Q&A: Stephanie Poetri Still Loves to Love, Talks 88rising & Newest Love Song “Breakfast in Bed” With gnash

Q&AMusic

Nov 3

☆ By Tiffany Le ☆

STEPHANIE POETRI’S POETIC OUTLOOK ON LOVE — has always held a special place in her music. The 22-year-old songstress was never a stranger to music-making: born and raised in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta to Indonesian popstar Titi DJ and American music teacher Andrew Hollis Dougharty, her knack for singing and songwriting was essentially written into her genetic code. Poetri’s acoustic talent broke through internationally with the release of her Avengers-inspired single, “I Love You 3000.” While the track initially came out of purely good fun — prompted by phrases her Instagram followers sent in for song inspiration — it has amassed over 425 million streams and kickstarted a career for Poetri, who has since signed with the popular Asian representative record label, 88rising.

Though the track was a catchy and recognizable turning point in Poetri’s career, she’s been anything but a one-hit wonder. Within the last two years she’s moved to the US to become a full-time artist in the American music industry and gifted us a handful of singles and two EPs, AM:PM and oh to be in love, the latter even more acoustic and magnified than the former in exploring the raw intensity of love and intimacy. Her newest single, “Breakfast in Bed,” with American rapper and musician gnash follows a similar energy, radiating the kind of dreamy, simple joy that can be found in any and everything you do with the person you love most.

Luna had the chance to chat with Poetri to talk briefly about her growing stardom and the release of her new single. Read below to learn more about her transition into an American music career and how she paints a storybook love.

LUNA: To ease into it, you’ve been promoting your upcoming new single with gnash, “Breakfast in Bed” on TikTok recently with videos of you doing your daily routine, getting ready, baking, etc. and I wanted to know what other things have been bringing you joy lately (outside of your music, of course)?

POETRI: I’ve been really into playing volleyball at the beach!

LUNA: Who are artists you take inspiration from or listen to on the daily, American and/or Indonesian?

POETRI: Lizzy McAlpine and my mom, Titi Dj!

LUNA: How does it feel to be part of a community paving ways for other Indonesian/Southeast Asian artists in the US through 88rising? Would you say that being signed to a label with other artists of similar backgrounds and goals has helped keep you grounded?

POETRI: I feel very honored and grateful to have the opportunity! And yes, it definitely has.

LUNA: You’ve credited much of your career to the success of “I Love you 3000,” which came from a very authentic and light-hearted place, seeing as you wrote it for your IG followers and self-recorded the video for it. I feel like your authenticity that radiates through that track played a huge role in it being the one to blow up your career — has it been a struggle at all to follow up the success of “I Love you 3000”? Was there any pressure to ride the momentum of the song or produce anything that didn’t feel like you?

POETRI: There is a definite struggle, but maybe the true struggle isn't to get another hit song but to be happy with the songs you put out regardless of its success.

LUNA: It’s been a hectic past few years for you since then: moving to the US, international success, 88rising. Have you noticed your music/songwriting process changing or evolving with you as you experience these big milestones?

POETRI: Yes, I’ve found that I’ve gained a lot of confidence in how I can lead the room in a songwriting session.

LUNA: Tell us about your new single with gnash, “Breakfast in Bed.” What is it about? What were you doing or thinking about when you first started writing it?

POETRI: “Breakfast in Bed” is a song about the feeling of home when you’re with someone you love. How lazy Sunday mornings where you eat breakfast in bed feels like what you thought fairy tales made love out to be when you were young. It all started from the piano riff at the start of the song and we built it off that feeling.

LUNA: I think the lyrics really speak for themselves in terms of being on the simple pleasures of love and intimacy, which is great because when love is right, sometimes it just feels that obvious. When you listen to the track, what other kinds of things do you visualize on top of the feelings that it brings you?

POETRI: When I write songs, I love imagining what the music video will look like as each lyric comes. I love visualizing a song and I sometimes try to write as if it's a story in a book.

LUNA: What was it like collaborating with gnash on this track? How did it come about?

POETRI: It was amazing — we originally wrote the song together from the start just for me but as we got to the second verse, I wanted to hear what he would sound like on it, and it was obvious that he needed to feature on it.

LUNA: What is the best thing you've learned from other artists that you’ve been in collaboration with so far?

POETRI: Everyone has their own way to write, and it's always fun to see how our ways mix and match in the process.

LUNA: Since the drop of your debut EP, AM:PM, last year, what other projects or events can we look forward to from you?

POETRI: I released an EP early this year called oh to be in love and hopefully next year I will have more songs out!

LUNA: On a lighthearted note: What's the weirdest/most “LA” thing you’ve witnessed since moving out to the West Coast?

POETRI: Lots of dogs with sunglasses.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