Salem Ilese Talks 'Growing Down' | LPtv

Hey, this is Lindsey Parker for LP TV here at Licorice Pizza for the record release party for Salem Alise's second album. It is called Growing Down. Yep. I like the title. You obviously are great with words. You're a great singer-songwriter. You are songwriter for other people as well. So, yeah, I'll just start with the obvious question of what's the title about? So, Growing Down is based off of a fun fact that I learned that is trees grow up and down at the same time. And I think people do, too, cuz they're growing up, you know, sprouting branches and leaves, but they're also growing down into the ground.

Um, and their roots are growing at the same time so they don't fall over when the wind blows. And I feel like people grow up, obviously, but we also grow roots as well and also grow down in the sense of getting in touch with your inner child. You're full of fun facts because before fun fact, before we start this interview, you were telling me a fact about reflection. You can say this one cuz I thought it was interesting about our faces. We were talking about like seeing each other on Zoom. And tell me what the fun fact was that you you said to me. Thanks. Yeah, I love a good fun fact.

Um, it's the My brain just went so blank. Sorry. Not about reflection. Yes. Um, humans are actually only supposed to see themselves in bodies of water because when cavemen were around, they didn't have mirrors or glass or really any reflective surface except for ponds. So, it's very unnatural for us to know what our face looks like this much. I feel like you should start a podcast where you just cite these fun facts cuz you have a really interesting lyrical approach. A lot of your songs aren't typ- they're not typical. You don't write about typical things. Thank you. Yeah, I'm definitely a word nerd, um, self-proclaimed. I love lyrics.

Do your lyrics come first? Probably a cliche question, but when you're writing songs, and maybe it's different when you're writing songs for yourself than when you're writing for other people, uh, do you come up with the lyrics first or the title? You have some titles that seem like maybe that was the inspiration. Thank you. Yeah, titles are definitely the first thing that happened for me. Usually a concept or just like a fun play on words and then that inspires the sonic landscape for me. Um For example, I have a song called Dirty Martini and I knew that I wanted to write a song called Dirty Martini, but I had no idea what I wanted it to sound like and I was like, what would a song about Dirty Martinis sound like sonically? And I was like, I feel like it needs to be a little folk country pop and definitely fast because they just make you so excited and giddy and I just want to capture that energy, but it all starts with the title.

So, it's been about 2 years since your last album, your debut album, High Concept, another great title. Obviously, you're into high concept. So, what's the difference or the evolution from that album to this one, Growing Up? Um a lot. This one, Growing Up, was written in a very different way. So, High Concept had a bunch of collaborators, a lot of amazing people that I work with and it basically was written throughout the span of 2 years. Um I was doing sessions all around LA. Some were for me, some were for other artists and my approach was I would usually try and write for me and then if it didn't feel like a Salem song, I would pitch it or we would pivot halfway in the session and try and make it for someone else. And then at the end of those 2 years, I picked my favorite 12 songs and that was the album.

Um so, there was, you know, one there wasn't executive producer, but it was a ton of co-writers, a ton of different genres and vibes and not as thought through in the sense of, um you know, a sonic through line. It was kind of all over the place, but Oh boy. It was just the artwork right here. Yeah, this is the Growing Up album. I know you're big on social media. We might have a viral moment if uh that falls on us. falls on our heads, that would definitely That would do something. That would be a a not-so-fun fact. Yeah, that would be. just hope it it stays and you you keep going.

Let's Let's hope for a viral moment that doesn't involve our heads poking a hole through the artwork. There'd be some symbolism there, but I'd leave that up to you to decide what it is. big time. Um yeah, but High Concept was um that was a process of writing that one. And then this one was completely different. I started all the songs by myself. Um I wrote them all in either my bedroom or my car or a park. Um a lot of hotels cuz I travel uh quite quite a lot. Um and then I tried to produce up a demo to the best of my abilities of all the songs. And then I brought every demo in to my friend David Arkwright, who is the executive producer, and we co-produced it. And this is the first album that I co-produced every song on. Um and he was so patient with me and taught me so much about production. And I'm playing instruments on everything. Um there's a lot of not-great electric guitar on there.

