INTERVIEW: BIZZY

Jul 28

Meet BIZZY – your newest hype girl, best friend, and closest confidante. A songwriter by trade, BIZZY has already made a name for herself within the indie-pop scene writing for other artists. Now, finally diving into her own sound, a sound curated by combining the vulnerability learned from Taylor Swift, the authenticity of Julia Michaels, and the production sound of Rainbow Kitten Surprise, she creates a space for listeners to get to know her in an intimate way. She’s the shoulder to lean on, the voice that is bold enough to say what everyone else is thinking, and the entertainingly ‘hot-mess’ of a friend that everyone needs.

Noisescape caught up with BIZZY to learn more about her journey thus far as an artist and the inspiration behind her 2-pack single release of “Out Loud” and “I’d Never Tell You,” debuting today.

How did you find and develop your sound and voice as a songwriter?

The biggest thing I struggled with initially was getting the confidence to be the artist in the room. When I went to school at Belmont, in my heart, I knew I wanted to be the artist, but at the time, I was so scared to sing in front of people and couldn't quite put myself out there. So I decided to be a writer for other artists instead, and I did that for three and a half years through college. And that was a blessing in disguise. It gave me time to really learn how to co-write with other people because I'd never done that, and then to also really be honest with myself and confident enough in rooms to say, ‘Hey, actually don't like how that sounds,’ or ‘This is what I hear’ or whatever. And so I think it built perfect bones for the artist project I would eventually do.

2023 has been a massive year for you in your career! What have you learned about yourself, and how have you grown?

Yeah, 2023 is the craziest year in the best way ever. I've grown a ton in my confidence in who I am, how I feel I need to do things, and following my gut. When I started putting music out, so many voices came in telling me what I should do next or giving me ideas. And I really struggled when that came from good friends of mine. I would question if I should do things my way or listen to them and struggled to know which was right. But I think I've kind of – at least I hope – have found a balance where I can be like, ‘I want to take your advice, but I don't necessarily have to follow it.’ I'm so grateful that people want to get involved, but at the end of the day, it's so important to ask myself what I feel is the right thing to do, say or promote and put out. I've learned to trust myself a lot more than I used to, which has been so awesome, and I think that’s both musically and in life in general.

A lot of your songs are about your relationships. Was it hard for you to share these personal stories with the world?

If someone were to say, “Write a song about a mailbox,” I would be able to write it, but there's such a difference for me between writing that song versus singing it and being able to put my soul into it. So if I'm gonna put out a song, I want my soul to be in it. And the only way to do that is if I write about the personal stuff in my life. So I think there wasn’t really a choice for me. And it's fun to put my diary out and know that people will talk about it. There's definitely a gut feeling of, ‘Oh, this person might not love it,’ but the responses have been awesome, and I love the suspense and excitement it adds to it.

I noticed on Instagram that each time you release a song, you post a picture of a cake with the new song title, and I love it! What started that tradition?

My roommate makes them for me! She started making them when I released my first song. Then, for every release, she would make a little cake color-coordinated with the suit I would wear on stage that night. I love baking birthday cakes for all my friends because I think it’s such a fun homemade gift, so she was like, “You always make everyone else cakes, so I wanted to get you a cake.” It’s the sweetest thing ever.

I’d love to discuss your new singles coming out. What was the inspiration for “Out Loud?”

