Showcase Artist Feature: Noelle McFarland
We’re keeping the showcase artist features coming this week! Up next in the spotlight is Noelle McFarland!
1. What are your top 3 most influential albums?
N: With my music recently, I don’t know if I have specifically consciously taken influence from Silk Sonic’s album but I’ve been listening to that so much, and I think some of that grooviness has bled into my music a bit. That’s a great one! I also have been listening to and sending some references to my producer from this old James Bay album, ‘Chaos and the Calm’. It’s from 2014, and that is definitely something from my high school years! With that I’m kinda going back to the basics and figuring out what I loved about those songs—how I’ve been wanting to kind of infuse that into my recordings.
K: What about that album speaks to you?
N: I think I love James Bay’s music from that era because it’s very folk forward, it’s fundamentally singer-songwriter, but there’s also this soul and this funk that fuses into it, it’s kinda sprinkled in there. I think that’s how I’d like to think of myself as an artist, kind of fundamentally lyric driven and singer-songwriter. When a song is great on its own with just a voice and a guitar, I like how he builds the song from there and makes it kind of groovy, and there’s some classic rock, some soul influence in there, but that’s what really brought me to that specific era of his music.
I’m also trying to think of some other albums that have hooked me lately… I definitely have really loved Lizzy McAlpine’s most recent album, ‘Five Seconds Flat’. Like I said, I don’t know if there have been specific elements of it that I’ve consciously tried to produce in my writing but I’m sure there has to be some overlap with the amount of time I’ve spent listening to that album!
2. What is one song you could play (or have played) on repeat?
N: ‘Erase Me’ by Lizzie McAlpine and Jacob Collier. It was my top song from Spotify wrapped last year and I just, I don’t know, I went on a bender with that song! There’s just something so addictive about it—it’s the melody, it’s the lyrics and the story, I love it so much…the music video!
3. What was your favorite show/performer you’ve seen live?
N: I think my answer for that is two-fold. I grew up a Swiftie, so I’ve been to almost every one of [Taylor Swift’s] tours. She is nothing, if not a show-woman. Oh my God, she knows how to put on a show!
I also really, really love Sammy Rae and The Friends. She’s also pretty funk-pop. I saw her most recently at Brooklyn Bowl in either October or November. That was incredible. She is probably technically one of the best vocalists I’ve ever seen live. She just exuberates former theater kid energy but in such a welcoming, warm, “she thinks of me as her friend” kind of way! She just commands the room, and it seems like she’s having a blast up on that stage! It is addicting to go to her shows. That was one of those shows you watch as a musician and you’re just like, “Man, I wanna do shows like that! I want my sets to feel like that for me, and for the audience.” She has so much energy and is so much fun!
4. Which artist/genre have you really been into lately?
N: Lizzy McAlpine is a big one that comes to mind! Noah Kahan’s album, ‘Stick Season’, is one I’ve been listening to a lot! It’s very New England-core. He grew up in Vermont or New Hampshire, and a lot of the album revolves around this New England culture.
I spent two years of my life living in Connecticut; I was in middle school, so that was a very fundamental part of my life. It’s where I met my best friends to this day, and that was over ten years ago. It was a very fundamental, core-identity developing moment of my life, my time spent in New England. I think there’s a very specific culture there that a lot of people who are used to this idea of southern hospitality may be intimidated by. I don’t know, it’s a very niche demographic, but it’s a great album! It’s very folksy, with great lyricism. He’s a really cool artist, so I’ve been listening to that a lot lately.
5. Is there any artist or genre that you absolutely CANNOT listen to?
N: I can’t think of anything I don’t respect or appreciate for different reasons. There’s nothing that I don’t chalk up to personal taste. I remember studying classical music for my degree, and there’s some weird chapters in there about a-tonal music. It was really hard with that stuff to find some pieces that I could enjoy! That was more about the cool theory, and being able to study it, and it’s more abstract. But, um, that’s probably the thing I can’t stand the most is a-tonal classical music.
