LVMA Award Winner Carolyn Marie Talks Singing Career, Upcoming Music, and Working Through the Pandemic

From being placed on the Official Ballot for the 61^st Annual Grammy Awards in the ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’, ‘Best Rock Performance’, and ‘Best Music Video’ categories, to winning the Lehigh Valley Music Awards ‘Discovered Artist’ award, up-and-coming singer Carolyn Marie is a force to be reckoned with.

Having been recording music for close to 10 years, there is no doubts as to not only Carolyn’s invaluable expertise in the industry, but the passion that evidently fuels the hard-hitting music she writes. She is not to be underestimated – keeping up with her on her social media platforms, there is a fierce determination that you can almost physically feel as she continuously strives for more as both a musician and a person.

‘The Teen Magazine’ recently had the opportunity to interview Carolyn, discussing her recent endeavours such as her new hit single ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ ft. Ezo, as well as her journey as a musician over the years.

Background to and Developement of Her Career:

Discussing her upbringing in relation to her musical journey, Carolyn said:

“Music has been in my blood since I was a child”.

Starting off as a dancer, Carolyn’s ability to understand and subsequently procure eloquent rhythms is one she has been honing for years. Taking voice lessons and developing unique writing skills expressed in poetry, her ambition to become a musician was cemented after she succeeded in securing a role in the musical ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ in college.

Her development as an artist is a subtle reminder of the journey of a musician; years of work, resilience, and dedication to your craft to reach your goals. For Carolyn, one of her proudest moments was having the opportunity to perform at the Levitt Pavillion Steel Stack in Bethlehem; and her goals stretch even farther – she hopes to perform at stadiums and tour internationally, especially in hopes to be able to see her fans around the world.

And as expected due to the poise and demeanour that she conveys throughout her performances, Carolyn has always been firmly confident in her choice to pursue a music career ever since, the love for her craft clearly limitless. Today, pop and rock influences can be heard throughout Carolyn’s discography.

Thus, it is unsurprising that she feels heavily inspired by a plethora of bands and artists who have revolutionised these genres; from modern artists Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, and Billie Eilish, to Joan Jett, Michael Jackson (who she would've loved to collaborate with), Queen, Halestorm and The Pretty Reckless, these iconic influences are ones who have shaped her as the artist you come to know throughout her songs.

Highlights & Lowlights of Being a Musician:

However, her ambitious mindset has unfortunately not shielded her from the inevitable obstacles of a music career; having to develop an extremely thick skin due to the opinions and challenges permeating the industry is something that Carolyn has had to master. As an audience, the polished performances we are treated to by artists aren't developed without struggle; Carolyn herself recalled callous exchanges within the industry, where you need to learn to survive amidst heinous individuals attempting to sway the artist into sacrificing their mental and physical health in favour of success. But regardless of these experiences, Carolyn recounted an important reminder that will be undoubtedly helpful if you want to follow her path:

“This industry tests you in so many ways, but if you stick to who you are, your morals, and follow the good you’ll be okay.”

'Who's Your Daddy' ft. Ezo - Carolyn Talks Single & How She Creates Music:

On June 19^th, Carolyn released one of her most recent singles ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ ft. Ezo. Underpinned by a catchy beat, the song is sure to become a favourite in your playlist – and the story behind it is even better. And who better to tell it than Carolyn herself, who gave us an account of how the song came to life:

“On June 9th at 10am, I was recording a sad ballad with my vocal engineer, Cooper Anderson. We started joking around and shouting “WHO’S YOUR DADDYYYY” from the Adam Sandler movie which then turned into “Who’s your daddy daddy daddy daddy”! He said “Hey, we should actually cut this!

I’ll make the beat, and you work on some lyrics. We’ll jump back on Zoom and record the rest of the song tonight” and I jokingly said, “A Father’s Day surprise!” and we laughed. I honestly still thought he was joking until an hour later when he sent me a beat to write to.”

Listening to Carolyn’s discography, the featuring of her rapping in the single makes for a surprising listen, due to her tendency to lean towards singing. However her rapping in ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ highlights her versatility as an artist in all areas. In Carolyn’s own words:

“I don’t like to pigeonhole myself. I’m always down to try new things as you can see, LOL!”

And if you’d like to check out more of her music, Carolyn recently released her new single and its accompanying music video called ,‘We Could be Together’. In contrast with her fast-paced rapping on ‘Who’s Your Daddy’, Carolyn reverted back to her singing roots, with the heartfelt nature of its lyrics sure to captivate you.

