by Jacklyn Lipscomb and Mari Washburn
We had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Massachusetts native L.A. based artist Aimee Vant to celebrate the release of her EP "Trash". She touches on her latest inspirations, dream collaborations, and the journey of creating the EP.
Listen to our full interview below!
Transcribed Interview
Alternative Lately: So if you are just tuning into us here on Alternative Lately on WXOJ-LP Northampton 103.3 FM. We are so beyond excited to be joined by a very familiar name and a very special guest on tonight's broadcast, Amiee Vant. First of all, Aimee, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us.
Aimee Vant: Thank you for having me.
Alternative Latey: Of course. For anyone who doesn't know you recently released your EP titled "Trash", congratulations on that. How does it feel to have this EP out for everyone to hear?
Aimee Vant: It's really wild 'cause it's been about a year and a half in the making for it. So when it's finally out, like behind the scenes, I'm working on a ton of new music, so it's definitely representative of a chapter of my life that's kind of like closed in my head. So it's cool that I can kind of celebrate closing that chapter with everybody else. And now it's really cool that, you know, the doors are open to, to move on into the next one.
Alternative Lately: Yeah, absolutely. You've been releasing a steady string of singles throughout the past couple of years, some that made it onto the EP and some that didn't. How did this project initially come together? Did you have a vision for what you originally wanted it to sound like? Or did it all kind of just fall into place as you made the songs?
Aimee Vant: That's a great question. 'cause there's so many people that I know that are really like, put together about projects and they'll plan it out in advance and be like, okay, this is the overriding theme and this is what each song is gonna do. This is the order. But my style is very opposite of that, where I kind of just made all the songs and I was listening through in the car one day and I was like, oh, these all kind of like fit in a little bubble. And they all kind of have these like, you know, strings that connect them. So it really just fell into place. And then the title, you know, it's, it's not like a really specific concept EP the title says it all. It's kind of just like a, just a explosion of chaos and ideas and you know, anxiety and all that. But yeah, it kind of just fell together.
Alternative Lately: Totally. You have a lot of collaborations, and you do a lot of collaborative work. I know a lot of people feel like they work better in collaboration. Do you feel like that applies to you? And also, were there any magic or standout collaborations that made the EP feel like whole?
Aimee Vant: That's a really good question. I think there's something really cool about both things about collaborating and then also about just being in your own world and pouring out whatever comes out when you're alone. Um, so I would say like the biggest collaboration that stood out on this project was with Lev. Um, 'cause we did that one song together where he's, uh, also singing on it, which I love. But, uh, if you don't look in the credits, you wouldn't notice that. He also has written on like, I think four of them, maybe more even. Um, and yeah, we get in the room together and we write so much that we really just kind of like, we don't even need to explain everything going in or, you know, you know, break it down. We just kind of like click and, and it flows out really well. So, Lev was a huge part of it.
Alternative Lately: Nice. How'd you guys meet?
Aimee Vant: Um, so we went to college together, but we didn't meet at college, this happens so much with, uh, Berkeley students. We go to college, we graduate, and then we just come to LA There's just like a, a migration, a flock, migration. And, um, so we met out here at probably one of the like Berkeley mixer parties, or something like that, or got introduced and then after that we just clicked immediately and kept working together.
Alternative Lately: That's awesome. That's so awesome. Do you have any more like dream collaborations or artists that you just really wanna collaborate with?
Aimee Vant: That is such a good question. Um, anything that Bon Iver touches as like, you know, gold, that's like an ultimate dream. Um, I really love, like Gracie Abrams would be a really cool one. Lorde. So like the Jack Antonoff, you know, if he, if he came onto one of my albums, I would, you know, probably cry everywhere. Yeah. Those are like the big, big ones.
Alternative Lately: Lyrically you are undeniably relatable. A lot of themes of inward reflection and like social anxiety across the EP. Do you find it difficult to be so open in your music?
Aimee Vant: That's a really good question too. Like, I, I think when it comes to social anxiety and feelings like that, it, it can be really easy to be open about it because I think especially post Covid era and just with all of the stuff that we're dealing with as like a younger generation, like it's so common. Everyone I know deals with it, which is crazy. Um, there are definitely certain things, like once you get to a, you use a lot of specifics from your life to dig deeper into it. And that can get scary to be like, Hey, you know, this is my family life and these are names of people and all that stuff. That can definitely feel scary. But it's one of those things you, the, the more you dig into yourself, the more people connect to you and, you know, realize that you're only human. So it's scary but worth it.
Alternative Lately: I know a lot of the songs lyrically were about your breakup. Was there anything that fueled you sonically, like how the EP sounded for each song? Or was it just kind of whatever the lyrics said made the song?