Um but I think it adds to the charm. What are David What is David's resume or credits? Um and how did you meet him? Um I met him through our friend Justin Gamella um in a session. He was one of my first

This record is a smash hit. No, that was good. Let's just keep going. Unless you don't want to. I think it's funny. It's up to you. Kind of adds to it. Okay. Yeah, it adds to the vibes. Um He was one of my first sessions in Los Angeles. I got very lucky working with him. And we just bonded in the room and got along really well as people and also as collaborators. He's also extremely into lyrics and he just I love his brain. He's amazing. Um and we worked on a lot of stuff together. He wrote on a number of my songs that are out including Team Sport, a song called Catch Up. Um, and we both, uh, me, him, and Justin Gamella, um, we all co-wrote Build a by Bella Poarch. And that was actually a Zoom session in the pandemic. Um, so we all kind of had this moment together as writers, which was really fun.

I definitely want to get into some of the writing you've done for other people. It's interesting you said sometimes the song starts off as maybe for you and then you realize this would be better for someone else. But I want to go all the way back to the beginning cuz I know that you kind of mentored or apprenticed or learned from Bonnie Hayes. She had a song on the Valley Girl soundtrack, I Am a Valley Girl. We are in the Valley as we speak. She was on the song, uh, "They Got Word For Girls Like Me", the song that E.G. Daily and is having a slumber party too. So anyway, but she's written for Cher, Bonnie Raitt.

She's iconic and you were working with her or some way learning from her when you were 10 or something like that? her when I was 10. I got so lucky. Um, my parents, they caught on really fast that I loved music and that it was a passion of mine and they were like, "Let's put her in all the lessons." So, I was in vocal lessons, piano lessons, guitar lessons, and then I took my first songwriting class, um, at Blue Bear Music School in San Francisco. And it was a summer camp. Um, I was the youngest person there by far. I walked in, I think I was I was 10 and she took me under her wing and, um, I remember I was wearing this gold sequin top. It was very loud, um, and bright and I walked in she was like, "I have the exact same top. I like you." And I was like, "Oh, she's cool." And you weren't I mean, 10 is very young. Maybe you were I assume you were pretty mature for your age, but were you weren't intimidated or scared? I don't know how much older the other kids were. I mean, I mean, that you were 10 and walked into this with like a sequin top on is pretty cool.

I was an only child, so I think I just didn't have a lot of like social awareness. Um I was kind of just just living. Um yeah, but yeah, I'm hoping to I I feel like I've lost some of that confidence um just growing up as everyone does, and a lot of this album was actually really trying to tap into that just you know, blissful ignorance of childhood. So then when you were working or learning from Bonnie, from Bonnie Hayes, um didn't you study at Berklee, Berklee School of Music with her as well? Yeah, so she um she got the job as the head of the songwriting department at Berklee College of Music, and I think I was 12 at that point, and I remember thinking, that's where I'm going to college.

That's it. I'm going to go follow her to Boston and study there. And uh it was very fitting cuz my name is Salem, and my dad is from Salem, Massachusetts. Um so I got a lot of witch trial jokes when I was there. Still do. It's It hits every time. Um but yeah, that's what I did. I went to to school there. I studied songwriting and production for 2 years. Um and then And then I met with Bonnie, and she was like, I walked in, she was like, you're dropping out, aren't you? I was like, would you be mad? She was like, no. I was like, Well, why did you drop out? I mean, obviously, for people who don't know, Berklee with two E's, Berklee School of Music, is very prestigious.

It is. Yes, and I had the best time. I recommend it so highly. Um but I I kind of Okay, so I built my schedule where I took all the classes I really wanted to take in the first 2 years, and I was in diploma, so I didn't have to take any general ed courses. Um no math, no science, so don't ask me to to multiply anything. But I took all the fun production classes and songwriting, and I met so many amazing and all of the people that I worked with consistently were all graduating and moving to LA. And I was like, wait, don't don't leave me. Like, who am I going to work with? And I also felt like I had gotten so many connections and just met so many people that I was ready.

