"VIDEO CALL:AM": track by track by ÊMIA
Photo credit: @lshkbr
VIDEO CALL:AM is one of two EPs that I created with my friend and long-time collaborator, Charlie Kurata. Our collaborations have undoubtedly played a huge role in my growth as a writer and artist and I can’t wait to share this project. As excited as I am to have these songs in the world - I’m especially proud of the process and how much of my growth as a human being is reflected in these songs. All of these songs were written as a result of dropbox links and mp3 files being sent back and forth. Every single one of these songs reminds me of various important people in my past and they also remind me of people I’ve just met…I hope they do the same for you.
1- fake scenarios
The only thing more fun than falling in love is imagining myself falling in love. Even though ‘fake scenarios’ is about the rush of having a crush on someone, I get this way about anything I feel passionate and excited about. I got an email about an interesting opportunity? I’m planning the rest of my life around it. I found a gorgeous vintage dress at a thrift store? I’m swiping my card simply for the chance that there will be a black tie event I don’t know about yet. The title itself came from a meme that Charlie sent me after one of hour long video calls where we were filling each other in on our current situation-ships. I will always be a hopeless romantic and I wanted this song to capture the thrill.
2- being single
I almost didn’t release this song because I thought the lyrics in the chorus made me seem kinda desperate - which might be a little true haha. But! I’d like to think that by saying something like “I’m single and I’m over it” shamelessly…there’s power in it. When I was first learning how to use dating apps and going on all these first dates, I was really scared to admit how difficult it was for me. It felt like everybody was having so much fun. Writing this song gave all these raw and unattractive feelings a space to hang out in…besides my head.
3- bubbly
Maybe it’s my frontal cortex being fully developed finally or maybe it’s my self-esteem slowly improving for the past couple of years, but I really started feeling truly good about myself this past summer. I love taking myself out on little adventures. I actually enjoy going on actual dates too (for the plot if anything else)! I like being independent. It was so exciting to write this song because it felt like a new feeling that I didn’t want to forget. Charlie’s instrumental was literally so BUBBLY and fun that the song practically wrote itself. The first line of the song was inspired by me watching my roommate's story one day and seeing that she took herself out to breakfast. I thought that was the perfect setting for the beginning of the song. Also the details about me climbing mountains (and by mountains I mean like rock climbing walls indoors) and whatnot are all real details about my life. I was hoping that by writing this song, I’ll always have pieces of me to hold on to.
4- TwentyFour
I’ll never shut up about the fact that I wrote this song literally as I turned 24. Every birthday, I like to write myself a super long diary entry reflecting on the previous year and making some general statements about my life thus far. TwentyFour is that personal letter…but in musical form. Without going into the dirty details, I was going through a lot that summer (but also since it was 2020…so was everybody else). I had all these complicated feelings about all these people in my life that I cared about. Writing this song was letting me (and I know this sounds dramatic) grieve my childhood while also giving myself some words of encouragement about the future. I like to think that with every passing year I have just a little more wisdom to work with. I like to think that, at the end of the day, everything is gonna be OK.
5- heard it on the internet
This song is one of the most meta, self-fulfilling things I’ve ever created. I wrote it about a “hypothetical” situation of me going to Paris and posting all about it on the internet so I could make someone believe that I’m over them…and that’s absolutely what I did. I also said in the pre-chorus that a bunch of boys would be wondering about me and my trip and one of my crushes actually did reach out to me coincidentally! Whats the dumb quote?” Life imitate art and art imitates life?” As someone who feels like they grew up on the internet, I’m a big fan of “faking it till you make it.” - I know the internet has a lot of cons…but I think being able to control how we see ourselves and how people see us is so incredibly powerful.