Aimee Vant: Ooh. I mean, definitely like all of the songs are based in singer-songwriter energy. Like I usually write my songs just with a piano. So I wanted it all to still have that feeling of like, it's just rooted in singer-songwriter energy, and I'm really inspired by people like, uh, Alexander 23, Bon Iver, Ben Kessler is a big one. So just a lot of like infusions of weird production, but that kind of just stay around that backbone of singer-songwriter-ness.
Alternative Lately: Going off a bit, I was going to ask, you know, your music really just feels cathartic. I always love in music when you can hear a specific emotion or feeling articulated in a way that you've never heard of before. And I feel like that is very present in your music. So, I was going to ask if there's any artists growing up that you just felt like you've really resonated with, like their lyrics?
Aimee Vant: Ooh. Um, growing up it was all across the board. I think biggest one for me was Coldplay, especially the earlier stuff I think was very, very just like honest and flow of consciousness. Uh, Lord was a big one. Sia was a big one. I had a huge Kelly Clarkson phase, very, very deep phase.
Alternative Lately: Me too. If I'm being honest.
Aimee Vant: I was in 5 of her concerts before I was like 15 or something. uh, like pink. So, a lot of, you know, singer songwriter, but also like the pop rock. Uh, Tom Odell was a huge one too. Yeah. So, a little of everything.
Alternative Lately: Nice. We also obviously have to bring up the fact that you are a fellow Massachusetts native, like many of the artists we feature on the show. You studied at Berkeley for a bit. What originally inspired you to pursue music as a career?
Aimee Vant: Ooh. Um, well, I mean, being from Massachusetts, I remember very well just like driving into the city with my family and I'd see all the big signs of people doing music and them walking around with their instruments. And I was always like, those are the cool kids. And, I don't know why, but I always really wanted to. And I, so I started just taking lessons. I started as a drummer. Um, and then later in life I learned that I could write songs, which was really cool. But yeah, I, I thought there was always like something challenging about it where any other career path I explored, I felt like, okay, you know, this is how you do that. I can, I can do that. But music felt like always like a really big challenge that I was always curious about breaking down step by step. So it's, I've always been curious about it and that has never gone away the more I've learned and done it.
Alternative Lately: Yeah. As a female identifying individual in music, do you have any advice for other up and coming women in music?
Aimee Vant: Hmm. That's, that's a big one.
Alternative Lately: Big Jump there. Sorry about that.
Aimee Vant: No, no, no. I think, I think the biggest thing that has helped me out here is to always trust my gut. No matter if I feel like there's a reason that my gut is saying something, I always go with that. Especially as a woman, like, you have to really like be on defense, which sucks sometimes, but you really just have to, to make sure you're looking out for yourself first. Even if it feels weird in a situation that you're like, for some reason I shouldn't be here, shouldn't be doing this, don't do it. That's it, you know?
Alternative Lately: So, we are alternative lately and we wanna know what you have been listening to lately. We kind of talked about your inspirations, but right now, what are you repeating?
Aimee Vant: I mentioned his name earlier, but Ben Kessler has been a really big inspiration for me lately. Um, Jimmy Stack is one that I just found recently that I really have been loving. Gracie Abrams huge one, Holly Humberstone. Hmm. And I always go back and listen to the, the old classics, but those are like the, the new fresh ones that are inspiring me lately.
Alternative Lately: So, I guess wrapping things up a little bit, you know, you've had a very busy gear so far. You got to go to London a little while back to work with some other creators. You've played some shows in LA, most recently, one at the Troubadour and now you've released the EP. Do you have any more exciting plans for the rest of the year?
Aimee Vant: I'm mostly first and foremost, just excited to start putting out music that's not part of that world. Love putting the EP out. But I have, I've been stockpiling songs, um, in the time that it's taken to put the EP out. So I'm just gonna start putting out all of this new stuff that is kind of a different direction than I'm just really excited to start flowing out. I would say it's definitely in like the same world. I think I started at least a, a good amount of them. I've started to really connect more with the songwriter side of it. Like there was probably like a 50 50 ratio of, you know, the old pop with songwriter and I think songwriters taking over a little bit and a lot of the singles coming up. Um, I guess an exciting thing coming up too is I have a song with Garrett Nash coming out, which is really exciting. So that, that was something that I, I think I was like 15 and I was like, one of my biggest goals in the next five years is to get a song with Garrett Nash and I'm really excited about that.
Alternative Lately: That's amazing. That's awesome. Do you have any plans to tour more or is it kind of just more you wanna focus on releasing music before you start touring?
Aimee Vant: I would love to tour. I think the, the level I'm at right now, the goal is to hop on as someone's opener on a tour. So unfortunately that's not my decision. But if somebody is, you know, in my circle needing an opener, which easily could be possible in the next year or so, I will very happily jump on that.
Alternative Lately: Alright. Well thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. We have been loving the EP and we're so excited to hear more in the future.
Aimee Vant: Awe, thank you. Thank you again for having me on here. It was an honor.
Listen to Aimee Vant's "Trash" EP Here:
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