Featured Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez
In 2018, Grace Gaustad stunned viewers with her YouTube cover of Hozier’s “Take Me To Church,” which amassed an impressive 25 million views.
Since then Gaustad has continued to captivate audiences with her powerful vocals, vulnerable lyrics, and mission to create a welcoming and safe space for her fans.
We chatted with the Arizona-born singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist about her new EP ‘Welcome To Jupiter 1.0’, her upcoming full-length debut, ‘BLKBX,’ and more!
Excerpt from the podcast:
You just dropped your sophomore EP ‘Welcome to Jupiter 1.0.’ How does it feel to have that out in the world?
I’m so excited, honestly. Writing is one thing and creating is one thing, but then actually seeing it come to life in the world is a whole other experience. I’m just really stoked to have it out there.
What is the meaning behind the title?
The meaning behind the title is a bit of a hint at my debut album ‘BLKBX,’ which is probably going to come out sometime early summer, or at least start rolling out. “Jupiter” is a song on the album and I’m one of those people that connects everything I do – nothing is on accident. The EP for me almost gives a hint of what I’m going to speak about on the album, just in a much larger scale and context. I’ve also just always had a fascination with Jupiter as a planet. I’ve sort of always felt like I was from outer space, always felt weird, always felt like I was maybe not from here. So I knew that I wanted Jupiter to play a huge role in some of the first stuff that I put out into the world, just because it’s been so relevant for me since I was so little.
What was the writing and production process like for the EP?
I wrote three of the songs with a frequent collaborator of mine, Scott Effman, and then I wrote “Oxygen” alone by myself in my room. It was crazy because it was the first time I had really started creating again since COVID, so the environment that I was forced to work in was so different all of a sudden – I’m having sessions over zoom and you can’t see anyone. I think it really forced me to get out of my creative wheelhouse a little bit. I had to get pretty innovative with everything from the recording process to production to mixing it because we couldn’t see anyone for a long time. At the same time, I do believe that the state of the world inspired a lot of what the EP talks about. I was trying to draw inspiration from the world at a time when things felt a little bit hopeless. I’m very happy with how it came out.
Check out more of our interview with Grace Gaustad on our podcast!