family upstate when the pandemic started. We were surrounded by fields of flowers which always seem magical to me. So a lot of the pictures featured were taken at that time. I drew all the art and created the covers myself. I was inspired to make them visually sweet as the songs have a sweet sound to them with darker lyrics!
9. What is your creative process?
I usually just mess around on my guitar or listen to some music to get inspiration. There’s not much structure to my creative process as I usually just sing nonsense till I come up with something I like. I also keep a list of phrases or words I like and sometimes will base a song’s lyrics off those.
10. Who is your musical inspiration?
Growing up I was really into Fiona Apple. I really like how honest and dark her lyrics can get. More recently, I’ve been really inspired by bands like Chastity Belt and Snail Mail. For production I draw on artists like Beabadoobee who I like because she’s bringing a modern take on 90s rock.
11. Any tips for our musicians out here who are probably also working on an album?
Set a timeline for yourself and don’t procrastinate! It’s much easier said than done, but I’ve been trying to do something small, whether that be promotion or actual recording, for my album every day. And don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. I made my family listen to “Sweeter Honey” probably a thousand times by now.
12. Is there anything you would like to say about the current stresses all around world?
I feel that in this time of uncertainty all we can do is keep uplifting each other and remembering that we have a long road to go. What’s happening makes me so mad everyday, but I try to balance it with things that help my mental health. Young people are powerful and I know if we are united, educated, and fortified mentally for what is to come, we will make change.
13. So, what should we expect next, in the near future?
“Sweeter Honey” will be out on all streaming platforms October 16th along with a little visualizer (which will be on YouTube). You can pre-save the song here (it really helps us small artists!): https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/chloeberry/sweeter-honey
“Blueberry Jams” will be out in November along with a music video for one of the songs.
I’ll also be hosting a release party and live sets of the album on my Instagram (@Thecampergirls).
14. How do we gain access to your music?
My music is under Chloe Berry on all streaming platforms (Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple, Youtube etc.). You can also visit my website www.Chloeberrymusic.com to find direct links for everything! I announce everything on my Instagram @thecampergirls!