Callaghan Belle
It is my second time featuring Callaghan Belle on my blog and I’m happy to share with everyone this new conversation.
The storyteller reveals a vulnerable and heartfelt song. “This song is about when you’re let down that hundredth time and finally emotionally detach from the person. When you finally realize it’s them, not you,” she says.
With more music on the way, Callaghan Belle continues to deliver honest songs by showcasing her beautiful vocals and her brilliant songwriting. I cannot wait to hear more :)
“strings” is now available worldwide :)
Photo credit: Lila Seeley
Hi Callaghan, how are you? What have you been up to since our first interview?
Thank you for having me back. It’s funny, I feel like answering “how are you” these days never really captures all that’s going on in everyone’s lives at any given moment. Or I guess it never has—the pandemic just really brought that out. I’m honestly feeling very aligned and authentic and lovely lately though. I feel very lucky to say that. Since we last talked, I released all the music I had “ready-and-waiting.” That was incredibly freeing because I had so much unreleased music that I wanted ..and needed.. to share. This meant I had to come up with something new for the first time in maybe ever though. I’ve also moved twice [laughs] and graduated with a degree in political science and psychology.
"strings" is your new single - what's the story/inspiration behind this song?
This song is about when you’re let down that hundredth time and finally emotionally detach from the person. When you finally realize it’s them, not you. This was such an empowering, yet terribly difficult place for me to get to in this particular relationship. In retrospect, I think I actually wrote this as an addendum to my song, “can’t hang.” If you listen to one, it’s quite vulnerable and attached to the story and the outcome. And then the new song [strings] is very much like a feisty detached version of the same story. People have asked me what happens at the end of “can’t hang.” Like is it true? How much is true? Did it work out? And I don’t know, I kind of like the fact that even though our girl doesn’t get her happy ending in either of these songs, it’s a different, more empowering happy ending in the realization within herself. It’s also kind of consoling to know other people felt shock and sadness around that story’s ending too [laughs].
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this single? When did you start working on it?
I wrote the song sometime in 2020. But the story of producing and recording it was pretty wild. So I was living alone when the pandemic hit and after the first year, I was like cool I’ve had enough alone time to last me the rest of ever [laughs]. I’d just graduated and had a little extra free time, so I decided I wanted to move in with a friend. It was this great gorgeous purge of my old identity. I mean I was the queen of Facebook Marketplace for a while just selling everything I owned. I was leaving toxic relationships, I was releasing all the music I had in my back pocket, I quit a job as a barista, I graduated… anyway.
So my friend and I decide to move in together, and we literally unknowingly moved into a construction site. Not exaggerating, within 4 days of us moving in, a construction project started that was supposed to last 37 months. There was dust on our couch. We were covered in mosquito bites. Pictures were falling off the walls. It felt like participating in some sort of psychological experiment. Obviously recording music became impossible because there was construction from 7am-7pm six days per week.
Making this song saved me. I think the chaos around me is what inspired such a mellow, flowy grounded sound. I’d work on it every night into the morning, and on Sundays between construction noise. It literally brought me back to myself.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to live there long, and now I live alone [laughs] in a lovely townhouse in Beachwood Canyon. But the lesson I took from that whole experience is that making a choice to adjust towards happiness is different than making a choice to remove pain. Like I was perfectly fine living alone, it was the idea of it that got me. I made a problem where there wasn’t one if that makes sense. Anyway, I don’t regret any of it. Sometimes you have to run into the fire to remember who you are, you know?
What did you feel when writing this song?
I think I felt kind of clever [laughs]. I’m all about silver linings— Always looking for a way to make meaning out of a bad experience. And when the perspective that’s outlined in the song came to me, I felt a sense of release and relief. We’ve all been in similar situations with emotionally unavailable people. But to be able to create music that I’m proud of and that simultaneously encourages becoming an empowered person despite blank—that felt really clever and good.
What made you want to release "strings" as a single?
I released an acoustic EP in 2021 that a lot of people told me they enjoyed. It was way more vulnerable and raw than anything I’d released prior, plus everything you hear on that whole EP was me, so there was nowhere to hide and no one to blame [laughs]. But anyway, it ended up resonating with a lot of people. So for the next single, I wanted to pick a song that kind of bridged the vulnerability of that era with the sassiness and spiciness of “Run Into You.” And I feel like this song does that.
What can you tell us about the visuals for this song?
There will be a lyric video coming out shortly after the song is released. And I filmed the music video myself last week, so that’ll be coming out a little later. I just finished editing it and it’s looking pretty cool. I’ve loved creating and editing videos since I was a little kid; during lockdown when there were still curfews and everything, I did a full music video for “Sleepwalking.” It was one of those insane in-flow sparks of creativity, and it was just a blast [laughs].
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Chelsea Cutler and Arjan Timmermans both articulated this really well. But I think the messaging artists are given to focus on TikTok and posting a certain amount of content per day is relentlessly tough. The number of conversations that artists, musical or not, have about the algorithm… I mean the number of times I hear an artist doubting themself and their art because the algorithm hasn’t “treated them well” that day is unfortunate. It’s such an intrinsic insecurity now that we feel like we have to justify or explain our content output. It’s taken over our minds. I would love if that could change even just slightly, and artists could remember why they do what they do. Myself included.
What biggest life lessons have you learned these past few years?
I’ve learned a tremendous amount about boundaries. A lot of our feelings about our worth and our own worlds are a result of the boundaries we’re communicating to others. And typically, excluding racial injustice and abuse, our life reflects our boundaries. I had a really gutting friend breakup in 2020 and it was so jarring to experience someone talking to me and treating me so poorly. And ultimately this led to me being able to take accountability for the way I was showing up in relationships. Like what am I doing that lets someone think they can treat me like that? Cue “Nicer” by Katelyn Tarver [laughs]. That accountability factor changed my whole life.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
I’ve always been a strong proponent of resilience. But really, I just want to communicate that getting vulnerable with yourself and others and taking your healing seriously—meaning assuming position as a consequential variable, not being a victim of circumstances to the best of your ability—this leads to such a level of grounded worth and authenticity that no one can take from you. I recognize that this can be a privileged perspective, so I do want to note that it isn’t always possible in certain circumstances. But being mindful of your own resilience and truth that’s shining through even in the worst of times—that’s powerful. It sounds cliche until you’ve been through rock bottom. I guess I just want everyone to recognize what’s shining in them even in the darkest times. I always jokingly caption things “keep sparkling and shining” but I honestly mean that.
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