Clash Meets WILLOW: Backstage At Camp Flog Gnaw
It’s hard to pinpoint which timeline WILLOW is visiting us from. She’s lightyears ahead, driving forward the industry with a sound that defies the confinement of genre. In that same breath, it’s evident her soul has been here before, walking with a rooted stride that far surpasses her age.
Dimensionless and ethereal, WILLOW is one of the new generation’s most promising. Her music’s seamless fusion of rock, R&B, and neo-soul enlists an unwavering trust in her ability and the bravery of doing her own thing. Blindly experimenting while honoring the tried and true mechanics of music, we’ve watched her shed a layer of skin with every iteration she’s born through, never knowing what to expect and falling in love with a new WILLOW all the same.
Ushering in a new era with her latest single ‘Alone’, the draw in WILLOW’s music is the peering in she allows. Her storytelling is raw and unveiled, giving us all a chance to see fragments of ourselves in her bleeding.
Beyond her work, WILLOW’s most striking feature is the steady pulse of her confidence, even while confronting insecurity. With one of the most impressive last names to surpass, she’s somehow managed to evolve larger than just being a daughter, though it’s a role she dons with pride, because her humanity is WILLOW’s first and truest devotion. Aware of the preciousness of her time, energy, and accessibility, WILLOW is undisturbed by anything that does not feed the betterment of self: her faults are her catalyst for evolution, and she’s only concerned with impressing who she was yesterday.
We got a chance to sit down with the songstress ahead of her electrifying performance at the Camp Flog Gnaw festival and get a larger glimpse of who WILLOW has decided to be today.
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Clash: What’s most admirable about you as an artist is your fluidity musically. Does being at the mercy of so many genres at once make it difficult to curate a cohesive sound for a project?
Willow: It only helps to be inspired by many different genres of music because if you don’t know what came before you, you can’t create something new. I feel like the best musicians are the ones who study the history of music in every single genre in order to synthesise what they’ve learned into multiple new sounds. That’s what I want to do. You have to be open and love every genre in order to expand your discography.
‘Alone’ is definitely an example of that. Talk to me about what experiences in life informed this song.
Oh man, I was going through a very interesting time in my life. It was confusing. I was experiencing a lapse in self-love for a moment and spreading myself too thin. The song is an ode to what I needed during that time, which was just to be alone. I feel like I was holding myself back from that, just filling my energy with so many different vibes. The song is a love letter to what I should have been doing, the life I actually want to have. This is the experience I want to learn from.
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People run from solitude but it’s one of our greatest tools, I think. What kind of routine have you built to upkeep your spiritual health?
Recently it’s been a lot of music theory. I love music and just jamming but when you really just sit down and are like “Okay, I’m going to practice ear training.” Or picking out what’s a diminished chord or an augmented chord, using more of your brain and less of your creativity, that’s like a meditation. And of course, meditation. Also, the big one that we don’t talk about enough, which works the best for me, is exercise. If I was just meditating and not moving my body or getting my anxiety out, I don’t feel like my meditations would be half as helpful. Everything works together.
You’re pretty nonstop, from directing to writing to performing. What does rest look like for you when you need a creative reset?
I love to be with my animals. I love to be in nature. I really love to hang out with, weirdly enough, my parents. We don’t have to talk about work or anything except for like, what we want for our spiritual development. That’s really important. We get bogged down when we’re thinking of so many other things other than what’s really going to make us happy. When we tap in, put everything else aside, and ask ourselves “What is going to make life feel like it’s worth living?” You just have to try and get closer to that every day. Also, doing nothing is amazing. Doing nothing is essential.
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My inner child has been begging to do more of nothing. How’s your inner child right now?
Me and my inner child have a very interesting relationship. Poor baby. She’s the cutest, I love her so much. Over the years I’ve learned to love her more and have been trying to really take care of her. I hate to say this but I need to work on that more. My inner child really comes out in the studio, though. When I’m playing. At least I listen to her now. That’s a good first step.
And lastly, what can you tell us about this next era?
I’ve been working on a new project for awhile now and ‘Alone’ is a bridge into that other world. I just can’t wait for people to be surprised. Hopefully they love it.
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Words: Jazmin Kylene
Photo Credit: Shane Sumbu
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