An Interview with Singular Mile, July 2025

 How would you describe your sound?  

I would describe my sound as a blend of indie folk and alternative pop. I grew up listening to a lot of New Wave and 00s Alternative. Even though those genres aren't really reflected in the sound of my music, they're definitely present in my style of introspectively-depressing lyrics. To me, what a song says is often times more important than how it sounds. It seems like a lot of indie folk artists tend to agree, which is why I think I'm so drawn to that genre.   

  

Who inspires your music?

I first started writing my own songs at 12 years old after falling in love with Billie Eilish's music. She was a huge inspiration for my early work and continues to influence my songs. Currently, I've been really inspired by Jake Minch, Andrew Montana, Lizzy McAlpine, and Phoebe Bridgers. All of them have a level of down-to-earth vulnerability that I'm striving for in my new work.  

If you could open for any musician/band, who would it be?

I would love to open for Noah Kahan, it would be an absolute dream come true! Growing up in New Hampshire, I've never heard anyone else who captures the New Englander experience as well as he does. His music soundtracked most of my years of high school and has definitely influenced the songs I write.   

What does making music mean to you? What keeps you continuing?

I honestly don't know what I would do if I didn't make music. Even though I'm not going to college for music, writing songs is a creative outlet for me to express myself and I can't imagine not doing it. The same way that people meditate or journal, writing and composing is how I process the world and my place in it.   

How do you work through creative blocks?

This is a really tough one to answer. Honestly, I just wait it out. I didn't write anything most of 2024, I was so concentrated on recording, producing, and releasing my latest album that I was completely out of energy to devote to writing anything else. Luckily, after a year of creative drought, I started college and was overwhelmed with so many new experiences and fresh inspiration that I fell back into writing.  

Tell me about your latest release!! What was your creative process like when making a full album? Did the songs come together more chronologically (like one song at a time) or were different ideas meshed together over time? What were some of the main ideas you wanted to convey through it?

My latest release, Rotten Fruit, came out about a year ago in July 2024. The first song I wrote for the album was "Persephone." I wrote it in one sitting during summer of 2021 and never really planned on releasing it. It's a similar story with "Can't Stop Us," I wrote it on a whim in 2021 and never thought it'd make it off my hard drive. But, I knew when writing "Just Not My Type" that it would be the opener for the album. After that, the other 11 songs came together pretty naturally. Originally, Rotten Fruit just chronicled the teenage love and heartbreak that punctuated my high school experience. But, my dad passed away unexpectedly in September 2022. From then on, nearly every song I wrote became an outlet for processing the grief and whirlwind of change that came with losing him. There's definitely a distinct turn in the types of songs I started writing after that and you can hear it reflected throughout the album.

  

What are some of your rituals when writing music? (What is your process? Do you have a specific place you like to write at? etc.)

I almost always start with lyrics before a melody or chords. Sometimes I hear someone saw something and I'm like, "oh, that'd make a good line in a song" or I'm journalling and end up writing a string of words that make themselves into a melody when I read it. Recently, most of the writing I've done has been outside my childhood home with my dog while I'm back home for the summer. I always write alone. Even if I show other people later on, the actual writing stage feels so messy and vulnerable that it's hard to show anyone else until I have at least a semi-polished song.  

Which song of yours do you consider to be your favorite? Why?

From Rotten Fruit Definitely "Golden Autumn" or "If You Knew Me." Both of them, I feel, defined the overall aesthetic of the album and were also some of the songs that came to me most naturally. I love the string arrangement for "Golden Autumn" and I think the message of "If You Knew Me" is super important and, unfortunately, relatable for a lot of people. Outside of Rotten Fruit, "Find A Way" will always have a special place in my heart. It's one of the first songs I had ever written and is the one I'm proudest of from my first album, I'm My Villain. I wrote it when I was 14 and really struggling with my mental health. Despite being in the darkest place I've ever been, I still managed to write a song that has, at its core, a message of hope.   

What is your current big goal? What does the future hold/what are you working towards right now?  

I just finished my freshman year of college and, even though I occasionally found time to write, I haven't had the time to record anything in the past year. Now, I'm cleaning up a lot of half-finished songs and starting to record demos. Eventually there'll be an EP, but I don't think it'll be ready for quite a while. In the meantime, I'm planning to release a couple new singles this fall, so keep an eye out!

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