COURTNEY PAIGE NELSON — A BOOK OF MAGAZINE

American singer and songwriter COURTNEY PAIGE NELSON creates music not only to connect with people but also to provide a space for others to feel connected in ways that she never got to experience growing up. As a survivor of child abuse, she was able to beat life’s challenges becoming the writer and the artist that she is right now- being an inspiring and open book to her struggles through her lyrics.

In this exclusive interview Courtney tells us about her music journey, and the story behind her song 1-800 BROKE MY HEART.

PHOTOGRAPHER: JOYCE CHARAT, MAKE-UP: FARA DENE

Hi Courtney, how are you? What’s keeping you busy nowadays?

Hi! Thanks so much for having me! I've been working on music a bunch these past few months on top of doing a 5 day a week program called LAAMP. It's an artist intensive founded by the producer duo Stargate that's 9 months long. So I've pretty much been writing music everyday with no breaks. So there's a lot of really exciting things happening that I can't wait to share.

Tell us more about your journey as an artist since the release of your first full EP Fever Dream released May 28th 2021?

It's so funny thinking about that EP because of how different my new stuff is sonically. I have fully honed into who I am as an artist and taken the risks I've always wanted to take but I was too scared to actually do back then. It's been a journey of a lot of highs and lows in my career to get me to where I am today. The biggest thing I was grateful to have experienced this year was performing live for thousands of people to the song I wrote with Moore Kismet. That was such a surreal moment for me. I've always wanted to perform at festivals on something I created.

Tell us the story about your song 1-800 BROKE MY HEART. How did you come up with this song?

So, the funny story is I actually wrote this about my ex-boyfriend and named it close to his producer tag name, as he also did music and I wanted to do a play on words for the title. Long story short he was seeing his coworker behind my back and cheating on me throughout a few months of the relationship. He decided to break up with me 2 days after Valentine’s Day and started officially dating her shortly after that. It was really hard to process someone doing that for months behind your back. So, me, being a musician gave myself closure the only way I know how, which is writing a raw honest song about everything that happened and the way I feel about it.

What are the challenges and the highs that you’ve experienced in this music journey so far?

There's never a dull moment when you're in music. I can't explain to you how many times I've been in moments where I've wanted to give up completely. The biggest challenge for me is not getting stuck in my own head about whether I deserve the success that's happening to me. It's hard to be the artist you want to be when people continually put negative input and break you down. The good thing though, is with every no I experience, it helps push me to become the artist that I am. I thrive off proving people wrong when I'm doubted for my abilities. When someone breaks me down, I re-build myself back up again even stronger. I know this is my path and something I'm supposed to be doing regardless of all the 'No's I experience.

How did you rise above these challenges?

Put my head down and keep working to succeed. The No is what fuels the perseverance.

What’s the proudest moment of your music career so far?

There are so many moments! But I would say, 2022 was a really profound year for me with music. I got my first 1 million streams, my first major label cut, performed at HARD music festival for 10,000 people, and made an amazing catalog of music that I'm very proud of.

What inspires you?

Life inspires me. Human connection inspires me. I believe music is a very important component in human connection. It helps us express what we can't say. It helps us process and release emotions. It helps us feel understood when we are alone. So for me, creating music and knowing its impacting someone in some way is what inspires me.

Guilty pleasure?

My guilty pleasure is Phish food ice cream from ben and jerrys!

Name your top 5 favorite songs of all time?

Oh that's such a hard question I'll say my favorite songs but I don't know if it counts as all time!

1.) When the partys over-Billie Eilish

2.) Formula-Labrinth

3.) A glimpse of us-Joji

4.) Solitude-Felsmann+Tiley Reinterpetation

5.) I remember-deadmau5 and Kaskade

Give us one of the most memorable / meaningful lines that have from any of your songs. Tell us why that resonates with you a lot.

I have some of my best lyric work in songs that I haven't released yet so here's one:

"Yes I know you'll never change, so I've peeled my scars away

still unsure if I'll be there, to forgive you at your grave"

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Closed mouths don't get fed

What’s your ultimate goal?

To get a major publishing deal, win a Grammy, get a major record deal, so I can share my passion for music with the world around me. I have no end goal because I want to keep going till I've achieved and thrived in every avenue.

What are your dream projects?

I would love to go on tour with Joji because his humor and energy matches mine. His tour looks so fun and chaotic; I just really want to be a part of that haha

Is there a skill / talent that a lot of people don’t know about you aside from singing?

I write my own music which a lot of singers don't do. Aside from that I'm good at improv comedy which you can find on my Tik-Tok account haha