So, you moved to LA from Northern California, right? From Mill Valley. What was your There's like this weird rivalry, which is actually quite one-sided, where like people in San Francisco don't like LA, or there's like people in the north sometimes look down on LA. What was your impression when you moved here? Yeah, it's really interesting. People are always like, do you miss the Bay? Like, is it is it super different? Like, what do you like better? And they always try to get me to choose one. And I feel like they're just so different. Like, it doesn't even feel like, you know, the same state. They're also quite far apart. Whenever I tell any of my European friends that it takes me 7 hours to drive home from LA, they're like, and you you're in the same state?

Like, we would get across the whole entire country. Um But yeah, I I don't have that rivalry. I love both for different reasons. So, as I mentioned, you or as you mentioned as well, you've written for other people, you've done a lot of work with K-pop artists, Bella Poarch, Demi Lovato, I believe. I think I've read you've written for Gwen Stefani. So, how did that come about? Because that's not like an easy world to get into. Yeah, so when I first moved to LA Riot. You wrote for Riot. Yes. Oh my goodness. That is honestly one of my proudest accomplishments. be. Nadiia is one of the coolest people ever.

Well, I want to ask about that specifically, but yeah, how did you get into just writing for other people at all? When I first moved here, uh I was 19. I had just dropped out. I had no publishing deal, no manager, no nothing. And I thought, you know what? I'm just going to throw myself into sessions. I'm just going to do as many as possible with whoever will work with me. So, I basically just cold DM'd anyone I could think of that lived here that I had, you know, some minor connection to, whether it be Berkeley or friend of a friend, um, or a visiting A&R that came and spoke at Berkeley while I was there. And I just did so many sessions. I was doing seven or more a week when I first moved out there.

And I was my thought process was, I'm just going to write and whatever happens first, that's awesome. The dream has always been to be an artist and to tour the world, um, but you know, Julia Michaels is a huge, um, someone I look up to. Um, she's a role model for me. And I watched how she kind of got into it from writing for other people. And I was like, maybe that'll be the easiest way to break into the industry. So, that's kind of what I was trying to do originally was just write songs for whoever needed songs. And then Riot. Yeah. did you write for Riot?

Um, we worked together actually on, um, Nadya came into a studio, a little apartment studio that I had in West Hollywood, and we co-wrote Princess Charming, um, which I'm featured on. That's so cool. I've interviewed her before. She's obviously an icon. The coolest. Yeah, she's amazing. And then we ended up collaborating on an NFT, um, Oh, yeah, I remember when that started. Yeah, that's how I met her originally was through I had a song called Crypto Boy that was going viral on Twitter, um, in the crypto space and they loved it, which was funny because I was roasting crypto boys so hard. Um, it was very anti-crypto and they were like, yeah, give us more of this. We like this. And I was like, oh, cool. Okay. Um, and then Nadya reached out and I was already a huge fan and she was interested in doing a collaboration and this was right around the time where Roe v. Wade was overturned. Um, so we did an NFT with,

um, a piece of art that she designed and the song and all the proceeds went to the Center for Reproductive Rights. That's amazing. Do you, um, often or do you when do you do you write political songs, I guess I'm trying to say. I do, yeah. I definitely have a few. Um, there's one called Awake that I have out and Moment of Silence. Um, and those ones were um, Awake was for gun violence, um, for March for Our Lives, and Moment of Silence was gun violence, um, tied in with abortion rights. Um, but yeah, I definitely it takes a lot to write them just because I feel like they take me so long cuz I want to get them right. And yeah, but I do think um, that as a creator, I have a responsibility to speak about things when they're happening.

