BUBBLEGRUNGE: a term we created to describe the stylings of mononymously known superstar-to-be UPSAHL. She has the radio-ready popstar thing down, but she’s also a sleek and savvy 20-something with more of a rock edge than most.
Arizona may be known best for being one of the hottest states in America and being home to some of the most beautiful scenery (The Grand Canyon, anyone?), but it has given the world even more than natural phenomenons. The state has graciously gifted us one of the most classic rock and roll songs of all time and one biggest party schools in the country – “Take It Easy” by the Eagles and Arizona State University, respectively.
In reality, though, one cannot think about talent out of Arizona without thinking of UPSAHL. The genre-bending up-and-comer and Phoenix local joins the ranks of singer-songwriters who are synonymous with the desert state for one reason or another. IE: Stevie Nicks, Jordin Sparks, the late Chester Bennington, Emma Stone, and Linda Ronstadt. UPSAHL, born Taylor Cameron Upsahl, has taken a little bit of all these AZ stars (and many more) to create an otherworldly blend of pop rock. As she takes stages around the globe and grows her monthly listener count further into the multi-millions, her hometown roots and musical origins ground her, keeping her rooted in what she loves and what she was meant to do.
Last week she dropped her latest record, a mini mixtape with a nod to her hometown, and followed it up with a whirlwind performance at Penn State University (another party school, but a lot wetter than the aforementioned ASU). She took to the rainy college festival like a champ, danced among the puddles and wires on the stage, and celebrated her new release with fellow young people and music lovers. That is how UPSAHL kicked off this run of spring touring, which includes not just wild college kids and multi-act lineups, but a slew of highly-anticipated headlining shows; this, of which, comes to Racket NYC on Friday. We caught up with the powerhouse performer to get into the nitty gritty dreaminess of it all.
What about coming back to play New York has you excited, and just in general with what’s to come on tour?
This tour in general is so exciting because I feel like when I got off of my first headline tour at the end of last year, I was like, “It doesn’t feel like we’re done yet. I still need to play some other cities.” This is like the final leg of that tour, so I’m just excited – I cannot wait.
I think New York is extra special for me just because aside from LA, New York is my favorite city ever. Whenever I’m there I have the best time… but the past few times I’ve been there and played shows, it’s been like a dream. I’m very excited. This will be my second time headlining in New York and I cannot wait. It’s gonna be fun.
The energy in any concert setting is unmatched, but I do like to think that New York and some of these big, cultural cities come out in full force.:
Exactly. It’s so much energy and so fun.
What’s even more exciting about this run is that there is more music. With this new mixtape out at the end of the week, I’m curious: why was it a good time to release it? Are any of the songs that just came out and are on-the-way going to be performed live?
Yes, definitely! At the beginning of the year when I got home from tour, I was in the studio a lot and just feeling so inspired that I wound up having a bunch of songs that I loved, which isn’t always the case. Sometimes you’re writing a lot just to try and find the right song, but, for me, I had all these songs that I needed to get out in the world, like, immediately. I came up with this concept of the ‘Phoenix tapes,’ which is like a mixtape that I’m gonna be putting out at the end of the year. Until that, leading up to that, I’ll be doing two songs at a time for every release just to get more music out. It’s definitely fun pairing this release week and release day with the start of the tour, too. It just feels like so much energy and I think it’s gonna be exciting for me, too, because the first time I get to play the songs – the new songs – are the same day that everybody hears them for the first time. I’m really excited, but it’s also very scary because I haven’t played these songs live before, so, yeah, it’ll be all kinds of fun.
I can imagine that it is also going to be a really cool full circle moment from coming off tour, getting these songs together, needing them out in the world, and then instantly going on tour with them.
Yeah, I feel really lucky ‘cause I also think that being able to play songs live inspires the writing process. If the songwriting and the live shows fuel each other so much, it becomes like an endless loop.
Oh, absolutely. Something that I’m enamored with, whether it be a teaser or videos or just the album artwork, is your visual persona. It all is very concise to the sound you’re putting out in the world. It makes sense with who you are and how it feels. With these mixtape releases, too, they have a really cool self-discovery aspect both on the outside of the tracks’ cover, but also on the inside of their messages.
Thank you so much! Yeah, I wanted the visuals for this whole project to feel very DIY and very punk just because that was the way I felt in the studio making all of them. Making these songs very much reminded me of when I was falling in love with music as a kid in Phoenix. This is why I called it THE PHX TAPES V1, because that is where I got into music.
This is before my time, but I love the idea of putting all your favorite songs on a little cassette and sharing it with your friends. That sort of DIY energy is what I wanted everything to feel like with the visuals taking on that sort of unpolished vibe that I grew up loving so much.
I love that you’re having fun with it because it feels that way. As I said, there’s a sense of self and there’s a vulnerability and it is very punk, but it also is very you. It’s curated for, around, in, and by you. The fans can tell.
Thank you so much. I appreciate that, seriously.
