For Country/Pop artist Abigail Neilson, the heart and soul of music is rooted in its ability to connect with others on a deeper level, and coincidentally, the Seattle-based artist has a lot to get off her chest. Thematically, her honest and captivating ballads cover the spectrum of human emotion — everything from the joy of falling in love, to the agony of heartbreak and the strength of female empowerment.
“Left Unsaid” exemplifies the chaotic and intense emotions that follow a careless heartbreak. Delivered with Neilson’s crisp, crystalline and warm vocals, the song tells a story of falling in love, negligent of the consequences, feeling secure in the relationship only to be cut off and deserted. Rooted in a familiar country sound, you can hear the influences of pop and heartland rock mixed into this record, which I’m sure will be a success. We’ve had the pleasure of following Abigail’s career over the last year and it’s always a pleasure to catch up with her.
Hi Abigail, thank you for granting the interview. Congratulations on another great song. The theme of Left Unsaid provides a heavier tone than your previous track ‘Ruby’. Can you share your inspiration for the track?
Thank you so much! Yes, it absolutely does. I wrote “Left Unsaid” on piano and originally imagined it being a soft emotional ballad. When I finished writing it, I realized that the emotions I was truly feeling were anger and frustration. So, I started belting out the chorus and instantly knew this had to be an upbeat and fierce song. This song captures my own personal moment of feeling outraged, as well as forgotten by someone I cared so much for.
Left Unsaid encompasses very personal experiences, both good and bad. Does the emotive aspect make writing particular tracks such as Left Unsaid more challenging?
This song was actually a lot easier to write. I wrote it while I was feeling these emotions. I had so much I wanted to say to one person but couldn’t, so I wrote about it. It took me about 30 minutes to get out all I wanted to say and then turn it into a song. It was a moment of writing down all of the thoughts that were going through my head and then deciding what I’m alright with letting others know because I knew the second, I finished writing it it’d be one I released.
This is the first leading single off your upcoming EP, “Summer of ’17’ What can we expect from the album?
Yes! This EP is filled with experiences I had during the summer of 2017, hence the title. It tells the overall story of heartbreak and moving on. I’ve never been prouder of a project than this one. I wrote every song on the EP myself, and I’ve poured my whole heart and soul into the lyrics and music. I’ve been holding onto it for over a year now, and I’m beyond excited to release it and hear what my listeners think.
The track is Produced & Mixed by Robbie Artress and mastered at Nada Recording Studio. You have created a successful formula with the production team that includes vocalist Christina LeBlanc, the Klein brothers, Ellen Angelico and Grant Mickelson. What is your creative process, and does it differ with each track?
What we had done is before I had gone to Nashville, I sent acoustic demos of the songs I wanted to record to Robbie so he could start listening and thinking about the production for the songs. Once I was there, Robbie and I spent a lot of time making demos and thought out how we wanted these songs to sound, but also how we wanted them to make people feel. Once we got the solid demos, we took them to Gideon and Gabe’s studio, “Shuffle Brother Studios,” where we did most of the instrumental tracking. I love the energy of being in the studio. It can feel so magical at times, especially seeing how these songs started with me writing them in my bedroom, to then being brought to life. Each track has a different element to them, and overall covers everything I wanted people to hear and feel when they listen to it.
Please tell us more about filming the video. In line with the theme, the video, right from the start, has a darker serious tone to previous entries. Destroying the guitar looked strangely therapeutic?
Filming the video was so much fun. It was different having it as a socially distanced shoot and everyone wearing masks. It was a 5-person shoot (including myself), and it turned out exactly how I hoped it would, thanks to Kyle Olthoff and Taye Olthoff. When I was brainstorming ideas for the video, the first thing I wrote down was, “smashing guitar.” I wanted my audience to be able to truly see how angry I was. My fans know how much music means to me, so to see me smashing a guitar, it’s easy to say that I’m really upset about something. I had Kyle and my mom reminding me of the particular experience that inspired the song while I was smashing it and, it’s safe to say that it was definitely therapeutic.
2020 has been a challenging year for the creative industries, particularly independent artists. In addition to working on the album, how have you managed to keep motivated and inspired?
I’ve found that personally for me, having some kind of routine helps me stay motivated and on track. On a typical day, I usually wake up, do Pilates, then some vocal and performance work, and then work on more music things during most of the day. Keeping this routine has helped me feel less overwhelmed, but also feel good about how I’m spending my time.
What other projects should we look forward to seeing you involved in?
The biggest thing that’s next for me is my upcoming EP, “Summer of ‘17” that will be out this fall. Since I’ve been self-quarantining, I haven’t had any chance to get with any friends to collaborate besides co-writing over facetime.
Where will we find out more information about you?
I always post when things are coming up! I have Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and a website!
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abigail_neilson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbigailNeilsonMusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Abigail_Neilson
- Website: https://www.abigailneilson.com/
Left Unsaid drops Friday, August 28th
Images : Taylor Olthoff Photography
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