Browsing Tag

Creative Process

Amy Gilvary Interview: Funny, Sharp and Humane Truths from a Songwriter Who Let the Stage Lights Go

Posted on 31 August 2026

Amy Gilvary writes from the side of music where the idea matters more than the spotlight. In this A&R Factory interview, she speaks with unfiltered candour about stepping away from performance anxiety, separating the creator from the interpreter, and why writing has always felt freer than entertaining. Across the conversation, Gilvary opens up about the shortcuts threatening the music industry, the Catch-22 facing songwriters, and the sacred nuisance of creativity when it arrives unexpectedly. She also talks shelter dogs, musical theatre, prose, restlessness, creative floods, emotional droughts, and the projects that keep refusing to leave her alone.

You have taken a less common route as a songwriter who writes without performing. What drew you towards the writing side of music rather than the stage?

I was on stage as a singer/songwriter for years and I just had too much anxiety. One night while performing, I’m pretty sure I turned into Steve Martin from The White Room episode of Only Murders in the Building and I realized- this is not for me.

Writing feels more natural and more free. I had an unhealthy relationship with entertaining. I’ve never had an unhealthy relationship with writing.

Do you ever feel more freedom when the focus sits on the work itself rather than on you as a performer?

Absolutely. This question reminds me of the exact moment I realized the two were separate.

I was in high school and my English teacher had two of us stand up and read our writing assignments aloud to the class. I was eager to do it but the other student was extremely nervous and shy while reading her work which baffled me. Her writing deserved a better speaker. So much got lost. I felt so disappointed how it was (or wasn’t) received.

Years later I heard someone say, “Writers write. Speakers speak.” They are two very different types of personalities and talents. They should not be expected to be both. That taught me to distinguish between the creator and the interpreter. The content versus the presenter. For me, the concept is the most important part, not the packaging. It can always be repackaged.

We’d love to hear your view on how it feels to create and preserve the messy nature of the human mind in music when the industry seems obsessed with shortcuts. What are your main frustrations and fears for the future of the industry?

I grew up playing songs written by solo composers. Dianne Warren. David Foster. Now when I sit down at the piano and open a songbook, half the title page is the names of all the 500 cowriters. That is insane to me. I miss the days where it was assumed most songwriters were self-contained. One person. One pen. Or two at the most. Not nine.

This industry is in dangerous territory now.

In terms of what it means to be an artist today, I do believe Ai is a short cut.

You know what’s not a short cut?

Being alive and experiencing life in as many ways as you can and sharing those experiences.

You have described the music business as a Catch-22. What part of that loop feels the most frustrating for writers trying to get their songs heard?

As with most ventures, people want to see that you’re accomplished before they put their time and money into you. And you can’t become accomplished without somebody putting time and money into you. The fix requires you to already have the thing you are trying to get. The wheels on the bus go round and round until the paradox inevitably turns into- Am I crazy because I’m an artist? Or am I becoming an artist because I’m crazy?

How do your songs usually come to fruition?

I need to quote Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic” here:

“Creativity is sacred, and it’s not sacred. What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all. We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits. We are terrified, and we are brave. Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege, and it wants to be made through you.”

I love that she says “through” and not “by”.

Creativity is like a friend that comes over and knocks on your door to come out and play. I’ve always experienced it as an external presence. Do you answer the door? Yes. You don’t reject that needy, insistent, relentless, somewhat annoying friend. You answer the door because you know you need her as much she needs you.

Ideas come to fruition through one-liners I hear from conversations, or movies, or dreams, that hit me over the head and demand to be in song form.

We absolutely have to hear more about your musical for shelter dogs. What inspired that project, and how are you giving those animals a theatrical voice?

My husband’s version is that I got up abruptly from the couch one night, declared I was going to write a musical about shelter dogs, marched upstairs, went into seclusion into our bedroom to write, and came out 3 days later with a rough draft of “Shelter Me”. I’m going to take his word for it because I honestly have no recollection of what took over me. I was powerless.

I took A Chorus Line’s format in that each dog had a monologue and a solo about their situation. The Stray, The Returned, The Transport, The Starter Child and The Star (who was inspired by one of my heroes, Willliam Berloni.)

