INTERVIEW
FALL 2020
CARA PAIGE: THE MAKING OF A NEW ARTIST
Interview By Lauren Elizabeth Campbell Editor-in-Chief
Singer-songwriter and University of Georgia student Cara Paige released her first EP What If I’m Sad Forever? on August 21st. She explains her work, creative process, inspirations, and what’s next: How would you describe What If I’m Sad Forever? What If I'm Sad Forever? keeps an upbeat pop vibe while also displaying very melancholic material. I've always felt kind of like an outsider and a lot of the songs describe how I feel when I'm "forgotten about," as well as how I always feel like I have to pretend to be someone I'm not to fit in and please others. It was hard for me to release this because I was scared people would look at me differently, but being sad is real and not a bad thing, and everyone feels it at one point or another. What did you learn while making this EP? This process was completely new to me. I've released singles in the past but never more than one song at a time. It made me learn not to rush the process and not to write things just to write things. What I mean by that is originally I wanted to put out a whole album which would have meant I needed at least eight songs instead of six. I have a lot of drafts saved on my phone of songs that I never finished. I sat there and tried to finish them, but it just wasn't happening so I decided to cut those songs and do the EP instead. Songwriting should be meaningful and not writing just to write. I guess it really made me think about quality over quantity as I wanted to put out music that had real meaning to me. Can you describe your creative process when writing a song? Honestly, I know this is what most artists say, but it really is different every time. Sometimes I'll think of some lyrics I really like, and then pick up my guitar and start playing a random chord progression and put it all together. Other times, I'll think of lyrics I love but I won't be able to find a tune that I feel fits those lyrics. If that's the case, I may scrap it entirely or I'll try to think of lyrics with a similar meaning. I've also had days
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Photos in this story courtesy of Cara Paige where I'll start saying random words and all of a sudden, and in fifteen minutes, I have an entire song written and done. Usually when that happens, the lyrics end up even better because I'm writing about feelings and emotions that I had been suppressing, and it feels really good to get it all out. What is your favorite song on the EP? Okay, so I have two favorite songs. "January" is the first song I wrote and recorded. It's the most meaningful song to me on the EP, and probably that I've ever written because it tells the story of the last time I saw my great-grandmother before she passed. The first time I sang it live was at her unveiling ceremony, and it was hard to get through the whole song without crying. "Sweatshirts" is also a really special song to me. There are days where I just feel like no one cares about how I feel or anything and that's where the song stemmed from. There's also a lyric in the bridge that says, "I need
someone who will make me wanna stay alive," and this was really hard for me to write and honestly I was so scared for people to hear that because obviously I really value my life, but then I have those days where I feel like no one cares. It was hard being so honest in that song because I don't want people to think of me differently. I'm really good at smiling and nodding so people don't really know how I feel and this is the first time I'm really showing people what's underneath myself. How long have you been writing music? I started playing the guitar back in 2014 and from there I started writing my own songs. When I was in middle school, I used to write parodies about people when I was upset and people started telling me I should write my own stuff. I have a lot of stuff I write that I absolutely hate and then a lot that I love. Sometimes I'll know exactly how I'm feeling and exactly what I want to
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