6. If you could bring back any 3 deceased artists, who would they be?
N: One that comes to mind is Amy Winehouse. I would love to know what kind of music she’d be releasing today! Probably some artists that I grew up listening to, like classic rock. Maybe some of The Beatles guys, that might be interesting. My biggest question is: what kind of music would they be releasing in 2023? Yeah, so, Amy Winehouse, probably John Lennon…probably just some of those classic rock legends.
The third one would be someone R&B, someone like Aretha. Some of those iconic, early soul and R&B artists. Yeah, I think Aretha is my third answer.
7. Earlier you mentioned your music tends to have a little more funk in it. For people who may not be familiar with you or your music, how would you describe your sound?
N: I think, sonically, I’ve always kind of compared myself to James Bay. Like the album of his I mentioned earlier, it is very singer-songwriter heavy but there are still some elements in the instrumentation, or just kind of the groove of my music that just kind of makes it funkier and groovier. Probably the biggest part of that for me is horns. I love having a horn section in songs lately. I think that immediately kind of funkifies a song, and I love that! In my bio I often describe myself as: “If Allen Stone is like black coffee, then I am a rich, warm latte.”
Along with James Bay, probably a little bit of Maggie Rogers in there, especially with the tonality of my voice…it’s a little bit darker and richer, like Maggie Rogers. It’s kind of a hybrid of those three. Some people have compared my music to Lake Street Dive. That just instantly boosts my ego! Like Lake Steet Dive, or Sammy Rae, and I’m like, “Stop it, you’re going to make my head so big!”
8. When you’re writing a song, what’s your process? Where do you derive inspiration?
N: You probably hear this answer all the time, but I’ll be brushing my teeth, or washing my face, or cooking, or doing some everyday task and just kind of have a cool little thought. And I’ll think, “How can I make that thought sound cooler, more lyrical?” Not necessarily more profound, or more prophetic, but how I can just make it sound more fun and catchy. Or, you know, sometimes I am in kind of a more poetic mood. But oftentimes I’ll just kind of curate a thought that I have into something a little bit more lyrical and pen it down.
Sometimes I pull out my guitar and play a bunch of different chords. Something that I’ve been trying to do recently is play around with more chords, and not think about the theory of it or naming whatever chord I’m playing. Just kind of putting my fingers in random places on the fret board and seeing what it sounds like. That has produced some really cool progressions for me. And then a melody comes from there, and then maybe some lyrics kind of float in there. Then, usually, I kind of single in on one lyric, or a title, or something like that, and that kind of drives the rest of the song.
9. Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? How old were you/what prompted it?
N: Ooh! I remember from every level of songwriting. My very first song, if this counts, is also my first memory. I think I had some kind of bad dream; I was still young enough to be in a crib. I remember waking up, sitting up in my crib, and just making up a song about [the dream] as a way to cope with the sad feelings I had…and I think Barbie was the leading role in the story. Then when I was seven, I had a Hannah Montana notebook…the first song I wrote in the notebook was about my best friend across the street who was moving away. So, I wrote this song about how I wish we were still together, something along those lines. And then when I got my first guitar, I believe I was nine or ten years old, and my first song that I ever wrote on guitar was, like, two chords with a very simple strumming pattern. It was called, “Try Again”; it was just some inspirational song that a fourth grader wanted to share with her friends. So, I kind of remember each development in my songwriting, and the new practice of it as an art and the different tools that go into it.
K: It’s interesting, both of the first two songs you remember writing were based around sad feelings that you were processing. Do you feel like you kind of gravitate towards songwriting, still, when you’re working through emotions?
N: Absolutely! I love being able to articulate what I’m feeling, and for some reason, there is something about songwriting that feels like the best way to articulate my feelings. I think that also comes from being a product of the Taylor Swift generation of songwriters. That was my introduction to songwriting, that autobiographical approach; that’s the only way I knew how to song write. So, I’ve always kind of had that storytelling, pop-country aspect.