Here is a person who saw a dog in the pound who was going to be euthanized at midnight. Ran home to borrow a few dollars from his roommate. Ran back and adopted that dog and trained him to play Sandy in Annie on Broadway for six years!

I am so intrigued with the power that the eleventh hour holds, the gravitas of a Hail Mary pass, the last of the last seconds that changes everything.

I’ve had the luxury of being on both ends of that magic moment in life and I wish more people would realize their ability to change someone else’s circumstance. Often it doesn’t take much to alter someone’s story and gift them a better ending.

We’re all just walking each other home.

You have also published two books, which says a lot about your need to keep creating across formats. Do music and prose feed different parts of your brain, or do they come from the same restless place?

I love the word “restless” so thank you for that. I feel like that is much more accurate than “creative”.

I had a qEEG (which I highly recommend for everyone) when I was 19 and saw my actual restlessness mapped in red and yellow. That was a profound awakening and validation of what I already knew to be true which is- if I don’t have a project, it is not fun being me.

Returned came as an aftermath of Shelter Me because I still had so much more to say and by that point, had been involved for years in multiple rescue organizations. I wrote it for anyone who has ever volunteered or worked at a humane society. I needed to say “I see you”.

I’m AVG is a snapshot memoir of moments that I have spent years ruminating over, searching for meaning. It was extremely healing and quite fun actually. It’s nice when you can see yourself through older wiser eyes.

While prose feeds my intellect, music feeds everything else.

I can live on music alone. I cannot live on prose alone.

My need to always be creating was turning into a burden of sorts.

A fellow artist recognized this and gave me some great advice and it’s calmed me down quite a bit:

She said, “You don’t have to do something with every idea you have.

Some ideas are for later. Maybe in a few years.

Some ideas are for someone else to do.”

That may sound like a copout to some, but for me it was permission to let go of the backburner ideas and focus on the ones I am truly invested in. The ones that keep knocking and won’t go away. Those are the ones that keep me up at night. Those are the ones I live for.

With your “A writer must always be writing” ethos, are there any days where you hit the wall of writer’s block, or is writing a constant stream of catharsis for you?

My process has always been one of extremes, which is common for a lot of creatives I know. Intense Flood or Prolonged Drought. That’s it. There is no existing in between those two all-consuming states for me.

I try to accept that that’s how my operating system works. I know when I need to shut down and recharge and not force things. I don’t fight against the wall. I surrender.

And when Creativity comes knocking again, I’ll race to the door and answer like I always do.

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Stream all Amy Gilvary’s releases on SoundCloud.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

Robert Larrabee Interview: Experience, Instinct, and Letting Music Speak First

Posted on 28 December 2025

After more than four decades of performance, Robert Larrabee speaks about music with the calm certainty of someone who has lived inside it rather than circling it from a distance. In this interview, he reflects on knowing when a song has reached its natural conclusion, the quiet instinct that tells him it is ready to be released, and how emotion often dictates the musical direction long before genre enters the picture. He discusses writing shaped by love, loss, faith, and everyday human pressure, alongside the responsibility he feels toward listeners who bring their own lives to his work. From early years on the performance circuit to his latest festive single, Larrabee opens up about intention, connection, and why creating music remains an act of service rather than ambition. It is a thoughtful conversation about feeling, purpose, and letting songs find their people.

You’ve got new releases on the horizon. How do you know when a song is ready to leave your hands and head out into the world, especially after living with music for as long as you have?

Yes! I actually have a new release on all internet music stores. It dropped on December 24th at 8 a.m. The single “Hav’n A Rock & Roll Christmas” has been described as: A high-energy holiday rocker built for dance floors, family parties, and anyone who thinks Christmas should come with a little more guitar and a lot more groove.

I live with my tunes throughout the entire writing process—from chord structure to finding the melody, recording, and mastering. By the time it’s all done, the song and I are one. I mean, it’s all I’ve thought, sang, and dreamed about for weeks. So it’s like one of your kids: you just know when you’ve done all you can and it’s time to send them out into the world.

With blues, gospel, country, pop and rock all sitting comfortably in your wheelhouse, what decides the direction of an upcoming release, mood, message, or simply where your voice feels most at home that day?

