From Poetry to Powerful Vocals - Discover the Journey and Themes of Her Upcoming EP "Most Call Me Gorgeous"
Gerriah © 2023
Today we have the pleasure to have Gerriah On Goathead!
GH: Hey Gerriah, could you share with us your creative journey from writing poetry and singing at a young age to pursuing a career in music?
Gerriah: It's been a rollercoaster, but it's truly amazing falling in love with music and creativity. I started writing at a young age and would perform my poems to family and friends, anticipating their reactions. I loved singing around the house, in school choirs, and talent shows. I also uploaded covers to YouTube and eventually started producing the instrumentals until I became more interested in creating my own songs. Once I acknowledged that songwriting wasn't far from poetry, I began creating my own music and finding my own style. Since then, I've been improving my skills and collaborating. The reactions I get from listeners connecting to my music make me want to pursue it as a career. I love when someone tells me a personal story my song reminds them of, whether it made them cry, or smile. I love that my music recalls memories and opens the floor to unapologetically feel emotions. When people say they feel like I understand them, it helps me feel understood too.
GH: How would you describe your unique musical style that combines lyrical, melodic, and innovative elements? What influences have shaped your sound?
Gerriah: I create the best music when I'm in the moment feeling through situations going on in my life. My music is a response and vocal arrangements and lyrics help me paint the picture of how I'm feeling. My vocals are known to be dynamic and it's common for me to display my vocal range whether in the main vocal or in the background. Sometimes it's not what you say but how you say it, but I rather do both and say something impactful with finesse, just so it's more likely to be stuck in someone's head, that's because of the influences I grew up loving. Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Toni Braxton, Aaliyah, and Whitney Houston are all powerful women that inspire me lyrically and vocally. I also love Michael Jackson, Rihanna, and Mary J Blige.
GH: Can you give us a glimpse into your upcoming EP? What themes, collaborations, or sonic experimentation can fans expect?
Gerriah: "Most Call Me Gorgeous..." Is a title derived from my song "Chills", that is currently out on streaming platforms. If you heard the song you would know that the rest of the line refers to not being treated how I deserve to be in the dating world, and that's the main theme. It deals with the obstacles of trying to find real love in the modern dating world while also having moments of appreciation for the single life. I did get opportunities to collaborate more for this project. In the past, I've mixed all of my own music, but I am searching for reliable engineers and did get more hands on this EP. Thank you to Dan Kjellberg, Offkey, Jume Productions, and Andrey Panchenko for mixing and mastering some of the productions. I did produce the majority of the songs on the EP but "Crazy" was produced by a dope producer I found on YouTube named MammaMia! I don't usually buy beats from Beat Stars but I heard the production, I just had to buy it. When I produced "High" I heard Sevynth Kiza's voice in my head and just knew he had to be featured on the song, and he did not disappoint. On this EP you can expect lots of emotion and different styles and even time periods, I time travel to the 90s in the welcoming "Vibe" just because I wonder what I would've been like back then. The EP comes out in August and I can't wait to share what I've been working on with everyone.
GH: As an artist embodying Black Girl Magic, how do you believe your music contributes to the empowerment and representation of black women in the music industry?
Gerriah: I love brown skin, whether it's mine or a love interest's and I express that pride on this EP as well as in lyrics for other songs like "Melanin" and "Spend The Night". I want listeners who look like me to sing my music and be filled with the same pride because there's a lot in the media that can convince or make someone with brown skin feel unpretty, so I want to combat that by spreading positivity and model being proud of being black, to encourage my listeners to do the same. Singing catchy lines like "never met a chick like me, cocoa brown, smart and pretty, rule the city" may at first seem insignificant but I'm normalizing the admiration of dark skin and associating it with positive things one line at a time, that's how I use my music to empower black people.
GH: With your background in audio engineering, how has that expertise influenced your creative process and approach to producing your music?
Gerriah: Audio Engineering has really helped me learn how to analyze and feel sound on a different level than just listening to music for enjoyment would. Mixing has helped me create space for my music. Knowing what instruments I want to hear in the front versus those I want to hear in the middle, or background and which I want to pan left or right, has helped me with my creative choices when I'm manipulating frequencies and adding processing to what I've produced and recorded so I can have a track that sounds cohesive where all elements add something to the big picture. Since I am able to mix my own music, it's helped my workflow. Being able to mix this EP alongside other dope engineers has allowed me to complete the project at a faster rate with less burnout.
Don't Forget To Follow Gerriah on Instagram and Listen To Her Music On All Streaming Platforms
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