GENEVIEVE STOKES
Portland, Maine-based songstress Genevieve Stokes is ready to take you on an adventure through the woods with the perfect soundtrack of cozy, folk-laden ballads. Releasing her debut EP Swimming Lessons, which features the brand new track “Parking Lot”, Genevieve describes this project as a coming of age. To her it’s nostalgic, to us it’s equal parts smooth and rugged. Her songs authentically capture the joys of growing up: the pang of falling down, but overall, the triumph of getting back up. She sat down to discuss the impact Portland has had on her music, how she’s grown from posting voice notes on Soundcloud to getting signed to a major label, and so much more. Check out the full interview and the playlist she put together for us below!
INTERVIEW
Interview by Bridgette
March 10, 2021
Welcome! Thanks for being here!
Hi, thank you so much for having me!
I appreciate you being here especially because your EP Swimming Lessons just came out on Friday. It includes the tracks “Running Away”, “Surface Tension”, “Morning Dove”, “Lonely and Bored”, “Portland Nights”, “Simple Love” and the brand new song “Parking Lot”. That’s super exciting; congrats to you!
Thank you so much! I’m super excited about it.
What made you want to curate the EP that way, with the singles that were already out and the new track?
I think it was just in a natural progression of which ones I wrote first, and “Parking Lot” was the last one I wrote off of the EP, so I wanted that to be the grand finale.
What was the process of “Parking Lot”, more specifically?
With “Parking Lot”, I wrote that at the end of my senior year of high school. We actually produced all of them around the same time, but most of the songs that were written on the EP were written scattered throughout high school basically. I collected them, and then me and my manager Brian Kierulf produced them together. So “Parking Lot” was actually produced at the same time but it was just a lot more recent.
Got it. So they were written a while ago but are just now coming into their own in terms of production.
Yeah, exactly.
How does that feel, having this more current perspective when you’re producing it versus looking back to when you wrote it?
I think that the production on it really matches the lyrics and the feeling of it for me, and I was really trying to make sure that that would happen because the songs are very important to me and very personal, so I was a huge part of the production process. I think for “Parking Lot”, it became a lot more grand than I was expecting. I write it to just be piano and vocals, and I wasn’t expecting it to be this really big song but once we added all of these harmonies and all of the different instruments and stuff, it became a lot different in a really positive way. I’m just super content with the way they turned out and it feels very natural and normal for me, which was scary because I’m very new to production. Brian found me through Soundcloud and I would just record voice memos and put them on there, so it was such a new process for me, but very rewarding!
That’s definitely a very delicate thing: to be able to hold onto that authentic you putting voice notes on Soundcloud while getting these tracks produced out, but I think you’ve struck a really beautiful balance.
Thank you so much!
Speaking of writing songs for piano and vocals, I’m obsessed with your voice and I also understand you’ve been playing piano forever, as well. When you craft a song, do you write it around your voice? Or do you start with piano?
I start with piano. For me, it starts with the chords and I just kind of riff until a common theme emerges, and then the lyrics come. But I think that it’s become a lot more intuitive and for me, it’s about getting the feeling first and the lyrics will come. It would be really hard to write with just the melody first.
You’re from Portland, Maine. At least from a listener’s perspective, I think you can hear that woodsy sound. What effect do you think Portland has had on your sound?
The production process is very important to me, and we used a lot of organic elements while we were producing, like sounds of the stream or rocks hitting together and stuff. That was really important to me just to have that feeling of home, because I’m surrounded by nature all of the time and there’s this very earthy feeling. I’m really inspired by nature, so it’s definitely had a huge role in my sound and what I like to write about.
I think that really comes across as a listener.
I’m glad!
Do you think that because nature plays such an important part in your music, that you would be able to move to a big city? Often times artists will have to make the move eventually, but for you nature has a really unique role in the music.
Honestly, I’m really debating whether or not I want to go to New York. I definitely can’t see myself in LA [laughs] to be honest. But I really enjoy being in New York. I think that it’s kind of overwhelming at first, and I’ve definitely had a couple mental breakdowns after going to New York, just because I’ve been so overstimulated. But I think, maybe at one point for a couple of years, I could live there. But I definitely love having this peace and quiet, and being in such a rooted and grounded place, so I’m not sure. [Laughs]
It could also be cool to see what sort of effect it could have on your music, as well.