“Out Loud” felt like a time of blushing excitement in my life. It’s a song about this guy I’ve known since 4th grade. In middle school, we were crushing on each other – sending notes to each over and stuff; it was really cute – but nothing happened because we were so young. Then we went to separate high schools and kept in touch, but nobody made a move because we were little scaredy babies. It wasn’t until last year that we finally started casually dating, and all my friends would ask me, “How’s it going? What’s the vibe?” For months, I’d always say it was going awesome, but I didn’t think it would last. Then I was sitting in my kitchen one day, talking to my friend Marie while she was knitting a scarf – wow, that makes us sound like we’re 800 years old – and I was eating dinner. She asked me about him, and I just blurted out that I was in love with him; it was like I wasn't even in control of my mouth. She stopped knitting, and I looked up from whatever I was eating, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I didn't realize I felt that way until I said it out loud.’ I immediately grabbed my phone, pulled out the notes app, and knew it was a song. I wrote it the next day with Dave Villa and Maddy Simmen, who are incredible; I love them. Writing took six or seven hours because he and I had so much history, and condensing these feelings into one song was hard. So it took us a minute to find it, but I feel like I was able to grab that holy crap feeling of – I really like this guy, but I have no idea what to do now that I've admitted that I like him. And here we are.

So for your other new single, “I'd Never Tell You,” what was the defining moment when you pulled out the notes app and knew it would be a song?

Oh, it was when he broke up with me over text.

Classic!

Yeah, we love that, right? It happened while working at my waitressing job at Taqueria del Sol. I was supposed to hang out with this guy that night, so I checked my phone to see if he'd texted me the plans. When I opened it, I saw a long, scroll-paragraph kind of text basically saying, “Hey, it's been super fun. I’d love to hang out another time, but life's really busy for me right now.” And honestly, I don't know if I was even really that into this guy, but I was so taken off-guard, which is the worst feeling ever. I just responded by saying, ‘Hey, totally all good. No worries.’ And two weeks later, I walked into my room and was just like, ‘I still feel so sad about it. I didn't tell him anything. This is how I actually feel.’ And I blurted it all out. And when I was talking about it, I said, ‘but I'd never actually tell him that.’ And then we knew that was the song. So that's where that beautiful, sad break is coming from.

Can you talk about the juxtaposition of “Out Loud” and “I’d Never Tell You?” Why did you choose to release them at the same time?

They’re two completely different vibes, but it just felt like they coincided in such weird ways. “Out Loud” and “I'd Never Tell You” are like yin and yang. I really like that juxtaposition because it shows both sides of love. And I feel like there's not just one, whether it's in a stable relationship, and you're really happy, you're still gonna have some really dark days and some really great days. Whether you get broken up with or fall in love with someone, I just wanted people to have one or the other, depending on where they were in their life. And I just think it's kind of fun to put both out and be like, ‘Okay, here's a summer jam. But here's also a summer crier if you need that.’ So yeah, it wasn’t originally planned, but I’m going with this little serendipitous moment.

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming tour with FRENSHIP?

Oh my gosh. I'm just so excited to play and really connect with the audience. And I'm excited to nail down all the parts, keep practicing every night, meet people, and get that energy from the crowd. That's, like, my favorite part of it all.

Do you get the chance to talk to your fans after shows? Do you have any memorable experiences?

Usually, I just hang out by the merch table, so I'll meet whoever comes up. And yeah, there was one fan experience I will never forget. I was on a blind date with my best friend and two guys we didn’t know, which is so funny. We were playing pool, and this girl came up to me and said, “Oh my God, you look like this artist BIZZY.” And I kind of got really awkward because I didn’t know whether to say I was or not [laughs]. So I told her I was, and she said, “Oh my God, you're my favorite artist.” And then, right after she said that she just started crying. I didn’t know what to do; I was literally shocked! I was like, ‘Should I start crying too?’ But it was so cool. She grabbed her boyfriend, and she was like, “This is BIZZY. She wrote that song “Just Yet,” that I used to listen to like every single day.” And she just talked to me for, like, an hour and was so kind and said how my music had helped her. And that was just like something I'll never forget – of all the things that can happen on a blind date.

Lastly, do you have any goals you hope to achieve within the next year?

Just continue to put out music that I love, and make sure I’m not putting out music just to put it out. My biggest goal is to stay authentic to myself and what I love rather than listen to everybody else, just like what we talked about in the beginning. It’s like a little full-circle moment.