INTERVIEW: Anabella Paige

Anabella Paige is not your average 17-year-old. While most teenagers are content to follow the trends, Anabella craves something sweeter than the low-hanging fruit. This New York City-based singer-songwriter creates with a maturity and sophistication that belies her years. 

In a world oversaturated with pop music, Anabella delivers timeless and unique art reminiscent of early Lorde while carrying the class of legends like Jane Birkin. Her sophomore single, “This I Miss,” is a modern take on sentimentality, drawing inspiration from 70s soul music with a fresh, contemporary twist. Her ethereal vocals and willingness to experiment with different sounds are only a part of what makes her style so remarkable. On the inspiration behind the single, Anabella explains, “Some people come into your life at a specific place and time for a reason, and I’ve found that it’s better to acknowledge that rather than wish you could have it forever, allowing it to lose the specialness that it had.”

Noisescape caught up with Anabella to learn more about the rising star, details about her new single, her first nationwide tour, and more.

Can you paint us a picture of who Anabella Paige is, both in and out of music?

My name is Anabella, but my close friends call me AP. I’ve moved around quite a bit, I think about five different states and nine different schools, but I ended up in New York City. I've been singing since I was a little girl, but it wasn’t until the past two or three years that I started taking it seriously. Outside of music, I absolutely love fashion and movies. I spend a lot of time with friends and do normal 17-year-old things. But on the side, I'm really pursuing this music thing. So yeah, that's a little rundown of who I am.

What are some valuable lessons you’ve learned from moving around so much?

Moving has taught me to see change as a reset, not this big intimidating obstacle. It’s an opportunity for reinvention and rebranding myself. I've gotten a lot of fresh starts, and it’s been really beneficial. This is the first time in a while that we've stayed in the same house or apartment for over a year, and it’s felt strange. When things aren’t changing, they seem unfamiliar, but it's inspired a lot of my writing. So I’ve come to love change and have definitely used it to my advantage.

When did you write your first song? And what made you feel ready to share your music with the world with your first release, “Bandage?”

So I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I wrote my first song – like, this heart-wrenching love song when I first learned how to write [laughs]. I don’t even remember it because I was so little, but I have the sheet of paper it’s on from my mom. I think writing is my outlet more than singing sometimes, whether writing music or just writing in general.

I wrote “Bandage” when I was 14, so it had been in the works for a long time. It was the first song people usually responded to whenever I played my music for them. So I took it as a sign that other people would connect with my songs, and this release felt like a natural way to start my career. That said, the song seems a little foreign to me years later since so much has changed. But I’m proud of it and happy it was my first release.

What do you hope will resonate with your listeners the most with your newest single, “This I Miss?”

With this song, I really want to capture the beauty of nostalgia. In music, we often see it as this bittersweet, even sad, emotion, but I want to reinvent it as something exciting, energizing, and hopeful. The end of something doesn’t have to be a tragic moment - it can be seen as a finale or just an incredible moment in your life.

Photos by Christophe Von Hohenberg

Can you tell us more about the writing process for the song? What was the initial spark for the idea?

My co-writer, Henry Bloomfield, and I had been talking about using a sample for a long time. He had identified a song by the O'Jays called “A Prayer,” and he played a sample track that he put together. I immediately knew I would love to write to it and that we just had to use it! So we went through the song, and I picked out the parts I wanted to incorporate. There was a line that said “heavenly and spirit,” I just thought about the production of those two lines, the vocals, and the track behind it as a whole – I knew I really wanted to incorporate it. 

What is your creative process like? Do you have a favorite place to write?

My favorite place to write is my family’s house in Connecticut. It’s really far from the city, like, in the middle of nowhere Connecticut. So that's usually where I love to write because it's very calm and inspires something creative in me. I don't have an exact creative process, but it usually starts with me recording lots of voice memos whenever I have an idea. Then, when I'm in Connecticut, I take the time to sit down and listen to all of them and see if there's anything there that I like.

Let’s talk about your first tour experience opening for Rosie! Any highlights you can share or a favorite performance?

The biggest highlight was opening for such a kind, genuine, and down-to-earth artist! She set the mood and energy for the tour. She was a guiding light throughout this entire process, and it was an amazing introduction to the industry. I had only performed live once before this tour, so it was the perfect opportunity to get experience and practice continuously performing. I'd say my favorite performance was in Salt Lake City, Utah. The people were so energetic, into it, and supportive. It was an unexpected, fun stop.

Touring is a great way to put your music out there. How else do you approach your musical promotion?

That's such a good question because I was initially hesitant to talk about music promotion. Like some people, I was scared of Tik Tok because there’s something a little extra vulnerable about that platform. It’s different switching from using it in a usual, teenage-playful way rather than using it seriously for promotion; it’s super intimidating. And I’ve been told that Tik Tok is the only way to promote your music now and that you don’t have an option. So that scared me at first, and I may not be completely over that. But I believe it’s important for me to face this uncertainty and create content that accurately represents myself and who I am.

Speaking of music apps, are you team Apple Music or team Spotify, and what are the top three songs on your “On Repeat” playlist right now?

I use Spotify, but I'll be completely honest – I just downloaded it when I released my first song. I had been using Napster for years, which everyone thought was the weirdest thing, and granted, it probably is! I got it from my dad, but I finally converted to Spotify. 

Let’s see what my most played are. So recently, I've been listening to a couple of throwbacks. I've been really into the song “That's What I'm Here For” by SWV. And then – oh God, it looks like “Miscommunication” by Timbaland and Keri Hilson [laughs]. And then “Cry (Just a Little)” by Bingo Players. So it's a little all over the place. 

Lastly, do you have any plans for the rest of the year?

I just want to keep writing, being, and sharing my music. I would love to be able to perform live as much as possible; that's something I’ve learned that I genuinely love. So that's what I hope to accomplish this year – just to connect with as many people as possible.

WHERE TO FIND ANABELLA PAIGE
Instagram | Spotify | Apple Music