What were you doing at 13 years old? Because Paige Shannon wrote, recorded, and released an EP at 13 years old.
Music has been a part of the now 21-year-old singer/songwriter’s life ever since she plucked at the strings of her pink Daisy Rock acoustic guitar at age 11. And as a third-year Music History and Industry student at UCLA, it’s likely going to be a part of her future as well.
The artist comes from a musical family and plays the banjo, ukulele, dulcimer, and a little bit of piano, too – but it’s a guitar that’s always cradled in the singer’s arms.
“I started learning guitar because both of my parents play it. And I was a huge Taylor Swift fan and she always played guitar and wrote her own songs, so all of a sudden, it became really cool to me to play guitar.”
At 12, Paige began writing songs prolifically. Her dad, who was a professional songwriter, acted as a sounding board for her ideas and taught her how to write. This culminated in a collection of songs she performed at her first gig at Kulak’s Woodshed in North Hollywood, CA. She then recorded those songs at a home studio of a family friend, and thus, the EP 13 was born – and subsequently taken off the internet.
“I took it off the internet because now I’m a little bit like, cringe. More so at the album cover than the music. The music, I can look back on fondly and be like, You know what? For 13, it’s pretty decent. But the cover photo is a disaster. My friends all have it as my contact photo on their phones as a joke.”
Paige has since released an EP titled Boxes in 2019 and the single, “Keep on Running” in 2020. Self-described as “pop-influenced Americana music,” her narrative songwriting is often vulnerable and always accompanied by the melodic strumming of her acoustic guitar.
Join SHEESH! in an interview with Paige Shannon about songwriting and what she wants people to feel when listening to her music.
You’ve been writing since you were 12, what was the first song you wrote about?
The first song I wrote was about a girl who is rebelling against social norms, being herself, very typical. It was called “First Class Rebel.” I was really influenced by this duo called The Civil Wars; they made Americana music, so I was influenced by them and that style of guitar playing. I remember riffing on a guitar thing they used in one of their songs and using that to write it. The earliest song I can remember – I was probably eight and this was before I played an instrument or anything, so it wasn’t serious – I remember having a sleepover with my friend Lauren, and we wrote a song called “Why Don’t You Call Me Anymore?” It’s really funny, looking back on that stuff.
Are you a natural performer, was that an easy thing for you to do?
When I was little, I used to act in school plays and do dance shows, and I would sing the solos at the Christmas shows in elementary school. I also went to Millikan middle school in Sherman Oaks, which is a performing arts magnet, and I did musical theater there. So I was always very much into performing…I’m naturally very shy when meeting people, I don’t have an over-the-top or loud personality for an artist, I guess. But I have always loved performing; there’s something really exciting about pushing past the stage fright and using the adrenaline you get to enhance the performance and really feel your emotions and feel what you’re doing. I think it’s just a fun thing to convert the adrenaline from something negative into something positive.
These days it’s pretty common that artists build their own brand and have an internet personality and following to have their music listened to, whereas before it was more the label’s job to market the artist. What are your thoughts on the idea of having to market yourself to get people to pay attention to your music?
I think it’s definitely a good thing because it puts more freedom into the artists’ hands in terms of creative control. I think nowadays the issue with it is it’s become oversaturated. Making music has become so accessible just like a lot of other art forms, which is a really good thing, but it makes it hard to figure out how to stand out…For me personally that’s been a hard part of it, thinking about What do I want my aesthetic to be, what do I want my personality to be, and basically how do I market myself in a way that’s accessible and relatable and feels like an artist’s persona but is still singular. That’s something I’m still developing as I go along, but with every song I finish, I think my image and my vision gets more singular and unique.
How do you combat writer’s block?
I used to be a person that was like, I just write when inspiration strikes. But sometimes you can go a long time without inspiration striking, you know. What I try to do to keep the juices flowing is write a little bit every day, even if it’s just a verse or two lines, and that’s been helping me write consistently. It’s hard balancing school and writing because a lot of the time, even if I’ve been inspired to write, I won’t have the time because I’m so busy with assignments. But I just make sure that if I have an idea to put it in my voice memos.
Can you tell me about your recent projects, Boxes and “Keep on Running”?
I wrote most of Boxes towards the end of my gap year and my first year in college. Some of the songs, like “Blue Mascara” and “Wide Open,” were written in my dorm at UCLA, just me and my guitar trying not to wake up my roommates. I wrote that album while in the midst of a toxic relationship, while in the trenches of that and struggling with trying to leave it but then going back to it. That was some of the most real songwriting I had done, especially “Blue Mascara.” And it was the first time I started to find my sound and my aesthetic. I grew up on country, folk, and Americana music, and for a long time, I really tried to push myself more in a pop direction because I thought that would be more successful or more people would like it. And with Boxes, I let myself write what came naturally to me and that ended up being Americana, country-influenced folk music, and it felt authentic.
“Keep on Running” is a song I actually wrote in 2016 that I’ve been sitting on for a really long time because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to produce it. But then I started working with Chris Reynolds, who is the guy that produced Boxes with me, and we figured out a cool take on it that I’m proud of. I feel like there were a lot of directions that song could have been taken but I liked how it turned out with that western feel. I’m proud of those because they’ve really helped me establish my sound as an artist.
Do you have a favorite memory involving music?
I think my favorite memory involving music is the first time I saw Taylor Swift in concert, which was either 2009 or 2010. I went with my dad and it was the Fearless tour. Fearless is still one of my favorite albums and I just remember looking at her and feeling like, I want to do that. I want to make people feel the way she makes me feel, the way her music makes me feel. And it was a really formative moment that inspired me and set me on the path where I am today.
What did she make you feel?
She made me feel understood, she made me feel seen. I felt like, Someone feels these things as deeply as me, someone sees the world the way I see it. I was able to relate to someone and truly look up to somebody and that’s all I want my music to be for people. I want my music to make people feel heard and understood and like they’re not alone in the way they experience things. I just want it to be a cathartic place for people to go to when they listen to it.
Listen to Paige Shannon’s recent projects on Spotify and stay tuned for more music here.
