The making of “Who Can It Be Now (Reimagined)” was an interesting process for sure! The song and video went through a few iterations before the version that you guys are able to hear today.
Initially the song had completely different music production and a different music video, which had a more formal vibe. After feeling it wasn’t rock n roll enough and didn’t quite reach its potential, my team and I decided to revamp the whole project.
My amazing music mentor, Keith Olsen, sadly passed away during this time which was a huge loss for everyone and we took a step back from the project for a year or so following his passing.
Once we decided to get back into the track, my producer, JJ Farris, and I had so much fun re-working the song to have a harder rock edge. We also decided to create a more intense horror inspired video to match!! It was a long process but we are all so happy with how it has turned out and we are also so excited that it’s finally time to share it with everyone!
Who are your musical influences?
I LOVE so many rock bands Black Sabbath, Nirvana, Silver Chair. However, hands down, Stevie Nicks is my biggest musical influence!!! She is such a power house in rock music. How she has managed to hold her own in an industry and genre mainly dominated by men is more inspiring than I think I can put into words. I just found out today that Mattel has released a Stevie Nicks Barbie doll and honestly, I’m dying to get it, haha, that’s how much of a fan I am. Her songwriting in particular has always captured my imagination and made me feel like I can achieve anything. She is the reason I love rock music and why I continue to pursue it today.
Who or what inspires you?
As an artist, I definitely tend to draw a lot of inspiration from other creative outlets and I feel this is very apparent in my most recent release, “Who Can It Be Now” (Reimagined) with all of the horror movie references. Movies have always conjured up a lot of inspiration in terms of emotions and experiences that have then inspired lyrical ideas for me and they were obviously very influential when creating the whole vibe for the video and the re-working of the production of the track. The horror element really helps play into the lyrical themes of the track which was cool to play around with.
What was it like directing “Who Can It Be Now(Reimagined)”?
Directing yourself can always be a challenge, however the horror movie aspect made it a lot more fun and a little less serious than other music video shoots I’ve done. Who wouldn’t want to dress up as a horror movie villain and dance around, haha. I filmed the video at my home in Australia and It was great to try new things I hadn’t explored before, including playing around with AI to really make the character come to life.
How do you get around a creative block?
Ahh, the dreaded creator’s block. The best thing I have found for this is – in those times when I am very prolific and ideas are constantly coming through, I make sure to write down and record every idea I have and I mean EVERY idea! It’s so easy to take those highly creative times for granted but there will always eventually be another dip back down in creative flow, so, when that time comes you want to make sure you have a plethora of Ideas in the vault.
The hardest part is often just finding that initial creative spark that then ignites an entire musical project, so having the foundations of ideas already there to build upon can be a huge help during a creative block!
Can you walk us through the creative process for “Who Can It Be Now(Reimagined)”?
The creative process, for me at least, can vary a lot from one song to another but because “Who Can It Be Now” is a cover of an Australian rock classic, it was little different to how my producer JJ and I will usually do things.
My initial desire to cover the song was to explore the darker side of the lyrics. It was so fun to play into the themes the song explores as to delves into the mind of someone who is clearly grappling with reality. Strong feelings of paranoia and restlessness seem to creep over them as they dive deeper into a state of mind that makes them question what is real and what isn’t.
Initially, I made a very basic demo at home showcasing the eerie vibe I felt the song having and sent it off to my producer, JJ. He then took it and breathed life into it creating a harder rock track with a huge surge of energy that truly captures the intensity of the lyrics. The vocals in my initial demo are actually the same used in the final version of the track!
It was then Keith Olsen’s idea to ask Rick Springfield to record the background vocals for the track and we loved the mystery they added to the song! I’m so proud of what we were able to create collaborating on such a classic song!
What was the hardest thing about making “Who Can It Be Now” (Reimagined)?
The hardest thing about making “Who Can It Be Now” (Reimagined) was obviously the passing of Keith midway through the process of revamping the track and music video. I wish he was here to celebrate the release with us, he is truly missed.
What’s next for you?
My next music release will continue to build upon the Cigarette Lover character introduced in the “Who Can It Be Now” (Reimagined) music video, as her devilish story unfolds. With an AI music video and another killer rock track, definitely stay tuned!!!
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