What is your name?
My name is Anna and my stage name is Annathyst like the crystal “Amethyst” which happens to be my birthstone 🙂
What is your genre of music?
Intergalactic fairy folk on the cusp of dream pop.
Give us a little bio about you.
I’m originally from Michigan but seem to frolic farther and farther west as the years go by. I was most recently living in Boulder, Colorado where I recorded “Fly Again.” I attended a graduate program at Naropa in Wilderness Therapy and took an internship for my last year of graduate school in Bend, Oregon, where I am currently living. I’ve been writing music since I was 12 but it wasn’t until my younger sister passed away when I was 20 that I deepened my connection to music and it’s healing potential. I like to call my songs transmissions as they often flow through me. I don’t feel in conscious control of writing the lyrics and chord structures, more so I hear them. My songs hold hopeful messages that have helped me heal on a deep level. I often think of my songs as their own healing light beings that came here with their own specific purposes and so it is my mission to help them do their healing work in the world by putting them out there.
What made you go into music?
My younger sister died tragically in a house fire when I was 20 and I sang one of my songs at her funeral. I had been writing music since I was 12 and performed here and there, but never thought much about my music. When I sang at her funeral, I was suddenly singing in front of hundreds of people in the most trying moment of my life. When I looked out into the sea of people as I was singing they all had tears in their eyes but they were smiling. It was that very moment I knew I would be doing my music for the rest of my life.
Who are your influences?
May Erlewine, Adrianne Lenker, Billie Eilish, Ayla Nereo, Amelia Meath from Sylvan Esso, I love strong female artists who are original, stand on their own, and in their light.
Are you a signed artist?
About to be 😉
Your debut album “Fly Again” is out now – tell us more about the single.
The single “Fly Again” was actually the first song I started writing on this album. I only wrote the chorus and the rest of it came a whole year later. It came from this internal process and yearning I had to move forward in my life. I was so young when my sister died and it was so shocking it took me many years to even recognize how in shock I was. When I started to write “Fly Again,” it was the beginning of me coming out of that cocoon of grief I had been in and I was starting to look out, hoping to spread my wings and fly again.
What is the meaning behind the album?
The meaning behind the album was my personal process of really coming to terms with and accepting my life as it was, including the loss of my younger sister and choosing to live again, fly again if you will, and bring my medicine to this world.
Who did you work with on the single?
I worked closely with Julian Peterson of Wolf Den Records. Together we mapped out the songs which were mostly completed on a foundational level and Julian helped with arrangement and instrumentation. I lay down the foundation of the songs through the chord structures and words and then Julian took them to the next level bringing in the instruments and sounds that really brought the songs to their highest potential.
Describe each track in two words.
All Night ~ thunder thumps
Untied ~ dreamy drop Mountain
Skies ~ natural noise
Worthy ~ lullaby love
Fourmile ~ western whispers
White Rose ~ silent sobbing
Fly Again ~ floating feather
What if I Stay ~ pop perfection
What was the writing and recording process like?
The recording process looked like Julian and I mapping out all the songs I had envisioned putting on the album while simultaneously more came through during the process. We made demos of all of them and let them shift with time and love. Eventually we finalized the recording of most of them before I moved out to Oregon and then remotely I worked with Julian as he completed the songs.
Will we see a music video for any of the songs off the album and if so, what can we expect from them?
I sure hope so! I would love to do a music video for “All Night” and “Mountain Skies.” Think magical mountain backdrop, a little improvisational dancing, and a little abstract background story.
What else can we expect in 2021?
There could be another single on deck before the end of the year. Otherwise, I’ll be hanging out in the afterglow of this release and getting back into the studio for recording, since I already have another album ready to be recorded.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
In 5 years, I see myself in and out of tour – living somewhere dreamy in the in-between where I can sink into the landscape and record, working on other side projects including music and potentially creating a children’s show. I see myself being a full time creative.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
“This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it.” — Hermann Hesse
This is a quote from the book “Siddhartha.” I have my sister’s copy and I reread it every few years. She had that quote underlined and it’s become kind of my life mantra 🙂
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
A special drink for while I’m performing. Lately I’ve been doing a little bit of ceremonial cacao.
Extra glitter and face paint.
Taking a moment to drop in with myself so I’m feeling grounded.
Water
Love
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Instagram
