The Creative Independent

How did you first start making music?

I started making music in my bedroom when I was around 13 or 14. I taught myself garage band and had this little $20 mic, and I would record my little songs in secret up there. It was very much just for me. I feel like that came from a love of poetry and storytelling, which is something I had done for a long time ...

Your work has a quality of pulling the reader or viewer inside of it. Is that something you think about intentionally, or does it just happen?

That’s such an interesting way to describe it. I feel like when I write, it’s an encapsulation of my own thought processes. It’s sort of my little mark to say, “Hey, I was here. I’m out here. If you see me, let...

When creating something, I spend a lot of time not knowing how it’s going to come together, if at all. It always seems like a miracle when it does. Do you experience that when you’re writing and have you found ways of approaching that not-knowing period?

All the time. I don’t like to know. I just jump into it and then I discover. Right up to the end o...

I’m always curious when something that was a “for-fun project” starts growing into something that could be an actual job. Your Instagram feed blew up quickly. For those who don’t know, you play and write about a song every day. A lot of people are paying attention to it now… ...

How did you first find dance?

I wanted to get out of gym class somehow. I was into sports—baseball, basketball, soccer—but I didn’t love them, and when I ran my first mile at 11 years old I immediately threw up. I loved musical theatre, but my voice would shake when I sang. Then I had a barre class and I remember thinking how hard it was—so much harde...