The direction of a song comes from where my heart and mind have been lately. Sometimes it comes from world events and stories that have impacted me in a big way, such as “Nothing Great Comes From Hate.” But I can be in a loving, romantic mood and write, or on more of a spiritual plane. Whatever the mood, there are usually lyrics in my mind. If I’m feeling sadness, it’s probably going to be a blues tune, perhaps fused with country. If I’m feeling connected to my higher self, then Gospel. And so on. I really do like melding genres together to find the perfect expression of what I have in mind.

After decades of playing bar rooms, dinner theatre and travelling shows, how have those early, often gritty environments shaped the way you write and record music now?

Yes, after 40 years now of performing—mostly in dinner show settings and bars in the first five or six years—I’ve experienced so much love through performance. I’ve seen people cry over an Elvis tune or a Roy Orbison rendition of mine, and I’ve learned that what Elvis once said is true: “Music heals.” So I write from the heart with the listener in mind. I want the song to be like being at my show. I want it to reach out and touch them.

When people listen to your new material, what part of your life or outlook do you quietly hope they pick up on, even if they cannot quite put it into words?

When people listen to my music, I hope they pick up on the intention, which is always about bettering our world, appreciating what we have, helping someone else, and accepting all people. Or, as I like to condense it down to: Love. Just loving ourselves and others. I know darkness, and I know light. I choose to operate in the light, share it, and go to it.

You’ve clearly lived inside music rather than standing at arm’s length from it, how does that lived experience show up in your upcoming songs, lyrically or emotionally?

I think lived experience shows up in my songs through what every person goes through: struggle, doors shut in our face, heartbreak, loss, success, laughter—all the emotions a human being feels. The difference is I always sit down and write about whatever I’m feeling, and then it turns into music. Music heals my heart, or it extends the joy. It’s a gift to someone else that brings happiness to someone I may never meet. So that’s giving without expectation, and it’s the most fulfilling feeling I can get.

Do you still feel that same spark when starting a new record as you did earlier in your career, or has excitement changed shape over the years?

I still feel the same excitement and profound satisfaction creating music as I ever did. I think a lot more now, as I have a much better understanding of how to get my idea across and turn it into music.

Vocally, you move comfortably across multiple styles, when working on your next releases, do you think about serving the song first or letting your voice lead the way?

When I was younger, I had a big, strong voice—mid to tenor—voice and I loved showing it off. But now I’m pretty happy being a mid to high baritone. Yes, these days it’s more about the music first, then finding my part in it.

Looking ahead, what feels most important to you right now with these forthcoming releases, reaching new listeners, saying something honest, or simply enjoying the act of making music at this stage of your life?

Looking ahead, what feels important is just writing music that supports people and touches them. I mean real art. I’m not interested in writing music for the sake of getting famous or charting, or trying to sound a certain way that the algorithms might like. I just want to get what’s in this heart out. I know the people that like my music enjoy it when I’m taking them on an emotional journey.

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Stream Robert Larrabee’s latest releases on Spotify.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

A&R Factory Interview: Antwan Talks Recovery, Reinvention, and Chicago Nights

Posted on 5 December 2025

Chicago rapper and producer Antwan spoke to us about the slow-burn path that led him to start releasing music in 2018, the years of hesitation before that, and the emotional weight behind his latest album Cirque du Ghoul / Antwan’s Circus. Built during a period of recovery, the project pulls from dark nights, personal reckonings, and the chaos of the city around him. In the interview, he digs into how the circus theme emerged, the influence of Chicago’s winters and nightlife, and the support network that helped get the record off the ground. There’s also talk of future collabs, switching up his sound, and the wrestling references he keeps tucked into his bars. It’s a conversation full of openness, humour, and the kind of realism that underpins every track he puts out.

Welcome to A&R Factory, antwan, it’s great to have you here and to shine a light on the next chapters you’re building. You’ve been around music since your early teens, but you didn’t start releasing until 2018. What finally pushed you from being a kid soaking it all in to someone ready to put their own voice out there?

