Anna Storm

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Anna Storm: Tongue and Cheek New Banging Electro Pop

Interview conducted on November 19, 2020

By Dan Locke

Anna Storm is a Pop-R&B artist, whose music radiates confidence and oozes swag. Built upon the desire to encourage others to step out their comfort zones and be fearless, Storm has crafted a sound not to be reckoned with.

What was your upbringing like?

I grew up in a small preppy town in Connecticut. My family was pretty conservative and old school, but I was always a lot more creative and eccentric than my upbringing or environment. I was raised to value education and hard work, and excelled in academia. My parents taught me the value of work ethic— I needed to get straight A’s— I became a perfectionist. I always put pressure on myself to be “the best.” My biggest competition has always been myself. I was a pretty shy/introverted kid and was bullied a lot for being “different,” but loved the spotlight. I guess I was kind of nerdy— and still am. LOL.

How did you discover music?

When I was around 4 years old, my “cool” babysitters burned me a cassette tape (tbt) of some current pop acts such as TLC’s “Waterfalls” and Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It.” Even though I was a toddler, I was obsessed with that tape and learned all the songs on it. I would belt TLC’s “Waterfalls” 24/7like a little diva. I’m pretty sure no kid my age even knew who TLC was. Since then I’ve been addicted to pop music.

How did you start to write music?

When I was 11 years old, I was hooked on Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, & Mandy Moore. I was so drawn to everything about bubblegum pop— from the melodies to the beats to the lyrics and the fashion. I decided that I was going to try and write a bubblegum pop song, and so I sat myself down in my aunt’s house and wrote my first song, “Morning Dove.” Its kind of sounded like TLC’s “Unpretty,” and the lyrics were pretty cheesy AF— “I saw a morning dove/who will bring us love/from the skies above/from the skies above/the lights will shine/and I will make you mine/and the morning dove/and the morning dove will sing.” I ended up working with my middle school music teacher on an arrangement for that song and performing it in the school talent show.

Describe your music?

My music is upbeat pop music, although it is also very genre-bending. Although I’ve been heavily influenced by the top pop divas, I also have a huge spot in my heart for hip-hop music. I rap in a few of my songs, and I think there is definitely a hip-hop vibe to my persona. I’ve collaborated with rappers in my music— some of whom I looked up to growing up— which is so awesome to me! My music is very self-empowering, fierce, powerful, catchy, in your face, unapologetic, and #slay AF. After all, I am Anna Storm and I #slaylife. I want fans to listen to my music and feel like they are fabulous and can achieve anything they want to in life!

What is instant fame? Referring to instagram?

Instafame is the name of the game LOL! Nowadays if you have 10K+ followers on IG, you are perceived as being “famous.” Everyone spends all day long getting lost on social media, so if you have a lot of followers on any given platform, an outsider will view you as “the shit.” This is opposed to back in the day before social media, the pop stars in the late 90s/2000s had no IG, so they were not instafamous, they were traditionally famous and you were bombarded by them on tv (MTV/VH1, etc) all day long. The channels of viewing have changed, so you have to adapt to the times. Now you gotta do it for the gram! #Slaylife!

What makes a good songwriter?

A good songwriter is able to channel their feelings and life experiences and synthesize it/distill it into a finished product which resonates with a lot of people. Good songwriters are in tune with their environment and human kind, and they are champions of presenting the human experience. They have the ability to make you feel a certain way— to evoke emotion— whether it’s making you feel happy, sexy, bossy, like a queen, sad…so on, so forth. They capture emotion in a three minute or so composition— which is truly a powerful thing.

What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?

Well my first original song, as previously mentioned, was “Morning Dove,” when I was 11. My first recorded original song was “Give It Up,” on Damon Dash’s mixtape “The Roc Files Vol. 2.” It was a pop/r&b/hip-hop banger, and was very catchy. It was definitely a song for the clubs and very seductive— I sang on it: “I know you want me/you want to taste this/body shots on me/and I’m the chaser.” At that time, I was a member of a hip-hop collective in Connecticut called “The Blaqout Crew,” and my producer wanted me to sing, as well as rap. I rapped in the second verse of that song, I kind of sounded like Ke$ha, but after that song, I thought to myself— why don’t I try to rap more?

