We had the pleasure of catching up with rising star, somegirlnamedanna, to talk with her about her music and debut EP twenty one, twenty two, which released today. somegirlnamedanna may be a newcomer to the music industry, but she is already making waves. In addition to praise from the likes of MTV and the New York Times, she has garnered over one million streams with her releases “kitchen table”, “hello i am”, and “california”.
Growing up in rural Minnesota, Anna had little exposure to the outside influences of social media and television, allowing her to cultivate a sound that is uniquely hers. Catchy and personable on the outside, twenty one, twenty two delves deep into themes of love, heartbreak and self-acceptance. In a world flooded with fabricated identities on social media, twenty one, twenty two delivers listeners a dose of authenticity that anyone can identify with.
Here’s what somegirlnamedanna had to say about her music and debut EP.
BTS: How would describe your music?
somegirlnamedanna: Oh my gosh I don’t even know. There’s not necessarily a specific genre to it, but my influences are Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell and then on the pop side I love Alec Benjamin and Julia Michaels. So I guess a mixture of all of those ?
BTS: What’s the story behind your name? The Anna part is pretty obvious…
somegirlnamedanna: Well my name is Anna…I remember being in the studio when we came up with it and at the time we had written a song called “Dumb Shit” and it was about all of the dumb shit I do, and we just kind of thought ‘you’re just kind of some girl. I’m just some girl named Anna’ and it kind of stuck. I realized it stuck because my music is no different from who I am in everyday life. It’s my story and I wanted to relate to people, however many that may be. At the end of the day we’re all just somebody with a name.
BTS: How did growing up in rural Minnesota influence you as an artist?
somegirlnamedanna: I grew up in the country, surrounded by farms in Minnesota. I think being on a 40-acre farm without television gave me the opportunity to always be outside, always having to entertain myself. Also a big part in how it influenced my music is it’s almost hidden. I wasn’t in a city where we had a lot of concerts, and I wasn’t always kept up to date on what was happening, whether that be TV or music. So I always just created, I had a CD from Tracy Chapman that I would listen to on the bus and I just kind of wrote to express myself.
BTS: What song did you enjoy recording the most off of your new EP?
somegirlnamedanna: I had the most fun writing “seriously just stop”. I was not even going to write that song that day, but I had just opened up a message I was writing to a guy in my notes and it just turned into a fun write, and then into a song. So, I think that was the best one because it wasn’t planned and I had so much fun creating it.
BTS: Is there a space or time of day that you find yourself creating your best music?
somegirlnamedanna: I think I feel the most creative at night. I don’t know what it is. I know other creatives feel the same way, maybe I just get more in my head at night, but I write more personal, deeper stuff at night.
BTS:Now that you’re gaining traction with your music, is there anything you’ve really enjoyed or perhaps things you don’t enjoy, like this interview?
somegirlnamedanna: No these are good! I don’t have to go anywhere, I’m just sitting in my house with my pajamas on. So this is great. I think the coolest part about it, with now being the first time releasing music is getting messages from people. Because I can’t be playing live and meeting people in person, we’re getting those connections online.
It’s been really cool getting messages from people saying things like ‘hey “Kitchen Table” really helped me with my parents divorce’ or ‘i really related to “hello i am”, I grew up with no TV and have these thoughts too’ and then we start a dialogue. I’ve been able connect with a lot of people and during a time when we can’t be together, it’s been really cool how music has brought us together
BTS: Plans for touring when safe?
somegirlnamedanna: Definitely. This way in the future goals, but playing at Red Rocks would be really cool. Also, First Ave in Minnesota, just because that’s where Prince played and I’ve always wanted to play there. That’s where I went to all of my concerts. There’s this stage at the Minnesota Zoo, I saw Shawn Mullins there when I was little for my first concert. Those ones would be really special to me because I saw so many concerts there, but my ultimate goal is to play at Red Rocks.
Stream twenty one, twenty two here
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