Well the lack of money and studio equipment was one thing is what I always said, but honestly that shit sounds so stupid looking back lmfao; I probably could’ve just recorded on my phone or some and just dropped tracks like that, but I wasn’t really thinking; by 2018 I feel like I had to just put that “Antwan” name more out there music wise- like I kept saying “I make music” or “I’m a rapper” since I had started this journey at like 14, but I didn’t have nothing to back that statement up, so it was just time to stop yappin and start putting in work. To be honest, when I look back at it, that shit was soooo easy, I don’t know why I took so long on dropping anything- I think it was just the procrastination and also that feeling of just being unsure with myself, but I’m glad how everything played out after the first couple of releases. I credit my brother Bando for the quote “shut up and drop already”. That’s grade A motivation right there lmaoo.

Your recent album holds a lot of emotional weight because it was created while you were in Recovery. How did that period shape the sound, the writing, or even the way you approached the studio?

Yea….. that recovery/sobriety journey was hell. It just felt like a weird time I’ll be honest with you…… it felt like I had to find myself again, not just as a person, but as an artist as well; basically kinda just start from scratch, and I hated that, but it had to be done and I think it played off pretty well. The love for the music kinda died a bit, so I had to find that spark again too. I did so much scrapping and a lot of re-writing of songs until I finally got that perfect idea and sound, which ended up being the whole kinda dark circus vibe; like this wasn’t supposed to be an album, it was supposed to be 2 separate EP’s, but once I had started writing about circus clowns and this quote on quote circus, the album just started getting stacked together like some legos lmaoo. I knew I wanted to do something different since the last EP was just some like lovey dovey shit, I had to switch it up big time, had to show people the real me, and I think I did that. The recovery journey helped a lot- you can most definitely hear it in the music, there’s tracks where you can hear it, “Drugs Make The Circus Go Round / R.I.P A 2” you can hear it, it’s nothing but pure raw emotion, like if you listen closely to the end you can hear me kinda like choke up a bit, again it’s just nothing but pure emotion throughout the whole album. The writing part has always stood the same, it was always some real life experiences, I think just this time around was different because I had opened up hella more than I normally do, and really had dived into almost like my day in the life, and really dived into my head.

You’ve said the album means a lot to you, which really comes through. When listeners press play, what’s the one thing you hope they feel or understand about you that they might miss otherwise?

When the listeners press play I just want them to feel that everything that I write and record is all coming from real life events and what not- I want them to feel all that truthfulness, that realness of me hitting rockbottom, the realness of struggling with addiction and dealing with mental stuff as well- like this shit wasn’t a game, this shit actually happened, you know, people saw this first hand, and there’s a few who can attest to that. I just want them to hear what it was really like, and how it ended up, and not to just see me as this drunk druggie, cuz there’s some that see me that way still, which isn’t the case; we all go through something and deal with it how we can, I just chose the easy way to deal with everything, and that was alcohol and drugs, but shit happens man, and I’m not tryna make excuses either, I’m just saying how it is. If somebody is feeling the same way I felt, you know I’m always open to talk or just be that ear to hear em out. I also want to let the listeners know that it’s okay to ask for help, it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to let go of all the bottled up anger and sadness or whatever it may be, just don’t fight that battle alone man. At the end of the day it’s all gonna work out, I hate saying cheesy shit like that, but it’s the truth lmaoo.

You’re two months deep into promoting this project. What’s been the most surprising or unexpectedly fun part of pushing it out into the world?

Man, I think it’s seeing the streams and plays overseas…just a few days ago I had saw there was some plays out in Germany, the UK, Argentina, Amsterdam, Greece, and a few more countries; that’s real sick, I love that; that’s my main goal, to get more song attention overseas- another fun part with promoting not just the album but previously released tracks as well, is seeing what to do next promotion wise, always kinda gotta switch it up; like both my producers ohei8ht & entersilence just give me ideas on how to promote, along with all my brothers, they just got ideas for days, so that’s just real fun, being able to work with all these great minds.

I was surprised when I was reached out to by a music group a couple weeks back, we’re still currently working together right now, it’s just cool to be working with people outside of my circle as well, cuz that just means more doors are being opened; it’s rewarding seeing the music be recognized, it means a lot to me.

