HELLO, THIS IS JUST AN INTERVIEW WITH SOMEGIRLNAMEDANNA

Somegirlnamedanna’s music is not here to sell us an unrealistic vision of a perfect, always-happy-Instagram-VSCO-filtered life. She’s keeping it real and simply trying to be nothing other than her true authentic self. With honest songwriting at the forefront, Anna aims to remind us of the subtleties and emotions that make us all human.

Born in a small town in Minnesota, Anna’s rural upbringing swapped TV and social media for piano, painting, and the sounds of expert songwriters like Tracey Chapman and Joni Mitchell. As a result, she just created- uninterrupted by trends or the outside world. While she’s been writing songs for years, she just shared her story a few months ago through her debut EP twenty one, twenty two.

Consisting of six, soul-baring songs, twenty one, twenty two displays Anna’s many sides. Opening track, “hello i am” features raw lyrics telling the story of her upbringing paired with an Imogen Heap-esq vocal arrangement (keep reading to hear about Anna’s process writing “hello i am” and read the lyrics). The EP continues with “seriously just stop,” a song about that ~one guy~ who is persistent in the actual worst way ever.

SOMEGIRLNAMEDANNA - “SERIOUSLY JUST STOP”

From softer, intimate tracks like “kitchen table” and “abandonment,” to the tongue-and-cheek, pop sensibilities of “monday,” honesty remains a constant throughout the EP. Twenty one, twenty two feels like a diary entry. I know that it’s a great time in music because we’ve got artists like Anna letting us into their worlds, and allowing us to find pieces of ourselves in there, too.

We were lucky enough to ask Anna a few questions about her recent releases and life.

We Are: The Guard: You recently released a remix of "seriously just stop" with Loote! Can you tell us about how that came to be and the creative process?

SOMEGIRLNAMEDANNA: It was during quarantine when we got connected, and we both loved each other's music. Jackson would send versions back and forth to me, and we would put in our creative input until we had the final product. I feel like we've completely bonded online, and I can't wait to meet the both of them soon. Loote is so insanely talented, and I feel so honored to have gotten to work with them. Hopefully more to come in the future!

SOMEGIRLNAMEDANNA - “SERIOUSLY JUST STOP” LOOTE REMIX

We Are: The Guard: What does success look like for you?

SOMEGIRLNAMEDANNA: I think the more I grow, the more the concept of success (to me) continues to change. As I've been in isolation this year, I'm starting to redefine my own happiness and meaning of success into something more intangible. A song I wrote this year really dives into that - escaping materialism and finding inner joy from loving myself and others deeply - and I'm finding that success means (to me) that when I leave this world, I helped leave it a little better than how it was before.

WATG: Who's one artist you love that needs more attention right now?

ANNA: Blu DeTiger is insanely talented and I'm so excited to watch her career take off!

“FIGURE IT OUT” - BLU DETIGER

WATG: If you could go back to your first time sitting down to write a song, what would you tell yourself?

ANNA: "Don't listen to anyone who says a music career needs a plan B"

WATG: What do you and your music stand for?

ANNA: My music is my mode of self expression, and the best way I can tell my story. I'm not trying to be your next popstar muse (frankly, fame scares the shit out of me),  but I love being creative- sonically and visually, and also love to connect with people throughout the process. If I can make someone's day a little better with a song, or help remind them that they are not alone in their struggles, then my music did exactly what I hoped it would do.

As a blog that values great songwriting, we love asking artists to break down a song of their choice. Somegirlnamedanna selected “hello i am” and let us in on her headspace when writing it.

SOMEGIRLNAMEDANNA - “HELLO I AM”

ANNA: These are the lyrics to the first song I released, “hello i am.” This song is so important to me because it represents the first time I started to tell my own story, and not view writing as an escapism from my problems. Since then, I have developed a new relationship with songwriting and have been able to show my vulnerabilities with it- which is a scary thing. I was driving down the 1 when I wrote the lyrics, originally a lot more verses than what's shown here, and I felt so lost in life. I still feel this way at times, but as cheesy as it sounds, this song really did start a path of self discovery for me.
 
Lyrics:

Hello, hello, hello
Hello I, hello I, hello I
Hello I, hello I, hello I
Hello I am, hello I am, hello I am
Grew up no TV, just had my mind to keep me company
Lost in my thoughts, never thought about my destiny
My role models are from novels
'Cause that was one reality that never caused problems, yeah
Oh, and you'll never know that I'm emotional
'Cause I'll always make you laugh, even when I'm miserable
But really, I'm okay, so please don't sell me on your faith
Just have faith I'll finally figure out all my shit one day
You wanna know who I am (You wanna know who I am)
I'm just some girl (I'm just some girl)
With blood on my hands (With blood on my hands)
From trying to love the world (From trying to love the world)
You wanna know where I'm from (You wanna know where I'm from)
I'll tell you where I've been (I'll tell you where I've been)
From Heaven to every sin (From Heaven to every sin)
And I'd do it all over again (And I'd do it all over again)
Oh, so you wanna know?
Do you wanna know? Do you wanna?
So you wanna know?
Then I'll let you know
Hello I am, hello I am, hello I am
Hello I am, hello I am, hello I am
I'm just some girl
Hello I am, hello I am, hello I am
I'm just somegirlnamedanna