Iris Grey Creates A safe space with her music
Iris Grey is an up and coming singer/songwriter that creates alternative hit songs surrounding the topic of mental health. Starting her career during the pandemic she released her new single "Dark Side" that blew up with over 866K streams. In one of her Tik Toks she mentions that "If you feel like you're spiraling, pushed over the edge, taken advantage of, lost, done or like you have two sides, this song is for you".
Maria: How did you get into music? When was the day when you woke up and decided that this is what you wanna do now?
Iris: I've always loved music. I've been singing and performing, since I can remember and performing since I was around five years old. But I think really the moment where I realized I wanted to release my own music and really try and push forward with that dream of mine was honestly during the pandemic, when we were all locked down and I was struggling a lot with mental health. And it was just the only escape that I had. That's when I started going to the studio that I go to now, and working with the producer Dan Malsch. And honestly, I attribute a lot of being able to find my sound and like, what music I truly wanted to put out there, to finding that studio. So I kind of started there and then other than that, it's all me. I write my songs, I write the melody and the lyrics and all that but I am really grateful for the people I have around me like Dan. There's so many talented people, but mostly it's me and Dan.
Maria: Who are your influences when it comes to your sound?
Iris: There's so many artists that I have such a pull toward. I'd say Billie Eilish is like a really big one, Melanie Martinez as well. Sky daddy’s music on Tick Tock is incredible. NF is a really, really big one. We have different genres but hearing the way that he told such a story, and his music really inspired me.
Maria: How would you describe the genre of your music?
Iris: I've always described my songs or my music as alternative. But I do like kind of not necessarily sticking to one specific sound or another. I love playing around with sounds that maybe you wouldn't expect to hear in a song like in “mystery anxiety”. There's like a little doorbell and kind of random things that put together work. If I had to fit it into one, I would say alternative.
Maria: What was your creative process like for writing your latest single Dark Side?
Iris: Dark side was written during the pandemic. My dad's immune compromised so I was locked down for a lot longer than the average person. I still live with my parents so that's a struggling musician's life (laughs). And so in return, because I was around my dad I had to really strapped down and go kind of like the bare minimum places for a really long time. And I've always struggled with my mental health. But of course like so many being locked inside for so long. It took an extra toll on me and just seeing the news and seeing everything it was so overwhelming that for me. One day I sat down and it really did feel like I had just in that moment gone, kind of, off the deep end so to speak. Not in a dramatic way but I was thinking about where I was a year and a half two years ago and my mental health was so much worse and all the things I previously worked on to improve in myself felt like it was kind of slipping away. So the only way that I really had to cope with that was through music and through Tik Tok. So, the “dark side" was born.
And honestly, that song was the one of the biggest surprises that I've ever been gifted because, I'm gonna be honest, I wrote it and I turned to my parents and I was like, it's terrible. I almost didn't even upload my initial video showing it and it was my parents that said like, no, I really liked that song. And then in the next couple of days I gained something like 70,000 followers from it. Which, for me, is crazy. I never would have imagined that at all. And it has kind of a special place in my heart now because it's a song that started it.
When I first started, I found the studio that I go to and the producer that I work with now. It helped give me a place so I could figure out what kind of music I truly wanted to release.
I feel like before the pandemic, I had a little bit of a mental block of creating songs and being willing to put them out, and be actually vulnerable. I would write a lot of music that was maybe not about me at all and not as vulnerable of topics you know. And then through the pandemic, because that music became kind of my only form of therapy, and kind of an outlet, it kind of forced me to sit down with myself and be more honest with my songs and worry less about how other people would perceive them. So my first song that I ever put out, it was called “Lips like honey”, and it's way more pop and way different than all the other songs that I have. And instead of asking like, what's popular, I started asking, what message do I want to give out? What do I want to talk about?
Maria: What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Iris: I would say my two biggest things is write music like no one will ever hear it. Don't worry about who's going to hear it in your life and what they're going to think. It's tough sometimes but especially if you're needing an escape. And then if someone has negative thoughts or associations, you can know that no matter what, you stayed true to yourself. And then the other thing is as you might know, from my music, I have a lot of anxiety and a lot of times people ask me about stage fright or putting yourself out there what to do. And as, again, cliche as it may be, and as difficult as it may be in the moment – the only thing that I think can really help with that is just doing it, practice. I've messed up so many times on stage and thought that I was gonna die of embarrassment right there. I have moments from five years ago where I messed up that I still circle back in my mind now. But eventually, as you put yourself out there, you realize you know, to every one person who's critical of you, who doesn't like you, there will be 100 that follow you. So put yourself out there.