17-year-old singer-songwriter GAYLE is a powerhouse: she’s a force to be reckoned with from her vulnerable lyrics to her powerful singing voice. Already making strides in the industry despite being so young, the world is truly her oyster.
She recently released ‘abcdefu,’ her latest single that has been an enormous success so far. With an upcoming tour, a debut project (with Atlantic Records) in the works, and several versions of ‘abcdefu’ recently released, many exciting things are happening for GAYLE. We hopped on a Zoom call to talk about everything upcoming and how she’s feeling about her journey in music so far.
BRIGID: Thanks so much for hopping on this call to chat with me a bit! To start off, I wanted to talk a bit about how you got your start in music. You’ve been writing songs for a while, and you’re currently based in Nashville. Did you grow up there or move there later on?
GAYLE: In a sense, I grew up in Nashville. I’m originally from Dallas, Texas, but I moved here when I was 12. I started going back and forth when I was 10. I became a human being with conscious thoughts in Nashville. Technically, my pre-teen and teen years were here. A lot of my personality comes from Nashville, but a part of me has a sense of childhood. That’s what I think of, especially when I visit Dallas; I see a younger version of myself there.
BRIGID: Do you feel like being in Nashville during those years has had an impact on your songwriting?
GAYLE: Yeah, I think it would be hard for it not to. I went there [Nashville] specifically for it to affect me. There’s definitely a music scene in Texas; in my opinion, it’s more of a touring scene. When I was 10, I wasn’t ready to tour Texas—so I started going to Nashville. There’s a vast songwriting community and a big collaboration culture. If you like what somebody else does, you can be [say] “I like your thing, this is my thing, let’s see if it works.” And there’s room for it to suck. It’s like, “this could actually be horrible.” We actually call them a “one write stand.” Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but everyone is given a shot. Nashville has definitely affected my songwriting and my openness to collaboration.
BRIGID: I was going to ask about that because you’ve been writing for a long time. Was it challenging to go into those collaboration spaces when you’re used to writing on your own?
GAYLE: Yeah, it definitely can be scary, especially learning not to be precious with your ideas. I was 11 going into these rooms [thinking], “I really love this idea, let’s do this!” and they would say, “okay, but what if we added this and took away that?” and I was, mind blown. It was hard to be open with others’ ideas, and it can also take a long time. Songs can take up to 6 to 7 hours to write sometimes, especially if you’re set on finishing it. It can be a long time to spend with one person and know when to focus and take breaks. Those are just dynamics you learn with time, and it can be hard to get used to. I really fell in love with the art of collaboration.
BRIGID: That’s awesome. Nashville is really the place to be in terms of collaboration; I feel like everyone there is always working on music stuff.
GAYLE: You can literally go to McDonald’s and be like, “yo, what’s your genre?” and they’ll be like, “how’d you know?“
BRIGID: You’re like, “I gotchu.”
GAYLE: It’s like I sense it!
BRIGID: Where do you get your song inspiration from?
GAYLE: A lot of it is based on actual experience, but I’m also the type of person to make up scenarios in my head. Like “my ex is going to come back, and he’s going to tell me that he loves me….“
BRIGID: It’s like maladaptive daydreaming!
GAYLE: Yes! Like right before bed…
BRIGID: It’s like a whole movie.
GAYLE: Exactly! I’ve got it down to a T. There are definitely times where a story in my head hurts a little too much, and I need to get it out, or it’ll drive me crazy. So yeah, it’s mainly from stuff that actually happens. Or a writer can walk into the room and [say] “This thing just happened to me, and I’m crazy inspired,” and it’s like, “yeah, let’s write about that!”
BRIGID: Absolutely. Tell me a bit about getting signed to Atlantic because you were releasing music independently before signing [with Atlantic]. Can you tell me a bit about how that all went down?
GAYLE: Yeah! So the first song I released was when I was 15, in 2020. I was [thinking] “fresh year, 2020, good start, nothing can go wrong!” As an independent artist during quarantine, some people could post on Tiktok and gain a following. Still, for me personally, it was hard to release music independently during quarantine because nobody cared. I had a song do really well for the standard of being a 15-year-old girl releasing independently; I was [thinking], “oh my god, I had a song get on New Music Friday?!” It literally blew my mind.
