EMILY WEISBAND
Interview conducted on March 31, 2021
By Dan Locke
GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter Emily Weisband shares new song “Psychopath,” the latest off her forthcoming I Call It Being Human EP coming April 2nd on Warner Records. The new five track EP – which will also include Tauren Wells collaboration “Love 2 Hard” and recently released single “New Salt” – continues Emily’s journey from behind the scenes and into the spotlight after writing celebrated songs for artists like Camila Cabello, Dan + Shay, BTS with Halsey, and Keith Urban. Listen to “Psychopath” HERE and watch the accompanying video HERE.
How did you start to write music?
My dad is a writer and he was in bands as I was growing up. One Christmas he got our entire family a bunch of instruments because, having 6 kids, his dream was to start a family band. I was the only one who actually picked up one of the instruments and started learning and then when I was 11, I decided to try and write a song just like him. I brought it to him when he was doing work at his desk and he started crying as I played it for him. The idea that lil ol’ me could move an invincible 6’1 man to tears with a song made me realize the power writing had to affect people, and from that day on I was hooked. Absolutely addicted to making people cry, ha ha.
Describe your music.
My music is pretty point blank… I’ve just always been a tell-all queen! I’ve never seen much point in beating around the bush or trying to hide something about what I’ve been through like no one else has ever been through it. Sonically I will probably always be evolving since my focus is so much on what the song says, but I grew up on a lot of old musicals so I really love melodies and super musical chords. The focus of my music is DEFINITELY on the lyrics. I like to call it “human” music when people ask me what genre it falls in.
Do you belong to any songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
I’m an ASCAP girl!
You have been co-writing songs that have been recorded by Camila Cabello, Thomas Rhett, Lady A, Hunter Hayes, Tim McGraw, Pink, Dan + Shay, BTS with Halsey, and Keith Urban. What makes a good songwriter?
I think a good songwriter leans into who they are as a writer. You move to towns like Nashville and it’s so easy to chase what everyone else is doing or what appears to be working, but I know God made me really specifically just like all the rest of us, so for me to try to be anything but what I was made to feel like I’m missing something. I started really connecting with Nashville and Nashville started really connecting with me when I started leaning into the things that make me, me. What makes a GREAT commercial songwriter though, I believe, is someone who views it as a service industry. When I show up to write with Keith Urban or Lady A, I’m not there to show off how good at melodies I am or get into lyric wars with anyone. I’m here to listen, understand what their hearts are longing to say to the world, and serve them in making that come to life.
Where is your Grammy in your house?
Ha ha ha, it’s had a few homes. Usually hidden on a shelf somewhere… I kinda want to wait until I have a room in my house specifically dedicated to music until I give it the moment it probably deserves. Right now, though it’s on the dresser in my closet next to my mirror so I can look at it when I’m getting ready in the morning. Eye on the prize! Really thankful to Hillary Scott and the Recording Academy for that one.
Tell me about your new song “Psychopath”?
‘Psychopath’ really helped shape the whole EP for me. I had just started dating my current boyfriend and I saw on Instagram that my ex, who I dated right before him, got engaged. My boyfriend could tell I was in a weird funk so I told him “okay don’t get mad, but *insert your ex’s name here* got engaged today and I’m just in a weird mood!” I felt guilty for being out of sorts about it. He was totally understanding and said, ‘Well of course you feel weird about your ex being engaged, you’re not a psychopath!” It was such a reassuring moment for him to say that emotions like that are normal and he gave me the space to feel through them. It didn’t mean I wanted to be with my ex-boyfriend or loved my current boyfriend any less. The rest is history.
Your upcoming EP “I Call it Being Human” comes out on April 2nd on Warner Brothers. How did you come up with the title?
On the Not Afraid To Say Goodbye EP I sifted through all of the lyrics on the project and tried to find a line that stuck out to me as representing what the project as a whole was about. I did the same for this project. I Call It Being Human is a line in Psychopath! The world tries to tell you you’re dramatic, crazy, or unstable for feeling things, but emotions are normal and human… I want my fans to know that I see them that way and that my music is a safe place to be whatever they are in!
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
No way. Live music is going to be back and better than ever. Going to a show is such a uniting experience… it’s my favorite thing when the music cuts out and thousands of voices are singing at the top of their lungs together. It’s so spiritual. I have to believe that’s still in us! I know artists and their fans all miss it so much.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
Honestly, self-quarantine was a huge gift to me in the area of my personal life. I’ve been incomplete work mode since I moved here trying to make my dream come true. Music became who I am in so many ways and I don’t think that’s healthy. I was only as good as the song I wrote or as the award, I won or didn’t win. Quarantine forced music back into the “what I do” space of my heart and made me look at who I am outside of it. I’m a sister and a daughter, a friend, a girlfriend! I was also writing for other people on Zoom a lot, securing new management, and writing a lot of these new songs. Oh, and I bought my first house and moved! So, a busy quarantine.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
I just hope these songs help y’all understand yourselves more. Why you do the things you do or say the things you say or want the things you want. As I said, I want my music to be a safe place for y’all to be broken in… and also happy in! And I can’t wait to sing I Call It Being Human live for everyone. I long for connection with you!