I have always loved the challenge, also, of rearranging the English language to fit a certain meter or melody. Even just sonically, too. I’ve always appreciated songs that do this, and I’ve begun writing songs with music that feels the way the lyrics sound. Like, when you’re listening to lyrics and you’re like, “Man, the words are relatable” but you’re also feeling that feeling based on the way the music is produced or played. That’s something that I’ve always really enjoyed.
K: I appreciate you how you describe it that way. My favorite part of making music and songwriting is when I create a song from a singular experience or feeling of my own, and it meets other people where they are and leaves them feeling seen—less alone. It’s a uniting medium!
N: Exactly! And that’s why I love music as a listener. When I find a song that so perfectly conveys a feeling and is so perfectly relatable that you’re almost mad you didn’t come up with that [song], I wanna share it with everyone I’m close to. Like, “This. This is how I’ve been feeling, this is what I’ve been wanting to tell you! This is how I’ve been wanting to say it.” Or “Just listen to the guitar in this, listen to the way that this builds dynamically. The way that feels in your chest is how it feels in my chest.” You know? Just the power in that, almost being able to transplant that experience to someone else, it feels so close to you.
K: Yeah! It’s one of the closest things to telepathy that feels tangible.
N: It’s insane!
10. What is your favorite memory from one of your performances?
N: There was technical mishap during soundcheck at this performance, minutes before the set needed to start, and we ended up scrapping a big part of the set. My loop pedal was just not working, so I decided to just play my guitar, and we weren’t going to loop anything. We used the same measures in the chart we’d studied and just played it the whole way through. That way we didn’t have to communicate how many bars we were playing in a certain part of the song and improvised as we went. I was friends with these musicians, so I knew and trusted them. I was a little shaken up because we had to adjust and adapt, but I wasn’t worried about them or their playing. We had a horn section that ended up playing the parts I couldn’t play with my loop pedal.
It was the coolest thing to be able to trust this band that I’d curated and directed all on my own, for the first time, and just have it be a blast! Even with something going wrong right before. That would have normally stressed me out so much, but we figured it out and we still made really good music! Without rehearsal, too, so that was really cool!
11. Given that as performers and artists we tend to give the most deep and vulnerable parts of ourselves to our art, and subsequently our audience, how do you re-charge and fill your cup other than songwriting or performing?
N: I graduated from Belmont a little over a year ago, and I remember thinking about how I haven’t read a book for pleasure, probably since middle school. I just didn’t have the attention span or the energy. So, in the first month after I graduated college, I read three books. I’ve found a lot of re-charge in reading, that’s been a really cool activity that I’ve taken up more recently. Cuddling with my cats.
Really, I’m reluctant to admit that I’m an extrovert. I love spending time with people and going out to get drinks and being with people I love to hang out with. I live a nice, balanced life of staying in and going out with people that I love. I think I find my recharge in people, and surrounding myself with supportive people and fun experiences, I guess.
12. With the oversaturation of content in today’s market, how do you cope with the act of staying relevant and building momentum, all whilst maintaining authenticity for yourself and your work/music?
N: That is something I’ve been reflecting on a lot because I think, especially with all of the social media focus being on TikTok right now--I mean we literally just saw a TikTok song get nominated for song of the year at the Grammy’s. I think a lot of us are putting focus into TikTok, and I’ve noticed that, personally, I don’t feel good the more time I spend on social media. I wish every day I could be one of those people that just deletes all their social media and goes on a hiatus. But when you’re a creative, and really in most career fields now, it’s kind of essential to be active on social media and to be engaged. So, I’ve had to set some boundaries where I limit my time on it for recreation, and I’m not always successful at it. Part of the way I combat that, though, is scheduling posts instead of going into the app to post it myself at the optimal time, and just trying to view it as a business tool. That’s really helped me with Facebook and Instagram, but with TikTok that can still be a little addictive.
I think I’ve also just kind of leaned into the authenticity—that’s what feels pretty trendy right now. It’s staged—but the idea of, “I just woke up and picked up my guitar and recorded this video for TikTok.” You know, my [videos] aren’t always singing, sometimes it’s just me with my cat. And I think that’s really being rewarded, at least on the side of the internet that I’ve been on. You know, the authentic, almost effortless, not trying too hard or taking yourself too seriously. That has helped my relationship with social media, this idea of authenticity being rewarded.