Then I had other songs come out that just didn’t hit. When Atlantic offered me a deal, I was like, “you care? You like me?” I’m the biggest fan of Aretha Franklin, she’s the reason I make music, and Atlantic was her label. Lizzo’s 2019 album also re-sparked my love for Atlantic; I always wanted to be signed with them. I was like, “I’m going to manifest this,” and then it actually happened! Funny enough, I hadn’t even written ‘abcdefu’ yet, which was my first song to come out with Atlantic. At the time, I was 16, a minor, so I had to go through family court and all this fun stuff; it took a second for everything to be official and done. I was so excited, I literally jumped up and down. The best part of it taking so long was that I used it as an excuse to get food. I was offered the deal; I was like, “great, cookies and ice cream!” I got offered the paperwork; I was like, “great, cookies and ice cream!” Then the lawyers look at it and approve, and it’s like, great-
BRIGID & GAYLE: Cookies and ice cream!
GAYLE: Then you actually sign it, and it’s cookies and ice cream. Then they sign it, and that’s awesome cookies and ice cream. Then it goes to court and gets approved, cookies and ice cream. By that point, I’m like, so full, but there are so many things to celebrate. By the time everything was official, I [had the mindset of] “Hey, I had written this song; it’s about telling someone to f*ck off a lot, I hope you don’t hate it.“
BRIGID: Let’s talk about that track [abcdefu]! You’ve been putting out a few different versions of it, most recently the “angrier” version, which I think is my favorite.
GAYLE: Thank you!
BRIGID: What made you want to release a couple different versions of the song?
GAYLE: ‘abc’ took a second to find the right production. There are different aspects of the song that have different intensities, and it was like, which one do we focus on the most? There are definitely some pop sensibilities in the song melodically, especially in the verse, and I think it could lead as a pop melody. So, it’s like, let’s follow the pop-iness of that. Then, there’s an almost rock intensity of the “f-ck you.”
BRIGID: It’s like, gritty.
GAYLE: Yeah, there’s definitely a rock sensibility, so you could focus on that. Some people definitely took a rock-leaning direction, which inspired the angrier version. The song initially said “A B C D E f-ck you,” but we decided to go to the “f you.” It made it easier to go with the “f you” for the first one knowing that the last one would be “f-ck you.” There are different levels and production; I wanted to show off all sides of the song. I wanted one that was a bit messier, more crowd vocals, and live drums. And then there’s the OG, which still has the electric guitars and drums, but it’s more in a pop lane. Then the chill version… I wanted an acoustic version of ‘abc’ because I heard a slow dance version of it. I don’t know why; I just heard 3 part harmonies… I love the juxtaposition of something being really pretty and telling you to f-ck off. We did it, and the demo version came because we would always go back to the demo when the production took a second to find. I figured if we were doing other versions, we should release where it all started. It’s cool to see where it started and then all the places it went.
BRIGID: How’s it going with working on your debut project? How does it compare to when you were working on music independently?
GAYLE: It’s [the project] definitely under a different microscope; more people are looking at it. I thought I was a perfectionist until I started working with Atlantic. I get lazy, I’ll [think] “it’s just one line that doesn’t make sense!” and they’re like “that doesn’t make sense, and this doesn’t make sense either,” and it’ll be something I didn’t even notice. I really love it; I love critiques and hearing other opinions. It’s really nice to have an opinion that I trust, get feedback, and create a consistent body of work that will be the best I can do.
BRIGID: It’s nice to have an extra set of eyes, for sure. So, you’re going on tour! How are you feeling about going on tour with Winnetka Bowling League and just being back to live music?
GAYLE: I am so excited! I actually saw Winnetka Bowling League open for Sasha Sloan in January 2020. I remember going up to the drummer and not being able to speak! I thought they were so cool, just an excellent band. They have a song called Pulp; I have a song called Orange Peel. It’s like, let’s just get married. Also, these places [tour stops], I’ve never been to. I’ve never been to Colorado. To be able to travel, to do that with music, is literally one of the most joyous experiences. I get to go all of these places and open for one of my favorite bands, you know? I’m just so excited and grateful to have the opportunity.
GAYLE’s single ‘abcdefu‘ is available on all streaming platforms now, and you can buy tickets to her upcoming shows here.
