New Jersey-born, L.A.-based musician Carol Ades feels she didn’t find her voice in songwriting until her early 20s. “It took me a long time to find the confidence to say out loud ‘I am a musician, I am an artist.’ But I can’t imagine my life without it now.” A blend of wit and brutal honesty make her welcome and unexpected. “I sang in a funny accent a lot when I was younger,” she continues. “I also listened to Z100 pop radio religiously…”
Now, to achieve a songwriting style she calls “alt/pop/theatrical”, she strives for the perfect way to tell the perfect story in song. “My process depends on the day. I either know exactly what I need to say and spend hours trying to find the perfect way to tell the story or it just pours out of me randomly. I think I trust my instinct a lot more now than I used to so the process is generally quicker than it used to be.”
For Carol, songwriting is a way of processing things in real time, easily experienced in her debut EP Through, released last November. “This EP is really all about a breakup I had about a year and a half ago. It started when I fell in love with a girl while in a relationship with a man and it flipped my world upside down. I was very much in love with this guy and really confused as to how to handle this untapped part of myself that I had never explored. I thought if I let go of my relationship with the girl, I would lose my queerness forever. At the same time, all of this buried trauma around sex and love came to the surface. It felt like one day I was living my normal almost boring life and then it suddenly exploded. I was heartbroken, confused, chaotic, and devastated. These songs came out of that chaos as a way for me to sort through what was happening in my brain. It really felt like a coming of age even though I was 23. I guess you can come of age at any age, hah!
“Every song on this EP is a different moment surrounding that experience and was my way of finding permission to feel all of the emotions around it, both good and bad. The EP is called Through because it tells the story of me going through it and (sort of) coming out the other side.”
Also Read
15 Minute Live Performances: Carol Ades
Here’s a day in the life of Carol Ades.
Date October 8, 2021
Time I woke up 7:00 a.m.
Everyday starts with Washing my face/doing my skin care routine.
Breakfast consists of Coffee and sometimes toast and avocado and turkey.
To get going I always Drive to get coffee so I get out of my house.
I don’t feel dressed without My rings.
Before I start working I must Watch TV or take in some form of music or media other than my own. I love watching TV in the morning.
Currently working on The next songs I’m releasing, a TV show, and finishing the music for a musical that’s premiering in December at A.R.T. !!!
But I’d really love to be In London or anywhere in Europe.
Book I’m reading The Secret Historyby Donna Tartt.
I don’t know how anyone ever Avoids Instagram in the morning.
If I had to play one album on repeat, it would be Saves the Worldby MUNA.
The perfect midday consists of Having a free hour and buying a candle I don’t need or any house décor.
To help get through the day I need Coffee, therapy or to buy another candle.
Not a day goes by without speaking to My manager/best friend Liz.
My daydreams consist of Moving to London, and having dinners with people I admire.
In a perfect day, in a perfect world Instagram does not exist, I bump into Amber Bain (The Japanese House) at the grocery store and we hit it off, and Imogen Heap sends me an email that she wants to produce my music.