Chicago has its own unique musical character. How much has the city fed into the tone of your work or the stories you’re trying to tell?

Chicago just feeds into my work plenty, whether that be living out here or working in the city, it just feeds into the music so much, it just gives ideas left and right. The winters out here I think definitely help shape my sound in a way, just being in the cold and when it snows, when it gets dark at like 4:30, etc etc, the vibe and atmosphere is just different and it just works for the music and story telling.

Almost every idea I get comes from being around the city a lot, for example, the album is called “Cirque du Ghoul / Antwan’s Circus”, in the album I mention talks of this “circus” and what I’m actually talking about is the city…. I won’t go into too much in detail about it, but just working in downtown Chicago and then going out what was almost everyday 24/7, you see some shit, like on “MANIAC / TOUR LIFE 2” I say “creatures in the night, maniacs all around”….. you see and meet some characters, some good, some bad, and some where you kinda just tell yourself “goddamn man”… it’s just one big ass circus in a way, so that’s why I called it “Antwan’s Circus”, cuz the city was just one big ass show and I felt like I was the ringmaster as well as a performer in it. As I mentioned in the beginning, the city feeds plenty into my work, and I always mention it in one way or another, whether that be talking about LSD (LakeShore Drive), or just name dropping the city.

What are you currently cooking up for your next releases? Any sounds, themes, or ideas that have been pulling you forward lately?

As of right now I’m not working on anything, as I retired from making music….nah I’m just playing lmfaooo- I’m working on a collab track with my close producer and uncle ohei8ht and with an artist by the name of Yvk, the track is really fucking dope, the sound is different from what I normally do, I had to tap in with the west coast sound for this track, but it’s still Antwan authentic I can assure you that.

Besides that collab track, I’m still in the process of thinking on what to do next- I kinda wanna do some house music/dance typa tracks because that’s all i’ve been bumpin right now; I have a track out called “Club Space (Interlude)” and it’s almost like a dance type of track, so I wanna do a a full on house/dance project, even if it’s just like a lil EP, I think that’ll be pretty raw. It’ll be cool to switch up the sound, but it’s all up in the air right now, I wanna tap in with some producers who can help achieve that goal, or fuck it me and the boys are gonna have to get to work on that, but again, it’s all up in the air right now, it’s on my list.

You mentioned wanting people to really know who you are as an artist. What’s something most listeners wouldn’t guess about you unless you spelled it out?

Damn, that’s a good question….I think that when it comes to making a song/project it takes me about like 3 months to get it done properly, something like that; it takes a while because I just want everything to be perfect, so I do HELLLAAAA rewriting until I’m comfortable with the craft- I think some folks think it takes like a week or a few days, nah it takes me a while, but that’s something I’m tryna work on. They don’t know I’m my biggest critic, and again that goes back to wanting everything done perfectly, so that’s why I usually take months on tracks.

Another thing they wouldn’t know is before rapping, I wanted to be a wrestler growing up; that’s why I always try to have wrestler mentions in my songs lmaooo, or even when I post on Instagram, I post wrestling pics as well; and before rapping I wanted to start my own band because I was a big Hollywood Undead fan and that sound was just raw to me, so that was something I wanted to do; I do take inspo from them tho, you might hear it, you might not.

As you look ahead at your upcoming projects, what personal or creative milestones are you hoping to hit next, whether that’s a sound shift, a collab, or something you’ve not spoken about yet?

Honestly I really don’t know to be honest, the way I work is a little unorthodox, I just go with the flow, I try not to really think too hard with what I work on too much, cuz if I go with the flow, everything just comes together real easy, whereas if I’m really putting thought into it, it just takes forever for it all to come together and see the light of day.

Personal milestones, I just want to have as much music out as possible and stop procrastinating so much when it comes to the music, I wanna stop getting too deep into my head when it comes to making and dropping stuff, because I feel that just holds me back a lot. I just want to continue putting my voice out there, I’m not saying im the voice of the voiceless, but if there’s someone out there that can resinate with what im saying, then that’s fucking cool and I wanna be able to continue to be that voice so that person don’t feel alone.

