Q: Hey Joséphine, We here at Rising Artists love the sound of your newest single “Face Value”, what inspired the songwriting behind it?
JOSÉPHINE: I made this song/ video as a commentary on how we perceive our world. How we are quick to judge – the good and the bad. A man says he loves us and we don’t think twice. A woman is naked and we don’t look beneath the surface. Women lie with their looks and men lie with their words. We confirm the biases & judgements that further our own personal agendas, that enable us to justify who we are. Perception is not fact. To take something at face value means to take something with no further explanation, no deeper research. To make a judgement based on the initial look, listening, taste, touch… It means to negate consulting the inner knowing and intuition of oneself. Look deeper. A spade is not always a spade…. ♠️
Q: “Face Value” brings us more perspective that we shouldn’t judge people just on our quick judgement or first glance. You have an interesting bridge that I believe is in Arabic? Elaborate a little bit more for us about why you decided to have that bridge.
JOSÉPHINE: Glad you caught that! It’s in Farsi (Persian) actually. This is the first song I’ve ever written / sang in Farsi. I had the idea to do so because the person I wrote it for is Persian so it felt like my own intimate way of communicating with him.
Q: What first got you into music?
JOSÉPHINE: Growing up, I gravitated towards acting but as an actress I didn’t feel like I had much creative control. That’s when I re-connected with my original love for music. With acting (which I still love and do) I felt like I was constantly waiting on someone to “allow” me to create – a director/ screenwriter/ casting director etc. but with music all I needed were my feelings and my piano.
Q: How would you describe your music in your own words?
JOSÉPHINE: My music is power pop, empowered vulnerability, purposeful angst. Where I lack in communicating my feelings adequately one-on-one, I excel in my music. It’s where I feel most safe to be vulnerable, loud, angry, sad, emotional, direct, raw. All the things that aren’t always appropriate in real life….
Q: Do you write your own songs or is there a collaborator that you enjoy working with consistency?
JOSÉPHINE: I primarily write alone but work with an abundance of amazing producers – @cazielmusic, @bravojrios, @oscardelamor, Shuz In, to name a few.
Q: What is coming up next for you?
JOSÉPHINE: I’ll be re-releasing my 2019 album Pretty Crazy. I put some final *sparkle!* touches on it and I’m excited to be releasing it next month. I’ll also continue releasing a single per month with accompanying videos as I’ve been doing. Tour dates to come for later this year/ early next! Stay tuned!
Interviewed by Stephanie Pankewich
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