EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
EARMILK EARMILK
EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Alternative
  • Interviews
  • Mainstage

'I hate expectations, burn them down so that you can be open': Zella Day on her new EP [Interview]

  • July 10, 2020
  • Steve Likoski
Total
0
Shares
0
0

"I’ve kept my head on during quarantine by continuing to produce work", US-based artist Zella Day expresses to EARMILK at the top of our interview about her latest single, "My Game." At the time of this actual interview though, Day is sitting on a couch in her studio while her team is working on getting drum levels prepared for a recording session.

Day's "My Game" is a King of the Castle kind of song. As Day reveals to EARMILK: "As it was being written I imagined being alone in a dark dance hall", in fact, Day had vision of the floor starting to glow yellow beneath her feet, Day clarifies, "the room starts to come alive so does the voice singing 'Now you’re playing My Game.'" As Day saw walls of LED cherries start to fall like rain reflecting off the sequins of her dress in the video, Day had the vision to run with it. "Maybe there were backup dancers on roller-skates I can’t really remember", Day jokes.

Working in collaboration with her producers Dan and Bobby Wood, the discovery phase of "My Game" came sitting around throwing ideas amongst each other, in fact, one of those ideas explored the theme of "Disco living half in the darkness half in the light," Day recalls. "Bobby started playing a piano riff that fell to earth from the world we were imagining." From there, within a few minutes the first verse was written in its entirety, Day elaborates, "once we had that it was pretty clear to see where the song needed to go". The process from there was relatively straight forward, "My Game" was written in a day and then recorded with a live band in a matter of four days, along with all of the other songs on Day's upcoming EP, Where Does The Devil Hide.

The music video, however, was a whole different experience for Day creatively. At the time of conceptualising the video, Day found herself incessantly drawn to some of her favourite spy films to help her sort out the narrative for the video. 1963’s "Pink Panther" and James Bond's "Gold Finger" & "Casino Royale" just to name a few. "I collaborated on the creative with my close friend Kaiman Kazazian who illustrated a lot of the costumes you see on the characters", Day explains to EARMILK, "we worked tirelessly on each detail from the “Bunny” license plate to the “Death by Disco” newspaper." In fact, the director for the video, Phillip Lopez, brought a different set of inspiration to the project Day reveals. Everything from Opera, William Klein’s Mr. Freedom, the art direction of Tokyo Drifter, and Wes Anderson’s composition was thrown in as potential themes in the work.

At the time of Day's interview with EARMILK she was promoting her then-latest single, "My Game", however, in the meantime before publication Day released her new single "Purple Haze", a song Days reveals is an ode to summer love filled with simple pleasures. "When I lived in downtown LA I would hum this melody while strolling to the market in the mood for something sweet", Day explains, "all of those perfect Saturdays with nothing to do but eat oranges and daydream".

Both of the singles come off the release of Day's aforementioned EP, Where Does The Devil Hide, Day's emphasis on the EP's meaning is to find your devil so there’s no more hiding in plain sight. "If you don’t know where the darkness is rooted there is no way to overcome or find peace", Day expresses to EARMILK, "the whole idea is about shining a light, even in the places that scare us so that we may find deeper understanding."

At the end of the interview, Day expresses her disdain for setting expectations with EP, so she wants listeners to join her and "burn them down" per se, "so that you can be open."

Connect with Zella Day: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Interview
  • my game
  • purple haze
  • Zella Day
Steve Likoski

Previous Article
  • Electronic
  • Electronica

BeatLove revamps avant-garde eletronica on 'Avian Heart'

  • July 10, 2020
  • Pedro Daim
View Article
Next Article
  • Ambient R&B
  • Pop

Finn Matthews displays a deep feeling in new single "Low Key"

  • July 10, 2020
  • René Cobar
View Article
You May Also Like
Simona Shao
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop
  • Uncategorized

Simona Shao rides the emotional tides with new EP "Waves"

  • July 22, 2025
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • New Music
  • Pop

Bonneville shares a new album, "Flying Machine"

  • July 22, 2025
Sarya
View Article
  • Electronic
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Rising artist Sarya captures fleeting connection in ‘ARE YOU A TREE?’

  • July 22, 2025
BOSAYA
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

BOSAYA shares a modern pop ballad of vulnerability and power with new single ‘Your Light’

  • July 22, 2025
Sasha Joy
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Sasha Joy charts a “New Land” with a soulful fusion of RnB, funk, and world rhythms

  • July 22, 2025
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Elena C. Lockleis explores love and inner conflict with soul-stirring ‘Mind – Vs. – Heart’

  • July 22, 2025
Sean Lippin
View Article
  • Feature
  • Folk Rock
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • New Music
  • Pop

Sean Lippin turns fake friends into indie gold with new single ‘Frenemies’

  • July 22, 2025
Riddles in the Dark
View Article
  • Indie
  • Indie Pop
  • Indie Rock
  • Mainstage
  • New Music
  • Pop

Riddles in the Dark strikes with raw Truth on new EP "Change"

  • July 21, 2025
Popular Music
  • Sentury shines in a timeless R&B revival "Only Human" [Video]
    • July 22, 2025
  • Simona Shao
    Simona Shao rides the emotional tides with new EP "Waves"
    • July 22, 2025
  • Bonneville shares a new album, "Flying Machine"
    • July 22, 2025
  • Sarya
    Rising artist Sarya captures fleeting connection in ‘ARE YOU A TREE?’
    • July 22, 2025
  • BOSAYA
    BOSAYA shares a modern pop ballad of vulnerability and power with new single ‘Your Light’
    • July 22, 2025
Recent Scoops
  • Jay Tone is carving out his space with "Puzzles"
    • July 7, 2025
  • Matt Oakley is redefining country music with heart, soul and modernity
    • May 5, 2025
  • Texas’ Blacktop Mojo does rock music the way it should be done
    • April 29, 2025
  • Tha Rapper Haiti blends authentic style with musical passion
    • April 28, 2025
Community Voices
  • From Machismo To Mujeres: Women As The Face Of Reggaeton
    • July 14, 2022
  • Tyler the creator
    4 things I learned on the 'Call Me If You Get Lost' tour
    • March 31, 2022
  • 4 things every artist needs to think about in 2022
    • January 27, 2022
  • The TikTok Takeover of Hip-Hop
    • January 11, 2022

EARMILK EARMILK
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
All Milk. No Duds.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.