I definitely wanna collaborate more with artist’s, whether that be working more with my brother Vizzy and just dropping single tracks or we drop a EP or lil mixtape, or work more with people outside the GhoulBoyz collective- I’m open for whatever.

Soundwise, I most def wanna continue to just grow and do more than what I normally have out, but as of right now I just wanna continue to do what I’m doing and just make it perfect.

Also down the line is to get this band idea off the ground with bando and taymoney, it’s been in the works, that’s all I can really say on that.

Shoutout GhoulBoyz, love y’all man, love this whole team.

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Discover antwan_nawtna’s sound on Spotify and connect with him on Instagram and TikTok.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

Inside stevie’s Fireside Confessional, an Interview on Anger, Renewal and Creative Return

Posted on 21 November 2025

stevie invites listeners into the kind of honesty that arrives when life has stripped everything back to its raw foundations. Her EP, I Guess This Is Healing, rose from places where heartbreak, anger and long-buried humour refused to stay quiet, shaped further by studio spaces that gave her the freedom to create without fear. In this interview, she retraces the night Too Good For You snapped into focus, the way certain rooms still echo in her writing, and the moment she realised the part of her that writes songs had survived the darkest weeks. She speaks with clarity, warmth and a grounded sense of self as she reflects on the emotional fault lines that shaped the record and the odd, touching scenes that fed into it, inviting readers into the world behind her music.

‘Too Good For You (Halloween)’ feels like the musical equivalent of finally blocking that nightmare ex and then setting fire to the memory for good; what headspace were you in on the night that song really clicked, and why did Halloween feel like the right backdrop for that moment?

Simply, I was raging, absolutely full of unadulterated anger and heartbreak. It felt more like an unfiltered diary entry than a song. A song that I never dreamt of releasing, its rawness and lyrics felt like too much. I remember writing it, alone in my flat, and the guitar just wasn’t angry or beaten up enough; no amount of distortion or bit crusher could get the sound I wanted at that moment, to convey the hurt I felt. So then entering the studio and recording the track up, new layers, new people and a new not broken voice singing the track was really cathartic – processing in real time. I think that’s when the track really clicked.

The backdrop of Halloween was always going to happen, it’s an unfortunate biographical story that did happen at Halloween! I was in fact dressed as a pretty rubbish scarecrow, very drunk at an awful club. I think the reality of the story is painful, the defeat of feeling not good enough, but rattling off this story and knowing that really you’re too good for this person who is putting you through hell and saying you’re the problem. But let’s be honest there is a kind of almost comical side to this, a bottle of wine, a bad straw hat – a very tragic bittersweet time capsule.

You stepped into rooms like Electric Lady in New York and then The Church, Orinoco and Battery while you were still pretty young; what was the most surreal or formative thing you soaked up in those studios that still echoes in how you write and produce your own records now?

For me i think it’s the environments that these amazing places created. So many artists work in so many different ways, whether it’s their writing process, down time or having items or people with them who allow them to flourish. It’s the warmth and safety that is needed to create without restriction or judgement. Feeling that you are in an environment that nurtures the way youwrite. Down to the tiniest details – the lighting or the rugs!

Whether it is writing for myself or working with other artists, providing a safe haven to feel heard and safe to create is so important. You can make music anywhere, but there is something magical about finding a space that brings that out of you.

You have spoken very honestly about that abusive relationship that drained the colour out of music for a while; can you talk us through the first tiny turning point where you felt yourself reaching back for the piano and realising the creative part of you was not gone for good after all?

I think that turning point was the same time I felt a point of no return. I was going through a really devasting point in time, one thing after the other of loss and tragedy. Then I realised I didn’t know this person anymore, and they didn’t know me. They just didn’t get that this unbelievable trauma happening around me was not about them. I was in a dark place, and they didn’t care. Crying and screaming in therapy sessions after months evolved into taking those emotions and writing them down, singing them around my flat and being able to let them exist without shame. I reached for my guitar and just let loose.

The EP, ‘I Guess This Is Healing’, traces a whole emotional arc from the point of no return in ‘Too Good For You (Halloween)’, through the disorientation in ‘Sell Me A Dream’, to the tentative new love in ‘Sore Loser’; if this record played out as a short film, what would the key scenes be, and where would the credits roll emotionally for you?