How was it to work with Daman Dash?

Being from the East Coast, I always loved Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella records, so when I was asked to be on Damon Dash’s mixtape, “The Roc Files Vol. 2,” I was ecstatic! I think I was the only pop singer on that mixtape LOL— Jim Jones & Cam’ron were included on that project and here I am this little teenybopper from Connecticut getting on a mixtape with rappers I love. It was pretty surreal, and I thought I was pretty freaking cool at the time. LOL!

Tell me about “Versace Shade”?

“Versace Shade” is my newest single, and is a new-wave dance electro-pop record. It’s my third official single, and has a driving bass and catchy lyrics. I based a lot of the lyrics off people’s opinions of my social media persona/fame, which is very tongue and cheek. People are very entertained by me, but as with all art, not everyone gets “it,” and that’s ok because you will have that with anything you do in life. Despite outside opinions, I rejoice in the song because I know my self-worth, and discover that “I’m the phenomenon.” It’s a great record to play when you’re driving, at the clubs, getting ready, or really anywhere— it’s upbeat and very danceable. And really, who doesn’t love to twerk in their living room? I LIVE for it! #Slaylife

The song was composed by Ikuma Matsudam, and written by you and Josh Stevens. Can you tell me the role each of you had creating the song?

Ikuma is an amazing musician and composer and did an incredible job making a catchy, energetic, yet eerie/dark song. Josh and I work great as a team and he’s helped me write my first two singles, “Confident,” and “Red Bottoms & Sandy Beaches.” He really gets my brand and my lingo; he could probably be hired as my official “douchey” hashtag writer on IG— that’s how in touch he is. So, in writing the song, we both bounced ideas off each other and it resulted in this “ultimate party anthem.”

Why is “Versace Shade” the ultimate party anthem?

“Versace Shade” is the ultimate party anthem because the best is infectious and draws you in— as soon as you listen to it you are hooked and reeled into the marvelous world of ANNA STORM. LOL! Welcome to StormVille: A world where you are self-empowered to be whoever you want to be— you can wear what you want, say what you want, have what you want, eat what you want, 0 “fu**$” given, no apologies— it is a fabulous world! You are free to celebrate YOU and love yourself, and that is the ultimate reason to party! If you aren’t making tons of tequila shots, making luscious duck faces, and twerking your butt off to “Versace Shade,” then I’m feeding you tequila shots until you do! LOL!

What did you decide to create the YouTube series Confident?

I wanted to give people an insight into the character of Anna Storm! I spent a lot of time in New Jersey in the guido scene and wanted to provide fans with a look into that lifestyle. I basically lived the Jersey Shore at one point in real life, so I wanted to delve into that in my “Confident” series. The in your face, confident, and ballsy attitude of the people in New York and New Jersey helped inspire me to be more fierce myself. That was a way for people to see a layer of me, and how I developed my confidence. It also was a way to make people laugh, since the NJ culture is such a different world than most places in the US.

How was it to be a part of Metropolitan Detective as Linda Hotson?

I went to acting school growing up and was in plays, but really have been focusing on my music. However, I have had several acting roles that come my way. The first was a movie about Anna Nicole Smith called “Anna Nicole,” where I played Anna’s doctor and actually received a Royal Wolf Film Award for “best-supporting actress” for my portrayal. After that I got the role of Linda Hotson in the Metropolitan Detective series— it was very fun and I kind of played the vixen/starlet role, so it came naturally to me. LOL.

What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?

I’ve been eating copious amounts of carbs, pizza especially— I need to keep my title of Pizza Queen/#Carbslut and I am not letting a virus stop me! LOL. I’ve been working on music, making douchey IG videos for my story, hanging out with my boyfriend, and still slaying. I never want to lose momentum regardless of what happens in life— I’ve been “slaying safe,” but still pushing through— I’m a fighter and a boss betch, I don’t let anything stop me.

If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?

If I couldn’t do music, I’d probably just be a professional carbslut/pizza connoisseur and just enter pizza eating competitions for a living. I actually won one several years ago in AZ— it was a 32-inch pie with four toppings on it and you needed to finish it in an hour or less. That definitely would be my life calling if not for music. I’d out eat anyone, after all, I am a perfectionist. LOL!

Anything you would like to say in closing?