But how does Carolyn begin her writing process? Giving us an insight into this, Carolyn explained how almost all of her writing is based upon personal experience, whether this is subjective to her or a friend’s experience. Whilst some of her past music has solely been for purposes of enjoyment such as ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ and ‘Feel My Reign’ (which she said was “inspired by the ABC TV show ‘Revenge’”), most of it retains the heartfelt qualities of ‘We Could be Together’. In terms of the professional process, Carolyn explained that:

“The process generally is that I work with a producer and together we come up with a direction for the track. Once that’s done, they’ll send it over to me, and I will write lyrics and melody to it. I love this process, and I create music that’s truly who I am as an artist this way. I occasionally work with other writers, but most of the time it’s just me in my bedroom at 2am whispering melodies over a track to not wake up my family.”

Working During the Pandemic:

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a halt on our lives for the foreseeable future, with this ‘new normal’ something that as a collective society, we have had to adapt to. In terms of developing her music, while lockdown was an initial frustration, Carolyn managed to find a way around it.

Working from home, she bought a ‘Lauten Audio Atlantis Microphone’ and a ‘Whisper Room Vocal Booth’, in order to be able to do virtual sessions with her recording engineer, Cooper Anderson, who manages to control her laptop during the sessions. Lockdown has actually managed to increase her productivity in developing her music, with ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ fully written and recorded in quarantine!

Carolyn's Fanbase:

As with every musician, Carolyn’s fans form a huge part of her identity as an artist. She expressed a sense of gratefulness for her fans, whom she loves and considers her friends. Attempting to regularly get back to her fans’ comments, how much she values her fans (who she hopes to meet when hopefully touring the world) is clear to see. In terms of the name she’s given her fanbase, Carolyn commented:

“There isn’t a special name for my fandom per say, but I’ve heard “x3” thrown around a lot lately. My social media handles are all “carolynmariex3”. I thought the “x3” looked like a heart, but lots of people think it means ‘times three’.

After I went live, and someone asked why there was an “x3” at the end of my Instagram handle a lot of my fans will sign messages with “x3” now. I think it’s adorable! Maybe I should do a poll and make it official?!”

Alongside her music, fans are given an exclusive peek into Carolyn’s life outside or her work on her YouTube channel, where she creates beauty and skincare content, amongst other things.

Fun Facts About Carolyn:

1. If you had could have 3 wishes to be granted, what would you choose for them to be? "World peace, cures for debilitating diseases and illness, and an endless supply of chocolate covered strawberries!"
2. Are there any superstitions that you believe in? "Not really, but I always knock on wood anyway. I do believe that the energy you put out into the world comes back to you though."
3. If you could be one person for a day, who would you be? "Taylor Swift, but specifically one of her days she’s on tour! I think her shows are so fun! Prancing around in glitter dancing and singing is the dream!"
4. Biggest pet peeve? "I hate being ignored! It drives me wild."
5. Weirdest habit you have that you can’t let go of? "Well I get this weird feeling that I will not have enough of something or lose it so I always buy at least 3 extra of whatever I’m getting. Cooper always makes fun of me because when I go to the studio, I always have ten copies of the lyrics and he asks me who else I am expecting, haha! It’s been better since we’ve been working virtually though. Just a copy for me and one for my imaginary friend."

A Final Piece of Advice from Carolyn:

For any budding musicians, the vastness of the music industry may seem intimidating and a tough journey. Being in the perspective of the ‘audience’ when listening to artist’s work, myself and other’s alike often forget about the struggles of attempting to garner any semblance of recognition, regardless of how talented one is. So, to anyone feeling hopeless, Carolyn gave some valuable, inspirational advice about how you can overcome this:

“You have to believe in yourself more than anyone else in the room. There will be tons of people out there who will tell you that you don’t have what it takes and try to change you. Don’t listen to them.”

A Thank You to Carolyn & Where You can Follow Her:

Thank you so much to Carolyn for doing this interview for The Teen Magazine – we loved hearing your story and hope to see you continue to succeed as a musician! If you would like to keep up with Carolyn, you can subscribe to/follow her at ‘Carolyn Marie’ on YouTube & Facebook and follow her on @carolynmariex3 on Instagram & Twitter.

For more: Carolyn Marie's Website