UPSAHL IS A FORCE
CREATIVE DIRECTOR & EDITOR: CLARA SEELY-KATZ, PHOTOGRAPHER: EMILY SCHUMACHER, LOCATION: FRAMEWORK PDX
UPSAHL is a force. Her music is bold and bright, even while grappling with complex subjects. UPSAHL is straight to the point and has the stage presence to back up her words.
You may know her from her songs “Drugs” or “People I Don’t Like,” and if you do, I am sure you have spent countless hours with each of the songs stuck in your head, causing you to sing out the lyrics sporadically, annoying everyone around you (that could just be me, but I doubt it). Her music is too catchy and too fun; the hooks are solid—they burrow deep into your psyche.
Aside from her music, I felt UPSAHL would be a great artist to collaborate with for a feature because of her style and projected sense of self. She knows who she is AND says it with her whole being, sings it even, while still allowing space for evolution and change.
I think this embodiment of self, this confidence, makes UPSAHL a fascinating artist. She knows what she is, says what she is…and what she is rocks hard.
In our conversation, we discussed aesthetics, surface-level conversation, and persona. Read on to learn more about UPSAHL!
How has collaboration played a role in your career? Do you often find yourself leaning into or away from working with others regarding your creative process?
Most of my projects are centered around collaboration. I love to write songs on my own for fun, but writing with other people is magic to me. I get to go into sessions and just kind of talk about life with my collaborators, and then somehow, at the end of the day, we have a fully finished song. I also feel like recognizing my strengths and my weaknesses as a creative has been so helpful for me because I get to work with other people to help the vision reach its fullest potential.
When it comes to your stage/artist persona, is “UPSAHL” a reflection of who you are, or is your persona something opposite?
Everything I do for my artist project feels super authentic to me as a person, but I like to think that UPSAHL is just the most confident, badass version of myself that I get to embody whenever I go on stage. Whenever I’m feeling down or insecure, “UPSAHL” kind of saves me from those feelings.
You have mentioned before in other interviews/posts that you’d be on tour 365 days a year if possible - what is it about the transitory lifestyle that you love?
I just love how connected I feel to my fans when I’m on tour. To be in the same room, getting to engage with them every night, makes the craziness of this job worth it to me - the energy I feel from these shows every night is unmatched. And honestly, I feel like I have the most stability and sense of routine when I’m on the road - Even though it’s a lot of travel, it really is just the same shit in a different city every day, which I love.
Your aesthetics have had an incredible evolution over the past eight years, how does it come together? Do you have specific references/influences, or is this something from within that you have been able to express more and more over the years?
Thanks! I feel like I’ve just been able to do what feels natural to me over the years, and calling that an “aesthetic”. To me, part of artistic expression is about showcasing how you feel in a tangible way, which I get to do through music, visuals, fashion, etc. I spend a lot of late nights in the depths of Pinterest and the Internet, finding random visuals that inspire me for future photoshoots, videos, visuals, etc., and I spend a lot of time searching random playlists on Spotify to find old and new music that could be used as a reference when getting in the studio. I’m just always keeping my eyes and ears open to things that could potentially spark an idea, whether it’s clothes, movies, music, pictures, etc., which I think is why my “aesthetic” is constantly changing - we’re all just figuring out shit day by day.
In your songs, you mention and discuss things such as your struggles with depression and anxiety - how honest do you get with your work? Are there things you feel like you can’t talk about still with your fanbase?
The honesty and vulnerability that makes its way into my songs kind of happen by accident - I feel grateful for my collaborators that create such a safe space for me in the studio to talk about how I’m feeling, but that means I sometimes write songs and realize the next day like “Oh fuck, is this embarrassing to say/does everyone need to know that this is how I’m feeling?” But I think that’s the point of music. If I’m feeling some type of way, odds are at least one other person feels that way, so why not put the music out into the world? There are still parts of my life that I haven’t shared in the music I’ve released yet, but that doesn’t mean those songs haven’t been written… I feel like I’m a pretty open book when it comes to my music, especially with my fans, so it’s just a matter of time until those songs come out.
When you aren’t on tour, what would a regular day look like for you?
When I’m not on tour, I’m usually in the studio every day, working on new music. I love a sweaty morning workout/sauna and an overpriced coffee down the street from my house in LA, and then I usually will spend some time filming content for social media, staying connected with my fans online. Then, I head to the studio for a session. Usually, my sessions go until about 10 pm, and my day ends with me half asleep cheffing it up in my kitchen. No complaints!
You have a strong online presence. Do you feel like you have a good relationship with social media, or do you feel like it is hard to disconnect since it is so tied to your career?
I think anybody who says they have a healthy relationship with social media is lying. It’s definitely a love-hate relationship for me. As an artist, I LOVE that social media allows me to stay connected with my fans even when I’m not on tour, but as a human being, seeing everybody’s highlight reels of their lives is definitely a mindfuck daily. I’m still working on figuring out how to disconnect from doom scrolling (which I love to do and don’t) while still using social media to keep up with my fans and express myself artistically.
In your song “People I Don’t Like,” you express a great deal of apathy and disconnection - it resonated with our generation a lot, the exhaustion with it all. Yet you are still here, on tour, doing interviews which I’m sure can feel tedious and similarly plastic. How do you keep going with it all? What is it about you that you think allows you to push forward?
Yesssss, love this question! When I wrote “People I Don’t Like,” I was feeling so frustrated with the surface-level conversations that I felt like I had a lot within the industry… and I easily blamed this on everyone else rather than recognizing myself as a part of the problem. In order to continue touring and doing interviews and constantly having social interactions, most people would think you have to sort of dissociate so that you don’t completely drain yourself emotionally. But for me, over time, I’ve found that bringing my full self and finding a way to be as present and authentically myself as possible for all of this makes it feel the most rewarding and real for me.
When you’re alone, and no one is there to judge you - what music are you listening to?
Some of the old Hannah Montana records are absolute bops. Sorry, not sorry.
If you were a book, what book would you be and why?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - feel this on a spiritual level.