Selma Higgins
Definitely one of the coolest and the most refreshing record I’ve heard in a little while. “Summertime” by Selma Higgins is an instant smash.
“I wanted to make it a sensuous, sensual song, almost like Grease’s ‘Summer Nights’. The feeling of butterflies in your stomach and wanting to open yourself to someone. And the excitement, because it’s the summer, anything can happen. And that’s such a feeling,” she explains.
It’s been on repeat ever since I heard it for the first time and it will probably be on repeat all summer. Selma Higgins is a great talent and she’s definitely going to be on my Artists To Watch list.
Make sure to stream “Summertime” now !
Photo credit: Erik Machin Kristensen
Hi Selma, how are you? What's your story?
Hello there! I think my story is a collage of love, music and trying to find my way around life as it can get quite intense for an open membrane like me sometimes.
When did you start making music? Do you remember the first song you've ever written?
I started making music when I was 16, and I actually do remember my first song. It made absolutely no sense, (laughs). I was feeling a bunch of things in those mid-teen years, but I was too young to put it in writing. So it was very abstract. I think I just wanted the words to sound beautiful.
Growing up, what were your favorite songs to sing along to?
If we go all the way back, the first I really remember was singing along to Aqua’s ‘Cartoon Heroes’. I was probably around 6 years old and I just remember the song giving me such an uplifting feeling. It was the equivalent to a going-out-tonight vibe, but in child-version! Later on I loved jamming out to Michael Jackson, singing along to just about anything on ‘Off The Wall’. Those grooves meeting Michael’s vocal just sat with me instantly, like a shoe that fits perfectly.
When did you know you had to be an artist?
I think it felt like a natural calling, as well as a civic duty after high school. It was already in my bones when I was a baby, cause I was singing non-stop, and my mum had to put me in a corner on a blanket cause I was just a blaring baby-radio. But yeah, when I came out of high school and looked at the world around me, I knew that music was the only road I had in front of me.
What biggest lessons have you learned since the beginning of your career?
So, so many big lessons. They still come at me, because as an upcoming artist as well, you burn yourself pretty bad and frequently. On decisions that could have been made differently or boundaries you cross without knowing, and then you stand on a different island all of a sudden, looking out like, ‘that’s not something I actually wanted to do. Should have listened closer to myself.’ But that fine-tuning of listening to oneself takes time to develop, I think. But that’s probably my biggest lesson in being an artist.
Another big lesson is separating me as an artist from me as an everyday human. That line is hard for me to discover and make clearer. My dad once said: ‘No wonder it’s hard to separate the music and yourself. You’re riddled with it!’ And I feel like that sums it up pretty well.
Summertime" is your new single - what's the story/inspiration behind this single?
I really wanted to create a nostalgic, but playful record. I was at a place where I was coming even closer to finding a way in my songwriting, blending genres and creating that raw, authentic but still modern sound in my music. I love the 60’s and the music that came out of that era and which still is a legacy we carry in our bones as musicians today. I was listening a lot to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson, basically musical giants, and I really wanted to take that energy with me into a new song. So that basically became the birth of ‘Summertime’.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process behind this song? Who helped you create it?
It was my first co-writing session with Ronni Vindal and we had never met each other before, actually. And he had brought a really nice guy along named Thomas Lund, who was just a big yes-sayer. They both were. I had these two chords in my head, which had been lying there for a few years that I was really into, just two chords going over and over again. And that quickly started the whole production for us. To be honest I don’t remember much of it, just moments. I think that’s a good sign. We practically wrote and produced the whole song in that session.
What's your favorite lyric on "Summertime"?
I think that has to be ‘story starts when I saw you there, ice cream stuck in your hair and sunburns beyond repair’. I’m just imagining this person looking like a badly burned summer-disaster and it just really makes me laugh and get a little frisky at the same time, haha! There is just something sensual about the lyric that wakes my body up when I hear it.
When did you know "Summertime" had to be a single?
Right away. It just struck where I am heading musically and had an energy around it that gave me a sense of ‘Okay, this is going somewhere now.’
What can you tell us about the artwork?
I’m actually really happy about how the artwork came about. Me and my band were on the way to play a gig. We stopped the car by a field of dandelions and just started picking the flowers like little children, all of us. One of the guitarists in my band, Oliver, took a picture of me in my natural habitat. Just happy and curious.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
The best part is the gift I have as a creator. It’s an amazing feeling to have with me. And how I actually love my own ideas and the voice I have to express them with. That’s such a treasure to offer to this world while I’m alive. The hardest part changes a lot, so it’s never boring!
Could you list a few records that influenced the music you are making today?
Oh, there are so many records. Because they stay in my system, I could list a few songs a half year ago, cause I’m still subconsciously jamming out to them right now! But to name some I keep coming back to at the moment would be ‘This Boy’ by The Beatles and ‘Puppet’ by Dora Jar.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
I read a good quote the other day from an artist that said ‘everyone is dealing with a lot’. That line resonated with me because it calls for looking outside yourself and to have compassion and understanding for yourself as well as others. We don’t necessarily know what is going on with the people around us. And that is good to remind ourselves of. I think that’s a good place to start.
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