13. Independent artists are frequently in charge of managing our socials, promoting our work and shows, and building and maintaining artist and venue connections, in addition to the actual musical aspect of our careers. Where do you feel the most challenged, and where would you like to learn/grow more in these areas?
N: I definitely love having control over a lot of different aspects of my career, it’s important for me to be a well-rounded artist. I know enough that I don’t have to rely completely on another person but when I do outsource things, it’s important to me that I still know enough about what I’m talking about that I can articulate the results that I want; especially with music production. That’s important for me, it’s just a matter of holding my own self accountable.
I think the thing I struggle most with as an independent artist is holding myself accountable and finding that intrinsic motivation. External motivation is probably the strongest thing that drives me—having someone to answer to, or whose time I would be wasting if I didn’t show up. I try to implement that into certain areas of my life. If I have a co-write scheduled, that’s someone I’ve agreed to show up for. You know, just someone to give me a deadline, instead of me giving myself deadlines and then rationalizing waiting to do it another day.
14. Do you have any music coming out or that was recently released? What would you like us to know about it?
N: I have a single coming out this Friday called, ‘Joint Account’. It was based off a one-word prompt exercise I sometimes do. The prompt word was “joint”, and my partner is a creative writer and we thought it might be fun to write something in our respective mediums. [Doing the exercise with my partner] was almost like having a gym buddy!
For me, the first thing I kind of immediately thought of was a joint account, you know, like banking and financial. I played with the idea of financial commitment and financial marriage, and sharing all of your assets and everything about who you are and everything in your life. There’s a lyric in the song, “we’ll share our money, and we’ll share our time”; it kind of brings in that idea of being young and in love, not having a lot of money but still wanting to share what you do have and your life with this person. So, it kind of turned into a cute little love song. I’m really excited about it!
15. What is one thing you want the MOTM community to know about you? It doesn’t have to be music related.
N: One thing is I was born without a right ear. So that’s one big thing that really drives me in life, and in music, is my passion for the deaf and hard of hearing community, and American Sign Language. I’m nowhere near fluent but I know the basics, and it’s very beautiful. That fusion of deaf culture in music—a lot of people don’t think about how deaf people do enjoy music. That sector of the music world is so fascinating to me, and I’ve done some research on it. I could talk your ear off about it; I could do an unprepared TedTalk on how deaf people enjoy music! There are deaf choreographers, and deaf musicians; there is a whole music industry and music world for deaf people. I think it’s really cool how music supersedes, and still makes its way into deaf people’s lives, and I think that’s really powerful!
16. Finally, what compelled you to submit to play the Music on the Move showcase?
N: I’d spoken with Erin and Caitie very early on when Music on the Move had just started doing showcases and had interviewed as a student to intern with them. I didn’t end up moving forward with the internship but I still really, really loved what the company was doing. Back then Erin told me about these showcases, and I remember thinking about how cool it would be to get involved later as an artist. I loved the mission statement, it felt like it could be a passion project for me when I wasn’t a super busy student!
In the final days of submissions for this showcase, I saw the link Erin posted on a Facebook group and saw my opportunity to get involved as an artist. I put a lot of pressure on myself but realized I didn’t need to have a single ready, or anything like that, and I submitted super last minute not expecting anything to come of it. When I made it through the first round, I was excited enough just being considered past the first level of submissions—that was an accomplishment for me! And it has been really cool to have [the showcase] coincide with things I’m excited to release. For me, things are starting to pick up and I’m starting to get a steady line up of things happening, and this showcase is something I’m probably most excited about.
K: We’re all looking forward to it. It’s going to be such a good time, and we can’t wait to see what you do up there!
N: I can’t wait to be up there!
Noelle’s song ‘Joint Account’ will be featured on this Friday’s New Music Friday playlist and blog, so stay tuned for more from her later this week! Make sure to get your tickets to catch Noelle live at our showcase on March 20th!