True! Yeah!
I’m sure this past year has been a whirlwind for you, between the pandemic and your music. How have you been passing the time and staying sane?
That’s a great question. I mean, I’m barely staying sane honestly, because I don’t have a very clear schedule. But everyday, I like to go out and drive to one of my favorite spots, and I go sit by the water and I get myself some coffee. I just signed to Atlantic, so I’ve been doing a lot of stuff through that: meeting with people from Atlantic and working on different projects. But it’s usually for short periods of time, and then I have a lot of free time to do whatever I want. So it’s been hard to really have a schedule, and I’m trying to get a little bit better about that because it’d definitely not super healthy to just [laughs] have nothing to do. But I do write a lot, so that’s something. [Laughs]
The signing to Atlantic is also a really huge step for you! How does it feel to be doing it all from home?
Yeah, it’s so surreal. It’s like, so much has changed but I’m still in the same place, so it’s really hard to feel that and know that. I think that once things open up again and are more fluid, and I’m travelling and stuff, that’s going to be a completely different thing. But right now, I’m still living with my parents. I plan on moving out in April or May and getting an apartment in Portland. But it’s really strange [laughs] being home.
That’s kind of a cool contrast: being able to do all of this with your music career but physically being in your childhood home.
Yeah [laughs].
In general, who would you say some of your influences are?
Growing up, my biggest inspiration was Regina Spektor. Also Adele, I was super inspired by her vocally. And then, as I’ve gotten older, my influences have definitely spread out and I’ve taken smaller pieces from different types of music and really broadened my sense of taste. Frank Ocean, Adrianne Lenker — I love her songwriting — Bon Iver, Feist, Moses Sumney is one of the more recent ones I’ve been really into. It’s constantly changing. I know everyone says that [laughs].
Is there one genre you find yourself going back to? Or do you like to listen to everything?
I just like to listen to everything. Oh, another big influence is Kendrick Lamar. I love Kendrick Lamar, I think he’s such an incredible person and such an incredible artist. I think that now, my inspiration is more abstract. It’s not like oh, I like their lyrics or I like this, it’s more the concept and who they are that’s inspiring to me. So yeah, so many different types of people.
That’s so funny, because when you first said Kendrick Lamar I was kind of surprised. [Laughs] You wouldn’t necessarily think that, but I totally see what you mean. He’s a storyteller and I think that thematically transcends genre.
Yeah, and he’s created this whole world! I love when artists create this whole thing and it’s so purely them and it’s so authentic. I think that’s what really speaks to me. It’s not as much about the style, because I don’t want to just do a specific style. I want it to be so authentically me that other people are like Oh, I want to do the Genevieve Stokes thing. [Laughs] You know? I think that’s really inspiring to me when artists really go off and do a whole different thing.
Thank you again for taking the time here, and congrats again on the EP! Overall, the more philosophical question: what does this EP represent to you?
I think it represents growing up. All of the songs were written during high school and it was a very tumultuous time, and I was really just starting to discover myself and who I am as a person. Swimming Lessons, the title, is like I’m just dipping my feet in the water for the first time and I’m still so young and just understanding the world. I think my later music is a little bit more introspective, but this music to me is really just a time period that is so important. This stage in my development that is— I know I’m going to look back and think it’s such a nostalgic time.
Lastly, I was told to ask about your dog and I feel like I need to!
[Laughs] Rory? Or Griffin? I have two dogs, but Rory is a little bit more prominent on my Instagram just because she has a really big personality. They’re really funny. She’s just such an anxious dog [laughs] and she’s very loving but in a standoffish way. I love them so much. They’re getting old, but they’re very special to me. [Laughs]
Another perk of being home, as well! Getting that extra time with them.
Yeah, for sure.
Well, thank you so much again! Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share or anything coming up you want to mention to the folks listening?
There are definitely some cool videos coming out that I’m super excited about. So just look out on YouTube for that because I have a video for “Parking Lot” coming out and another after and I don’t know if I’m allowed to say yet, but I’m really excited about that!
We love a little bit of mystery! [Laughs] Genevieve, thank you so much again!
Thank you so much for having me! I had fun!