by mariah estran
photo by sara laufer
Those big moments: moving to a new city, starting a new job, experiencing your first heartbreak. These chapters, at times, seem daunting, but ones you might not ever forget. For singer-songwriter Geena Kaye, writing songs about her own life has always been the focus. Even when breaking her arm at 9-years-old; she wrote about her pain when instructed not to play guitar for six months.
So, after moving to New York and navigating a new life, her latest EP, I Dreamed I Was You, Dreaming of Me, became the documentation of that journey. Through the seven-track record, we are taken through the highs and lows. Moments of vulnerable breakup emotions, to dance-yourself-better synth-pop glory. Song’s worthy of being a comfort through familiar uncertainty.
The singer-songwriter took the time to tell us more about the record, sharing more on the writing process, favorite track, finding the right sound, and how this EP helped her sort through her own life changes.
You’ve just released your new EP, I Dreamed I Was You, Dreaming of Me. The record holds such a beautiful mix of tracks documenting the life of a young woman living in the city. From breakups to the confusion tomorrow might bring, it’s an account many might find relatable. For you, what was the writing process like when creating this EP?
Geena: “Thank you so much! The writing process for this record was actually pretty interesting because I didn’t start writing and immediately think that the songs were going to come together in an EP. I set out to try and tell the best stories I possibly could.
My songs have always told stories from my life, or observations of people, but something a songwriting professor told me in college really struck a chord in me, this time around. It was along the lines of, ‘How can you show your audience that you are the only person who can tell this story?’ Basically, write a song so specific, that only you could have written it. So that’s what I tried to do! I tried to make every image as intimate and personal as possible, though still capturing the similarity of the mid-twenties growing pains.”
There’s a noticeable fusion of sound that flows through the record. From dance-floor type beats to kicky, synth-wave numbers. How did you figure out what sound you wanted this EP to hold?
G: “For years and years, I believed that sad songs needed to sound sad. When I started working with my current producer, Ronnie, we would sit and talk through sonic references and discovered we both liked a lot of pop music. We both have an undying love for Robyn, and he got me into Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen.
My father is German, and I lived in Germany for the first 18 years of my life, so I grew up with a lot of euro-dance playing on the radio. Haddaway, Boney M, Culture Beat, Eiffel 65… We had such a fun time listening to old dance music and love a lot of new pop artists as well, and it seemed inevitable that we had to mash those things together.”
Each of these songs seems to be sentimental documentation of moments from your life. Very honest, while still being a comfort to whoever takes a listen. Is there one track you feel stands out for you or has become your favorite?
G: “It might sound cliché, but I really do love all of them. The title track, ‘I.D.I.W.Y,’ definitely holds a special place in my heart. It was the last one I wrote, in November of last year, and seemed very much like the uniting song to tie all the others together.”
What do you hope listeners take away after listening to this collection of songs?
G: “It’s funny because I was discussing this with a new friend a few weeks ago, who had never listened to my music before. I told him, ‘If just one person feels understood, or feels like even one song helps them process something they’re going through, then I will have succeeded.’ I hope that listeners feel like it is okay to have messy moments in life, it is okay to feel deeply, and it is okay to laugh and dance and cry all at the same time. Emotions are so multifaceted and complicated, and I would hope that this shows listeners that all of that is real and beautiful and okay.”
When creating this EP, how do you think it helped you process transitioning through these big moments in your life?
G: “Writing songs is something I HAVE to do. I could never stop myself. Songwriting is my favorite kind of therapy, emotional release; it is the way I take apart moments in life, evaluate and organize them, and the song is the puzzle of putting it all back together and making sense of things. Writing the EP helped me to sort the two years of emotions into ‘chapters’ of sorts, it helped me to distinguish what was really important.”
Lastly, what do you think I Dreamed I Was You, Dreaming of Me says about you as an artist so far?
G: “A tough question! Hmm. I guess it says that no matter what my music sounds like, I’ll always be brutally honest and reflect deeply on moments in life. But I think it also says that I firmly believe that a song about intense emotions can also make you dance!”