ARTIST TO WATCH: Q&A with Annissa Murad

If you’re a fan of early-2000s music and are looking for your newest obsession, look no further. Annissa Murad is a 15-year-old rising singer/songwriter from London who is determined to bring back nostalgic, feel-good songs to get us through life’s highs and lows.

We recently chatted with Annissa about her songs, style, musical inspirations/aspirations, and more. Check it out below! 

YH: How did you get into singing and songwriting?

AM: I started out doing music when I was 4 years old. That’s when I started playing the piano. I did years and years of classical training, and then one random Christmas -- I have no idea why, I had never listened to Taylor Swift’s music ever before, my parents didn’t know who she was, but they just decided to get me Taylor Swift concert tickets. I learned all of Taylor Swift's songs, and they were good, but when I went and watched her, I was like, “This is a whole other level, this is insane!”... The vibe of her songs live had me thinking, “This is something I’ve got to do.” After that, I literally went home and watched all of her interviews. Lockdown came, and I had so much time on my hands, so I was like, “Let me try out songwriting.” So, I wrote my first song. It was called “Dreaming”; it was terrible. There is no recording of it whatsoever, because that does not deserve to be recorded or kept in any storage. I really enjoyed the process, so I kept writing more songs. I decided to enroll myself into a competition called "Teen Star", and to my surprise, I got to the final and got to play in the London 02 Arena. The more steps I took, the more I realized that music is the perfect career path for me. 

YH: You have a super fun and unique sound inspired by early-2000s music and coming-of-age teen TV. Can you tell us a bit more about your style?

AM: I’ve always loved watching 2000s movies like Legally Blonde, Clueless, Freaky Friday. The soundtracks are so pop-rock and give such a feel good vibe even when they’re following the characters through their ups and downs. My motto for my music is, “It’s your life, your movie, I just make the soundtrack.”... I just want to create a song for every kind of experience… the ups and downs and everything in between.

YH: Within the past year, you’ve released three songs: "Blue", “ice cream mess” and "Soundtrack To My Life". Can you tell us a bit about your inspiration for each of these songs?

AM: “Blue” was my first song release. I wrote it when I was 13. It was about this person I really wanted to be friends with. I thought they were the coolest person ever. Every day, I would try to get them to acknowledge my presence. I was like, “Oh my god, why can’t you see I really want to be friends with you?” After thinking about it, the perfect word to describe that feeling is “blue”... “Ice cream mess” was a song I released on my birthday… It’s a metaphor for noticing that those messy parts of your life are the things that make a beautiful ice cream mess. Things are never as bad as they seem; worse comes to worse, you end up with “a pretty mess”. “Soundtrack To My Life” was my latest release… The message is to roll with the punches; everything that life throws at you, you just have to keep moving through it. It’s a song that you can listen to through any experience. 

YH: Taylor Swift is your biggest inspiration. Do you have any other artists you look up to? 

AM: Avril Lavigne! Especially her first album, her songs like “Sk8er Boi”, “Complicated”, they were some of my inspirations for my song “Soundtrack to my Life”. I just love her aura, her vibe, her energy. Even when she’s talking about some darker topics, there’s still a hopeful element and tone in her songs which I hope to carry into mine.

YH: You’ve written songs with artists such as Britton Cameron and Grammy-nominated writers Kim McLean and Margaret Becke. What was this like for you?

AM: The co-writing process is something I was actually really reluctant about. You have to share your emotions with them and get vulnerable with yourself. The first time I did a songwriting session was with Margaret Becke, it was life-changing… They were able to bring a whole new light to my songs. I did more co-writing with Britton Cameron, and he turned out to be my producer, my mentor, he teaches me guitar and live performance skills. Kim McLean, her songwriting/storytelling skills are unreal. She’s actually the mentor of Taylor Swift’s songwriting teacher. We collaborated on “ice cream mess”! She was the one who helped me write it. I’ve also got a song coming out in the near future that’s a charity project for Afghan girls in Afghanistan who are being sold because their parents don’t have enough funds for food for the rest of their families. It’s a song we wrote in order to help raise money for these families.

YH: What has it been like for you balancing schoolwork and your growing music career?

AM: At the beginning, it was so hard. It was like living a double life. Have you seen "Hannah Montana" and how she changes between lives? It was like that… Eventually, I was like, "Hang on, let me wake up earlier." Now I wake up pretty early most days so I can get my homework done in the morning, talk to my fans on the way to school, then do school, then do some music… Another thing that helped me: to-do lists! It sounds so simple, but if you write your priorities of the day, you’re more likely to remember what needs to be done. 

YH: What else should your fans be on the lookout for in the near future?

AM: I can’t release music right now because this year we have a ton of exams. But I have recorded 3 demos inspired by some new life experiences that I’ve gone through. I’m so excited to share them with my fans. Hopefully, in the Summer, they can expect some new tracks to be featured on their Spotify. One thing I really want to crack down on this year is live performances, so that’s something I’m also working on!

We can’t wait to keep up with Annissa’s future releases! In the meantime, we’ll be listening to her most recent release “Soundtrack to My Life” on repeat. Watch the music video below and check out her website for all things Annissa Murad!