Emi Wes Is All Grown Up
Emerging Danish singer-songwriter Emi Wes’ voice feels beyond her years. On the first track ‘Issues’ off her debut EP Departure, her deep voice gently sings “Oh, trust me I have issues/ Sensitive as a flower, watch me bloom...Strong as a current, watch me rise.” The background of beautiful, longing strings makes her voice all the more timeless and comforting. But once I thought I knew what I was listening to, the next track ‘Five Miles’ blew up all my expectations. Upbeat and perfect for your pre-party playlist, she sings with a swagger,
Yes, I’m still at my mother’s place
Yes, I’m still lookin’ for a space
No, I don’t have my own car yet
No, I don’t have a safety net
The rest of Departure follows suit as a shapeshifting piece of work. ‘All Grown Up’ is a standout track. Wes’ EP is a perfect merging of form and function. Her lyrics speak strongly to being in your early twenties and trying on different relationships, styles, and identities until you find something that fits. The stylistic variation in the songs and accompanying videos reflects this very nature. Working with Grammy nominated producer Robin Hannibal (Kendrick Lamar, Rhye, Little Dragon), Wes is proving herself to be a young and exciting voice that differs from the Danish pop scene.
I had the chance to speak with Emi Wes and ask her about how she is staying creative in lockdown and her artistic process.
The following interview has been edited for clarity.
HB: Hannah Benson, EW: Emi Wes
HB: I really like how varied the songs are on the EP. It switches styles a lot. I’m wondering why you went for a more varied style and how would you describe your sound?
EW: I guess it’s always been important for me to make music that sounds very different from each other. It gives me a lot of freedom I guess. I have a different taste in music so it’s important for me to be able, if I want to in a couple of years, make a western mix-tape or something that is more disco, 6os, or current. I can do it because I am not limited by putting myself in a certain genre/box. So I guess that’s why.
HB: Cool. Who would you say your influences are?
EW: Oh, that’s a good question. I guess I love old music from the 60s and 70s. I also get inspired by a lot of movies and different things. I’m in a period right now where I am listening to lots of Diana Ross. I guess it varies a lot. I also like a lot of film scores. I usually listen to older music and in times when I go a lot to the studio to finish things, I barely listen to music. I kinda need to stay like a blank space somehow.
HB: I like how so many of the songs are about growing up and playing around with identities. I feel like the songs stylistically match that.
EW: Nice. I’m glad you noticed that.
HB: I’m wondering about any vocal training in your background. To me, your voice sounds like you have a choir background maybe?
EW: Aw, that’s a big compliment. I never took any training in any formal way. It’s a bit weird because no one in my family is interested in music in that way. I have no one who sings or plays an instrument. I don’t really know, it’s been so natural for me. I guess I was born that way and spent a lot of time practicing myself. I don’t have a lot of specific techniques or theory behind it, it just flows out of me I guess.
HB: When did you start writing songs?
EW: It was very early. I guess I was about 13 or something when I started to write. But it wasn’t something I thought a lot about. It was just so natural for me. I guess I’ve always been, as a child, very creative. Growing up with a mother who’s very creative too, she’s a painter. I was fed with a lot of creativity and was very creative myself, so it just happened naturally somehow.
HB: What is your songwriting process like?
EW: I always have a notebook or something where I just write thoughts down. It can just be a line or two, or if something inspires me. I deal with a lot of thoughts somehow or the other. And then somehow, sometimes there just comes a melody on it, like very intuitive. When I go to the studio, to go into a serious writing process, I always have a lot of things in that notebook I can use in different ways. Somehow it just happens in the room also, in the situation. For me, writing and making music has to be very natural. I can’t think too much about it. I guess we all think a lot about a lot of things in our lives, but music is that one thing I try to make a clear space to not overthink too much.
HB: That’s cool. So you do all the processing before, jotting notes about your life, and then bring all that together and see what happens?
EW: Yeah, definitely
HB: How has this whole period of isolation and everything changed that process for you?
EW: I’ve been able to be creative. I am that type of person who’s not good at going to bed early. I’m always tired in the morning, so I usually flip my days around. I’m just that way. For me, isolation has been an opportunity to lose space and time and processes and be creative in different ways. I’ve been painting a lot, maybe even more than writing, which has been giving my writing something different. Also getting inspiration from movies and things like that. If you’re a bit introverted, I have both sides in me, so it’s been everyone trying to learn something new and spend time in different ways.
HB: What kind of paintings have you been making?
EW: Lots of different things. I’ve been painting settings. I can show you, I just finished this one. It’s a bit weird…
HB: Cute! I like it.
EW: It’s just like a leopard sofa, sometimes it's people. It really varies a lot.
HB: Have you picked up any other quarantine hobbies?
