Wenn mich jemand fragen sollte, was es ist, was ich an der Arbeit für Untoldency besonders liebe, ist eine Sache definitiv, so viele junge und starke Frauen kennenzulernen. Künstlerinnen, die fünf Jahren jünger sind als ich und nicht nur musikalisch sehr viel frischen Wind reinbringen, sondern auch inhaltlich schon für so viel stehen. Musikerinnen, die mit ihrer Musik für sich selbst und ihre Fanbase den Begriff der „Weiblichkeit“ neu definieren und finden, und damit eine ganz, jüngere Generation prägen. So wie Newcomerin Greta Isaac aus England: “I don’t know what it is to be a woman, to be myself, in the way that I once knew; but I know I’d never ever want to be like the ideologies and structures that stop me from finding out.” Letzte Woche kam ihre neue EP „PESSIMIST“ raus. Die Chance haben wir genutzt, um mit ihr nicht nur über die einzelnen Songs zu sprechen, sondern auch, was es für sie bedeutet, erwachsen zu werden und sich, selbst in traurigen Momenten, selbst zu finden.
Greta Isaac im Interview
Anna: Hey Greta, first off: Happy Release! How excited are you that your EP is finally out now?
Greta: Hey! Thank you so much! I’m very excited that people get to hear what I’ve been up to the last couple years. More than anything though it’s a huge relief. I think with any project you retain its energy in your mind and body for so long that when it’s finally time for it to be released into the world, it feels more like letting go and taking one huge much needed sigh 🙂
Anna: Before we talk about the EP, can you introduce yourself and the music you’re making?
Greta: Sure! Sooo, my name’s Greta Morfudd Isaac. I’m 26 and from South Wales and I’ve been making and singing music basically my entire life I’d say. I make primarily alt pop music with harmony driven vocals and a very sarcastic playful sonic and lyrical palette 🙂
Anna: You’ve been releasing music for some time now, with every release getting closer to becoming one of the next breakout artists. When you’d have to reflect on your musical biography as an artist, how would you describe your musical progress?
Greta: I’ve gone through a few different stages – ranging from folk, pop and electronic influences. I think I’ve found a really nice middle ground of all of those influences by now that feel like a home for my music. Then again, I love reinventing myself. Finding out where my boundaries seem to naturally fall as an artist and just pushing them ever so slightly further with every project. I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to fulfilling a creative itch I have but I almost hope I never land there so that I can keep being excited.
“Writing ‘Pessimist’was a gateway in giving me accountability as a human being.”
Anna: Maybe the question I’m most curious about: What’s the story behind your EP cover?
Greta: Haha! Me and my photographer/dear friend/muse Karina Barberis wanted to create a visual that represented a stoic figure confidently standing on a stool waiting to be heard, and playfully juxtaposing that with trying to hide away in a tiny kitchen, blend into the background and disguise herself as a standing lamp. For me that image completely mirrors my attitude towards performing and making music – I feel like I can perform under very certain circumstances that I cater for myself, though the product of that is quite confusing and childlike sometimes.
Anna: And the most obvious question: Who’s the Pressimist?
Greta: I’m the pessimist! You’re the pessimist! I think writing Pessimist was a gateway in giving me accountability as a human being. Realising that I had more autonomy than I thought over the decisions I made that ultimately contributed to how happy and fulfilled I was as a person. I think I always lacked the confidence to trust my intuition. So I’d find myself reaching for other people for reassurance and acceptance. When it wasn’t given to me, because no one owes me that, I would fall into these deep pits of self doubt and helplessness. Pessimist is a song that brushes me off, pats me on the back and tells me to feel everything im feeling. To use it as a tool to have a happier and healthier life. She can be brutal but needed sometimes I think haha
Anna: “FU” made it into Spotify’s “The Most Beautiful Songs in the World” Playlist. Considering that the song came from a really sad place, did the process of writing the song help you out of that?
Greta: Definitely! I feel like every song is a bookmark or a folded page in an important time in my growth as a young woman. I’m really grateful to have these songs as reminders of a very specific turning point in the way that I used to think or feel. I think ‘FU’ is lyrically really specific, but I’m hoping that in some way people can connect to this song and feel heard. That their experiences matter, that their emotions are valid. And that sometimes you just have to feel what you feel and tell yourself “yeah I didn’t deserve that”.
“What I found on the other end was freedom and empowerment.”
Anna: The lead single to your record is “How to be a woman”. What were the inspiration behind that song? And how do you personally define your womanhood?
Greta: ‘How To Be A Woman’ was a chance for me to put into words what I ruminate on pretty much constantly every single day. Entering my mid-twenties, I think in some way I began freeing myself from the structures and people that constrained me into a very narrow and specific ideology of what someone like me should think or say or look like. What I found on the other end was freedom and empowerment. But not in the way I’d always known – I still sometimes feel lost and confused about who I should be or what I should look like. Ultimately, it’s about checking in with myself and making sure I’m happy and comfortable with every step towards finding out. I don’t know what it is to be a woman, to be myself, in the way that I once knew; but I know I’d never ever want to be like the ideologies and structures that stop me from finding out.
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Anna: Who are the women that inspire you the most and deserve a shoutout just for being awesome?
Greta: Oh god there’s just so, SO many. Countless. For music I’d say Noga Erez, Orla Gartland, FKA Twigs, Caroline Polachek, Dodie.. Photography and film I’d say Karina Barberis, Steph Wilson, Hollie Fernando, Molly Burdett.. Fashion is Suzie Walsh, Charlotte Knowles, Di Petsa.. then there’s Munroe Bergdorf, Dr. Nicole LePera, Africa Brooke, Jessica Defino. My mum Caryl, my sisters Elan and Miriam.
Anna: Also a song I’m curious about how it made it on your EP: “Tomi Losdis Bol”. What’s the story behind that?
Greta: I used to write little stories when I was about 5/6, in attempted English. Since Welsh is my first language I’d write the stories phonetically in Welsh. One was ‘Tomi Lost His Ball’. I took it and made it into a song one afternoon with my mum who’s a songwriter. I remember going into my dads little studio, standing on a chair and singing my heart out for Tomi ahahah. So the recording that’s on the EP is from that day.
Anna: Do you have plans or projects in the future that you are really excited about?
Greta: I’ve got a real life gig coming up in London on the 25th of October. And I’m still directing for other artists too – projects that should be coming out really really soon. I’m so excited!
Anna: Last but not least, we ask for an untold story. That can be an anecdote, fun fact or just something random you haven’t shared with the internet before.
Greta: I once sang so hard I got a nosebleed : )
Wen Greta mit ihrem vollen bis-zum-Nasenbluten-Committement abholen konnte, hört hier in die PESSIMIST-EP rein:
Fotocredit: Karina Barberis
