Emily Blue's Journey Through Sound
Photography by Joelle Cardinale
Emily Blue has always found comfort in music. For her, music is a tool of self-expression that encourages curiosity, reflection, and growth.
The 27-year-old singer songwriter, who balances their time between Chicago and Nashville, released their latest album The Afterlove in January 2022. A labor of love that took over two years to produce, the 9-track project emulates the anticipation that comes before taking a leap of faith. The Afterlove is electricity forming at one’s fingertips; a blend of warm colors wrapping you in an embrace; and a lightness that feels coated in emotion. Emily’s crisp lyricism carries through each song; taking time to elaborate on how loss and grief leads to an opening of love.
We sat down to catch up with Emily Blue to hear about their creative process, journey through sound as an artist, and what lies ahead. Read our Q&A with Emily below and listen to The Afterlove on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your music fix.
How have you been and What are you up to?
I’m good, I was just doing some recording in my room right now. I live in Nashville, and it’s absolutely crazy here… with COVID, I can’t tell if shows are safe quite yet. I’m feeling it out, and doing that in the meantime.
You’ve been doing this since you were 13! How did you know that you wanted to pursue music full-time?
My dad made a compilation of all my childhood videos, all the stuff that was on VHS for my whole life growing up. I would sing and write songs all the time as a child, which I didn’t really know until I saw it, that I’d be singing about whatever was happening around me. It’s very hilarious. I think that I could not avoid doing this. I don’t think my brain would allow me to do anything else with the same amount of passion and dedication… I just do it because I have to! It appears I have a lot to say.
Going off of your roots, you’ve cited your mom as a source of inspiration and support since the start of your career. Could you share more about her and why that is?
My mom is awesome. She was a professor at the University of Illinois for maybe twenty or more years. She was always very inspiring to me in the ambition department, going for what I was interested in, and being extremely supportive. I appreciate her in that way. I think it’s nice to have a role model in the household who is a woman, just growing up, I found that to be really great inspiration. She may read this and cry… in a good way.
The Afterlove was absolutely amazing. Where did the title come from? Could you talk a bit more about the process of creating this album?
My friend Max, who is no longer with us, came up with the title. He also came up with part of the song [“The Afterlove”] where it is said, he just came into the room and started singing that to me. We were trying to sing this one line of the song, and I said to him, “What should we call it… we’re living in the what?” and he’s like, “The Afterlove!” And I was like, “Oh my God, that is amazing.” So, Max was such an important part of this record and my whole career as an artist. Two or three years worth of collaboration and friendship in Chicago, and I associate Chicago with him very much.
Making this record was very interesting, because I had to do a lot of it without him because of COVID, and also because he passed away. It became this very extremely emotional experience. At first, I thought I was going to make some pop music that was cool. I thought I’d make some great songs, and that’d be it, but it ended up becoming a lot more meaningful to me. Especially because it’s the way I get to remember my friend, and how I passed my time learning production skills during the pandemic.
Because you know, I was in my house, and I was like, What do I do? I’m in my house, can’t make music without other people, except electronically. A lot went into this, and it’s definitely got some themes that resonate with me directly. Loss, and different types of relationships, and love.
First of all, I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m also in awe of how you’re able to translate those emotions into art. I’m curious, did you find that to be easy as a means of expressing yourself, or was it challenging to piece things together to create?
A lot of songs that I write just kind of pour out very naturally… they have already existed, and I just kinda barf them up! The last song is about Max, and I wrote it the week he passed away. I didn’t know how to process all of it outside of music. Music gives me this really specific outlet where I can talk, but also use sound to show how I’m feeling. It’s the most accurate way I can describe those feelings. The more poppy songs, they were a challenge to finish, because I was used to asking for someone else’s opinion, like Max. In a way, I did have to learn this independence that I did have to have before. It was super tough, but worthwhile, because I ended up with an album.
You’ve worked with bands and are now working solo. What’s something you’ve learned to love about working by yourself?
I really think it’s worthwhile in one’s personal journey to ask yourself, what do you really feel and think before reaching out to ask for advice or collaboration. Then you have this sense of ownership of what you’re doing, and it doesn’t snowball out of your hands. The vision doesn’t get lost. I learned to be really decisive and more confident in my choices. In terms of working with bands, if you find the right people or someone you can riff with, that’s when a lot of great art happens. With Max, we’d be laughing so hard… some of the choices we’d make, we’d find so hilarious. Pop music lets you do that, because it’s outlandish sometimes. Now in Nashville, my partner and I have started a band and it’s sort of the same experience. We’re cracking up all the time, and we’re like, okay, I guess this what we’re doing.
Do you guys have a name for the band?
Unfortunately yes, it’s called Kristoff Walkenson. We’ll be putting a song out in April. It’s more on the emo, Conor Oberst-side… super different than what I usually make, but that’s why I like it.
Death metal, pop rock, indie-metal, synth-pop … you’ve spanned many genres with your sound. What feelings does this journey through sound evoke for you?
I think it reflects me as a person very accurately. I’ve always been a chameleon in that I can imitate things back. If I hear a melody, I can play it, if I hear a style, I can try my best to replicate that. What I’m learning now, is that you need to know how to do that, but also choose which parts feel most authentic to you. I’ve been doing music for so long… if you stalk me hard enough online, you’ll find my oldest oldest records, and it’s like, wow, Emily played drums on this… I love learning new things. My brain goes a million directions. Now I’m narrowing my focus a bit, and listening to more music of artists that I’m obsessed with.
What artists are you listening to right now?
Dora Jar… there are surprises at every corner with her music, and I love that. It’s kind of like if Billie Eilish was more indie/garage-y, and played guitar really intricately. I love Caroline Polachek, as everyone is probably aware.
As we start to get into the groove of 2022, anything we should keep an eye out for from you?
I’m definitely going to release something this summer. I do this every time I release anything, but it’s going to be very different from what I’ve previously made. Some of the stuff from The Afterlove took years to finish, just because of how everything went down. I’m really excited to produce my own stuff now, so it’ll be fun for people to hear how I approach that and how I’m growing in that area. My tour is getting rescheduled as well, so look out for that too.
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