An interview with artist, Anya Gupta
On Sunday 20th December, I had a video call interview with Anya Gupta (she/her); an up and coming, indie pop artist, currently based in Boston, USA. We talked about her music, song writing and creative process, musical influences, and her new album, "i (don't) know you", which dropped on the 18th. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to anya, and thank her for being so honest, graceful, and well-spoken during our interview.
When did you first find your passion for music? What instruments do you play?
"I started playing guitar in 5th grade and it was because a lot of my guy friends at the time and a lot of them played electric guitar. for some reason, at a young age I was told that it was 'a boys instrument', so I decided to prove everyone wrong. I started playing electric guitar as my first instrument and that's how I started getting really into bands like 'lincoln park' and 'U2', a lot of bands my parents would play when I was younger.
I picked up guitar, and then fast forward a couple years, a lot of my friends were in chorus at my school, but I never joined, Until I found this band from my best friend, Vivian, called '21 pilots', and I immediately was obsessed with their music. Tyler Joseph was huge inspiration, in the way that I really liked the way that he wrote his songs, and his stage presence, and that inspired me to start writing my own songs when I got to my first year of high school. That's also why I decided to play ukulele as well.
I used to write a lot but I'd never put it into a song before, so that was something I always wanted to try."
Also, yes, that Vivian is the same "Viv" mentioned in the song "a big fuck you", when I enquired further about their friendship, Anya said this:
"We're so close, and she was here throughout the whole process of writing the album and I was like, 'if she's ok with it, I'm totally gonna name drop her', because all throughout this year, she always been able to tell and predict things, she's like 'Anya this is not a good thing, like don't do it!' and so the line, 'I should have left when Viv said it would never work out', was exactly what happened.'
Who is your biggest musical influence?
"I take inspiration from a lot of artists to kind of create my own sound. like, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, and a little bit of Phoebe Bridgers as well.
My biggest musical influence would probably be, Billie Eilish. I've been listening to her since one of my other friends had shown me her music in eighth grade. I first listened to her song 'ocean eyes' when it was on soundcloud. So I've been using her music as a reference...
Iuse a program called 'logic pro X', and I got that because her brother, Finneas used that, and I used to watch videos he made about his production style.
And that’s how I started using different sounds in
my music. I started using samples, like in my song 'i know you' I lit a
match and then I blew it out because I thought it would be an interesting
sound."
(Billie Eilsih and Finneas are also known for using
abstract sounds from everyday objects into their music)
Music island discs- if you were stranded on an island for a year with only five albums to listen to, what five would you pick?
anya's music island discs:
1. when we all fall asleep, where do we go?- Billie
Eilish
2. optimist- FINNEAS
3. give me a minute- Lizzy McAlpine
4. cheap queen- king princess
5. kid krow- Conan Gray
What is your songwriting process like?
"So at home, where I live, I live in the suburbs, I had this bench; my parents would always call it Anya's bench. I had this little bench in my neighbourhood where I would just take my guitar to and I would just sit under this big tree. I'd just sit and write out my chords, or if I had lyrics I'd just have a voice memo of it, and then later I would try to write it in that space.
But now that I live in Boston, which is very different from the suburbs, I haven't necessarily found my place yet, I've only been there for 3 months. I usually sit in my dorm with my guitar when my roommates are out, I'll usually take that time to write. but if I ever need inspiration, or to get my thoughts together, I'd go to the Boston commons, which is like the Boston gardens, and I'd bring my guitar out there and set up a little picnic blanket or just take a walk around the Charles river, it was really helpful.
I wrote majority of these songs on this album at home. but in Boston I did write 'you ruined Phoebe Bridgers', and 'first attachment'."
The album cover art for "i (don't) know you" was taken at sunset in Boston.
"Another thing is that, a lot of my writing process, for some reason, comes from when I'm outside when the sun is either rising or setting. And so I don't know what it is about that time of the day, but it really helps my creative process.
There was one day, I was having a sleepover with a couple of my friends, in a Boston dorm and we were talking about my music, and what I was trying to create- I didn't know if I wanted to put this album out at this point. and i just saw the sun was rising and I took the picture of the view, and as cliché as it sounds, that’s when I was like 'ok, I need to put this out, this is exactly what i should be doing right now'."
what was your biggest inspiration for writing "i (don't) know you"?
"I feel like a lot of people will be able to guess it but, the inspiration mostly comes from the lessons you learn from a breakup. When writing this I was really taking inspiration from Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift, and how they structure their albums. Earlier this year I did go through an incredibly difficult breakup, so I started writing these songs throughout the relationship as it was forming, within it, and after we broke up, so I found myself kind of writing songs about what was happening in the moment, before and after.
But it's also not necessarily just about that, the album is pretty much a timeline of my whole year. so its really nice and kind of therapeutic to have this in someway because I have a record that describes my year in 7 songs.
One thing I value a lot when
writing my music is authenticity, so when I was writing these songs I absolutely did not hold back, it was whatever I wanted to say and it's exactly
what I felt."
ANYA GUPTA ⬇️
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