Um, I like to think of it as a songwriter spelled r i g h t e e. Woah.

r i g h t e r I dropped out. Right. r i like making things right. All right. I like that. I like that. How did you get involved in the K-pop world, which obviously, you know, is massive? Yeah, that was through a song called Anti-Romantic that I wrote with a really talented writer producer named Alex Hope. Another Zoom write. I had a few successful writes on Zoom in the pandemic. Um, and that found its way to Tomorrow by Together. Um, and it was originally intended for me, um, and it was a piano vocal, very stripped, kind of a ballad. And I don't know how

they heard the vision, but they made it their own and it sounds completely different and so much cooler now. Um, and I was just such a fan of them. Um, and then I wrote a song called PS5 and I needed a second verse on it. Um, so I reached out to them to see if they would feature and they did. So we have a song together, me and Tomorrow by Together. So cool. Yeah. I'm curious about this process you mentioned where sometimes you start writing a song and maybe you think it's going to be for you and then you're and then you change your mind basically at some point. How does that when do you know a song is best for you or best for someone else?

It's honestly, this is so cliche, but it's a feeling that I get. Um now I am a lot more intentional about my writing. Um so when I go into a session, I really like to know who I'm writing for just because I feel like right now the pitch game is so hard, um which I think is actually a good thing. I know that as a songwriter I'm like, I would love if people still accepted pitches, but as an artist I'm really happy that so many artists are wanting to be involved in the writing process and they want to be there in the room. So lately um I don't really do pitch sessions. It's it's mainly um I'll do some for K-pop, um but it's mainly I'm in the room with an artist and I get to kind of play therapist for the day, which is so fun and I get to, you know, do like brain surgery and be like, "Hey, tell me what's going on in your life and how can I make it rhyme?" Um so that's fun.

Uh dream artist you'd like to write for or with? Ooh. Let's put it out there. Brandon Flowers Ooh, yeah. would be a really cool one. stuff is underrated. His solo albums are great. I love his solo stuff. I'm also just the biggest Killers fan. My dad took me to my first festival when I was 14 and it was Outside Lands and then last and the Killers played. Um and he brought me to Lands End, which is the main stage for their set because they were headlining and he was like, "You're going to love this band." I hadn't heard of them at the time. Um and he was so excited when I already knew some of the songs. Mr. Brightside came on and I was like, "Of course I know this one, Dad.

Everyone knows this song." And then after everything that I feel like the first five songs, I was like, "Okay, now we're going to go see Tiësto." And I made him leave. And no shade to Tiësto, but now Killers my favorite band and I just kicked myself for so many years that I made him leave, but then last year they headlined again. I was there. Me, too. Last year at Outside Lands? No way. Yeah, I was there. They played the first night, I believe. Friday night, yeah. uh-huh. And I brought my dad for his birthday, and we saw the whole entire set this time, and it was phenomenal. It was the best live show experience ever.

I love that your parents were always so encouraging from a young age from your young age of musically. I They must be really proud of what you're up to now. Yeah. Yeah, they're the sweetest. I'm honestly so lucky. They've been my my biggest cheerleaders, biggest fans, for sure. Well, I'm we're real happy to have you here. You know, we love uh the angle you have on life. That was about You're going to be a full-tilt success. Thank you. You're off-the-wall. You're good. You're No, I'll be here all night. I love it. Please, I'm the biggest fan of word play. I can tell. That's why I knew we were going to get along. Is there anything else you want to mention? Obviously, Growing Down is coming out this week on the 13th, lucky Friday 13th.

Yeah. And uh yeah, but what else is going on with your career? Either with your own music or with other music. Uh I actually didn't plan the Friday the 13th release date, also, which is so funny cuz my name is Salem, and my whole life is just synchronicities. Um I'm I'm really not that witchy, but the universe wants me to be, clearly. Um yeah, I hope you enjoy Growing Down. Um if you check it out, it is basically just a reminder to leave room for joy in your life, and don't take life too seriously, as you can see by by the art that is hanging behind us.

Just have a good time. I had a good time chatting with you, and I know we're going to have a good time tonight when you are debuting this album for your fans. So, thank you so much for coming to Amoeba Music. Thank you so much for having me, Lindsey. Thanks for watching, everybody. Bye.