amanda fagan GETS REAL WITH love and loss IN LATEST SONG ‘blue’

At just eighteen years old, AMANDA FAGANS’s latest song ‘BLUE’ explores how it feels to CUT TIES WITH someone you thought WILL BE THERE FOR YOU

‘Blue’, the latest single from precocious San Diego-based singer/songwriter Amanda Fagan, arrives on the heels of her prolific catalog receiving over 10-million hits on YouTube. Her attention to melody and song writing is far beyond her years and this song shows that and some more.

Amanda has over 34,000 subscribers on YouTube.

‘Blue’ offers listeners a glimpse into Amanda’s past relationship as it tells the story of the nostalgia one can feel while experiencing love and heartbreak. Her new song finds the Californian chanteuse offering up evocative piano reflections on life, love, and the eternal joys and pains of youth, providing a melancholic soundtrack to the feeling of letting go as your refuge.
Definitely a star on the rise. She started releasing her own music on YouTube and Spotify a little over a year ago and has had over 16 million listeners. In our latest interview, we had a chance to chat with Amanda about her new material, making cool friends through social media, staying up late, and songwriting to name a few topics. Read the interview below and tune into Amanda’s journey as she continues to rise to the top.

yeah: tell us about your latest release, ‘blue’. What’s the inspiration behind it?

Amanda Fagan: I wrote “Blue” during a low point in my life. I had cut ties with someone very close to me because I knew it was the best thing to do for my situation. It was painful to watch that person move on, seemingly forgetting me so soon. This song is packed full of the emotions I struggled to understand. Should I be happy my old friend was moving on? Was I jealous? Did I do the right thing, ending what we had? Or was I just sad and caught up in the nostalgia? One thing I knew for sure was that I was blue.

who had the biggest influence on your career?

In 2011, my dad used to compile new songs he’d find on a CD and play them on the way to school for my sister and me. At six years old, one song on the disc stood out to me especially: “Mine.” It was a song off of 20 year-old Taylor Swift’s newest album, “Speak Now.” After that, I just knew I wanted to sing and write like her. My dad signed me up for voice lessons shortly after and I got a music book full of Taylor Swift songs. In the following years, my dad would surprise me by hiding “Red” and “1989” in my school bag on the days the albums were released. I’d learn to play ukulele, guitar, and piano in middle school and soon enough I was writing song after song. The reason Taylor Swift’s songs always stood out to me were because she told stories through her music. I wanted to do that too.

Amanda with her best friend and producer, Grace.

out of every song you’ve ever written, which one are you proudest of?

Out of every song I’ve written, I’d have to say I’m proudest of “Bittersweet.” I wrote that song in a little less than an hour and my best friend and producer, Grace, helped me produce it in four days from my home studio. All four days we worked on the song were school nights. I stayed up until 3-4am every night, my goal to have the song released by that weekend. Even though it’s not my most viewed song, I love the amount of effort and drive that was put into it. I love the lyricism and instrumentation as well. Whenever someone asks my producer (Grace) or me what our favorite song we’ve worked on is, we always say “Bittersweet.”

what’s your creative process like?

I usually start the song with this question in mind: what story am I trying to tell? I don’t have a pattern of lyrics first or music first. I make it up as I go. I can’t say for sure where the spark comes from. The other day I was walking my dog, got an idea of a melody and lyrics in my head, and sprinted home to record a voice memo, singing the same line over and over in my head so I wouldn’t forget it. I have hundreds of voice memos like that on my phone. I get home and work off of what I have recorded. What’s the story? Do I want to change the key? What instruments? What genre? Anything goes.

what’s something totally cool about social media?

I have been able to reach people with my music all over the world. It has also allowed me to make friends in countries all over the world. I have friends in Ireland, England, the Philippines, Indonesia, and many other countries. Truly amazing.