What is your name?
My artist name and real name are both audalei. It’s a Persian name. And yes, I’m persian.
What is your genre of music?
I make bedroom pop/ indie pop music.
Give us a little bio about you.
I’m a singer songwriter living in Los Angeles, California with a recent addiction to matcha and an unfiltered instagram presence. I was born in Canada and played hockey growing up in order to maintain my citizenship, but recently moved to be fully immersed in the music industry. I love reverb, bass, and vocal fry and have a complicated relationship to the card game, Uno.
What made you go into music?
Initially I pursued a more predictable and responsible career path: acting. I trained professionally at a conservatory in Vancouver, Canada, called Studio 58. I performed on stages around Canada in both theatre and musical theatre as a teen and young adult but always had a very secret love of singing outside of theatre. Since as long as I can remember I’ve been writing poetry and songs and putting melodies into my voice notes on my very first iphones. In a wild turn of events, I ended up with a pretty severe head injury and turned to music and writing as my medicine. I wrote to cope, and slowly built up the confidence to share it with some trusted people. I built a studio in my studio apartment and eventually started working with engineers to bring my music to the next level. It was a journey which started in self doubt but has continued to have surprisingly positive results. Since my first release, I moved to Los Angeles where I’m working with a team I admire a lot. There’s so much great stuff to come! It’s been absolutely a dream come true and it’s all happened in perfect timing.
Who are your influences?
I was definitely inspired by artists like Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey, Daughter, Dido, Feist, and Norah Jones. More recently I’ve been playing lots of BENEE, Lizzy McAlpine, Beabadoobee, Jeremy Zucker, Clairo, Girl in Red and Kota the Friend. The album “A Collection of Fleeting Moments and Daydreams” by Orion Sun has recently taken a special spot in my heart.
Are you a signed?
I’m an independent artist. But I’ve got a great team around me of engineers and producers as well as artist management. No record label yet however!
You are set to release your new single ‘Meringue Pie’, tell us more about the single.
‘meringue pie’ is about being in a cycle of quick flings. The song starts out cute and sweet with a playful ukulele. The lyrics talk about early mornings and the early stages of love. This is followed by a sudden drop into a darker vibe with lyrics about the break up. The chorus states that “sun [is] so sweet like meringue pie, but it won’t even last the night”, the same way relationships can be sweet and seemingly perfect but temporary. The song is cyclical and ends on a light note again, to illustrate a new love or a new sunrise is on the horizon.
Describe the track in two words.
Cute and haunting.
What was the writing and recording process like?
I have a studio in my home where I record. Initially I wrote the cute happy lyrics about the beginning honeymoon phase of a romance. I wrote about sleepy morning faces, shared coffees and riding the dopamine high of a new love. While I was recording the sweet verses, I had a chorus come to mind and recorded that without giving it much thought. The lyrics just flowed to me. I showed the demo to my manager and they had to inform me that with the addition of the chorus it had become a break up song. I hadn’t realised but my subconscious had a different idea for where the song was headed. After this, I played on the idea of contrast even more and that’s when the bridge came to life.
Who did you work with on the single?
I worked with Dalton Ricks (Engineer for Clairo, Vampire Weekend, Maggie Rogers etc) on meringue pie. They are super fun and easy to work with so it was a blast. Tyler Gardosh put the track through a tape machine to achieve the lofi, old timey vibe and added some underwater sounding production. I also had my very talented multi-instrumentalist brother, Lucas Furseth on the track as well. It’s always exciting having him play on my music because we spent our whole lives jamming together in our basement.
Will we see a music video for ‘Meringue Pie’ and if so what can we expect from the creative process?
Yes! There will be a music video! I’m filming it in Vancouver, Canada with a videographer I admire, Aamir Ullah. I’m very excited about the actor I have in the video as well. I can’t give it away yet! It will play on the contrast of light versus dark and I can’t wait to see it come to life and share it with the world!
Will we see an EP or Album and if so, what can we expect from it?
Yes! I’ve got more tracks coming. My upcoming music will continue to explore contrast the way ‘meringue pie’ does. I love having shifts part way through music. I’m heading into more uptempo tracks. I’m leaning further into indie pop and I’m going to have some songs that will be fun to scream to!
What else can we expect in 2022?
If all goes smoothly, I’ll have another track released before the end of this year. You can also expect lots of silly TikToks and Reels as well as unhinged instagram stories. I’m not a trained dancer by any means but I always seem to be dancing in something.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
Whenever I feel nervous or fearful, I like to think of this quote: “What if it turns out better than you could’ve ever imagined?”. That helps me keep my faith alive.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
1. Have fun!
2. Stay true to myself
3. Check in with the people around me
4. Remain grateful for the opportunity
5. Little audalei would be so proud of you right now!
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Instagram
TikTok
Twitter
Youtube
