(Photo Courtesy of Acacia Evans)
GAYLE is only 19 years old, but she talks about songwriting like she has been doing it for decades. When she speaks about her music, the tone of her voice quickly switches from a teen artist to a seasoned expert. The Grammy Award nominee and singer-songwriter of the Platinum-certified song “abcdefu” (2021) spoke with The Emory Wheel about her exciting journey as an artist.
The artist is currently showcasing her fierce craft on her “scared but trying” tour, which began in Tampa, Fla. on Oct. 17 and will conclude in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 15.
In her powerful latest single “leave me for dead,” GAYLE sings about being left by a partner, aggressively pushing away the heartbreaker. GAYLE received this song from her friends, and while it was “already so beautifully written,” she said that she rewrote the song to fit her personal experience in finding “empowerment” after breakups.
“I really wanted to find out what I wanted to say with that song and hone in on that point,” GAYLE said.
She described her usual songwriting process as constructing ways for songs’ key messages to be delivered.
“Most of the time, I start with the general idea of something I want to say, and then I try my best to fit it melodically and scenically with the music,” GAYLE said.
Her music boasts “intensity” in melodic layers and vocal productions, which GAYLE referred to as the “strongest feature” of her composition style.
“I’m always thinking about my songs and how to intensify them,” GAYLE said. “Everything in my song is a purposeful decision that’s made down to the guitar tone or with lyrics or melodies.”
GAYLE’s tour follows her spending the summer opening for her idols Taylor Swift and P!nk.
“Opening up for Taylor was the most exciting thing in the whole entire world,” GAYLE said. “A lot of venues that I played with her, I actually grew up going to. So it was very full circle for me, and I was very very sentimental about that whole tour.”
GAYLE’s performance before Swift at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was not her first visit to Atlanta; many of her family members live in the city.
“Getting to see Taylor’s show and go to a stadium that I know a lot of my family’s been in — it was really cool, really fun and a pinch-me moment for sure,” she said.
GAYLE recalled embarking on a Segway tour with her brother the second to last time she was in Atlanta.
“I was one of those kids where my family dragged me out to a Segway tour,” she chuckled. “I was one of those angsty teens on a Segway.”
Looking to the future, GAYLE is “really excited” to experiment with covers as well as improvise elements of her music and performance during her tour.
“Who knows what’s gonna happen?” GAYLE said. “There’s gonna be a lot of experimenting. And obviously we’re gonna really care and try our best, but we’re also going to allow ourselves to just try and be out there and to f*** up and to have fun.”
GAYLE’s enthusiasm goes hand-in-hand with the title of her tour, “scared but trying,” which encapsulates her feeling “intimidated” over the past two years.
“I almost was getting resentful of the fact that people couldn’t see how scared I was all the time because I just had absolutely no idea what I was doing,” GAYLE said.
Out of her tour setlist, GAYLE said she is most excited to perform “snow angels” (2022), the brash “i don’t sleep as good as i used to” and “butterflies,” her original track from “Barbie The Album.” She believes “butterflies” will “translate really fun” to a live audience because the song is more inspired by pop-punk music than the songs she writes for her own discography. GAYLE credited producer Mark Ronson for pushing her to expand her artistry.
She also shared her gratitude for her friend and fellow musician Dylan joining the “scared but trying” tour. Dylan shared GAYLE’s experience of joining a prominent pop star’s tour this past summer, having opened for Ed Sheeran. GAYLE felt “special” to have someone like Dylan who can “relate to what [she] was going through.”
Speaking about her Platinum-certified hit “abcdefu,” GAYLE acknowledged that she and her best friend created the song. The pair started writing songs together in GAYLE’s bedroom when GAYLE was 12 and her friend was 15. GAYLE and her friend were 16 and 19, respectively, when they composed “abcdefu.”
“I’m just so proud that I get to do it with people that I love,” GAYLE said. “I’m just so proud that it’s such a silly song that was able to change my life completely.”
GAYLE suggested Waffle House at 3 a.m., Chuck E. Cheese, a good road trip or an angry drive as great occasions to blare out the hit song.
The young artist also revealed that she has recently started writing songs for her first full-length album, which will be her “next big goal” following the tour. Listeners can anticipate the project to be released next year.
Though still young in the industry, GAYLE’s sincerity toward music is unrivaled. She is certain that she wants to keep making music in the years to come.
“I would really love to be able to have music as my career and being able to expand on top of that,” GAYLE said.
Fans in the Atlanta area can hear GAYLE on Nov. 14 at The Loft, where she will make her second-to-last tour stop. By the end of the “scared but trying” tour, GAYLE hopes she’ll have discovered “a good routine” to take care of herself and her voice.
“There’s no handbook, no rulebook for any of this, and I’m making literally everything up as I go,” GAYLE said. “But I’m still going to try my best to keep going and to keep trying no matter what.”
Ellen Choi (25B, 23Ox) is a native of both South Korea and San Jose, California, currently studying Marketing and Film & Media Management with a minor in East Asian Studies. Her multicultural background fuels her passion for entertainment and marketing, inspiring her to craft compelling narratives that offer unique perspectives for The Wheel. She also serves as a Sponsored Content Coordinator for The Wheel, combining her writing talents with her marketing expertise. Outside of her professional pursuits, Ellen enjoys narrating creative music playlists on WMRE, Emory's student radio, dancing with her BlaeZ Dance Team teammates, and savoring culinary delights.
