Getting Real with Gracie Abrams On Her New Single “Feels Like”
Gracie Abrams by Vince Aung 2021
It was cold and the train was loud, but Gracie Abrams and her best friend were about to have the best day New York had to offer. Through the pure joy of friendship and a Harry Styles screening, Gracie recalls this as one of the best days she’s ever had. That day would lead to her latest single “Feels Like.”
Writing a song about platonic friendship was a breath of fresh air for Gracie in the early stages of her career. Her debut EP, “Minor,” recounts a breakup, and she’s been slowly walking away from that chapter of her life. “It was definitely a product of exactly where I was at the time,” Gracie recalls. “If I'm living through something, it's what I'm going to be writing about and I want it to come out while it's still real for me.” This is why “Feels Like” is such a welcome, and joyful, track. It’s a new beginning for Gracie and a discussion about another important relationship in her life.
Journaling since she could hold a pencil, Gracie is no stranger to unpacking emotions, life events, and what’s going on in the world through writing. It’s why songwriting came so easily to her. In this new era, we can expect more raw emotion from Gracie - the good and the bad - as well as tours and albums to accompany the retelling of her journey.
Thank you for sharing such vulnerable and authentic art with us, Gracie. With “Feels Like” being about friendship, what can you tell us about your friends and the support they’ve given you through your career thus far?
I actually have very few friends - if I'm going through something there are, like, four people I would call! But I am very close with my people and they've supported me in my music the same way they supported me through anything else: college, relationships, a tough therapy session, or just a really shitty day. We just show up for each other, and I know I’m lucky because this kind of friendship feels so rare.
So when you’re writing about relationships, does the inspiration come from who is supporting you or loving you most at the time?
It more so comes from what I’m going through at the time - and when I was writing “Feels Like,” it was more so due to a lack of romantic relationships! But that was freeing because it was incredible writing about everyone else because a romantic relationship is just a very small fraction of what goes on in my life. I am constantly writing about my friendships, my therapist, impactful conversations I have with myself, whatever is feeding my spirit. Being at a stage where friendship is top of mind and not a trivial breakup actually makes me feel relieved. It feels good to write about my people and to honor our friendship.
That sort of vulnerability in music is - thankfully - taking hold among women songwriters. We’ve seen so many albums come out about what women are going through in life. Does that feel good to know you’re in good company?
I'm relieved that so many of the female artists that are popping off right now are by just writing their own music from their own experiences. I think it's why people have such successful careers because it's super easy for us to pick up on what feels authentic. For me, I wouldn't be doing this at all if it weren't for the writing. That authenticity helps this become a job that doesn't feel like a job. It is the vulnerability and the writing that make me feel like I can do this every day for the rest of my life. I love being the center of my writing, it keeps me excited because it's coming from the deepest part of my soul. That helps me to know I’m telling you all the truth when I sing my words to you!
“Feels Like” by Gracie Abrams
Do you feel like you’ve evolved as an artist in recent years?
I feel like I've changed a lot and yet…not at all. I feel the same way I do about writing, it’s very much still the center of all the work i do. What has changed is my confidence. I have grown up a bit more and I feel more comfortable being in rooms with adults and being much more vocal if I have something to say. I feel like as women we've been trained to not inconvenience others, and every day I am working on completely throwing that out the window. You just get shit done the way you wanna get shit done when you're straight up with other people. The more that I've actively stood up for myself, the more I’ve realized that doing so only every helps everyone else in the room get their job done too.
You are spot on about how we’re brought up as women. Have you seen evolution like that in the music industry? What have you seen when it comes to representation?
I have a mostly female team, so I see representation and brilliant women every day. That was intentional for me, but I know it's rare. I was recently reading the Annenberg Study about women in the music industry, and the truth is that there has been such little progress for women in the last decade. It’s incredibly true when it comes to songwriters, and even more so in producers. This is so sad because I know how different it feels when there are women in the room. Having worked with a few female songwriters, the comfort I felt in the room with them is something I wish existed for all women in the industry. It breaks my heart that it doesn’t. There's so much to be done. But we can start by reading the reports and the studies and really coming to grips with the lack of representation.