by Natasha Wolff | July 4, 2017 1:00 pm
You may recognize FLETCHER’s 2015 single “War Paint[1],” a song that catapulted the pop star onto a platform of optimism, self-expression and a whole lot of edge. And her newest single, “Wasted Youth[2],” highlights similar sentiments of self-acceptance and romance while, of course, maintaining a certain level of edge. “We just ran all over Los Angeles and filmed at these every day, mundane places like the Laundromat and parking garages. Places that you wouldn’t normally associate with beautiful memories or moments,” the singer, born Cari Fletcher, says of the song’s dreamy video concept. “I want to normalize same-sex relationships and love stories so they become less of a dramatic notion.”
The video for “Wasted Youth” follows FLETCHER[3] and another girl through L.A. as they wander from place to place, loving every minute of their spontaneous adventure. The video hints at a romance, but it is purposely never definitively established. FLETCHER says that she feels the LGBTQ community is often portrayed as a struggling group or overly sexualized. “There aren’t enough normal instances of same sex couples, just living.” She corrects herself by saying, “Just loving.”
While FLETCHER doesn’t self-identify during our interview, her passion and love for all humans is evident, through both our conversation and her music. “I like to classify my music as authentic, anthemic and self-empowering pop music,” she says. “I incorporate a lot of themes of love and self-acceptance. I want to spread all the good vibes around the world.” I confide in FLETCHER that although her lyrics obviously can take on a deeper meaning, it’s also really easy to get lost in the rhythm, dance and forget any stress when listening to “War Paint” or “Avalanche” or any of her other hits. “Yes! That’s how I think I am too, as a person,” she excitedly agrees. “My music is an extension of me!”
She goes on to describe her goals for live performances, saying how she would like them to be another extension of her and her music. She also admits that she is still very impressed by the fact that her audiences are no longer made up of just her parents singing and bopping along. “I want people to come and feel good about themselves with the person they love. I want my shows to be a safe space where people can take away positive, non-judgmental memories of hanging with me,” she explains.
The free-spirited singer[4] recently performed at Firefly Festival in Dover, Delaware[5], where the good vibes seemed to be fated for the dream FLETCHER performance. “I tossed a drumstick out into the audience and the girl who caught it ended up breaking it over her kneecap to share with two other girls,” she says. “The girl came up to me after the show and showed me her bloody knee and her two new friends. They bonded over the experience all while I was belting out “War Paint.” It was great,” she says, happily reliving the emblematic memory.
As our conversation comes to an end, I can’t help but reflect on how versatile this young singer is and how she has been able to perfectly capture that essence in her music and her artistic persona. She’s taken such a strong stance within the LGTBQ community while also allowing herself to make music that can be simply at its core, fun.
“I recently listened to the entire Lion King soundtrack. From start to finish,” FLETCHER says, revealing her most recent musical guilty pleasure. “I was driving home from the city the other day and had it on. You know a lot of it isn’t even words? Its just syllables![6] You just commit to something and rock with it,” she expertly explains how to sing along to The Lion King.
With that, I can’t think of a more apt way to end a conversation with FLETCHER. Hakuna matata.
The Finding Fletcher EP was released September 2016 and FLETCHER’s next project is set to be released Fall 2017.
Main image credit: Derrick Freske
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