Oh, blimey, what a question. You’ve got me thinking! In all honesty, this may sound a tad odd. But in my mind, I view my brain, my psyche, my being, as an island. It is individual and solitary. There are many facets to an island – the deep crevices that you should probably unearth and sort out, the surface level that can take up a bit too much time or even the people you let on to the island.

The idea of a short film and key scenes, would be a figure burning down this island and leaving. Leaving the island owner to put out the fires one by one, tending to each problem area at a time. Rebuilding safe places, planting flowers – but then finally realising that you’ve looked after the island, but it’s only the start. A desire for companionship, new life on the island. The credits would roll at either the island owner leaving or a new boat porting up on the island. Odd island tangent over!

You want listeners to find solace, peace, humour, anger and resilience in this body of work; how do you keep that balance between laughing at the chaos and honouring the really heavy parts without sugar-coating what you went through?

Haha I think that may be something my therapist would say I need to work on!

I feel that it’s the honesty you have for yourself, the people around you and the story you want to tell. Remaining true and resilient. For me, this was a story I needed to tell, before anything else. I have to address that I am not a perfect person, this is what I’ve experienced and I am open to people feeling that. I have listened to so many songs from a young age to now that really made me reflect and be very introspective. I hope these songs do the same – and the image of me rolling down a hill dressed as scarecrow will live on.

You started out playing piano at seven or eight; when you listen back to the EP, where do you hear that childhood version of you the clearest, and where do you hear the grown, battle-scarred London creative who wrote ‘I Guess This Is Healing’?

I feel they are one and the same, actually – in the chorus of ‘I Guess This Is Healing’ I sing ‘I don’t hate myself anymore / I won’t deny myself anymore’. This, for me, is a direct admission from my child self that it is okay to be you, unapologetically! I have struggled throughout my life with my gender expression and fully fitting society’s expectations of femininity or masculinity and that was a real part of my healing process that I am still working through today. I think the London creative can polish it up a bit, but the sentiment was really coming from my inner child. Those moments and those lyrics are the most raw part of this EP.

On Sibling Radio, ‘Stevie’s Rolodex’ lets you champion other artists every week; how has sitting on the other side of the glass as a radio host, curator, and fan changed the way you think about your own songs and the stories you want to push into the world?

Oh I love it! It really takes me back to engineering and just being there for the artist and getting their truth and vision across. I am so grateful that Sibling have allowed me to bring on artists and creatives and to really get into what makes them tick, that being said it goes off the deep end most of the time!

Listening to and talking about music with such genuine love and enjoyment makes me want to share as many stories as I can. Whether it’s a deep personal experience, or a look into outside relationships or even something conceptual. It makes me really proud of the EP I’ve created and I am really excited to keep throwing my creative chaos into the atmosphere!

You have a growing social media community and backing from a Sony Music Publishing subsidiary; how are you keeping the focus on authentic connection and healing rather than chasing numbers, and what would you love fans to feel or do the first time they spin the EP all the way through?

I think I am too anxious to focus on the numbers! I will psyche myself out!! Aha! They are important, don’t get me wrong. But my main goal here is to do this for myself and tell the stories I want to tell – and also that I enjoy myself! I started this project by doing this for myself and hoping that one day if it got released people would find something helpful or healing in it themselves.

On a first spin, I’d love for people to just react however they bloody want to! Whether that’s quiet and reflective or full of defiance and empowerment! It’s the listener’s journey; I am just telling the story.

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Connect with stevie on Instagram and TikTok.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

Armed Byrd Opens Her Wings in an Interview with A&R Factory

Posted on 15 November 2025

Armed Byrd stepped into view with a debut single shaped by quiet defiance and a soft pulse of hope. Not Worried arrives as a response to the strange pressure cooker of modern life, especially the instability that swept through the Bay Area tech scene while he watched friends lose hard-earned ground overnight. Her reflections filter through a warm creative lens, coloured by her childhood nickname and the playful symbolism that later shaped her artist moniker. The interview digs into how she keeps hold of authenticity while moving between commercial work and deeply personal songwriting, how visual art shapes her process, and why everyday moments still spark the most meaningful ideas.