EW: Yeah, I’m also super into all these visual things. I have a lot of demos and music lying around that I know I have to release in 2021. So I’ve also been trying to figure out what I want to do on the visual side. That’s been a lot of fun too. I’ve been chatting also to people on Instagram. I found a girl who’s making me a costume right now. The whole world is also paused in a weird way, so you get a lot of time you normally wouldn't have. So I’ve been spending, just to be smart with that time, to get a lot of things done that maybe I won’t have time to do when the new year starts.
HB: I want to ask you about your music videos because I think the visuals are so interesting. ‘Issues’ felt more like creating a chill vibe, and then the video for ‘Where’s My Money’ is very cinematic so it is interesting to hear you are inspired by films. I could definitely see the western inspired aesthetic. It sounds like you have a lot of ideas for your videos, so is it more of a collaboration or do you have an initial vision?
EW: I have an initial vision. Like all the videos that are out now are a certain thought I had while writing it. We were a really small team creating it so it’s really just focused on the idea. We were three people making it most of the time. For me, it’s also really important to find partners...I think it’s hard as an artist because sometimes there’s a lot of different people involved and it's hard to keep your own thoughts and identity suddenly when ten people are in on it. If you feel a need to please others, like me, it’s hard to really feel “What do I want?” For me, it’s important that the video process is almost like a holy process where my management gives me the freedom to make my ideas and not butt in and then I just create it. It has to be a very clean process for me to get it the way that I want. Music is very visual for me so it’s been natural, I’ve just been having the ideas. For example on ‘Where’s My Money,’ me and Robin (Hannibal), when we made it we listened to a lot of western things from the 60s with very like plucky guitars and things. We saw a lot of western movies. I always pictured it like that.
HB: Cool. So how did you meet and start working with Producer Robin Hannibal?
EW: We are both from Denmark but he’s been living in LA for a long, long time now. My manager convinced me one night that we had to go to LA and write with different writers. He thought I needed the challenge. There aren’t so many people in Denmark to write with. We went and it was by coincidence. We had one day and we just vibed together and understood each other and I guess it was my first meeting with someone who knew all my references and also challenged me in using my vocals way better than I did at the time. At that time, I think it was five years ago, I had this idea that I couldn’t sing high notes, which I could but I never got training. I needed to be challenged and he did that and then made the project and me grow as an artist. So my meeting with him is very important and now he’s one of my closest friends, almost family.
HB: That’s great. Are you in Copenhagen right now?
EW: I am.
HB: Is that where you are based?
EW: I’m based in an apartment in Copenhagen. I’ve been here since before lockdown happened. I miss Los Angeles and I miss the people there. When you can’t go places, it reminds you how much you feed on different energies. Right now in Denmark it's dark when you wake up in the morning, it’s dark when you go to bed and it’s cold.
HB: How would you describe the musical community in Copenhagen versus Los Angeles?
EW: In Copenhagen, or in Denmark in general, we have this idea that we should not think that we are ‘somebody.’ Also we are not that good at giving ourselves compliments. That’s just part of the culture I guess. So when I came to LA, it was kind of invigorating for me how people compliment themselves or even just being able to say ‘Wow. That’s a good piece of work we did,” or “That sounds amazing.” That was liberating for me somehow. It gave me some confidence somehow. And then it’s just like in Copenhagen people know each other. It’s relatively small, so people know each other one way or the other. I’m a bit of an introvert, so I don’t know that many people.
HB: I’m a writer so I relate when you said that you didn’t realize how much walking around and being near other people inspires you until now. Other than painting, what have you been doing to be creative or inspire yourself?
EW: When something like Corona is happening, it’s been in many ways an intense year for many people beside Corona too. I think people dig deeper when things like this happen. I love to self evolve, to think about a lot of things. I also love a slower pace sometimes, so it’s inspiring for me too. I need those days when I don’t really talk to people and I just get to sit in my own world. Corona gave me more time to do that. It actually reminded me how much I need that sometimes. I guess it’s been good for my creativity in general.
HB: Since you said that’s it important to have control over videos and the song process, what advice would you give to younger artists about asserting their voices or staying true to themselves within the industry?
EW: I guess if I would’ve said something to myself when I was younger and just starting, it is not to worry that much about how you appear or like if people like you or to look/sound a certain way because a look or a sound is popular. I make music that is maybe somehow a bit hard in Denmark because it’s not really the genre that plays the most on the radio. It needs people that are a bit more bold to play something that there isn't a specific time for. It used to worry me a lot and I see that a lot in the young women I know that we tend to think too much about how we are or how people think about us, is it too much or too little, should we do that should we do this...For me, just be yourself and be confident in what you do. I could’ve needed that earlier on.
HB: My last question is what plans do you have for 2021?
EW: A lot of plans. I want to release a lot of new music, videos, and things. Just enjoy. I’ve been living a life where I’ve been writing a lot and haven't really released any songs. For me, it’s important to release a lot and not hold too much back anymore. I think we all need a different vibe and energy than 2020 so I think everyone is happy to go on to the next year.
HB: Thanks so much! It was great to speak with you!
EW: Yeah you too! It was very nice.
