Stacey Kelleher
I first interviewed Stacey Kelleher in 2021 for the release of her song “You Never Know With Me”. She has been releasing music consistently and has been evolving so much since 2021. Her songs have only gotten better and I must say that her latest single “I HATE GERMANTOWN” is her best record yet. I absolutely love the pop/country influences and the melodies are just timeless. “I HATE GERMANTOWN” is a big record, and I feel like she has found her new sound with this single. I really hope to hear more pop/country records from her ! I’m 100% rooting for her and I cannot wait to hear/see what’s next !
”I HATE GERMANTOWN” is out now !
Photo credit: @clicktaofficial
Hi Stacey, how are you? What have you been up since our first conversation?
Hey Virginie! I’m doing well, thanks so much for having me back! I have been writing so many songs, playing so many shows, and recording so much new music. I’ve been diving deeper into my “sound” and refining it, which has been such a fun and challenging process.
What biggest lessons have you learned since the release of "You Never Know With Me"?
Oh my gosh, that song feels like foreeeeever ago! I’ve learned that I don’t have to make the music that I like, I just need to make the music that feels the most like me. It’s okay to release songs that sound different from each other, it’s okay to experiment, it’s okay to realize that some songs are more you than others, and it’s okay to start over again. That song is so special to me and reminds me so much of starting this “new” artist journey and I’m forever grateful for it and to my co-writer Emily Gurklis for writing it with me.
"I HATE GERMANTOWN" is your last single - what's the story/inspiration behind this single?
Whew. This is a heavy one. I had my heart broken (to say the least) in a neighborhood of Nashville called Germantown at a bar called Mother’s Ruin. I’m so incredibly proud of this song and grateful to Mother’s Ruin for letting us shoot the artwork, promo content, and the music video for the song there.
Could you describe the songwriting/production behind this single? Who helped you create it? When did you start working on it?
Luckily, I was going on a writer’s retreat the week after the aforementioned heartbreak where I poured my soul out to my co-writers Chandler Brown, Leah Colon, and Savannah Walters, and I had the title of the song in mind. With their help, we put lots of plays on Germantown landmarks including Mother’s Ruin, the Nashville Sounds, Jefferson Street, and more. I co-produced this song with Alex Fansel back at the top of this year and it’s got some gorgeous live piano on it that my good friend Jake Ohlbaum helped us track. I loved playing the piano part for this and I’m so proud of the way this song sounds. It feels like “me” and I can’t wait to continue creating music in this vein.
What did you feel when recording this song?
Everything - this was one I really had to dig deep for and honestly still affects me when I hear it/perform it. Usually even after a heartbreak, I get over the emotions of it and am able to just focus on the musicality and the performance of the song, but this one manages to get me lost in the storyline every single time, which is a really delicate and beautiful thing I haven’t experienced till now. I was never sad about releasing a song until this one because it’s so personal to me, and obviously I’m so glad that it’s out in the world for people to hear, but this one is so special to me, so it was hard to give away, if that makes sense.
What's your favorite lyric on this song?
“I hate the sights, I hate the fucking Sounds / You’re the reason I Hate Germantown” as a play on words for the Nashville Sounds baseball team.
What made you want to release "I HATE GERMANTOWN" as a single?
This felt like a song that deserved its own little mini era, complete with music video treatment. I feel like this song stands alone and needed its own little spotlight moment because I’m so proud of it and it tells such an important part of my story.
What do you want people to feel when listening to this song?
I want people to know that it’s okay to feel a heartbreak deeply enough that certain places become hard to go back to. It shows that you care and that you loved that person to some degree or another, whether it was a deep love or even just an attachment. And I also want people to realize that these feelings aren’t forever. A huge part of creating this song for me was processing the emotion and getting it out, which was so cathartic, and I hope people feel that they can get those emotions out too when they listen to it.
How did your sound evolve since the release of your very first single?
My sound has definitely ebbed and flowed in many different directions, but I think it’s been diving deeper into a “new Nashville” sound. I’ve leaned into using pedal steel in my songs, which is an instrument I’ve always loved and been so in awe of, and I’ve also been using less acoustic guitar, which has been a fun challenge to fill that space in the production realm since that’s kind of my “comfort” instrument.
What can we expect to hear/see from you next?
I’m releasing a collaboration with a producer friend of mine, ANTi, later this month, and I’ve got more new music coming your way in July and August, so stay tuned for that! Tons of surprises left musically for you this year :)
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