Teddy Fontana
Teddy Fontana has just dropped her new EP Paradise City and it’s fucking incredible. It’s not always easy to love every song on a record, but Paradise City only has BIG songs. The production is massive, so as the songwriting and Fontana’s vocals. Inspired by the beauty and chaos of the city of Los Angeles, the record was produced by Greg Hvnsen and co-written with Josh Tangney.
Listening to this record feels like watching a good movie and I am really hoping to see some dope visuals around this project :)
Paradise City is a MUST listen and it is now available on all major streaming platforms !!
Photo credit: Anna Azarov
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
When I was really young, like 3 years old, my older sister started taking piano lessons at our house. One day after one of her lessons I wanted to try it out for myself. It kind of innately made a lot of sense to me off the bat and I started to improvise melodies of my own. My mom put me in lessons but I was always way more interested in composing my own little songs. I remember doing piano recitals in Santa Barbara and telling my piano teacher that I was going to play my own compositions instead of the songs she’d been teaching me, and I really did that. I would play 2 or 3 of my own compositions and maybe one of the classical songs I’d been learning. After recitals the other kids and parents would often come up to me and praise the originals I played. I was about 7 or 8. It was exhilarating. Those are some of the most prominent memories I have from my childhood.
How would you define Teddy Fontana, the artist?
Being a really creative person is a double-edged sword. I think a lot of creatives are extremely sensitive and have a vast range of emotion and just need to get it out. Most of the writing I do comes from a very real place of feelings that I’ve experienced personally. But I might take those feelings and morph them into lyrics that say things I would never say in real life. I can be a lot more fearless with what I say in a song vs. a conversation with someone. There’s a distinct attitude I have in a lot of my songwriting. Usually I am writing from a place where I feel the most dramatic and extreme version of things.
You’ve just released your new EP Paradise City - what's the story/inspiration behind this project?
This project was different than my usual process because the final stages of the writing process took place via zoom and with other writers. I am grateful to my collaborators for making that process as smooth sailing as it was. I think quarantine/covid/lockdown had me in a bit of a weird headspace and writing helped me decompress from that.
When did you start working on this EP? Could you describe us the songwriting/production process? Who helped you create it?
The writing process for this record was actually done mostly via zoom with my wonderful collaborators Greg and Josh. The recordings were all done in Lala Mansion West studio in Laurel Canyon. A legendary place to record, so much music history. Because of the pandemic, it was always just me and Greg in the studio. All in all we probably had 10 sessions together at that studio and I loved every minute of it! Greg is a rare gem of a producer and a person. I am like a textbook introvert and my social battery for a day is finite and is often drained super fast, so it's very rare for me to authentically connect with someone so rapidly to where I don’t feel like I’m actively spending energy in an ongoing interaction. Greg and I clicked really fast and the whole recording process was honestly so fun and easy and productive. I feel extremely lucky to have had this team.
What different topics are you talking about on this EP?
These songs were definitely a collaborative effort. A lot of my past writing has been solitary and just unfiltered thoughts and feelings from my brain. For these songs we really wanted to encapsulate distinct imagery and concepts that are a bit different from my other work. Greg went in on production so meticulously and created so many cool moments and details.
What made you want to name your EP Paradise City?
A lot of the concepts in this EP both sonically and lyrically felt very unique to the city of Los Angeles. That's what I'm referring to when I call the record Paradise City. So much of it was inspired by the beauty and chaos of the city.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
We wanted to create an image that felt very old Hollywood to honor the title of the EP. I worked with the wonderful Anna Azarov on these images and we chose one that felt like it encapsulated the title visually.
For those who don't know, how's it like to release an EP in 2021? What different steps an artist needs to take before releasing a project like this one?
I think the biggest difference in putting out music now vs. pre pandemic is that there hasn't been any live performing which is usually a large part of promoting music and trying to get it to more ears. I am hoping live music will be back soon but in the meantime we have to rely a lot more on social media and press as a means of reaching new listeners.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I think the industry is extremely oversaturated. It's hard to say what needs to be changed, but sometimes it feels like releasing music as an independent artist is like a needle in a haystack. There's almost no way to sift through the bulk of it than to listen to curated playlists which are often just the tip of the iceberg.
What advice would you give to young artists?
The best advice I got was to just put music out. Don't hold on to it. Let the world hear it. I spent a long time holding on to music I'd written and never let anyone hear it. For like 10 years I created music without letting anyone hear it. I wish I'd started putting out music a while before I did.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
I think the younger generation of kids and teenagers right now is probably having a really hard time figuring out how to navigate growing up with the pressures of social media. As much as social media is a useful tool to connect with others, I think it's also really harmful on a young person's psyche. I'm not sure the eradication of social media would make the world a better place, but I do think some sort of a shift needs to happen that will stop making young impressionable people feel inadequate to the facades of many social media personas.
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