Welcome to A&R Factory, Armed Byrd — it’s great to have you here to discuss your debut single, Not Worried, which carries a sense of quiet rebellion against modern burnout; we’re keen to unpack the thoughts and creative impulses behind it.

Not Worried feels deeply tied to the pressures of modern life and creativity. What sparked the idea to address those themes so directly in your debut release?

The idea for this song took shape at a time when the Bay Area’s tech scene was in turmoil. Layoffs were happening everywhere, and the sense of uncertainty was hard to ignore. Friends of mine, some of the most brilliant people I know, suddenly found themselves without jobs. They had built so much, yet their efforts seemed to vanish without acknowledgment, let alone their creativity. It was heartbreaking to see that. Through this song, I wanted to bring a sense of warmth and encouragement to those facing difficult moments.

Your stage name, Armed Byrd, has a certain poetic edge to it. What inspired that moniker, and how does it reflect your identity as an artist?

Haha, it actually came from my childhood nickname. I was born in China, and when I was young, my friends called me “鸭子,” meaning “duck” in English. If you look at the Chinese character “鸭” and split it, it breaks into “甲” and “鸟.” 甲 means “armor” and 鸟 means “bird.” Now you see the story behind it. I want to keep that whimsical blend of absurdity and imagination, a feeling bursting with creativity and endless possibilities, yet still rooted in the past.

Having worked on soundtracks for visual media and games, how did the shift to creating personal music change your relationship with composition and sound design?

Compared to commercial music production, creating my own music gives me a much greater sense of freedom, as well as more challenges. The workflow between the two is slightly different. For my personal music projects, I need to view the whole project as a complete work, personally developing and executing the accompanying concept and visuals. This process is time-consuming, full of joy, but also difficulties. In contrast, for commercial music projects, since the concept and requirements are usually predetermined, I can jump into production much more quickly, though it sometimes comes with a lesser sense of personal connection or ownership.

The production on Not Worried hits that sweet spot of raw yet polished; which tools or techniques did you rely on most to strike that balance?

I aimed to create a sound environment that felt natural and relaxed. To achieve this, I tried to introduce elements of randomness within certain limitations — for example, casually finger-drumming small percussive sounds, or using irregular LFOs. I also applied filters on the same instrument track to alter its tone so that it adapted to different musical states, making the entire piece more flexible and fluid.

You designed all the visuals and motion graphics for the release yourself. How do you see the connection between sound and imagery in shaping your artistic world?

Visuals have always played an important role in my music creation. Sometimes, my visual ideas even come before the music itself. For me, art is a form of expression, and the specific medium, whether music or visuals, serves as a means to enhance what I want to convey. When combined thoughtfully, music and visuals can create a kind of chemistry that enriches the overall aesthetic of the work.

The song takes aim at the commodification of creativity, something many artists wrestle with. How do you personally navigate maintaining authenticity in a culture that often monetises self-expression?

I think I’m still figuring that out myself. Being part of the music industry, I’m very aware of the privilege of creative freedom. Most of my inspiration comes from everyday life, those little things that happen around me. Thanks to social media, it’s easier than ever to share thoughts and feelings nowadays. And you will find people who have gone through the same things you have — I just happened to put it into a song. The understanding and support I receive from listeners online mean a lot to me; they encourage me to keep moving.

Having spent years working in commercial sound design, what lessons from that world still influence your approach to writing and producing music today?

When I make music, I often think about how approachable the music feels. In commercial music production, the target audience is usually well-defined, which gives me a chance to step into the listener’s perspective — who am I making this for? How might people feel when they listen to it? What’s the most genuine way to express the idea? People often say that music is a universal language, and I would like to think of my work as a way to spark resonance and communication across different worlds.

As Not Worried introduces Armed Byrd to listeners, what direction do you see your next releases taking, thematically or sonically?

I’ll keep drawing inspiration from everyday life, giving them a little twist and showing them in unexpected ways. I actually already have the full idea in mind, but I’ll keep it a secret for now. All I can say is, it’s going to be really fun!

Steam the debut single from Armed Byrd on Spotify now.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast