Q&A: FELIVAND Brings A Sweetness to Your Day with New Track "Where Were You"
AUSTRALIAN ARTIST FELIVAND IS AS SWEET AS HONEY - Literally, her hands and face are coated in the gooey, sticky substance in her newest music video for her single “Where Were You,” out today. Not only that – her music is sweet and smooth and goes down easy, combining R&B and soul music with a modern indie flair. “Where were you when everything went sour?” she pleads through a funky bass line and soft, relaxed drums. Drawing inspo from Kali Uchis, Solange, James Blake and Jorja Smith, FELIVAND brings a charming dreamy neo-soul feel to work.
“Where Were You” is a vulnerable track that everyone can relate to: someone abandoning you when you need them most. We can hear that FELIVAND is frustrated and tired in the neglect, but she channels that frustration into the relaxed tune, keeping her cool. Paired with a music video directed by Jennifer Embelton, the song and visuals tackle the isolating experience and provide an anthem for abandonment.
We had a chance to chat with FELIVAND from across the globe and completely connected with that sweetness as a person and an artist. We talked about her new single, signing to a new label, and her identity as an artist. Read below to get to know FELIVAND and watch her latest track “Where Were You”.
LUNA: It’s good to see you! I know it’s early for you so thank you for doing this interview first thing in the morning.
FELIVAND: It’s actually good, I’ve been trying to get my sleep schedule back on track, so it’s been good having to get up early again. I’ve been a little sloth lately.
LUNA: Congrats on your new single “Where Were You!” How do you feel about its release?
FELIVAND: I’m so excited. This is probably the longest I have waited to release a new song that’s been done so I’m so excited for it to come out. It’s great and it just feels really aligned with me and where I’m at.
LUNA: Can you talk me through what the song is about and what it means to you?
FELIVAND: I wrote “Where Were You” the day after something happened where I was really let down by someone and felt forgotten. I just thought, “Wow, this really sucks.” This song to me was such an outlet for the experience in that moment. I wrote the entire lyrics in one sitting – it was just such a flow and outlet for everything I was feeling. It’s really special to me and really meaningful. Songwriting is great because you can say something you wouldn’t say to someone’s face, but you still get that emotional release as if you did.
LUNA: What was the thought process behind the music video for the song? How did you bring the ideas of the lyrics to life through the visuals?
FELIVAND: The idea came from honey. When Jennifer Embelton, the director, listened to it, she just said “This just sounds like honey!” The word kept coming up so we decided we should do something with honey. But it’s not actually honey – it’s rice malt syrup. That would be such a waste of honey. Poor bees. But I came to her with the main themes of isolation and not being seen, and she came up with all these beautiful scenes and ideas where I’m part of the environment but a bit separated or not honored. That’s the crux of the whole thing.
LUNA: Who are some of your biggest influences?
FELIVAND: I’d probably say artists like Kali Uchis, who was really pivotal when I was younger and first discovered her. She blew my mind and inspired me so much. Solange has always been a big rock in my influential bubble. She’s so incredible. James Blake on the more soul side. Jorja Smith, I’d say. All of these artists when I first discovered them, I had such an “Oh my God” moment with that just impacted my life.
LUNA: What is your songwriting process like?
FELIVAND: Lately I’ve been doing a lot of cowriting and it’s been so good. I’ve been able to focus on structure and lyricism and all of that side of it because I have no knowledge in theory. Sometimes I don’t know how to execute a chord that I really want to execute, so working with other people has been the best thing ever. But whenever I write by myself it’s within production, so I’ll make a chord progression and loop it and add in some other tracks. The recording is very much the songwriting process for me.
LUNA: How has your music career/music making process changed with your new label and management?
FELIVAND: It’s been really good for me and my creative energy because I’m not spread thin anymore. All my stresses and focuses are creative now rather than admin stuff. I just get to focus on making music now and conceptualizing ideas, whereas before so much of my energy had to go into organizing other things. I feel really supported. The good thing about indie labels is that you do get to grow and evolve together, and more attention gets put into small details rather than big, final products.
LUNA: I wanted to talk about your name, FELIVAND. How did you create it? And why did you decide to create a stage name? Did you feel that in creating your name you were creating a different persona for yourself, or even a character?
FELIVAND: I made the name purely because it was my Soundcloud username. I just started putting out music under that account and said, “Oh, I guess this is just my name now.” It was the bane of my existence for so long and I hated it. But I’ve made peace with it and I think it’s cool. In terms of identity stuff, I do think it is so important to separate parts of yourself from your artist identity and I think having a separate stage name from your actual name is such a good move. It’s really tricky because music and songwriting is really vulnerable and that’s the whole point and why it resonates with people and I never want to be disingenuous about how I feel or who I am. I just want to be really authentic to who I am.
At the same time, I feel like you need to create some sort of separation. Otherwise, it’s just subjected to people’s opinions and dislikes – if you put your entire self into that, you’re also subjecting yourself to that and you identify the criticism of your music as criticism of your inner self. I don’t think that anyone can really deal with that, or should deal with that.
LUNA: There’s a lot of creativity involved in your career – between writing music, performing live, making music videos and other visuals, etc. When do you feel most creative? When do your ideas come to life?
FELIVAND: It is definitely, and it always has been, and I hope it always will be, songwriting. When you’re at the start of a song and you have no idea where it’s gonna go. I just feel so present and grounded and excited. That’s when I feel most creative and most like myself and passionate and excited.
LUNA: Who are your top dream three artists that you would love to perform with?
FELIVAND: Perform with? I would kill to support Solange or Still Woozy. That would be a dream come true. To write with – there are so many amazing people. BENEE, Remi Wolf, Joji, Tom Misch – there are just so many people.
LUNA: What are your plans for the future of your music?
FELIVAND: I’ve just been writing for the past year, more than I have in a long time, so I’m so excited for all that to come into fruition next year. I’ve got a headline show on the 19th of November in my home state and I’m so excited for that. I haven’t performed in months. As soon as the Australian borders open, I’m coming to the US.
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