On that note, because this is something that draws people to you as an artist, how hard is it – if at all – to kind of put your whole self into music? I know you’ve always wanted to do this, but there is such a level of personality and rawness to you… Is that as scary as it seems? Were you able to take that leap and share yourself completely because it is, in fact, your dream?
Totally. For me, it was sort of the idea that, for as long as I could remember, music is it. Music was always like the only thing I was good at. I tried everything else and I just kept going back to a piano or singing or a guitar. When it came time to make some life decisions, you know, when I was graduating high school, I was like, “Well, like what else am I going to do? Music is everything to me.” I sort of felt like I had no choice because I was like, “I don’t want to not be true to myself and do something else. We gotta make this music thing work and it’s gonna be a lot of hard work and it’s gonna be really scary.” I moved to LA when I was 19 and just started doing sessions and finding myself. I hated LA ‘cause I didn’t have any friends, but then throughout the process of finding myself, I made some of my best friends and started figuring my life out. I think my music took that journey with me, too, and I feel really lucky. Every day to me is like a success and the fact that I get to do this as my job is crazy.
You want to feel complete and whole with what you’re putting out and who you’re surrounding yourself with so that you can be proud of it and not look back and be like, “Hmm, somebody swayed me a certain way.”
Yeah, and I think that’s why I feel like a lot of artists relate to that feeling – I’ve spent so much of my career trying to find out what box I fit into, what genre my music was. This whole project is about not fitting into any box. Every song feels very different from the song before it and I think that is most likely true to me at this time in my life, which is fun.
Definitely. You don’t want to be the next something, you want to be the original you.
Period! I love it. [Laughs]
Thinking back to when I first started listening to your music a year or two ago, I remember hearing a little bit of Jewel, a little bit like Bikini Kill. There was a little bit of that nineties nostalgia, but it never overpowered. Then with the production elements and the lyricism combined? It was just adding to the UPSAHL style and modernity of it.
Oh, yeah – it’s definitely fun. I feel like I credit a lot to my parents and the music that they played when I was growing up around the house. They listened to a bunch of punk music and I listened to a lot of Gwen Stefani and No Doubt. I listened to OutKast and felt cool. I feel like I kind of get to pull from a lot of different genres when I make my music, which is definitely because my parents introduced me to so much as a kid.
No boundaries. I love that.
Yeah, for sure.
I love that you mentioned OutKast as well, because they are a group that did really make music with a bounce to it cool again. There’s some bounce to these songs of yours, too – kind of like OutKast, kind of like a Doja Cat vibe. That is exactly what gets translated on a stage and it also plays off the deep roar of the instrumentation.
Hell yeah! Thank you! I feel like my live show gives very much more rock energy, more aggression and stuff. It’s fun to take songs and give them a different spin live to make it more high energy or more jumpy and rocking. It’s definitely really fun.
With this headlining tour, but especially when you’re supporting other acts, you’re always going to be trying to sway people to become your biggest fan or to become a new fan. You’ve done both. You’re starring in your own New York show in just a few days and you’re opening up for Fletcher and Olivia O’Brien in New Jersey next month. What do you take from the experience being a supporting act to bring to your headlining tour?
Totally. Getting to open for those people has been such a dream, and, honestly, it feels like a bit of a masterclass every night. I’ll open, I’ll do my set, and then afterwards I go and watch whoever is headlining and I start to memorize their show and notice little things they do differently every night. To me, it’s about learning and taking notes on how they capture the audience, when they talk versus when they don’t, when the good moments are to get the crowd hype and how do they do that.
With Fletcher, going on tour with her was so inspiring, especially for that. I literally would watch her every night. I bring my little sister on tour with me – she sells merch – and every night me and my sister would just watch Fletcher’s set and we had the whole thing memorized by the end of the tour. I learned so much from the way she can hold all of the crowd and hold a room. It was really, really inspiring. I definitely feel really lucky to get to open for the people that I do.
That is a dream – and a special one at that. Now, we know already that you sing and you write and have now taken to commanding a stage, but you are also a known multi-instrumentalist and overall cool girl. There are so many tricks up your sleeve. Is there anything that is coming up or that you have dreams of doing that maybe would surprise people? Whether it be new instruments, collaborations, songs, or just something artistically surprising?
That’s a cool question! I think that eventually this year I’ll play drums. I tried playing drums on tour at the end of last year and it was a complete shit show [Laughs], so I’ve been practicing and it’s my goal for this year: I’ll be playing drums on stage at some point. That is a fun surprise, but I don’t know when that will be. I have to get better first, but that’s my next goal.
There are definitely some collaborations coming out this year, too – on the PHX TAPES, actually. There are so many artists that I look up to and love that I’m hoping to get to work with on these songs that I’ve been creating. So, yes to collaborations and potentially me playing drums. We’ll see!
UPSAHL’S NEW MIXTAPE IS OUT WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC! FOR TICKETS TO HER HEADLINING TOUR AND MORE, VISIT HER WEBSITE!
