Annie Anna is a singer-songwriter currently based in Tucson, AZ. Inspired by artists such as Hozier, Matt Maeson, and Shakey Graves, her music features prominent vocals mixed with dark acoustics and auxiliary percussion. Her sound can best be described as folk and features the storytelling lyrics of a singer-songwriter.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Annie Anna, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Hey! I’ve honestly been into music for as long as I can remember. My dad is a musician, so I grew up watching him sing and play guitar, and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps and learn how to sing and play an instrument. He’s really who I credit for instilling an emotional connection to music.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
I’m an engineer by day, so I have a lot of “nerdy” interests outside of music. I won’t bore you with the details, but I really enjoy studying propulsion, and that’s conveniently also the realm of engineering that my job is in. Outside of that though, I enjoy flying, boxing, snowboarding, drawing, and hiking with my two dogs.
Your latest song is 'Drowning'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
This song really stems from a very messy break-up and the manipulation that happened in the aftermath. I came up with a song while I was on a drive trying to ease some frustration relative to my ex. It was one of those songs that just ended up pouring out of me, so after pulling over to jot my thoughts down in my notes app (don’t text and drive, guys), I headed straight home and finished writing the lyrics while sitting in my garage. I went straight inside to work on the melody and guitar part, and by midnight, the whole song was done.
Can you reveal the recipe for a musical hit?
Not going to lie, I am still searching for the answer to this, but for now, I am focusing on making music that I like to listen to and that resonates with me emotionally.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as an artist?
First and foremost, I’m trying to up my social media game to better promote myself as an artist and to find others to collaborate with, and I’ve made some plans to be a featured artist on another Tucson artist’s album as well as a planned performance with another group in the city. I’ve also been working on becoming a better guitarist via online lessons, and I’ve been sitting down and forcing myself to write more frequently (instead of relying on a stroke of creativity).
What inspires you as an artist? Could it be the sea, the weather or something else?
My emotions are what really drive me to write, so I’d say they’re my primary inspiration, along with stories. In all honestly though, I can find inspiration in just about anything.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
I want my fans to know that I appreciate the hell out of them. I started making music as a way of expressing my emotions, and without my fans, I would not have been able to build the confidence I need to share my music with the world.
Do you have a mentor or coach?
I definitely consider my dad to be my mentor. He’s played a huge role in my development as a musician, and I give him a lot of credit for helping me get where I am today. Additionally, my older sister is also a mentor in a way, as I always seek her feedback throughout the recording process. She’s always full of a lot of helpful pointers and ideas that have improved my music significantly. Finally, my producer, Riley Corbin, is a coach relative to music promotion and just how to generally improve my sound.
Do you think it's easy to become established in the music world, or is it difficult?
I’ve personally found it to be hard primarily because of the amount of time you have to dedicate to it in order to build a solid fan base. Between a full time job, part-time grad school in engineering, and just generally being a responsible adult, it’s difficult to carve out time to write music, let alone create social media content to promote it and work through recording additional songs. It really does feel like you have to go the extra mile in order to make yourself known, and that’s just difficult to do when you have very limited free time. It’s not impossible, but I personally feel that I would have a somewhat easier time building my fanbase if I had more time to dedicate to it.
What accomplishments do you see yourself achieving in the next five to 10 years?
My biggest long term goal right now is to grow my fan base as much as physically possible, and I’m working towards getting my music in front of the right people to make that a reality. I’m fairly confident that as long as I keep putting in the work to promote my music, play shows, and release songs more regularly, I’ll be able to grow my fan base significantly over the next five or so years.