WSN recently sat down with Genevieve, who has been making waves with her debut as a solo artist after breaking off from the indie group Company of Thieves, her former band. After moving to Los Angeles from Chicago and exploring new sounds and styles, Genevieve began a new career, recently releasing her single “Show Your Colors.” Genevieve took the time to open up about spirituality, her experience being a woman in the art scene and the intersection of the two.

WSN: I saw in your interview with Teen Vogue that you had mentioned that it’s “hard when you only have a small selection of women who are really out in the forefront of music to choose from.” Do you think the blame for the lack of gender diversity in mainstream music is from the fault of the listeners or the labels who are signing and promoting so many men?

Genevieve: Blame is a tricky thing, because it would have me step into a mindframe of a heavy duality of right and wrong, so I try not to even go in that direction. I do think that a lot of people were exposed to more men when it comes to music. I feel right now, though, different than I did at the time of the Teen Vogue interview. There’s been a huge wave of awesome strong female artists that have been coming into the forefront. So I would almost change that statement right now. And that’s exciting, to be able to have a new perspective on that.

WSN: You’ve mentioned in other interviews that you’re clairvoyant, and you were introduced to me as your press rep’s “spiritual advisor.” Do you think spirituality plays a large part in your music-making process? Can you pinpoint anything in your sound that comes from your spirituality?

G: Yeah, all of my music has been influenced by it, actually. I think that the role that it plays is that I, Genevieve, identify as a point of consciousness, a point of light, let’s say, like an eternal spirit, that’s manifested into a temporary human body, and so it’s exciting to make music because I get to bring my spirit and my body together. And it’s this mind-body-spirit thing where I can dance and move and physically write but pull from this infinite source of feeling and inspiration, if that makes sense. So the spirituality I experience, I think, is just inherent. It’s actually being human and being in a body and getting to have a range of feeling that is the most exciting part, because with my body I get to have all of my senses. So I’m experiencing sight and taste and sound and touch, and then I get to make music about it.

WSN: Other than narrowing down the sources of input and the shift in style, what’s been the biggest difference between recording as a band with Company of Thieves and recording your solo work?

G: Actually, to be honest, everything opened up in a big way for me when I started recording as a solo artist because I wasn’t necessarily beholden to a sound or a genre, so I was able to explore tons of different sounds and tones and arrangements with the people I wrote songs with or the people I recorded with. Also, the computer and software programs have been totally influential, because sometimes I’m introduced to a sound that I’ve never even heard before, and it provokes a feeling in me, and it’s a new feeling, and that uncharted territory is really exciting. So I would say that it actually made me break wide open and I even to this day am in a huge mode of exploration when it comes to recording because I can do anything. But, I would say that it’s nice because I feel like there’s more space for me to sing and have that emotion come through. Which to me, is the most important part of something. It’s less about a vibe and more about an actual feeling, if that makes sense. Less atmosphere, more focus.

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Email Hailey Nuthals at [email protected].